Chapter 5: An Unexpected Encounter

 

Past 10 PM, the night had grown deep.

A waning moon hung dimly in the western sky, looking as if it might sink behind the mountains at any moment.

Most people had returned home by now, and children would already be fast asleep, lost in their dreams.

Despite it being so late that he risked getting picked up by the police, Yuuma was riding his bicycle away from his usual route—the opposite direction from the station with its familiar supermarket and convenience store.

His destination was a convenience store at the edge of a residential area, where it intersected with the prefectural road.

His purpose: to buy protection. He’d chosen this time and place specifically to minimize the chance of running into people, especially anyone he knew. Of course, while he knew of its existence, this store was far from his usual haunts—somewhere he’d never actually visited before.

Though fairly busy during the day, at this hour things were quiet.

He made it to his target convenience store after passing just a few cars.

After parking his bike, Yuuma buttoned his jacket all the way up and pulled his knit cap down low over his eyes before looking up at the store again.

Being a different chain from his usual convenience store only added to the feeling that its entrance was like a portal to another world.

His heart was racing uncomfortably fast with a mix of guilt and excitement, as if he were about to do something forbidden.

After confirming his wallet was still in his pants pocket, Yuuma cautiously entered the store, glancing around nervously.

“…………”

A short distance from the register was a bored-looking male clerk who appeared to be college-aged. There was also a man in sweats who seemed to be from the neighborhood, reading manga magazines without buying them. As expected, there weren’t many people around.

Now then, where would they keep the protection?

This being his first time, he had no idea.

Perhaps it would be in a section with items people didn’t commonly purchase.

Trying his best to suppress his pounding heart and maintain a calm appearance, Yuuma walked through the store, keeping his face still while his eyes swept over the shelves.

But even after checking the back of the store, he couldn’t find what he was looking for. Yuuma furrowed his brow unconsciously. Given the nature of the item, it was probably kept somewhere less obvious.

He darted his eyes around. The clerk was busy with something behind the register, and the customer was still reading manga. After confirming no one was watching him, Yuuma began carefully examining the shelves again.

First, he headed to what he thought would be the most likely spot—the men’s grooming section. Hair wax, facial cleansers, antiperspirants, shaving gel, et cetera. Though surprised by the unexpectedly wide variety of such products, he still couldn’t find what he was looking for.

Next, he moved on to the women’s section. His face reddened with embarrassment as he searched among items completely foreign to him as a male—various cosmetics and supplements, stockings and feminine hygiene products—but still no luck.

He even checked the stationery corner with its pens, notebooks, and envelopes, though he knew it wouldn’t be there, his expression growing increasingly troubled.

Could they not carry it at all? But no—Suzuka had said she bought hers at a convenience store, and unlike alcohol or cigarettes, surely it didn’t require a special license to sell. He dismissed the thought.

Finally, in the section with toothbrushes, toilet paper, detergent, and bandages, he found what he was looking for quietly tucked away on the bottom shelf between boxes of tissues and cooling patches.

(So they treat it as a daily necessity…)

He let out a sigh of relief that they actually had it. Indeed, it was something used regularly to prevent various inconveniences. Though the unexpected categorization made sense, he couldn’t help but give a small chuckle.

But when he went to reach for it, sudden embarrassment welled up and his hand wouldn’t move.

A strange resistance filled his chest at the thought of buying condoms here and now.

It felt like reaching for something forbidden.

His heart was pounding uncomfortably loud.

He didn’t really have a choice about not buying it here. Naturally, considering Suzuka.

Still, it was something he’d had absolutely no connection to until very recently.

Feeling like everyone around him must be thinking “Is he really the type who needs something like that?”, he found himself glancing nervously around the store. Relieved to see both the clerk and the manga-reading customer weren’t looking his way, he stepped away from the shelf.

He felt the need to calm himself down for a moment.

Taking a small breath as if to reset, he decided to wait until he was the only customer left before buying it and headed to the drink section for now.

He vaguely scanned what was available, his eyes moving up and down and side to side a few times before safely choosing his usual brand of tea.

Next, he aimlessly moved his gaze around the bread and snack section.

He wasn’t particularly hungry, nor did he intend to buy anything.

But when he noticed a boxed chocolate that was about the same size as the condom box, he quickly grabbed it, thinking it might serve as camouflage.

Glancing at the magazine section, he saw the man was still browsing.

As he was mentally willing the guy to leave already, a certain magazine caught his eye. “This Summer’s Hottest Hairstyles!” blazed across the cover of a popular men’s fashion magazine—the same one he’d seen in Kousei’s room.

Looking at his reflection in the window, he saw his own overgrown hair that he’d just let grow out.

He grimaced involuntarily.

While he made an effort to stay clean, he was far from stylish.

In fact, he’d never cared about hairstyles before, only getting it cut at cheap places as long as it wasn’t in the way.

Looking at himself now, he was the type to fade into the background of the classroom, unremarkable. He tried imagining himself standing next to Suzuka as she was now.

“…………”

No matter how he looked at it, they didn’t seem to match at all.

It was the same when compared to Kousei and Riko. Yuuma alone stood out awkwardly, completely unstylish.

How ridiculous that someone like him was buying condoms.

His feet naturally carried him to the magazine, and he started flipping through the pages while clutching his tea and chocolate.

Though the terminology was unfamiliar, even to Yuuma’s fashion-ignorant eyes, the clothes and accessories featured inside all looked incredibly stylish.

He let out a small grunt of appreciation and was just thinking it might be worth referring to when he noticed the browsing customer heading to the bathroom.

“!”

Seizing his chance, Yuuma, still holding the magazine, quickly grabbed the condoms and headed to the register.

