Saiki looked at the two of them. (How did this turn into "if I don't go it won't work"? Aren't they basically forcing me to come along? This is way too cunning.)
[All right, I'll go.]
"Great!"
Izumi and Shikimori tightly clasped their hands together, as if they had just sealed some kind of pact.
(You two…)
...
Saiki returned home, watched TV for a while, then heard his phone buzz with a message. He opened it and saw it was from Izumi Yuu.
"Saiki-kun, tomorrow at 12 o'clock is fine, right?"
Saiki replied with one sentence. "No problem."
He put the phone down and started thinking about what to eat tonight.
The phone buzzed again. He picked it up and saw it was from Shikimori.
"Saiki-kun, Izumi-kun and I messaged about meeting at 12 tomorrow, you know, right? Really looking forward to it ✧(◍˃̶ᗜ˂̶◍)✩"
On the other end of the phone, Shikimori was feeling nervous. After sending the message she immediately regretted it. [Izumi probably already told Saiki ahead of time. Sending another message now feels kind of unnecessary… ugh.]
But earlier she had spent a long time typing and retyping that message, striking a cool pose on her bed before finally hitting send. Really, she just wanted to chat with Saiki.
Shikimori stared intently at her phone until the reply came: "I know. I'm looking forward to it too."
Only then did she relax and start chatting properly.
Five minutes later...
Shikimori put her phone down with a satisfied smile and began picking out clothes. After a long time, the pile of clothes on her bed kept growing, but so did her frustration.
"Hm, which style should I wear?"
There were all kinds on the bed: pure and cute types, elegant types, mature types, classic types, cool and handsome types.
"Hey, I'm coming in."
A voice came from outside the door, followed by it opening. In walked a guy with the same pink hair, an earring, wearing a black hoodie, who looked somewhat similar to Shikimori but in a handsome way.
It was Shikimori's older brother, Shikimori Tou.
"You're so loud."
Shikimori replied calmly. "I'm not being loud at all."
Shikimori Tou glanced at the variety of clothes scattered across his little sister's bed. "You going out?"
"Eh~"
Shikimori turned her head away a little shyly. "Just going out with friends tomorrow to hang out."
Shikimori Tou asked curiously. "What kind of friends?"
"Not telling you, big brother."
Shikimori Tou acted like he'd been struck. "That hurts."
But seeing how serious his sister looked, he decided not to press further.
Saturday...
[It's 11 already. Time to head out.]
Saiki stood up and walked toward the door. He heard a knock, opened it, and saw Shiina Mahiru standing there holding a plate of spring rolls.
"Saiki-kun, hello. These are spring rolls I made. If you don't mind, please take them."
[It's Shiina-san. Thanks. How's your foot?]
Saiki reached out to take the plate, picked up a spring roll, and took a bite.
[Hm, pretty tasty.]
"My foot is a lot better. At least now I can move around by myself without it being as inconvenient as yesterday. Saiki-kun, are you heading out?"
Shiina Mahiru asked after noticing Saiki looked ready to leave.
Saiki ate two of the spring rolls, then put the rest in the fridge.
[Yeah, I made plans with some classmates. I'll head out first.]
"Then, see you later." Shiina Mahiru smiled and waved.
Actually, she had come today hoping to spend the weekend chatting properly with Saiki. She didn't really have many friends and just wanted someone to talk to. But since he already had plans, she couldn't force him to stay.
...
[Hm, these spring rolls make a nice appetizer. The more I eat, the hungrier I get.]
After finishing the last bite of spring roll, Saiki spotted Izumi Yuu ahead of him.
Saiki walked forward, placed a hand on Izumi Yuu's shoulder, and greeted him. [Izumi-kun, hi. You're really early.]
The latter jumped in surprise, patted his chest, and turned around to see it was Saiki.
"Saiki-kun, it's you! Do you seriously walk without making any sound?"
[Sorry. Let's walk together.]
Izumi Yuu clenched his fist excitedly. "Sure, let's go together!"
Izumi Yuu caught up to Saiki's pace. [Good thing I had the foresight to leave early. That was the right call.]
[This morning when I left the house, the strap on my backpack suddenly broke. Then later I found a lost kid and had to take him to the police station. I foresaw it ahead of time, so leaving early was no problem.]
(If you can predict things like that, are you some kind of esper?)
The two arrived at the meeting spot and saw Shikimori, who seemed to have been waiting there for a while already.
"Shikimori-san, you're really early."
Shikimori turned around and greeted them. "Saiki-kun, Izumi-kun, hello. Sorry, I came a bit early."
[It's still 20 minutes before the planned time, but coming early is fine.]
After dressing up carefully, Shikimori wore a sleeveless white top with a bow tie detail on the upper body, paired with a black pleated half-skirt below. On her feet were open-toe high-heeled sandals, and she carried a new green single-shoulder bag. Combined with her already sky-high looks, she attracted stares from everyone around.
Izumi noticed too and spoke up. "Shikimori-san, you look really pretty dressed like that."
"Really?"
Shikimori tilted her head toward Saiki.
[It suits you very well. Looks good.]
Saiki couldn't come up with any other adjectives.
Shikimori gave a sweet smile, causing even more people to gather and stare. "Thanks!"
[We should probably head in soon.]
Saiki glanced at the growing crowd around them. Better not to stay here too long.
Izumi said excitedly. "Yeah, let's go then."
Saiki and the others arrived at the familiar store entrance and spotted some very familiar people.
At that moment, Akihisa was walking toward the entrance where Himeji Mizuki was waiting. She was wearing a green short-sleeved top paired with a white dress, looking youthful and bright.
Akihisa couldn't help blushing when he saw her.
"Akihisa, what are you standing there dazed for?"
Shimada Minami, who was behind Yoshii Akihisa, called out. She had also changed into casual clothes: a blue short-sleeved top paired with red shorts and a white camisole layered over it. Though something was missing up front, she still counted as a beautiful girl.
"Good morning, Himeji. Your outfit looks really nice."
"Thanks, but picking this outfit took forever. I almost ended up late."
Shimada Minami: "I had a headache too deciding what to wear. Luckily last year's shirt still fits."
At that moment Yoshii Akihisa decided to dig his own grave with a speech. "Eh, so that means you haven't grown at all since last year… your knee joints are still bending in impossible directions…"
Sure enough, before he could finish, Shimada Minami pinned him down, sat on his butt, grabbed both his legs, and bent them backward.
"Ow ow ow, I didn't even say anything yet!"
"I already knew what you were going to say." Shimada Minami kept applying pressure. Just then, familiar people appeared yet again.
Tsuchiya Kouta was holding a camera, once again exploring mysteries. "Almost, almost."
[Yare yare daze, running into them here too.]
Behind him, Izumi and Shikimori also greeted the people ahead. "Hey there. Didn't expect Yoshii Akihisa and the others to be just as lively outside of school."
"Why is the secretly perverted guy here with Saiki…"
"Voluntary practice."
[I think the reason I came is probably the same as yours.]