NOVEL NEXT Chapter 83: In the park, After the Disguise
After my shift, I went to the park where Sei-chan was waiting for me.
I left a couple minutes after Sei-chan, right sometime after I finished my part-time job.
Sei-chan was waiting at the park, and as soon as she met my eyes, she turned red and averted her eyes.
She seems concerned about what just happened, or rather the incident which had occurred.
“Hey, Sei-chan”
“A-Ahh, Tsukasa. Good job at work.”
I sat next to Sei-chan on the bench.
Sei-chan was looking in the complete opposite direction, probably to avoid being seen with her face dyed red.
I can still see her red ears though, it’s kinda cute too.
“Ahh, Tsukasa… thanks for treating me.”
“Hmm? Ah, no problem.”
I asked the manager to deduct the cost of the cheesecake and iced cocoa that Sei-chan had from my part-time job.
The manager was kind and gave her a fifty-percent discount.
Well, even if she didn’t receive the discount, I would have still spilt the bill with her 50:50.
I didn’t expect Tobise-san to notice nor did I expect her to reveal it right there and then.
“Rather than that, are you okay Sei-chan?”
“Do I look ok…?”
“Hmmm, well you look very embarrassed.”
“IF YOU KNOW THEN DONT ASK!!”
Sei-chan said angrily, with her voice trembling, but I still couldn’t see her face properly.
“H-How long did you know?”
“Ehh-? Since you walked in the store?”
“Since the very beginning?”
“Sorry, it looked like you were wearing a disguise, so I thought you didn’t want me to recognize you.”
“Kuu… you’re right but…”
“I thought it looked good on you, well, everything looks good on you.”
Sei-chan’s plain clothes are often cool, but she’s never dressed so suspiciously in black.
Well, it looked really good on her, so it was like a celebrity going incognito.
The sunglasses and the hat were the coolest! I’m in love with them.
“I suppose that’s a compliment, but I’m not happy about it at all.”
“Un, well, sorry.”
“Please don’t be sorry, If only I could have hid my hair with my hat.”
Well, It’s true how it would have been harder to figure her out without seeing her hair, but I’m sure I would have figured it out anyways.
“Aren’t you going to ask why I came to visit?”
“Nn? What do you mean?”
“You’re not going to ask why I went to the cafe in a disguise?”
Ahh, I didn’t actually ask about that…
But I’m pretty sure I heard the answer at the cafe already.
“You were worried about Tobise-san, weren’t you?”
“Ugh…”
I try not to be self conscious, but I think Sei-chan saw the relationship between me and Tobise-san and felt uneasy.
As Sei-chan said, Tobise-san is a wonderful, cheerful and bright person.
In the popularity contest from my previous life, she topped the charts the moment she was introduced.
Well, I was quite annoyed that she was higher than Sei-chan though.
Let’s just leave it at that.
Sei-chan seemed to think that I would fall for Tobise-san by being with her for some time.
“As I told the customers… and Sei-chan. There’s no way I could fall for Tobise-san. So please don’t worry.”
“If y-you already know it’s me, don’t talk to me like a waitress!”
“You can talk the way you did back then too, Sei-chan. I mean I knew who you were immediately but, pfft.”
It was really funny when Sei-chan started speaking at a higher pitch as well as speaking in a very ladylike tone.
Tojoin-san is the only person in our friend group that could pull it off.
“DON’T LAUGH! I’M ALREADY VERY EMBARASSED! DON’T ADD MORE FUEL TO THE FIRE!”
Sei-chan got teary eyed and started shaking me with anger.
Sei-chan finally started facing me but her head was scarlet red.
“Fufu, sorry, sorry, I felt like I saw a new side of you back then.”
“Kuu… If I knew this would have been the results, I wouldn’t have bothered disguising myself.”
I’d like to tease and admire her more, but it’s time to stop because I’m starting to feel sorry for Sei-chan.
“As you can see from Tobise-san at the shop. She’s the type to treat everyone with a close sense of distance so don’t worry.”
“Yeah… I could tell when I saw it first-hand. She’s like Shiho but even worse. A lot of guys are bound to get the wrong idea with her.”
“Indeed.”
Actually, even in my previous life, she was pestered constantly by a man that misunderstood her actions.
Yuuichi saved her from him and thus made her a heroine.
“Well, I know what she’s like, there’s no way I’m going to get the wrong idea cause the only person I like is Sei-chan.”
“Kuu… T-Thats good. But you can’t talk about us so openly like that with customers. It’s embarrassing.”
“I knew it was Sei-chan, I wouldn’t have said it if it was anyone else there.”
“K-Kuu… That’s fine then…”
I said that to reassure Sei-chan.
Well, I do mean it, and if a person did ask me who my favourite person was. I’d tell them they were the most attractive, lovely and beautiful person in the world.
“Ahh, Tsukasa-kun! Sei-chan!”
When I heard the voice, I turned around and saw Tobise-san coming towards us whilst waving her hand.
“Thanks for your hard work, Tobise-san.”
“Mm, Likewise. Thanks for coming Sei-chan.”
“E-Ehh, I-I’m not..”
