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Chapter 3: This is not a date
Part 7
“Hmm, my earphones are the one that came with my phone, should I buy a new one?” She picked up one of them.
“If there’s no problem then you don’t have to. Do you listen to a lot of music or videos?”
“No. Maybe some music once in a while, but the cords tend to tangle in my hair, so I usually don’t.”
“Hn? So there’s such a disadvantage to long black hair every man yearns for.”
“Maybe not for everyone with long hair, but at least for me.” She then tried on one of the samples. “And what’s that ‘every man yearns for’” she added. The dark red of the earphones suits her well. Although she did seem to have trouble putting it on.
“How about I give you one? I have one left.”
“Eh?” She turned this way sharply.
“I have an out of use wireless earphone. It’s quite cheap, so don’t think much about it.”
“Is that okay? Really?”
“Yup. I brought it online, but they don’t quite fit my ears. They’re wireless, so it might be easier to put on.”
“‘Kay
 Thanks, I’ll take it.”
Minato nodded, her eyes narrowed a litte. I couldn’t see her mouth because of the mask, but she was probably smiling. Somehow, I felt worse.
Sorry for not telling you, hope this could make up for that, sorry, Minato.
In the end, I brought the new JBL noise canceling waterproof earphones. It cost me 15,000 yen, my first splurge in a long while. I needed to fill in more shifts again, it seemed.
Then we took the elevator to Ogaki Bookstore on the sixth floor. This time, it was her turn. I was glad she chose here, since I have some purchase in mind too.
“Ah, by the way, Minato.”
“Hn?” She tilted her head questioningly.
There were only the two of us in the elevator.
“I don’t have time. Sorry.”
“Heh? Wait?! Hya!”
My hand quickly touched the cheek peeking from her mask. She might have killed me if I were to say “You’re wide open” or some shojo pickup lines, so I kept silent.
Then the door opened and people entered. We acted like nothing happened and went up silently.
She pulled me aside as soon as we left the elevator. “Hey, Io! Stop that! You’re scaring me!” She hissed. With her cheeks puffed, she scowled. I wanna see her face under the mask.
[TN: Me too, bud, me too.]
“Well– I apologized. I want to see if there’s any change from the station until now. What’s wrong with that?”
“Even so, tell me before you do it!. Pervert!”
“I know, I know
 The door’s opening, and it’s not like we could do it out here. That’s the only private space around here.” Of course, I need to make my defenses clear.
“S-still! I
 I’m not used to it yet. I want you to care about me more-”
“C-care
?”
Uhhh
 I mean, I understand what she wanted to say.
But that was starting to sound like an argument between couples

“And? The result?” She crossed her arms.
“Ah, um. No, it’s still the same.”
“Oh
 but it’s a good thing, right?”
“Yup. But, I want to know who it is immediately if you happened to like someone. It would be untraceable if time passes.”
“Um, ‘kay
 Then, we need to check occasionally
 And if I notice, I’ll tell you
” She bent sideways coyly.
Duh, don’t she know?
In the meantime, we arrived at Ogaki Bookstore. Incidentally, there were two other Ogaki Bookstores, one in the center of Kyoto Station, and the other at the Aeon Mall on the opposite side.
[TN: So three Ogakis in total in that area]
Even Though the company’s headquarter was in Kyoto, this should be an overpopulation. There’s only one in Shiga. Give us some. I love Ogaki.
“So, which do you have your eyes on?”
“There.”
She replied curtly and strode to the manga section, I followed at her heels.
“So the new volume you said was a manga?”
“Y-yeah
 I’m fine on my own, you don’t have to follow me. I have already decided what to buy anyway.”
“Nah, I’ll follow. It would be a big deal if anything were to happen when we part ways.”
“Oh
”
Her response felt
forced?
But the reason became clear the next moment.
A pink clad cover. With a group of flashy men and beautiful girls illustrated. The colors were glamorous too.
“Hoh? Shoujo manga? That’s unexpected.”
[TN: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sh%C5%8Djo_manga ]
“W-what’s wrong?! It’s fun! Also e-exciting too. The girls are cute.”
[TN: Why does the back cover looks like Gagaga Bunko’s light novel instead of a manga
]
Minato glared at me angrily, and somewhere, impishly.
I see, so she didn’t want me to see her buying shoujo manga. Hmm, considering her image at school
 Understandable.
But I’m sorry, Minato. Your concern was misplaced.
“Hm? Shoujo manga is the best. I usually read it too.”
“Eh?” Her eyes widened, her mouth agape under the mask, probably.
“It’s exciting, makes your heart wring. The plot is compelling too. Besides, I’m the Angel of Kuze High, remember?  These are the sacred textbooks of love.”
Besides, love advice requires understanding of both male and female mind. Although it was fiction, there’s an inextricable structure.
“I-is that so
”
“And also novels and movies too. I like what I like, there’s no helping it. The leftover part-time money from earphones is spent on this.” I picked one up myself.
Minato joined me as we let out a troubled “Hmm” while studying the manga.
“Even if it looks interesting, buying the first volume is always a hurdle.”
“Yup, me too. Can’t really bring myself to buy if I don’t know if it’s well-received or not, or if there’d be a continuation.”
“Yeah, yeah– But if I buy it later and it’s fun, then I’d feel like ‘Why haven’t I supported it since the first volume!’. Yeah?”
“Yup! I’d feel so guilty. Why didn’t I choose better, like that.”
“Really, just like that–”
While having such otaku talk, we browsed the shelves and secured some mangas. With that, we went on to the literacy zone.
“Actually, this is the one I had my eyes on for today.”
“I’ll take a look too.”
When two otaku get together, the purse strings loosen, a saying I just came up with. Should be apt, when you get into a heated conversation, you can’t help but pick more and more items. There was nothing much on my hands right now, maybe that’s a good thing.
By the way, Minato had said in one of the conversations that she usually reads at home. So that wasn’t a lie to cover up for shoujo manga, she was really into reading in general, it seems.
After notifying Minato, who stopped at a shelf of paperbacks, I went to the hardcover section. The book I was looking for wasn’t hard to find. It was grandly displayed in one corner.
“There it is, this time too
”
“So this is what you’re after?”
She caught up and stood at my side. New and crisp binding, I took the blue book and looked at it curiously.
“Hmm, I haven’t brought one of these before. I usually go with paperbacks.” She said, running her fingers on the hardcover.
“I’m not a frequent buyer either. I only buy this author’s.”
“Konomi? How do you read the kanji?”
[TN: Kanji has many different pronunciations, and it could get a bit messy when it comes to kanji for names.]
“It’s ‘Kuchiru’. Konomi Kuchiru. All of his are romances, every one of them is legit good. I can’t wait for the paperback release, so here I am.”
“Hnn
 Never heard of him.”
“His debut was last year. Heard it’s going to get a paperback soon. Try it, it will rock ya.”
“Rock? How?”
“Um, nothing.”
Yup, just remembered that these kinds of things didn’t get through to her. No matter how much she likes subcultures, there are just simply too much of them.