Soudana, Tashika Ni Kawaii Na Volume 1 Chapter 3

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T/N: Stero'Un seems to be a location/world rather than an actual enemy. Previous mistranslation has been fixed.

Also, sadly no ill.u.s.trations this chapter, so take this Koori collage instead. And don't forget to show the ill.u.s.trator some love as well at:

Memory 3: Starbucks and Charging and I

Things didn't end as I would have preferred.

The rest of the cla.s.ses we had in the afternoon were normal cla.s.sroom lectures, but I still managed to take bizarre actions like I did in the morning. To be completely honest, I'm not bothered all too much by how my cla.s.smates think about me, and I don't particularly care if they hate me either. There was only one reason I held back inside the cla.s.sroom, trying not to stand out.

I don't want to disappoint Koori. With this desire in mind, I tried my hardest to be a normal student, not sticking out in the ma.s.s of the others, but once the cla.s.ses came to an end, and it was time to make our way home, bashful and shameful memories kept dwelling up in my head.

…Even though Koori showed this much tolerance, I still wasn't able respond to her expectations in the slightest.

"Senpai~"

Koori stood in front of me with a smile, waving her hand.

"Ahaha~ what're you blinking in surprise like that~?" Koori looked up at me with a grin, as she asked. "What's going on~? You're s.p.a.cing out like crazy. Thinking about something?"

She must have been considerate of me. When we still had cla.s.ses today, Koori would always show me that smile when our eyes met.

"…I couldn't…properly do it."

"Properly do it…? Ahh, are you talking about the cla.s.ses this afternoon? Ahaha, everyone sure had a crazy look on them~ When you didn't even twitch, and one guy asked you if you're Still alive?, you just responded that you're not an undead! I almost burst out laughing there. Well, I did stop whatever you were trying to do after when you stood up though…Talking about that, were you about to cast some magic again?"

"I was about to use [Ente Necro1]…"

"Ente…what?"

"[Ente Necro]. In a place called Rigasha in [Stero'Un], you can't tell at a glance if it's an actual human or an 'Undead' you're dealing with, so those under the suspicion of being one had to prove themselves…"

"Ohhhh! So these Undead thingies actually existed! Aren't they like…zombies?"

"Zom…bie…"

"Um…wait a second. I saw a zombie movie from overseas a while back…Ah, found it!" Koori said with a grin, as she showed me the screen of her phone.

…At close range.

"Were those other world zombies similar to these?"

Her eyes were radiating with a s.h.i.+mmer of antic.i.p.ation and interest. Her face had faint traces of make-up on it, making her look even more cute, and beautiful than normal. On top of that, I couldn't quite figure out what it was, but she gave off this scent that made my heart feel like it was struck my lighting. Her slender arms appearing from her properly worn uniform, as well as her well-endowed chest bulging up behind her white blouse—

"…"

"Hm? Why'd you suddenly avert your face like that?"

Koori is so pure, and yet I…!

I closed my eyes, and banned all these impure thoughts from my head.

"Senpai? h.e.l.lo~? Someone home? …Eh, you fell asleep?"

"…I'm awake, don't worry."

"…? Alright then? Anyway, about this."

"…They are different from the 'Undead' I know. The ones I've seen don't have wounds like that. Rather, not being able to suffer wounds is what makes them 'Undead' in the first place."

"Eh, really?! So that means…these zombies are just fake~? Ahh, what a disappointment!"

"Ah…well…it's not like they can't be hurt no matter what. One condition of becoming an 'Undead' is this thing called 'Excelator2', which every Undead has inside them, but by using weapons built with a mineral called 'Anterial', which has the special trait of absorbing this 'Excelator', you can inflict wounds on them, which means that there might be some like this—"

"Ahaha, Senpai seems so desperate!"

With Koori bursting out in laughter, I realized myself just how frantically fast I was talking.

"…Sorry…What I wanted to say is—"

"That there is a chance zombies like this might even exist, right? So you saw me being disappointed, and wanted to change that…did I get that right? Ehe~"

She's perfectly right, but…hearing it come from the person in question makes this even more embarra.s.sing. I could tell that my face was getting red, but even when I tried to hide my mouth, casting my face downwards—Koori crouched down to look up at me with a teasing smile.

"…Senpai's fl.u.s.tered face really is cute~"

She muttered in a silent voice, laughing gleefully…

"No, you're much more cute than me, Koori."

"No, you're much more cute than me, Koori."

"…………Again, can you not…?"

"…?"

"You're not playing fair again, Senpai!"

I lost count on how many times I could feel my chest tightening up because of Senpai's sudden surprise attacks. Most of the time he gets just as embarra.s.sed about it, so why can he call me cute in such a straight way all of a sudden…Is Senpai actually used to women like this…?

