After our visit to the plaza, Eri suggested that she and I should go on more dates, to not let Miyuki and Yoshito suspect us.
We decided on heading to an outdoor mall that's known to have the best clothing stores and others that you don't see too often.
"You know, this place suits you well, Eri." I said, as we started walking around.
"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" She looked at me worriedly.
"Yes, of course." I gave her a reassuring smile.
I did tell her that I would buy her a gift as a thank you for doing me the favor of becoming my "girlfriend."
She suddenly stopped in front of a clothing store, which appeared to have a bunch of flannels, something she likes very much.
"This store has so many flannels, it's like heaven." She hurriedly began to look around.
"Wait, Eri, can you please slow down? I can't catch up to you." I tried my best to follow her along.
"Okay, I've found a couple." Her arms were filled with flannels.
"Just a couple?" I stared in shock.
"Do you think I should get more?"
"No! No, I think that's fine." I grabbed her shoulder to stop her.
"Hm, I guess you're right, I'll go pay them." She began to walk towards the cash register.
"Wait, I'll pay for them." I grabbed her shoulder to stop her once again.
"No". She replied.
"Yes" I returned.
"No" She replied.
"Yes" I returned.
"No" She replied.
"No" I returned.
"Yes" She replied.
"Alright, that settles it, I'll just take them off your hands and pay." I begin to take her flannels.
"You tricked me!" She gave me a playful frown.
"I had to use the opportunity." I smirked at her as I left to pay.
"Okay, where to next?" I asked as we left the shop.
"Where would you like to go?" She wrapped her arm in my arm.
It caught me off guard.
"Umm…how about…this accessory shop." I pointed at an accessory shop nearby.
"Let's go!" She pulled me along.
"I didn't think you'd be into accessories." She suddenly said as we walked in.
"Yeah, I've recently gotten into them, I'm more of a fan of bracelets." I begin to look around.
"There really are plenty that are pretty." She returned, begging to look around as well.
"Woah, this one looks nice." I muttered to myself, looking at a silver bracelet with a four leaf clover on it.
"Found one that you like?" She suddenly popped up behind me.
"Ah! Where'd you come from?" I jumped up a little.
"That one does look really nice, do you plan on getting it?"
"Maybe, I'm not sure if I have enough money left." I took a look at my wallet.
"Don't worry, I'll buy it for you, and I'll hear no disagreement for you, it's my turn to buy you something." She put a hand to stop me from speaking.
"Well…I can't argue with that."
"You're welcome." She stuck out her tongue.
Afterwards, we spent most of the time window shopping, then eating at the cafeteria afterwards.
We're now leaving, heading toward our respective apartments.
Eri's been doing me the big favor of pretending to be my girlfriend. I asked for something very selfish, she has her own life, she deserves to enjoy it instead of worrying about this favor.
"Hey, Eri, if you ever find someone that you like, you're free to stop acting as my girlfriend." I said as we're walking.
"What…?" Eri stopped walking.
"Miyuki and Yoshito have been dating for a while now, i'm sure the both of them will be fine now, I doubt they'd think to do something ridiculous either way, so you don't have to force-"
"I'm fine with the way things are now." Eri spoke over me, a little worked up, then quickly walked ahead of me.
"If we tell them we broke up, they'll do anything to get us back together, who knows how far they'd go, but I do know that I don't want to deal with that." She continued.
"That's a good point, I'm sorry and thank you. But seriously, if you find someone really special to you, you're free to stop."
"Yeah, thank you, Yasuhito, you really are a great person." She smirked and grabbed me by the hand as we continued to walk.
"Eri, I'm happy with the way things are now as well…I just wanted to let you know that." I felt flustered saying that out loud.
"That makes me happy to hear." She refused to turn to me as she said that.
Her voice did sound joyful when she spoke.
I truly am happy with the way things are now.
I'm sure Yoshito and Miyuki would want to hear about our date, so we'll be sure to talk to them about it.