Chapter 25: Do You Like Tailing? 2

After preparing various items needed for tailing at Hachiya’s house, Akaishi and Hachiya left when there was less than an hour until 12 o’clock.

Their destination was La Torche.

They arrived near La Torche.

While walking, Akaishi asked Hachiya a question.

“Hey Hachiya, can I ask you one thing?”

“Make it quick.”

“Isn’t tailing someone a crime?”

Hachiya’s feet stopped abruptly.

She slowly turned her head with a creaking motion as if rusty gears were turning, and her eyes met Akaishi’s.

“Listen up? For today only, we’re a couple. We’re a clueless countryside couple who came to the city for fun. You’re the pathetic boyfriend who researched everything on the net to escort his naive girlfriend, but everything backfires. We just happened to come to the city for fun and coincidentally ran into Sousuke. That’s the setting.”

“Why is the setting so overly detailed? Also, my role sounds like the absolute worst.”

“Shh! Hide for a bit!”

Just as Akaishi was about to argue back, Hachiya gave him instructions. With no choice, he crouched near some nearby shrubs and hid behind the thick leaves.

“Sousuke………… I can’t believe he came so early. He really is so kind…”

Hachiya peeked out from behind the leaves, gazing at Sakurai with an entranced look.

When she checked the time, it was 11:15.

“No, forty-five minutes early is definitely too much. Rather than kind, isn’t it just poor time management?”

“What are you saying! It’s Sousuke’s consideration so he doesn’t make the other person wait! You really don’t understand the subtleties of romance! That’s why you’re unpopular!”

“You’re not popular either.”

“I am popular!”

We’ve had this exchange before, Akaishi recalled.

“Then that means Sakurai is so madly in love with his date partner that he absolutely doesn’t want to make her wait, so he’s fidgeting while checking his watch right now. In that case, poor time management seems better.”

“……………………”

Upon hearing Akaishi’s words, Hachiya looked down and clenched her fists.

Shit, he instinctively realized.

He deeply regretted getting worked up again and saying something that hurt Hachiya. In truth, Akaishi believed it was almost certainly correct that Sakurai was fidgeting because of the person he was meeting for the date. However, he didn’t think it was right to tell Hachiya that. Yet he had gotten defensive and laid out his reasoning in response to her objection, even though he knew it would deeply wound her.

Through their repeated interactions, Akaishi had seen through Hachiya’s mental fragility. On the surface she acted tough, but inside she was very brittle.

Akaishi fell silent, deeply reflecting on his actions.

A heavy, gloomy atmosphere filled the air.

After some time passed, Hachiya wiped the corners of her eyes.

“Sorry…………”

Akaishi apologized.

He was a rational thinker, but he wasn’t so heartless that he could remain completely logical after seeing a girl’s tears.

“What are you sorry for! Hurry up and keep watching Sousuke!”

Hachiya returned to normal as if nothing had happened. She looked toward Sakurai.

Her eyes were much more bloodshot than usual.

“Good mor~ning, Sakurai-kun. Sorry, did you wait long?”

“Nah, not at all! I just got here literally right now!”

It was 11:40.

Twenty-five minutes had passed since Akaishi and Hachiya arrived.

The person who came to Sakurai was, as expected, Mizushiro.

Mizushiro and Sakurai chatted cheerfully as they entered La Torche.

“Just as I thought, Sousuke is on a date with another girl!”

Hachiya, who had been watching Sakurai from the shadows, muttered with clear anger in her voice.

Akaishi and Hachiya moved to a bench that was out of sight from inside La Torche.

Right before Sakurai and Mizushiro entered La Torche, for a brief instant — so short it was almost rude to even count it as time — Akaishi thought Sakurai glanced in their direction.

It might have been his imagination. But he couldn’t shake the feeling that Sakurai had looked their way.

La Torche —

A luxurious and stylish café that opened near the station a few years ago. It was extremely popular among high school girls, and even now many of them were taking photos of their drinks inside.

Hachiya glared at the rendezvous between Sakurai and Mizushiro with obvious displeasure on her face.

“I don’t like this at all……”

“Your face looks like an evil demon right now.”

Hachiya’s glare at Sakurai and Mizushiro was truly demonic.

A few minutes after they started surveillance—

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

“…………”

Hachiya’s stomach growled.

She pressed her hand against her belly and looked at Akaishi.

“I’m hungry. It’s your fault I didn’t eat breakfast. I was cleaning the house.”

“Don’t blame me for that.”

In a normal rom-com, the heroine would blush here and desperately try to stop her stomach from growling, but since the other person was Akaishi, that didn’t happen.

Akaishi felt a bit disappointed but also sensed something like a wild child’s instinct in Hachiya’s behavior.

“Akaishi, go buy me some food from that nearby convenience store. I’m busy watching Sousuke. Hurry up.”

“You………… well, fine.”

Even though he was being used, Akaishi gave up and went to the convenience store to buy food.

“I’m back.”

“You’re late.”

“That’s not how you greet someone who bought stuff for you.”

Akaishi took out the food he bought from his backpack.

“The total comes to 3,056 yen.”

“Hey, are you seriously trying to take money from a girl!? Also that’s way too expensive! What did you even buy!?”

Hachiya looked genuinely shocked at Akaishi’s sudden demand for money.

“Hey hey, it’s fine. It’s not like we’re dating or anything.”

“Even so, 3,056 yen is too much!”

Akaishi showed her the receipt.

“It’s 356 yen. Whatever, I’ll treat you. Be grateful.”

“I’ll be a tiny bit grateful.”

Akaishi did not actually ask Hachiya for money. Although demanding money would have been very in-character for the rational Akaishi, he decided that even a small amount might earn her displeasure, so he treated her.

He told himself internally that he wanted to look good in front of her, but in this case, that wasn’t his intention. Akaishi simply didn’t demand money from others unless it was a significant amount, regardless of who it was.

He avoided earning people’s displeasure. And he didn’t try to buy favor with money.

The rational Akaishi weighed people’s emotions against monetary value and calculated which brought more benefit. He was the type of person who even calculated human feelings in terms of money.

“Here, this.”

Akaishi handed Hachiya two jam buns and a carton of milk.

Hachiya looked down at the food she received with a dumbfounded expression.

“Hey, are you stupid!? Jam buns and milk for a girl!? Is there something wrong with your head!? You should’ve bought sandwiches!”

“No, when you’re on a stakeout, jam buns and milk are standard.”

“I’m a girl!? Why jam buns and milk!? You definitely have a few screws loose! Also, even if we give you a hundred steps and say jam buns and milk are okay, this is weird!”

Hachiya thrust the milk Akaishi gave her right in front of his face.

The one-liter carton of milk.

“It’s one liter! One! Liter! Have you ever seen a girl drinking a whole liter of milk straight from the carton outside!? It’s impossible!”

“I thought you’d say that, so I got a straw too.”

“That’s not the problem!”

Akaishi offered the straw, but Hachiya slapped it away with a pesh.

“…………”

He silently picked it up.

Through his repeated conversations with Hachiya, Akaishi was gradually showing more of his true nature.

Behind his rational, emotionless actions, he also had a childish side that enjoyed teasing others.

Just like when he talked with Suda, his fondness for meaningless jokes was slowly being directed toward Hachiya as well.

For Akaishi, behaving this way toward others was a sign of a slight change in his emotions.

Chapter 25_ Do You Like Tailing