Well, dumb question, kinda…Looking at all the beauties gathered around him in these different worlds he visited.

Crossing my arms as I thought about Shaltinisan and Shemi-chan, I yet again realized how lacking Senpai's knowledge of a woman's heart really is…Maybe…he doesn't know about my feelings either…?

—No no no, no thinking about that!

I stood up straight again, and spoke up to Senpai.

"For now, if you have some time in the future, I'll gladly show you that TV drama, Senpai. It's a bit older, but I think it's pretty interesting~"

"Alright. If you say so, then I'll watch it…I can…watch it on my… smart…phone, right?"

"Aha, were you just confused because of the term smartphone? Well, you haven't used it for 20 years now after all~ Ah, wait. Senpai, did you even use it during the entire day?"

"It broke yesterday."

"Huh?! Broke…ah, that's why?!"

"What do you mean?"

"I linked you something yesterday, but you didn't react at all. I figured you must have just forgotten about it since you haven't used it on literal years…wait, do you remember Link?"

"…A messenger…?"

"Well, not quite…Link is the one where you can also send emotes."

"…Ahh, I remember."

"And, I sent you a message via Link yesterday, aka linked you. I wanted to talk about school and all that."

"Is that so…I'm sorry."

"Nah, it's all okay. You must have forgotten how to use it, I figured. Anyway, why did it break down?"

"I mixed up the way of charging it."

"How in the world?!"

You can do that?!

"Ah, no wait…I see…The other worlds don't have chargers or ports."

You might even forget how to do it completely after twenty years…Not like I can even imagine how it must feel to charge something after twenty years.

"We had something similar to a charging device. But we used magic power to charge things."

"Eh, so then…"

"With that as a basis, I accidentally wanted to charge my smartphone with magic power, and it exploded"

"I thought so!! Also, are you hurt anywhere?!"

"No physical problems anywhere…but my phone was rendered useless."

The depressed Senpai was really cute.

"Ahhh…you must have been attached to it."

"Not towards the machine itself, but all the conversations I had with you…"

"With me…? Ah, from two years ago?"

Senpai nodded, and look me in the yes.

"They're all important memories to me."

"—!"

Two years ago. Senpai and I didn't link too much. We even exchanged our addresses pretty late in the game…And him treating these chats that dearly…makes me really happy.

And yet, he put magic power into it, making it explode…

"Put magic power…into it…"

Wait…I can't talk now, or else…

"Made your phone explode…Pfft…fu…ha…haha…"

Not good, I won't be able to hold back…

I did my best to keep my laughter in check, as Senpai looked at me with a suspicious gaze. Ah…really…I really…like him. Of course I want to make him happy. That's why.

"—It's all super duper fine, Senpai." I let out a cheerful voice. "We can create as many memories as we want from now on! Go to many different places, doing so many different things together~"

"Doing many different things together…"

"Exactly~ I have lots of things I want to do with Senpai, so if you have anything, just let me know~"

Yeah, I really have a lot. But, most importantly.

"For that, you really need a smartphone~ We have to be able to contact each other…"

"For any short and quick communication, I have this magic called [Cent3]…"

"No thank you."

Like seriously, please don't.

I formed an X with both my arms, which helped in convincing Senpai who had put up his hand.

"Hmm…smartphones are pretty expensive, and you can't just by any phone either…"

"I don't fully remember the market price of smartphones, but I should have enough money for it."

"Or so you say, but no bringing out some otherworldly currency again, okay?"

"It was my house, so we're fine in that regard," said Senpai, as he took out a few banknotes.

Not quite a few, but an entire bundle. Like it was nothing.

"Will this be enough?"

"…Excuse me?"

Hold your dang horses.

"This clearly isn't the amount you'd just have in your pocket…"

Senpai didn't have some secret job, did he?

"………"

"Hmm? Why're you just averting your eyes like that?"

"………I kinda connected the inside of my uniform to the [Garden]…"

"Okay, well done on being honest. Also, put that away immediately." Nodding along with my arms crossed, I asked Senpai to put away that bundle of money. "It's fine and all that you didn't pull that out in front of other people, but you better not be using that with someone besides me around, mkay?"

"Alright. I will only use it in front of Koori. If you want, I can even use [Cross4] right now."

"Didn't I tell you to not use magic just a second ago?"

Ugh…this really isn't anything to laugh about, but I can barely hold it back…

"Either way, it seems like we're fine in terms of money."

Also, what's his family doing that he got this much money to spare…? I wanna ask so badly, but as I was hesitating if I really could, Senpai spoke up first.

"Koori."

