Chapter 20: Since He Was Trial-and-Erroring, I Decided to Just Watch

“Haruto, what do you think of this?”

Youta emerged from the fitting room wearing a red tube top and short shorts, beaming as she asked.

With her chest thrust out, she stood tall in a confident power pose.

“…Looks good to me.”

When we arrived at the department store, the first place we headed was the clothing shop.
Youta said she wanted to do some scouting for summer outfits.

“You’re always doing this.”

“I mean it, though…”

It wasn’t that I was just repeating myself out of laziness.
I honestly thought everything looked good on her.

I’m not exactly well-versed in the beauty standards of this world.
Still, I do know that the Youta standing in front of me now is undeniably a stunning girl who draws attention wherever she goes.

Silver hair and dusky skin.
Her look was almost otherworldly—like she’d wandered in from a foreign fantasy.

“Okay, next one.”

“Roger that.”

Youta disappeared back into the fitting room. I waited nearby.

I guess this kind of thing was called a fashion show.
I remembered Youta once grumbling about how exhausting it was to go shopping with his little sister.

And now, here she was dragging me around instead. Life’s ironic like that.

Still, I didn’t dislike this time we were spending together.
If she asked me to wait, I’d wait as long as it took.

After all, Youta was smiling like she was shining from the inside out.

A smile I’d never once seen just six months ago.

“How about this one?”

This time she wore a light pink dress.
She spun around once, like she was about to start dancing—
combined with her looks, she could’ve passed for a fairy.

“I think it looks great…”

“You always say that.”

Youta’s smile wavered a bit at my response.
But I didn’t know how to come up with clever compliments, so it couldn’t be helped.

“Everything looks good on you, Youta.”

“…I still don’t get what your tastes are.”

“Huh?”

Youta muttered something strange under her breath.

Why would my preferences matter when it came to what she was wearing?
Did I mishear?

“What was that, Youta?”

“N-nothing! It’s nothing!”

Youta cut me off in a panic.
Hmm. No idea what that was about.

—Right. I’d nearly forgotten our original purpose here.
Since we came all this way, we ought to follow through with it.

“Is there anything you actually want, Youta?”

“Hmm…”

Youta stared at the clothes lined up on the rack, clearly torn.
That reaction gave me some hope.

But—

“Nothing really jumps out at me.”

“…I see.”

Flat rejection.

Come to think of it, Youta usually liked the color blue.
But today, most of the outfits she tried were far from that palette.

Almost like she was deliberately avoiding them.

Maybe this was part of an image makeover or something.
Well, trying new things isn’t a bad approach.

---

In the end, it seemed nothing caught Youta’s eye.

Naturally, that meant our gift hunt ended in failure, too.

I could just ask her directly what she wants—but I already know she’d turn me down.
She’s the type who still feels guilty over me paying for lunch a few weeks ago and started making bentos to repay me.

—From my perspective, it doesn’t matter.
Sooner or later, I won’t need money in this world anymore.

For now, we were resting in the food court near the department store entrance.
Enjoying some soft serve ice cream.

Youta spooned some vanilla into her mouth.
Meanwhile, I took a bite out of a chocolate-banana cone. That flavor had been her suggestion.

At the shop, she’d hesitated, saying “Vanilla’s classic, but I kinda want to try something new…”

So I offered, “Then I’ll get the chocolate-banana,” stepping in to help.

“Youta. Want a bite?”

I held it out to her when she looked at it longingly.

“Huh? You sure?”

“Yeah. I planned to share it from the start. Take as much as you like.”

“I figured you’d just tell me how it tasted…”

“Don’t worry about it.”

I handed her the whole cone.

But even after taking it, she hesitated.

“What’s wrong? It’s melting.”

“It’s nothing, really…”

Finally deciding, she used a spoon to take a bite.
But right after, she handed it back to me.

“That’s all you want?”

“I’d feel bad if I took too much…”

So that’s what was bothering her.

She avoided my eyes, probably out of guilt.

“You could eat the whole thing, and I wouldn’t mind.”

“Wait… don’t tell me you didn’t like the flavor?”

“That’s not it.”

A cold, sweet treat.
Something I never had in my old life.

When Youta and the others visited me and brought some, the taste had blown me away.

…I remembered being on edge back then, worried I’d run into Kongou or Reona—though they weren’t going by those fake names at the time—because they happened to be visiting too.

“…You’ve mentioned before that it was your first time trying it. What was life like for you… over there?”

“Me? …It was mostly work. That’s why hanging out with you and Hagino felt so new to me.”

“I see… Sorry. That was a weird thing to ask.”

Youta drooped, looking remorseful.

Right… kids her age in this world would usually still be in school.
I’d completely forgotten that.

A short silence followed.

Eventually, after finishing the last bite of her soft serve, Youta finally spoke up again.

“Sorry for dragging you around… You must’ve been bored.”

Once again, she looked apologetic.
It seemed like she thought she’d gone overboard.

“Nah. Seeing you so happy made it all worth it.”

“…Haruto, do you say things like that on purpose?”

Youta puffed her cheeks and blushed.

When I tilted my head, she said:

“Jeez… Never mind. Let’s just head home.”

Then she tugged on my hand.