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Chapter 165 – Shopping Date (1)
A few days had passed since the midterm exams ended. By now, we could already see the results for all the exam subjects.
Umi managed to get third in our grade, meanwhile I failed to get into the top twenty. I still managed to raise my rank though, I moved up five ranks to twenty fifth place.
This was all thanks to Amami-san and Nitta-san, who took the time to watch over our studies. With this, we managed to fulfill our parents’ requirements and they would allow us to go on a three day trip.
‘Maki~ Wake up~ It’s~ Mor~ Ning~’
“Ngh?
 Umi?”
A familiar voice roused me from my sleep, along with a heavy pressure on my chest.
My blurry consciousness gradually cleared and I could see the cute smile of my beloved girlfriend.
“Good morning, Maki.”
“Good morning, Umi.”
I grabbed my phone and checked the time. It was just after 7am, Saturday morning. I couldn’t be mad about her waking me up this early though, since we had an appointment today and she always came to wake me up whenever we did.
“You still look sleepy. Couldn’t sleep properly last night?”
“Mhm
 I tried, but I just couldn’t sleep
”
“Are you excited for our date today?”
“Ah
 Uh, yeah.”
After we received permission from our parents, we planned a shopping date to buy stuff we needed for the trip. It included clothes and several other things. (T/N: Like con– yeah)
We didn’t go on dates often. On our days off, we would just hang out at my house while doing nothing, so this date would be our first in a while.
When I was on the phone with her last night, I managed to fool her and acted like it was nothing, but I was actually anxious about things like ‘what should I wear for the date?’ and such. That kept me awake for another hour or two.
Seriously, I needed to stop acting like a kid. It wasn’t like this was our first date or something.
“Jeez, fine~ Go back to sleep, we still have time. I’ll wake you up later, okay?”
“Thanks
 Oh yeah, Umi.”
“Yes?”
“
You look cute today, that dress looks really good on you.”
It was currently June. Summer had started already and Umi donned herself in her summer attire.
Pastel blue one piece dress. A pair of earrings that she didn’t normally wear.
At first glance, her style looked simple, but I knew that she put in a lot of effort into it.
I told her on her birthday that blue suited her really well and it seemed like she remembered it. She’s so cute

“Thank you. Hehe
 You’re starting to look like a proper boyfriend now, Maki. Good boy, good boy.”
“Stop doing that
 Well, fine
”
She moved her hand to pat my head with a gentle smile on her face. I tried resisting, but it felt comfortable, so I just let her do it and tried to sleep while she was still patting me.
“You’re getting cooler and cooler lately. I should be happy about it, but I
”
“Umi?”
“Sorry, sorry, I’m just talking to myself. Don’t worry, just go to sleep, I’ll pat you until you fall asleep.”
With her whisper of ‘I love you’ as a cue, I fell asleep soundly until she finally woke me up a while later.
*   *   *
After our peaceful morning together, we went out to the shopping district.
Our first stop would be the clothing store to buy clothes for Umi. At this point, we were used to holding hands in public and managed to perfectly blend in with our surroundings while doing so. The whispers around us stopped bothering us.
Realizing that we were maturing from this always made me feel like we had accomplished something, even though it wasn’t something that big.
“Alright, let’s do this. Maki, try to give constructive criticism now. Don’t just say vague things like ‘cute’ or ‘pretty’.”
“Sure, but, eh
”
There was a tiny problem here. The kind of place she dragged me to.
The swimsuit section. My vision was filled with varieties of swimsuits. Well, I was exaggerating, there were summer yukatas on display nearby too, but the swimsuits were just too eye-catching.
“There are no seas in the prefecture dad’s family is living in but there are beautiful springs and rivers there! They would be good substitutes for beaches or pools, don’t you think?”
She took a couple swimsuits and showed them to me.
‘Which one do you think is better?’, she asked. This was another problem. I knew jack about swimsuits, every one of them looked the same to me.
Choosing a men’s swimsuit was simple, just pick the one with the right length and you were pretty much set. But women’s swimsuits

“So, which one do you like, Maki? If there’s something that catches your eye, I’ll try them on for you.”
“Wait, you’re going to put them on?”
“Of course. If I don’t try them on, I won’t know if it fits me or not.”
“I-I see
 Then, I’ll wait outside while you–”
“Wait.”
As I tried to run away, Umi grabbed me by the collar.
“Um
 Can I help you?”
“You’re going with me, of course. Aren’t you my boyfriend?”
“Don’t you think it’s a little
”
“Come here.”
“
Yes, ma’am.”
Like a mouse dangling from a cat’s mouth, I was dragged into the fitting room with her.
This wouldn’t be my first time seeing her body. I’ve seen her in underwear before, but it was when we were at home. But we were in public and she asked me to give her my opinions? Please save me

We told the employee that we were a couple (Umi did, I still couldn’t get myself together when that happened) and she brought us to a slightly larger fitting room. This was the first time I had ever gone to this kind of store, so I just found out that not only did they have separate fitting rooms for men and women, they also had rooms for couples as well.
The employee wished us good luck with a nasty grin before closing the curtain on us. I could only thank her in response.
Anyway, calm down. I shouldn’t let any strange thoughts enter my mind.
“Maki.”
“Yes?”
“Look at me properly.”
“Got it. I’ll do my best.”
I won’t elaborate further. We managed to buy a good one for Umi thanks to my efforts.
I did my best. I really did.