"Yes?"

"Um…if you're okay with it…"

Senpai acted a bit suspicious, only to have a determined expression on his face, continuing.

"Could you…help me in picking one…?"

"Ah, right. A smartphone, yes? Sure, no probs~"

"……!"

Ah, his face lit up! I saw it! Eh, why? Oooh, I wish I could have taken a picture of that…! Sadly, his happy expression vanished as quickly as it appeared, just blankly staring at the camera lens of my phone now. If only I had been a tiny bit quicker…Well, whatever.

"…No need to…force yourself, okay?"

Ah, seems like I gave him a misunderstanding again. That's why I quickly dispelled that worry of his.

"No no no, I'd be tagging along even if you didn't want me to! For starters, let's check out the stores at the train station~!"

Thus.

It's great that we arrived near the train station with all its different stores at our disposal, but when I asked Senpai about which provider he was using before, another problem came into existence.

"Provider? …That's not some magic, is it?"

"Not quite~ Um…Companies like Kocomo, Hardbank, or CU5…ringing with any of them?"

"…Sorry, I only remember cities with similar names."

"City names…"

Probably from the different worlds. Gotta be that. Naturally, I'd love to ask about that as well, but…

"Mmm…well, they're on the cheaper and more reasonable end, and they haven't been that famous two years ago either. They're probably the three biggest providers right now though~"

Since Senpai's phone exploded, the SIM card is probably equally useless, right? We have to find out from there then.

"You sure know a lot about this…"

"Ahh, when I went out to buy a smartphone before, I looked into all of this~ I enjoy it quite a bit."

Like the benefits and problems of a company, which contract to get, I still check them out from time to time.

"I see…that's pretty amazing…"

"Eh…? Aha, that's not the case~ My friends are a bit turned off by that even."

"Really?"

"Yeah, they're like Nano knows so much it's totally scary and stuff."

Well, they've gotten pretty much used to my weird addiction, so they're just laughing it off now. At the same time, I've gotten used to being treated like that as well, so hearing Senpai feel that way is actually more surprising…I don't know how to properly respond to that…though I am happy.

"By the way, Koori…what provider are you using?"

"Me? I'm using KQ6~ There's a store right over the—"

"Then I'll take that as well."

"Huh?"

"I'll be right back."

"Wah…wait a second! Isn't this a bit too quick of a decision? Shouldn't you…like, ponder on it a bit longer?"

"It's the provider you chose after thoroughly looking through it, right? Then there's no problem. I can trust your judgement."

"Eh…ehhhh? I mean, I was going to recommend it, but…"

Also, if you tell me that straight to the face, I'll get fl.u.s.tered and grinny again…On top of that—

"More than anything though…I want to have…the same as Koori."

Don't…don't make such an accomplished face…like that…I mean, I'm totally down for it, and I should be asking you for it, but still!

Seeing Senpai like this made me want to crouch down on that spot, screaming out Why are you so cute?! Why. Are. You. So Cute?!, but after three deep breaths, I had my desires under control again.

"I-If that's the case…then…sure, w-why not…?"

"Really? Thank you." Visibly relieved, Senpai walked ahead, and entered the KQ store.

Haaa…being together with Senpai is bad for my heart…in a good sense though.

I quickly went after him, but waited outside for a second to mentally calm myself down, when he came suddenly out again.

"…I can't do it without a letter of consent from my guardian…"

"Ah."

I forgot. That completely slipped my mind.

"W-Well, we can just come again—"

—So it's all okay, I wanted to say, but before that.

"…A matching smartphone…with Koori…"

Seeing Senpai all depressed with his hanging head, I really couldn't hold back anymore.

"Pfff…hahaha! You're too disappointed, Senpai!"

Also, how cute can your face be, like seriously!

"Why would they need the consent of my guardian for that…"

"Ahh, you've probably been acting on your own in the different worlds you went through~ No wonder you'd have trouble with some employee Onee-san…wait, don't tell me you actually said that?"

"I did."

I thought so…

"Though she just washed that off like it was nothing."

"Pfft…I-I mean…can you blame her…"

Just imagining the exchange between Senpai and the employee makes me giggle…Ahh, I should have gone inside to see that live.

"Link…with Koori…"

Ah, he's still going on about that.

"You'll be able to do that soon~ See, tomorrow we have no school, so let's come here again. If you get the okay from your mom or dad, though."

Talking about them…

"I really don't know anything about your parents, Senpai…"

Since they didn't even stop by when Senpai was discharged…I can only figure…But because I already brought it up, I can't switch the topic, left only to wait for Senpai's response.

"Yeah, I'll get their consent this evening." He responded, completely relaxed.

