Chapter 20

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The sound of Festival music came from the speakers of the shopping arcade. Women walked on the streets in various colors of yukata. Food stalls lined the edge of the sidewalk, shopkeepers shouted ’sale’ and said, ’now is the perfect time’.

The first Rokko Summer Festival seemed to have gotten off with a good start.

In the midst of all this, there was only one man amongst the bustling crowd whose smile didn’t reach his ears.

“How did this happen…”

That man was Shouma.

Before him was Tendou, surrounded by a number of women.

He was wearing a yukata, not his usual worn-out outfit. The seam of his cloth still appeared tight, so it must be new. Dressed in a brown yukata with a simple hemp leaf pattern on it, he looked quite presentable.

Tendo turned with a meek expression to the women surrounding him.

“What do you usually do, Tendou-san?”

“What’s your opinion? What do you think I’m doing?”

“Is it some kind of secret?”

“Isn’t a person more attractive the more secrets they have? Be it men or women.”

The grinning Tendou was greeted by a shrill and high-pitched voice from the women.

Shouma forced a smile on his face.

“Shall I say, normally, he watches dramas all day long…?”

His voice, which sounded nothing more than a cough, didn’t even reach the group walking before him.

Just then, someone poked Shouma’s flank. It was Yamato, a sullen expression written on his face.

“Shouma, what the hell! That’s your boss from your new part-time job, right?”

“Yeah that’s right, but…”

“You’ve brought such a handsome faced man…”

Yoshihiro sandwiched himself between his friends.

Indeed, Tendou’s face was wasted on a man like him. If one were to overlook his way of speaking, his ragged clothes, and if he were to shut his mouth, he could have been easily compared with models and actors.

Yamato puffed out his cheeks while pointing at Tendou who walked in front of them.

“I’ve gone out of my way to talk to the girls, but now it looks like it’s going to be the three of us as usual! Shouma, do something!”

“Even if you ask me to…”

Tendou was the same as always. His calmness, his good attitude and his usual self. He had no intention of trying to hook up with girls or anything like that.

As evidence, he had shaved ice in his hand and a bag of candied apples hung from his wrist. On his other hand he was holding a chocolate banana.

He couldn’t even have enjoyed the festival more.

(He’s got a sweet tooth, after all…)

It’s hard to imagine that a sweet tooth who was obsessed with TV dramas can be so popular just because he has a good face, even though he was not the least bit attractive on the inside. It truly was a tough world.

Yoshihiro, who walked next to Yamato, placed a hand on the shoulder of a clearly sullen Shouma.

“Well, don’t be upset! Even if Tendou-san wasn’t around it wouldn’t have turned out the way you wanted anyway!”

“Don’t speak so bluntly! It makes me sad, you know…”

“A girl from my club, Miyu, also said ’I’m so glad that I took Yamato-kun’s invitation!’. His popularity just shot up as a result!”

“Huh…”

Yamato scratched his cheek, his expression suddenly changing to one not so dissatisfied as before.

“Even the guys had been glaring at me with eyes clearly stating ’Why’d you bring that guy here?’”

“Ah! It really is the worst!”

He held his head in his hands.

Even though Shouma was the one who gave permission to let Tendou come here with him, he felt some guilt after Yamato said that.

He opened his mouth to apologize when he suddenly heard.

“What do we do if we don’t get enough people to come to the party next week? Did I ask Shouma too? But, you know, he’s pretty lame when he’s in front of a girl…”

Somehow Shouma had an urge to cough so he lowered his head back to its original position.

Who is a loser? Who?

“So, Shouma. Who are those kids?”

Yoshihiro peered at his friend’s left side.

The Tofu Boy and Fuyuka walked there.

The Tofu Boy was dressed as usual, although he was not wearing his bamboo hat. With so many yukatas, even if he wore a kimono, he didn’t stand out much in the crowd.

Fuyuka on the other hand, was wearing her usual vivid yukata, of which Shouma didn’t have an idea where she bought them. The combination of pink and green hurt his eyes. In addition, her belt was yellow.

Shouma pointed at them with the palm of his hand.

“The girl over here is Fuyuka Okuda, she is a part-timer who works for Tendou-san.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“And, this is one of my relative’s children…”

Shouma suddenly froze in his tracks. He couldn’t just blatantly say ’Tofu Boy’.

It was fine until he had created the setting as a relative’s child, but he hadn’t thought of a name.

(I need to think of a name…name…name…)

After a little bit of hesitation, Shouma raised his face and grabbed the Tofu Boy firmly by the shoulders.

“This is Tarou Yamada.” [1]

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Translator’s Notes:

[1] 太郎 Tarou is a basic given name, in legends or folktales male protagonist often has it, like in the tale of Urashima Tarou or Momo Tarou. 山田 Yamada is one of the most common surnames and combines the two most simple and well known kanji. In short, Tarou Yamada is the Japanese equivalent to John Smith.

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This translation is hosted by Nocturne Translations.

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