Chapter 106: Miura: Aren't We Dating?
The sun gradually rose, and the moisture in the air began to fade.
After two rounds of morning training, Luke had already woken up late. The time he had arranged to meet Miura Yumiko was quickly approaching.
If he did not leave now, he would be late.
The weather felt humid and stuffy. Luke took some bread and milk from the refrigerator, changed into clean clothes, grabbed the note listing what he needed to buy, and left the house.
He finished breakfast on the way to the station.
After boarding the train, Luke finally had time to look at the sky outside.
Compared to the morning, clouds had gathered and covered most of the blue sky.
He quickly lowered his head, took out his phone, and checked the weather forecast.
Cloudy. No rain was mentioned.
'But if it does rain, I can just buy an umbrella at a convenience store.'
At 10:20, Luke arrived early at the shopping center. Even so, Yumiko had arrived before him and was standing there, watching the passing crowd.
Today, outside school, Yumiko had traded her uniform for a casual summer outfit. She wore cuffed shorts with raw edges, orange lace-up sandals that fully exposed a pair of perfect long legs.
Her upper body was a green-and-white striped V-neck T-shirt, layered with a cream-yellow jacket, making the overall look less monotonous.
As expected, she wasn't wearing much makeup, only her usual earrings… It seemed she had recently stopped wearing makeup at school as well.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
Although he was not late, Luke still said it.
Yumiko simply hummed without much emotion.
"I didn't wait that long~"
"That's good."
Luke breathed out and looked at the bustling crowd.
"Do you want anything to drink?"
"No."
Yumiko shook her head.
"Hurry up~ There aren't any unnecessary people today, so I want to take my time choosing clothes."
Unnecessary people?
Did she mean Yui and Yukino, who had followed them last time?
"Yui would probably die of sadness if she heard you say that."
Luke laughed.
He faintly caught a scent around Yumiko that resembled Shine Muscat grapes.
Was it perfume?
No, probably antiperspirant.
He considered asking where she had bought it.
"That sentence was unnecessary too."
Yumiko reached toward his waist to cause trouble.
"Then I'll shut up. You keep those fingers under control too."
Luke hurriedly stopped her hand.
"That's more like it."
Yumiko entered the shopping center in satisfaction.
Luke followed her inside with familiar ease.
The first-floor atrium was crowded as always. With the holiday approaching, the dense crowd moved with the urgency of ants crossing a tennis court.
Soft, warm light fell from the ceiling. The smooth marble floor reflected the spacious interior like a mirror.
It seemed people always preferred bright and open designs like this.
"Where should we go first?"
Luke asked.
"Let's buy underwear first."
Yumiko already had a clear target.
"Okay."
Luke nodded.
"I also need to buy some for Mikasa and Annie…"
Yumiko glanced at him as he spoke.
They passed the usual overpriced stores selling luxury cosmetics, designer goods, expensive women's clothing, and shoes before entering an underwear shop at the far end.
Since Yumiko already knew what she wanted, things moved quickly.
Luke watched as Yumiko selected several items she could try on and entered the changing room.
He casually looked at the surrounding underwear styles nearby. He needed to buy a few for Mikasa and Annie.
Looking at the numerous and varied underwear, he thought for a moment…
Annie always liked to wear panties with a somewhat erotic feel, for example, slightly transparent ones with lace edges.
After all, according to some experience, this kind of underwear was more likely to attract boys — meaning it was worn for him.
But… he felt this overly flashy underwear didn't quite match Annie's cool temperament and appearance, although she would show some fierce expressions when in combat mode.
"Pure-colored cotton panties are better." He sat in a chair, relying on his excellent vision to look at styles in the distance… This time he would buy sky blue for her. Anyway, she looked cute no matter what panties she wore.
As for Mikasa, unlike Annie, the panties she wore were much plainer. She wouldn't wear overly decorated underwear like Annie. In most cases, she only wore simple black or white pure-colored underwear…
"Luke, are you outside?"
Yumiko called from behind the changing-room curtain.
Luke did not know what had happened, so he carefully approached and asked in a low voice, "What's wrong?"
"Come in for a second and help me."
"Oh."
His fingers gently pulled open the curtain a crack. Seeing Yumiko, who was only wearing one piece of underwear on her upper and lower body respectively, he quickly slipped inside and closed the curtain.
"Hey! Why did you call me in here like this?"
"What's the big deal?"
Yumiko, with her back to him, muttered. Her smooth back, bound by red straps and as creamy as milk, was fully visible.
Just looking at the curve at the root of her soft thighs, tightly pressed against the red panties with no pattern decoration…
Only the blood-red underwear Yumiko had chosen for her upper body had some charming patterns.
From the front reflected in the mirror, it looked a bit like a red bow.
Yumiko gently inserted both hands between her clean white nape and hair, lightly sweeping toward her shoulders.
Her golden hair scattered wildly. She swayed her body left and right, pursing her rosy lips as she looked at her image in the mirror.
"Hmm… How does this style and color look?" she asked.
So she had called him in to evaluate the underwear style she had chosen.
"Isn't it a little inappropriate to call me in for something like this?" Luke whispered beside her ear, afraid someone in another changing room might hear.
After all, their relationship didn't seem close enough for him to help the opposite sex choose personal underwear.
And standing together inside the changing room, even with an opaque curtain blocking them, made him feel slightly uncomfortable.
"Ah? I'm just asking whether the underwear style suits me. What are you talking about?" Yumiko helplessly picked up another piece of underwear, gently spread it with both hands, and held it in front of her chest while looking at herself in the mirror for comparison. "Or does blue look better?"