"Huh?! You still have them?!"

"…? Still have…what?"

"Ah, well…nothing…"

Might have said something unnecessary there. But, I would have felt bad for Senpai if I just took it back, so I continued in a mumble.

"See…I never saw them once when I came by to visit you, not even when you were discharged…So I wondered…"

—If you had lost them…

"Ahh, they're just the type of people who aren't too interested in this sort of thing."

"Eh?! Not interested in the hospitalization and discharging of their own son?!"

Even though you were in a coma for two years?!

"Hm…Ah, that might have invited some misunderstandings with the way I phrased it. The explanation is a bit complicated though…"

"Ahh, if it's hard to talk about, then you don't need to tell me! I mean, I was overstepping my boundaries anyway…!"

Naturally, I'd love to hear about them…I mean, I want to know everything about Sen—wait, what was I about to think right there?

"Talking about parents now…no, this is a bit too different."

Can you stop raising my interest even more? What's that even supposed to mean.

"To keep it short, there's no problems between me and my parents. They're just so busy that they're barely home, but my father will be home tonight, so I can get the letter of consent from him."

"I-Is that so…"

I wonder what kind of person Senpai's dad is…That being said, just stopping by would be highly sensitive, so none of that, for now…

"Still…in the end, I won't be able to link with Koori tonight…"

"Hm? Ah, you can use Link on other devices as well, you know?"

"Really?!"

"Like a computer or tablet, if you have it."

"I have neith…No I feel like I had a computer…?"

"Ah, should we go set it up right now then?"

Wait, isn't this the perfect flow to visit Senpai's home?! Am I a genius?!

Or so I thought, but only for a second.

"Ah, no can do…you need a phone number…"

It's still pretty much like a SMS, so you need a smartphone in both cases.

"………."

Seeing Senpai this depressed and disappointed, I was honestly pretty shocked. He looked like he would go down on his knees, despair closing in on him. He's that dejected just because we can't link? I mean, we didn't do it yesterday, so—Ah, is it my fault? I kept talking about making it possible, so he must be frustrated that it didn't work out in the end…

"I'm sorry, Senpai…" If I would apologize like that, he probably wouldn't take it serious anyway, so I instead pointed at a nearby starbucks.

"Then—how about we jabber in that starbucks for all the amount we can't link tonight?"

—Huh?

Is what I would think in his position at that question of mine. I mean I know I was the one who brought it up, but still.

Senpai in question was gazing at me, clearly craving for an explanation, so I kept going.

"Um, a lot happened today, so I'll treat you! Order whatever you want!"

You can even get a grande7! …Though I don't have too much money to spend. I gotta look for another part-time job, huh~ Senpai on his end seemed interested in the Starbucks himself, as he looked back at me after taking a peek inside.

"No…I had you tag along with me, so I'll be paying."

"No no no, I was the one who got your hopes up, so I'd feel bad if I don't treat you."

Really. I'm serious.

"That doesn't matter. You have given me valuable information today, so I will repay you for that."

"You don't need to repay me for anything!"

"I mean, it's all thanks to you, Koori—"

No no no. No no. No no—I wanted to continue discussing with Senpai, but I couldn't hold back anymore.

"Pfft…w-what is this exchange even…"

In front of the Starbucks! This is too funny. But this is how it always ends with Senpai. When I went out with my friends, it's never this fun, and the reason for my laughter is different as well.

Of course, I'm having fun going out with friends, but it's only this kind of fun when I'm with Senpai…Ask me why it's this fun with him, I'm not so sure it's because I like Senpai even.

Rather, I feel like that's just one part of it, but I can't properly explain it…Man I suck at explaining things sometimes. It's just…when I'm with Senpai, everything sounds great to me, making me want to spend even just one more minute with him.

"Alright then! At this rate, we'll never get inside, so how about we just pay for our own share today?!"

"………! A genius!"

Senpai…your face…!

"No, Senpai, it's not clever or anything…It's…ahahahahahaha!"

Realizing that I keep falling in love with Senpai more and more, I could barely wait for the next day. It's a holiday finally, so just looking for a smartphone might be boring…maybe I should look up some other places we could visit…But keep it a secret from Senpai…Ah, I'm such a tactician!

1 Written as [Proof of the Living]

2 written as Eternal Magic Element

3 Written as [Transmission]. Either another way to say [Send] or maybe from the logarithmic unit of measure for music intervals? Idk. Let's keep it magical here~

4 Written as [Vow], no idea why he would call it cross.

5 Parodies of NTT docomo, Softbank, and AU

6 Possibly a parody of UQ Mobile

7 Doubt this needs explanation, but it's one of the sizes, and the biggest one you can order.