Though anxious as the clerk slowly made his way over after noticing him, he tried to keep his expression neutral.

The clerk scanned the magazine and boxed chocolate, and though Yuuma’s throat caught when the condoms were scanned, he managed to stay casual as the tea was rung up too, feeling relieved.

“Would you like a paper bag?”

“…Eh, paper? Um…”

His shoulders jumped at the clerk’s unexpected question.

He didn’t understand what it meant. A plastic bag would make sense.

As Yuuma’s eyes darted around uncertainly, the clerk lazily gestured toward the condoms with his eyes.

Yuuma’s face instantly turned bright red, and he replied in a high-pitched voice:

“Y-yes, please!”

“And a plastic bag—”

“That too, please!”

No sooner had he spoken than the clerk placed the condom box in a brown paper bag, then into a plastic shopping bag. Only then did Yuuma realize the paper bag was meant to keep certain items away from prying eyes.

“That’ll be 1,976 yen.”

“T-two thousand yen!”

“Cash payment over there—”

“R-right!”

While the clerk expertly packed the items into the shopping bag, Yuuma’s cheeks grew even hotter as he fumbled with the self-checkout payment.

He was aware he was acting completely suspicious. Fortunately, the clerk didn’t seem to pay him much mind. Perhaps he was used to dealing with similar cases.

“Thank you for your purchase~”

Almost snatching the bag, Yuuma kept his head down and quickly headed for the exit.

His business was done. Time to get out of here. More than anything, he just wanted to leave this place as soon as possible.

“Oh, Kawai-kun?”

“Ah, Ueda-san…?”

But at that moment, he ran right into Sayuki who was entering the convenience store.

Sayuki was dressed casually in a sweatshirt and track pants—clearly she’d just thrown on some loungewear to come from home. Running into Yuuma must have caught her completely off guard. Her large, downturned eyes went wide, blinking in surprise as if to ask “why here?” She shifted awkwardly, seeming a bit embarrassed.

Yuuma likewise hadn’t expected to run into anyone he knew. His stomach dropped, and he reflexively clutched the shopping bag to his chest as if to hide his purchases.

Of course, such an obvious action only suggested he’d bought something suspicious.

Sayuki’s eyes changed to a puzzled look as they focused on the shopping bag.

Cold sweat ran down Yuuma’s spine as he took a step backward.

His heart was pounding so hard it hurt, feeling like it might burst at any moment.

—He needed to make some excuse.

But his mind had gone completely blank, and no words would come out.

“…Hehe.”

“!?”

Suddenly, Sayuki’s cheeks relaxed into a small smile.

Yuuma’s shoulders jumped in surprise.

Then, with a slightly mischievous expression, Sayuki leaned in close and whispered playfully in his ear:

“Could this be Kuramoto-kun and his sister’s influence?”

“Eh, ah…”

“That fashion magazine—my middle school brother just started getting interested in his appearance and bought the same one!”

“O-oh, really?”

“He goes to convenience stores far from home so his classmates won’t see him…”

“Urk…”

Sayuki gave him a warm, knowing smile.

It seemed she thought he, like her brother, had been influenced by others and was starting to care about fashion.

Honestly, while he was relieved by her misunderstanding, she had also hit uncomfortably close to the truth.

Sayuki watched with narrowed eyes as Yuuma’s face grew redder and redder.

Either way, this situation was unbearable.

Rolling an “Ah~” around in his mouth to cover his embarrassment, Yuuma asked Sayuki:

“Do you live around here, Ueda-san?”

“Yes, about five minutes away.”

“What are you here to buy?”

“Body soap. I was about to take a bath when I realized I’d run out.”

“I see… Well, I should get going.”

“Okay, see you at school.”

After that innocuous exchange to diffuse the situation, he headed to his bicycle.

He calmly placed the shopping bag in the basket and started pedaling slowly, but as soon as the convenience store’s lights disappeared from view, he began cycling with all his might.

His mind was still in complete chaos.

Yet a strange sense of elation and accomplishment enveloped him.

The night breeze felt good against his flushed cheeks.

The moment he got home, Yuuma went straight to his room and immediately sent Suzuka a message to report his success.

《Got them. Was super nervous.》

He let out a big sigh and started to regain his composure.

As he took out the box of condoms and was wondering where to store them, his phone rang. It was Suzuka.

『Oh, Yuu-kun, you bought them! Did you get the scented or flavored ones?』

“Just the regular ones. I mean, I didn’t exactly have time to browse carefully. My heart was racing the whole time.”

『Ahaha, right? Same here. I could barely bring myself to pick them up—I even bought a box of chocolates as camouflage!』

“What, you too? Me too! I bought tea as well, trying to look like someone who just dropped by for a snack.”

『I totally get it! So embarrassing, right?』

“And get this—I ran into Ueda-san on my way out. Talk about panic!”

『Oh no! Were you okay!?』

“I managed to play it off somehow? She definitely thought I was acting suspicious, but she saw the fashion magazine I bought and seemed to think that’s what I was there for.”

『Eh!? Yuu-kun bought a fashion magazine!? What in the world got into you!?』

“What’s wrong with that? …Besides, both you and Kousei have completely changed your looks recently, and I’m the only one who stands out awkwardly now.”

『Ah, so that’s what Ueda-senpai must have thought.』

“Exactly!”

He told her about what had happened, and they both giggled together.

It felt like his tense heart was finally starting to unwind.

This secret conversation just between him and Suzuka was incredibly fun, like they were kids planning some mischief together.

The conversation flowed so naturally that they kept chatting about silly things until they both eventually fell asleep.