"Red is better." Luke blurted out, then quickly added to Yumiko, "It wouldn't be good if classmates saw us."
When they had crossed the atrium toward the women's section earlier, they had seen several familiar faces from school.
High schoolers were like that.
Once vacation began, they could be found wandering all over the city like street loiterers.
"Then I'll make them keep quiet."
Yumiko answered decisively. She did not seem concerned as she continued comparing another color.
After thinking for a moment, she kept her back to him and said, "Besides, aren't we dating? Isn't it normal for you to help me choose?"
If she put it that way, there was no problem…
"…Wait! Since when are we dating?! Why don't I know about this?!"
Luke cried out in confusion.
Had there ever been a confession between them?
When had their relationship changed?
Had something strange happened before he entered the Spirit Time Chamber?
There was no way he would forget a memory that important.
He gathered his spirit and checked himself.
Mm. Confirmed.
This was not a dream.
"So, if I'm your girlfriend, do you have some complaint?"
Yumiko slowly turned around, planted one hand on her waist, and stared at him with a fierce look.
"A complaint?"
Luke thought for a moment.
The changing room was already cramped, leaving very little distance between them.
Yumiko was undeniably beautiful, but that was not the important point right now.
His gaze fell on the deep cleavage formed by her breasts being bound and compressed by the bright red bra, completely different from the snow-white skin at her collarbone.
Size-wise, probably between B and C. No — he was focusing on the wrong thing.
Luke hurriedly shook his head.
"I'm not dissatisfied. I just don't remember when we confessed our feelings to each other."
He had no complaint.
From any angle, Yumiko was a beautiful girl.
Well, aside from her habit of charging forward without considering anyone else.
And whenever she unexpectedly showed a shy expression, it struck directly at his preferences.
"When I ran into that evil spirit while taking out the trash, didn't you already express your feelings and say you 'wouldn't forget'?"
Yumiko turned her gaze aside and tugged at the curled end of her hair, mumbling indistinctly.
Luke vaguely searched his memories.
Unsurprisingly, he had already forgotten the exact words he had spoken half a year ago.
"You didn't forget, did you?"
Yumiko once again gave him that fierce, python-like glare.
It looked as though she would strangle him the moment he admitted forgetting.
"…Of course I didn't."
Luke answered with unwavering eyes.
In truth, so much time had passed that he had forgotten his exact words. He remembered only the general situation.
Besides…
"That kind of statement didn't count as a confession, Miura."
Luke told her after recalling part of it.
"Is that so…? Anyway, you said red looked best, right?"
Yumiko glanced at him and pointed toward the item she had chosen.
"Yes, red is good."
Luke hurriedly answered.
"Also, you know about my relationship with Mikasa and Annie, right? You…"
"Then I'll choose red."
Yumiko nodded and began changing back into her original clothes.
Once she had finished and adjusted her hair, she answered his unfinished question.
"Would you abandon either of them?"
"Definitely not."
Luke answered immediately and firmly.
"Then that settles it. You never had a choice from the beginning."
Yumiko gathered her hair and pulled it free from her shirt collar.
Yes.
He had never possessed the option of loving only one person.
"That isn't the point."
Luke helped free the few remaining strands of hair caught beneath her collar.
"The important part is you…"
Normally, no girl would accept sharing someone with others.
After packing the remaining items, Yumiko said, "You play those beautiful-girl games that otaku like, don't you?"
"Beautiful-girl games? Galgames?"
Luke, who did not know much about games, answered, "I played a masterpiece called Memories Off 4 after an online friend recommended it."
The moment he mentioned it, a sorrowful expression appeared on his face, and his palm pressed against his stomach.
It hurt a little.
The painfully tangled romance inside that game made him suffer whenever he remembered it.
How could a game be that difficult?
"For some reason, I could never reach the Normal Ending or Happy Ending. I only got Bad Ending after Bad Ending."
Tormented by those unpleasant memories, Luke hurriedly waved at Yumiko.
"Let's stop talking about this."
At the same time…
Perhaps because the two had occupied the changing room for too long, a worried sales clerk approached.
"Excuse me, ma'am. Have you encountered a problem?"
"No. I've finished trying everything on. I'll be coming out now."
Yumiko hurriedly answered.
"As long as everything is fine."
The sales clerk said nothing more and left.
Yumiko picked up everything she had chosen and considered their next destination.
"Let's go. Next we still need to… Hmm, let's buy a jacket. I also want a few short-sleeved shirts."
So what exactly was their situation now?
Luke still did not quite understand.
"So, what are we now?"
"Weren't you the one who told me to express my feelings honestly to my friends? Then take responsibility."
Yumiko lowered her head and turned her gaze away.
She occasionally lifted her eyes toward his face, her clenched fingers lightly touching her lips.
"In short, let's try dating first… okay?"
It was that expression.
The same shy look she had shown when wearing glasses before.
Luke felt himself get struck once again.
"Okay."
His throat felt dry, and he suddenly wanted water.
"This is what you call a fastball, right? How effective was it?"
After asking, Yumiko pressed her lips together.
"A fastball… effectiveness?"
Luke thought for a moment.
"It was pretty effective."
Then he suddenly remembered something.
"Miura, do you have any wishes?"
He had begun doubting his previous guess about [A Maiden's Prayer].
Complete a girl's wish and unlock a trait.
Now he suspected that the first wish he had completed might have belonged to someone else.
"A wish…"
Yumiko pondered.
Luke quietly waited for her answer.
"I don't have any special wishes right now."
She smiled slightly.
"But before this… I did want to tell my friends how I truly felt and hear their true feelings in return."
"The experience was pretty good."
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