The Asanagis pretty much spoiled me during the first day of the spring break, but after that, nothing really interesting happened.
In the morning, Umi would come over and we would work on our homework until lunchtime. After lunch, we played games or watched movies like usual.
We hadn't gone on a date at all since the start of the break. It was mostly because we lost our motivation for it midway whenever we tried to plan a date since we were together all day long anyway.
Well, I kinda expected that this would happen.
"Umi."
"Mm?~"
A week had passed since the spring break began and today, Umi was hanging out in my house like usual. She was lying on my lap while reading a manga.
She was in her usual loungewear, a sweatshirt and loose jeans.
She still looked really cute in her loungewear though, even her sloppiness failed to reduce her charm.
I patted her head, she moved her cheek to meet my hand in response and rubbed her cheek against it.
Why was she so cute? Jeez…
"Umi, tomorrow…"
"Do you have plans to go out with another girl tomorrow? Is it finally time for me to pull out the lines I've been saving in case you're two-timing me?"
"No. I have something to do tomorrow morning, so if you wanted to come over, could you come in the afternoon?"
"You two-timer…"
"Oh, c'mon…"
"Hehe, I'm kidding, okay?~ Anyway, what are you going to do? Shopping? If you're going shopping, can I tag along? I went shopping with Yuu the other day, but I want to have more quality time while shopping with you too~"
"Yeah, it's shopping. Well, I was thinking of going with you, but…"
Normally, I would just ask her to tag along since it would be more fun that way and we could make a date out of it.
But not this time. I couldn't ask her to go with me.
"You know, your birthday? …I've been wondering what I should give you as a present… And since it's your birthday and all… Well…"
"I see, so you remembered my birthday, huh? That's impressive~"
"I'm your boyfriend, this much is normal, no?"
Her birthday was on April 3rd and she would turn seventeen this year. We would probably invite a few of her close friends to celebrate it.
I was thinking of inviting her on a date so she could pick whatever present she wanted.
But since this would be the first time we celebrated her birthday as lovers, I wanted to make it a special occasion and choose her gift on my own.
"Anyway, I want to bring you with me, but I think I should go by myself this time… So… Yeah…"
"What if I insist on tagging along?"
"I'll shoo you away until you back down."
"Hmm… I see…"
"…"
Besides, it would be good for me to shop on my own once in a while. I didn't want to overly depend on her forever.
"…Okay, got it. I'm kinda worried about you going on your own, but this should be fine, I guess… Well, I'm looking forward to it, okay? Also, I don't want a branded watch."
"Got it, I'll give you something else."
"Mm~"
"How much does a branded watch cost anyway?"
I'll try to give her the best thing I could afford for now. Thinking about expensive gifts made me consider getting a part-time job soon.
I could see money becoming an issue in the near future.
* * *
The next day, I went downtown by myself.
It had been a while since I went out alone. I've been here multiple times before, but ever since I started dating Umi, I always came with her. The lack of her presence today made me feel a bit uneasy.
"My clothes… Looks fine…"
After tidying up my appearance a little in the station's toilet, I went to the shopping area.
I felt restless about my appearance since it'd been a while since I put any effort into dressing myself. I found myself looking at my reflection on windows quite frequently. It didn't look tacky, right? I mean, Umi picked these clothes for me, so the clothes should look good… Right?
Anyway, let's forget about how I looked for a moment. Yesterday, I did some research and found a store where I could buy the things that I was looking for, so I made my way inside the store. Apparently, this store was popular among the students here because the price of the goods here was affordable for students.
"…Ugh… It's so crowded…"
I couldn't help but say that.
I came here in the morning to avoid the crowd, but my efforts went to waste it seemed. The place was jam-packed with people, probably because it was currently spring break.
Naturally, most of the people here were girls because that was the store's target demographic. There were boys here and there, but they came with their girlfriends and I was the only boy who came here alone.
"Welcome~ Are you looking for something in particular?"
"! …Ah, no… Uh… I'm just looking around…"
I fled to the corner of the store to run away from the employee who suddenly called out to me. I must have looked suspicious to her, but it couldn't be helped. This was one of my bad habits, running away whenever a friendly worker tried to talk to me.
"…Crisis averted… But…"
I succeeded in shaking the employee off, but that didn't solve my initial problem. What should I buy for Umi?
There were accessories like rings and necklaces here, or perfumes, cosmetics and plenty of other things. Every one of them would make a good present for Umi. And because there were a lot of options to choose from, I was at a loss to decide what I should buy for her.
I wanted to give her something that she could freely use if possible.
"…Looking for presents is hard…"
Since my budget was limited, I thought it would be easier to pick something since I had less options, but I severely underestimated the difficulty of the endeavor.
'What do you think about this one? This'll look good on you.'
'Eh, will it? …Well, if you say so…'
Hearing that conversation made me regret my life decision. I should have brought Umi along. Well, whatever, no use crying over spilt milk, I could always bring her with me later.
Should I ask the employee for her opinion? As I was thinking about that, someone tapped my shoulder from behind.
"Yes? Do you need some–"
The moment I turned around, a finger dug into my cheek.
A familiar angelic voice entered my ears.
"Hehe~ I caught a wild Maki-kun!~"
"A-Amami-san?"
"Hehe~ 'Sup~ Fancy seeing you here, Maki-kun. Are you looking for a present too?"
In this unfamiliar place, unexpected help came from an unexpected place.