After leaving the cram school, Miyahito rode his motorcycle and quickly arrived at a nearby shopping street full of lively, everyday atmosphere.
Skillfully stopping his motorcycle in front of a fruit shop he frequented, Miyahito swung his leg over, casually placed his removed helmet on the seat, and was just about to check what fresh fruits they had today when.
"Yo, Aragaki-kun." Seeing him, the owner greeted him with a smile. "Why are you here so early today? Just finished cram school?"
"Good afternoon, Uncle Kageyama."
Miyahito smiled and nodded in acknowledgment. As he skillfully opened the cooler door to pick out pre-packaged fruits, he casually added.
"My little sister came to Tokyo to hang out with me today, so I stopped by Uncle Kageyama's place to buy some fruit."
"Oh, I see. No wonder you're the only one here today."
Noticing the owner winking at him teasingly, acting like a bro, Miyahito shrugged.
"What can I do? I had class today. Besides, she told me yesterday she spotted a few dresses that she thought would suit Ayase perfectly."
"So, poor me has to go shopping all by myself."
Hearing Miyahito's comical, self-pitying tone of a 'lonely man', the fruit shop owner couldn't help but burst into hearty laughter.
Reaching out and patting Miyahito's shoulder with force, the owner laughed heartily and said something extremely chuunibyou.
"This is what it means to be an otoko (a real man)! Enduring the burdens and loneliness of life for the sake of your wife and family!"
"Savor it slowly, Aragaki-kun. This is a flavor only adults can appreciate."
Miyahito grimaced slightly, dodging the owner's hand that was slapping his back loud enough to shake the heavens. He exaggeratedly clutched his shoulder and yelled at the owner in an 'I'm mortally wounded!' tone.
"My arm is broken! I demand compensation. Uncle Kageyama, hurry up and bring out your shop's treasure!!"
Don't let the owner's loud slaps on Miyahito's back fool you into thinking he was using much force. Both Miyahito and the owner knew it was just 'bluffing' and he hadn't used much strength at all.
However, facing Miyahito's exaggerated 'demand', the owner played along perfectly, putting on an expression of having caused a disaster.
"I'm out of the shop's treasure, but early this morning, I just got a fresh batch of freshly picked Tochiotome strawberries."
Hearing the name from the owner's mouth, Miyahito's eyes instantly lit up, and he spoke without hesitation.
"Awesome! Uncle Kageyama never disappoints!"
"Of course!" The owner crossed his arms, a smug expression on his face. "The usual?"
"Yeah! The usual!"
Miyahito nodded, his expression and eyes seeming to say, Uncle Kageyama just gets me.
"Alright, I'll go get it for you."
Saying this, the owner turned and walked into the cold storage room behind the shop. When he returned to Miyahito, he had a bag in his hand.
"Here you go, Uncle Kageyama."
Taking the bag from the owner, Miyahito skillfully handed over the counted bills.
"Alright, exact change. Thanks for your business, kid."
"Alright, I'll be heading out then, Uncle Kageyama."
"Take care."
After bidding farewell to the fruit shop owner and stowing his purchase in the rear storage box, Miyahito was just about to get on his bike and leave when an unexpected figure suddenly caught his peripheral vision.
"Isn't that Tachibana-sensei?"
Bumping into his homeroom teacher on a day off was, for Miyahito, who was frequently called to the office and scolded every other day, a situation as severe as "the new Kamen Rider series being written by Toshiki Inoue."
His neck instinctively shrank. He hurriedly grabbed the full-face helmet from the seat, put it on his head, and mounted the motorcycle with fluid, practiced movements. Just as he was about to start the bike and make a run for it, another faintly familiar figure suddenly appeared beside the teacher.
Hmm... why does she look so familiar?
Watching the man and woman on the other side of the street walking arm-in-arm intimately, looking like a close-knit young couple, Miyahito frowned slightly.
Recalling the teacher's lover, who wore glasses and form-fitting clothes, a lightbulb suddenly went off in Miyahito's head.
Oh, oh, oh! I remember now!
Isn't that Professor Ogiwara Shu?
Eh... wait, but isn't he already married? Plus, when Dad and I attended the Makishima family's banquet before, Mr. Makishima was clearly thrilled to say he found a good son-in-law.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. That circle is really messy." Casting a playful gaze at Professor Ogiwara, who proclaimed that "Makishima Misa is my one and only true love for life," Miyahito shook his head with a sigh of emotion.
But right after saying that, he thought again.
"Wait, if you think about it seriously, I'm also a member of that circle....."
For some reason, Miyahito couldn't help but imagine his future married life, and whether he would end up having an affair like this Professor Ogiwara.
Well, aside from a blissfully lovey-dovey married life with Utaha, he couldn't picture anything else.
Besides, how could there possibly be any woman in this world other than Utaha who could capture his heart?
"What are you sneaking around and smiling about?"
"Uwah!"
The sudden voice from behind gave Miyahito a solid, massive fright.
"Whoa, what's wrong with you?" Tooru, who was also startled from behind, took a slightly exaggerated step back.
"What the heck, it's just Tooru."
Patting his chest with a lingering sense of fright, Miyahito took off his helmet in annoyance.
"How did you recognize me? I'm clearly wearing a helmet."
"I guessed." Tooru, holding a cup of Starbucks coffee, shrugged. "Plus, you wear the same helmet and ride the same motorcycle to school every day. It'd be hard not to recognize you."
"Creepy."
"Hah?"
"Acting like a stalker every single day."
"You bastard!"
Facing his flustered and angry best friend, Miyahito easily, and even somewhat casually, swatted away Tooru's angry punch.
After these two overgrown boys playfully bickered back and forth on the street for a short while.
"Back to the previous topic." Tooru hooked his arm around Miyahito's shoulder with an annoyed expression, looking around as he spoke. "You looked like you were watching a good show just now. Did something interesting happen?"
"Well."
Miyahito's gaze swept across the crowd before returning to Tooru, whose face was written with curiosity, and asked.
"Right, I remember you saying before, 'After high school graduation, I want to confess to Tachibana-sensei,' right?"
".....Y-yeah! That's right!"
For some reason, Tooru suddenly gave off a bluffing, guilty vibe.
"D-does it have anything to do with anything?"
This guy... he can't be serious, can he?
Miyahito looked at Tooru, who was suddenly breaking out in a cold sweat, with a highly suspicious gaze.
Stare—!