My Childhood Friend, Sometimes a Schoolgirl—She Only Wears That Ribbon Around Me - Episode 31

It was Saturday, the day of my date with Saho Minamikata.

“Uuuuuu… hmm…”

Nervous, I—Sora Tsuzuki—woke up early and was now standing in front of my mirror in my room, groaning as I carefully considered what to wear today.

The meeting time was 1 p.m., and it was just before 9 a.m. now. Since the meeting spot was nearby, I still had about three hours to spare. But my heart had no spare time at all.

Since entering high school, I’d admired this girl from afar, and now, by some stroke of luck, I had a chance to go out just the two of us—beating out the other guys.

I couldn’t settle for anything less than my absolute best look.

“No good, none of these feels right!”

I’d never imagined a day like this would come, so I didn’t even have a single “winning outfit” ready for hanging out with a girl.

I tossed the rejected clothes onto the floor and flopped onto my bed, feeling hopeless. But then, worried my hair would get messed up, I quickly sat up again.

“Sigh… what do I even do?”

“You seem troubled, kid.”

“That’s right. I have no fashion sense and no clue what’s right.”

“Sometimes simple is best. Trying to look fancy is fine, but if you stumble, it just looks lame. Wear something that fits you and keep it consistent — that way you won’t mess up.”

“That makes sense… Wait, how did you just walk into my room like that!?”

My older sister, Kanami Tsuzuki, had quietly come in without a sound, and I couldn’t help but raise my voice.

I was so caught off guard that my reaction was slow.

“Well, it’s Saturday, but I heard noises from your room next door and woke up. When I peeked in and saw you having fun or something, I just came on in.”

“Sorry for waking you up.”

Seeing her now, still in her short-sleeve T-shirt and shorts pajamas, I felt bad for disturbing her precious sleep time.

On weekdays, she gets up early to make breakfast, but since she doesn’t have vocational school on weekends or holidays, she usually sleeps in until noon or so.

Her room is right next to mine, and the wall between isn’t very thick. In the quiet countryside morning, even small sounds stick out.

“Today’s the date, right? Don’t worry about it. I get why you’re so worked up.”

Kanami smiled and waved her hands like she was brushing off my worries.

“But it’s rare for you, who normally has zero interest in fashion, to suddenly get all fancy. You don’t even usually use wax to style your hair, right?”

“Well, sometimes…”

“Doesn’t suit you.”

“Wow, straight-up rude!”

I’d half suspected that but hearing it from her hit my confidence even more.

“Sorry, my bad. It’s just that your styling looks off because you’re bad at it.”

“Can’t help it. It’s the first time I’ve used wax in a while.”

“I get why you want to look good for a date, but don’t overdo it or you’ll mess up. Don’t just style your hair for a special day — practice in everyday life so it comes naturally.”

I couldn’t argue with that. On school mornings, I barely fix my bed hair, so I regretted being lazy before.

“Seriously though, why all the fuss about clothes and hair just today? You’re fine as usual.”

“Yeah, I’m fine… but I want to make a good impression, even if just a little.”

“Even if you try to fake it, doesn’t Yua prefer you the way you usually are?”

Kanami tilted her head, looking puzzled.

I realized she must be assuming I’m going out with Yua, since I hadn’t told her who I was meeting.

“Just so you know, I’m not going out with Yua today.”

“Huh? Then who the heck are you going out with?”

“Not ‘heck’—‘bone.’”

I wasn’t going out with any horse dung.

“…This isn’t some kind of setup, right?”

“Don’t be rude about someone you don’t even know. She’s just a classmate, nothing unusual.”

“Oh, so Sora’s going out with someone other than Yua? Huh…”

Kanami usually teases me endlessly, but today she looked kind of displeased and rubbed her cheek.

“Does Yua know about this?”

“Yeah, she does.”

“And she’s okay with it?”

“She said, ‘Congratulations. Have fun.’”

“Ohh, I see, I see.”

She looked like she wanted to say more but seemed satisfied for now, nodding as if convincing herself: “If Yua’s fine with it, then okay.”

On the way home the day I made the date with Minamikata, Yua’s reaction still lingered in my mind like a fog.

I guess Kanami felt it too—that Yua might have some sort of rejection about me going out with another girl.

But instead of a bad reaction, Yua had actually encouraged me.

Yua and I were just childhood friends, classmates of the opposite s3x—yet the childhood “marriage” promise still held some invisible hold on me.

I was still unsettled by her words on the day she transferred: “If I can meet you again, Sora-kun, maybe I can fulfill that marriage promise… I kind of daydreamed about it.”

I was excited about the date with Minamikata, and I was clearly over the moon. But even so, Yua’s presence never left my mind.

“Geez… we really raised a troublesome kid, huh?”

Kanami sighed deeply at me, whose mood had become complicated with all these thoughts—when I should have been excited before my date.

“That face isn’t fair to your date either.”

She sat on my bed, grabbed both my cheeks with one hand each, and forced me to look at her.

“I’ll decide your hair and clothes.”

“Wait, can you do guys’ hair too?”

“I style my own hair, which is way longer than yours, every day. This length is a piece of cake!”

She seriously adjusted my bangs, then moved behind me to fix the back.

“I don’t fully understand how you two think, but I’m rooting for you both to have a ‘good relationship’ at least.”

“I kinda figured that.”

“Friends, lovers, acquaintances… no matter what you two end up as, I hope you both can accept it. And honestly, as your sister, I just want you to be happy.”

She stood up from the bed and beckoned me over.

“So like Yua said, go enjoy yourself today. If you keep that gloomy face, your date will ditch you halfway, and you’ll be left alone to sadly… you know.”

She gathered the clothes scattered on the floor and held them up one by one, matching them to me.

Having a fashion student sister pick out my outfit was a huge relief for indecisive me.