“I knew it! You look so cool in casual clothes. Do you usually dress like that?!”
“N-No! This outfit was only for today, I don’t think I’m wearing this ever again.”
“Ehh? Really?? It looks great on you.”
Sei-chan probably won’t wear this anymore since it would remind her of today’s events.
But I think it looks good on her and I would love to have her wear it again sometime.
“Did Sei-chan come to see Tsukasa-kun work?”
“Ehh? Oh… uh… yes.”
“I knew it!! So how was it? How was it? Was Tsukasa-kun cool?”
“W-Well, I-I’m glad he’s taking it seriously.”
“I thought he looked really cool. I mean look at the way he cooks. He seems like an amazingly capable guy.”
Tobise-san shot me a glimpse.
Maybe she’s complimenting me cause I said I liked Sei-chan.
I haven’t told her that me and Sei-chan are already dating, so maybe she’s trying to ship us together.
I’m glad that you feel that way, but it’s becoming extremely counterproductive.
Sei-chan was glaring at Tobise-san with a look that screams ‘I KNEW IT’
Tobise-san doesn’t seem to have noticed that though.
“You even helped me when I messed up earlier.”
“That much is obvious.”
“Well, it’s still impressive. If Tsukasa-kun was available I would have gone for him. I’d definitely want to go out with him.”
Hmm??? Something she said just now felt a little strange.
Before I could process what just happened, Tobise-san came closer to me and whispered in my ear.
“Let’s work hard on our next shift, Tsukasa-kun.”
Tobise-san smiled as she said that she was very close to me.
Just as I was about to take a step back, Sei-chan came in between us.
I was surprised to see her come between us, she started glaring at Tobise-san.
“Tobise-san..”
“Hm? What’s wrong Sei-chan?”
“Please don’t get so close to him..Tsukasa… please…”
Sei-chan said this facing Tobise-san head on.
I mean I’m pretty sure there are others with that name, but did my name just come up?
“Hmm? Why?”
“Because… Because… TSUKASA IS MY BOYFRIEND!”
“….!”
Se-Sei-chan called me her boyfriend?!
I was incredibly moved but I never thought that Sei-chan would say something like that.
I could have told her that in Sei-chan’s stead but… was she jealous?
“I understand that your sense of distance with people is relatively close. But please don’t get so close to my b-b-boyfriend.”
Sei-chan said it so boldly, but her profile from behind was scarlet.
She was extremely shy but she still said it.
“Fufu… I see! I’m sorry, Sei-chan.”
“N-No, as long as you understand… I’m sorry too.”
“Un, I’m sorry. It’s my fault for approaching Tsukasa-kun in a provocative manner even though I knew you guys were dating.”
“Yes…?”
At Tobise-san words, Sei-chan froze..
I too was a little surprised at what Tobise-san just said.
“If Tsukasa-kun was available…”
So you knew I was dating someone…
I told her I liked Sei-chan but never explicitly stated that I was dating someone or that I wasn’t free.
Sei-chan, taken aback at her words, turned towards me.
“Tsu-Tsukasa, did you tell her?”
“No, I didn’t say anything.”
“Then how…?”
“Tsukasa-kun didn’t say anything, I just saw the two of you together and thought ‘They must be dating!’ right?”
Well, perhaps it clicked better after seeing Sei-chan in a disguise visiting the cafe.
“Sei-chan, you’re really cute. You got jealous that’s why you came out and said you were his boyfriend right? Ahh, the joys of youth.”
“Ahh! Uuu…”
“It’s okay Sei-chan, Tsukasa-kun is cool but I don’t think I want to take him away from you. Well even if I fell for him I don’t think I can take him regardless.”
Tobise-san had a wide smile and was laughing happily.
In contrast, Sei-chan was staring at Tobise-san with a red face.
“Kuu… were you just teasing me the whole time?”
“Un, I’m sorry? But I got to see Sei-chan’s extremely cute side so no regrets.”
Tobise-san said with a big smile.
Sei-chan’s face turned bright red, she began pointing at Tobise-san and said–
“Y-You..! I hate you, Tobise-san.”
“Fufu, I love you!”
“K-Kuu… D-Don’t stick too close to me. Why are you hugging me?!”
“Because Sei-chan is so cute.”
“Stop patting me on the head! Don’t stick so close to me! You’re needlessly strong! Tsukasa! Help!”
“Let’s hug Sei-chan together, Tsukasa-kun.”
“What the hell is this woman talking about.”
I think Sei-chan completely forgot about honorifics with Tobise-san.
I think they were like this in the original as well.
Tobise-san teases Sei-chan in a cuddling manner, while Sei-chan reacts in a cute way which leads to even more teasing from her.
This encounter is completely different from the original, yet the relationship is almost exactly the same.
It’s not like they’re completely incompatible.
I couldn’t help but feel my cheeks relax when I see them interact like in the original.
TLN: Huge thanks to Spynine01 and shoutout to my enter key I had to manually fix 153 lines THREE TIMES because wordpress is a joke. Yes I am very pissed. All in all I used my enter key 459 times. Please donate for my enter key and freeing spynine.