章 61: #61 The Mall 2
Yuichi filled the form and slid it towards the clerk while still having his hand on it, the clerk wanted to take it but Yuichi has yet to remove his hand which prompted him to once again look at Yuichi just to see him staring into his eyes with his own dull eyes without a single emotion visible within them.
"Thank you for your time" Yuichi thanked before his eyes became normal once again and he removed his hand from the counter.
"Y-yes, good day to you" The clerk said while casting a last glance at Sakura and Kushida.
.
.
.
"That clerk sure was something else...maybe a bit too passionate" Kushida brushed it off with only a bit awkward laugh when the group got out of the store with a slightly awkward/silent atmosphere.
"Creepy would be a much better word...I noticed the way he was looking at you two while you were busy checking that form" Mei rebuked with a slightly disgusted expression, making Yuichi slightly surprised that even she noticed the clerk's creepy glances.
"Y-yeah, I felt kind of disgusted, standing near him" Sakura meekly said.
"Eh? Really? Iwamura-kun?" Kushida was a bit surprised by their words so she turned to Yuichi for his opinion.
Yuichi just glanced at Kushida before frowning down while looking back at the electronic store's entrance.
"Yeah, something was off about him. It's one thing lightly hitting on the girl you just met but being so passionate about it as if he knew you his whole life is another matter...He certainly had that creepy aura around him." Yuichi said with a serious expression.
"Are you perhaps jealous?" Mei asked with a teasing smile, trying to ease the mood.
"Hehe, no way!" Kushida giggled and denied this statement even before Yuichi could even open his mouth.
"I am not sure if jealous would be a good word to use here... If I really liked Kushida-san that way, I would be more worried for her safety than jealous" Yuichi said with a faint smile. He understood that they wanted to ease the entire mood but it was a too serious matter for him to just joke about. Maybe if they knew about Sakura's secret, they would have understood his worries but he didn't plan to reveal it yet, there was no reason.
"Anyway, Sakura-san, there is no need to speak so formally with us." Kushida wasn't offended by his words at all and just said towards Sakura with her bright all-friendly smile.
"Eh? Do I sound...weird when I speak?" She asked with a slightly startled expression.
"No! It's not really a bad thing but I would feel more comfortable if you could talk to me less formally, though."
"...I will try" She agreed in a low voice, making it hard for them to hear her.
"Well, with this matter done, I guess we can go ba-" Yuichi wanted to turn around and leave the mall since he was practically just surrounded by many things he can buy and as much willpower he has, he knows that out there must be some things he will be tempted to buy.
However, when he was about to take a step forward, someone grasped the back of his shirt, prompting him to turn around with a confused expression.
"Since we are already here, how about we look around? Wouldn't it be kind of a waste to just leave the mall without buying anything or at least taking a look at a few things?" Mei suggested while firmly holding onto Yuichi's shirt, not letting him run away.
"That's great idea! I totally wanted to look at some swimsuits since I will need one during the summer vacation, my old one is already too small" Kushida agreed with enthusiasm.
"Eh..." Sakura didn't know what to do as she started looking back and forth between us.
"How about it, Sakura-san? Would you mind going with us?" Kushida asked with a smile.
"...All right, I will come" She weakly nodded her head while keeping her eyes down.
"Don't I have any say in this? I mean...If it's only about swimsuits then you can do so alone, on the contrary, I think that my presence would pose only problems." Yuichi asked.
"Not at all! Having an opinion of the opposite gender will be very useful!" Kushida explained with a bright smile, however, Yuichi didn't seem convinced one bit.
"You promised..." Mei said in low voice, cutely pouting her lips.
"Tsk, fine, fine, no need to hold me, I won't run away." Yuichi said and Mei finally let go of his shirt, prompting him to fix it a little bit before glancing back at the girls.
The group went to explore the mall and many shops although there was a time when Yuichi decided to stay outside of the store of it was too girly. He didn't really want to be seen in such stores in the company of 3 girls. Oddly enough, even Sakura decided to stay outside of such stores. Well, at least it gave two of them time to talk and grow closer to each other.
"I-Iwamura-kun, I- thank you for your help with that repairs form today...I don't think I would have been able to fill in the information." Sakura thanked Yuichi while they were waiting for Mei and Kushida. She seemed much more comfortable around him by now, however, she still had trouble looking straight into his eyes, but Yuichi was most likely already aware of why is that so.
'She likes to avoid eye contact however it doesn't seem like she is uncomfortable right now when talking to me...It is possible that she tries to avoid attention and possible discovery of her second personality "Shizuku". After all, the only reason why I was so skeptical if Shizuku is really Sakura was because of her glasses, very quiet attitude, and weak presence' Yuichi thought as Sakura was thanking him.
"It was nothing, even I was a bit uncomfortable around that clerk. Looks like you successfully saw through my act back there" Yuichi waved his hand before mentioning his excuse from before with a faint smile.
"I know that Iwamura-kun's hobby is drawing and even though my hobby is similar, in the truth they can be viewed as rivalries." Sakura mentioned a very interesting topic.
"Hmm, true, they can be somewhat viewed as rivalries, however, that doesn't mean I wouldn't want to at least try it. But I indeed find it more appealing to put in more effort into illustrating the view." Yuichi replied.
"...Iwamura-kun, I-I might be able to help with Sudo's case, as thanks for today's help" Sakura weakly said after a minute of silence while showing a small memory card held between her 2 fingers. As she was showing it, her entire hand was shaking in fear.
Yuichi was aware that this memory card has to contain a lot of "Shizuku's" pictures and that should be the sole reason for her fear and hesitation.
"Sakura-san, you shouldn't help just because you feel some kind of obligation to do so. Maybe Sudo's case will be resolved even without a need of solid evidence." Yuichi shook his head when he noticed her shaky hand.
"N-No! I mean...I want to help because I feel like I would regret it if I just kept quiet when I could help my classmate." Sakura said while looking downward with a slightly sad expression.
"You want to help despite being aware that it will cost you 'something' precious?" Yuichi asked with a serious expression, he himself felt that it was a bit too early for Sakura to reveal herself, he couldn't bring himself to believe in her.
"Eh?" Sakura was surprised by hearing this as if he knew more than she was aware of.
"...Yes" Sakura clenched her hand with the memory card in it and pressed it to her heart before replying with closed eyes while looking down.
"...*sigh* All right, if you truly think that you are ready...I can't stop you, instead, I should help you and encourage you." Yuichi sighed before nodding his head with an encouraging smile.
Sakura's lips parted as she stared at Yuichi's encouraging smile, she only realized what she was doing a while after, she shook her head to recover before she once again looked down with a slightly flushed face.
'She has no problem talking with Mei but when it comes to overly friendly Kushida, she still keeps her distance, as if she saw something dangerous in her...However, if that was the case...I-' Yuichi was contemplating why was Sakura keeping her distance from Kushida before he arrived at a plausible theory which immediately made him think about himself.
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