{My Girlfriend is Satou-san (1)}

“Yamaguchi-kun, I want to buy some clothes… Would you come with me?”

In the middle of a long summer vacation, I was called out by Satou-san with such a request.

Even though it was during summer vacation, unlike me, a student, Satou-san, who is working, doesn’t get a summer break. I’ve heard that she only has a short Obon holiday of about three or four days. Because of that, by August, I was already starting to feel bored with this summer.

Given her invitation, I agreed without hesitation.

We met in front of the station on Sunday and walked side by side under the blazing summer sun. Along the way to the store, I asked:

“Satou-san, what kind of clothes are you planning to buy?”

Satou-san smiled awkwardly and said,

“Well, I’m not sure what would be good. I was hoping you could pick something out for me.”

She said this while fidgeting.

“That’s fine, but….”

I replied while glancing at her embarrassed expression.

Although thinking about it, that “but” might sound a bit curt, I corrected myself later.

“But my taste might not be to your liking, Satou-san.”

“No, that’s okay. I don’t have very good taste anyway…”

Satou-san, increasingly embarrassed, lowered her gaze to her outfit for today.

Her fashion sense wasn’t so bad as to be called terrible. It was a bit outdated but was rather safe and plain. Her outfit today was a navy blue English print T-shirt with a light-colored denim skirt. She wore chunky sneakers that weren’t much different from men’s designs. Moreover, her hair was tied up in the usual single ponytail. It was a bit too plain for a nineteen-year-old girl.

Well, at least she was self-aware. I managed to suppress a wry smile and said:

“Then I’ll pick something for you. Something really cute.”

“Thank you.”

Seemingly relieved, Satou-san let out a sigh of relief.

“I’ve wanted you to pick out clothes for me at least once. You always wear such wonderful clothes.”

“Really?”

I felt a bit awkward and secretly sighed.

I wish she’d said something like “because you’re always so stylish.” Satou-san still wasn’t very good at giving compliments.

“I read magazines and study fashion. It’s impossible to choose clothes without any information.”

When I shrugged, Satou-san laughed cheerfully.

“Wow, I didn’t know fashion was something you could study! Maybe I should study it too.”

Words that might sound sarcastic coming from someone else sounded sincere from Satou-san. Even though she’s always bad at giving compliments, Satou-san’s words are straightforward and don’t require any second-guessing. That might be why I like her.

“So today, Yamaguchi-kun is my fashion teacher.”

“Me, a teacher? That’s a big responsibility.”

“Yes. Please take care of me, teacher.”

Even if Satou-san is joking around, I still think she’s cute, even with her plain outfit.

I was happy to see her become even cuter, and I even thought about gifting her some clothes for our dates once I saved up some part-time job money. But finding a way to suggest that without being rude would be difficult, even with Satou-san. So this invitation was a stroke of luck.

I decided to pick out a truly impressive outfit for Satou-san.

Just as we approached the store we were aiming for, Satou-san suddenly stopped, seemingly having spotted something. When I looked at her face to see what was up, she widened her eyes in surprise and then smiled broadly.

“Ah, Hina-chan!”

The name Satou-san called out sounded vaguely familiar.

The person being called out was right in front of the store, looking at a mannequin dressed in a swimsuit in the window. As soon as she was called, she turned around, and her large eyes behind silver-framed glasses smiled.

“Miyuki-chan? Wow, it’s been a while.”

I recognized the voice and the face well.

It was Karasawa-san from Class C back in high school. Her name was Karasawa Hinako, so friends called her “Hina.”

By the way, few people called Satou-san by her first name. Even I had never done it. I knew her name was Satou Miyuki because we were classmates for a long time, but I never had the chance to call her by name. I didn’t want to, not for a particular reason, but I never quite took the step.

However, just before graduation, Satou-san’s name suddenly started being called by various people—by all the girls from Class C. I’m not quite sure of the details, but it seems there was an event that brought the Class C girls closer together just before graduation. They all became very close, and now it was common for them to call each other by their first names, even though I had never done it.

“So Yamaguchi-kun is here too. You two are still close, I see.”

Karasawa-san smiled at me teasingly. I hadn’t seen her since graduation day, but she had matured a lot. In high school, she used to wear her hair in two pigtails and always had a book with her, looking like a typical literary girl who hung around the library. Now, she had her long hair down and wore makeup, looking like a college student who might be at my university. Her outfit—a white blouse with lace sleeves and a beautiful green pleated skirt—enhanced her mature appearance.

It’s true that girls change a lot when you haven’t seen them for a while, but it really hit me.

Well, there are some who don’t change much, even if they graduate high school and turn nineteen. Satou-san seemed to misunderstand my gaze, as she blushed slightly and asked Karasawa-san.

“We came here to shop. What about you, Hina-chan? Are you alone?”

“No, I’m waiting for someone. We’re planning to shop here too.”

Karasawa-san shook her head and then suddenly looked far off, and the next moment, she waved her hand across the street.

“Ah, Senpai! Over here!”

I couldn’t help but follow Karasawa-san’s gaze, but I immediately regretted it.

A tall man dressed in a black shirt and chinos with no color walked along the heat-wavy street in front of the station. Although it was backlit, I recognized him. The man, with an extremely upright posture and sharp eyes, was our senior.

“That person is Narumi-senpai?”

Satou-san mentioned the senior’s name.

Among our peers who attended Higashi High School, it was rare not to know about Narumi-senpai. He had a forbidding appearance and was the subject of unsettling rumors. He was said to have had a heated argument with Mr. Murakami in the past and made him cry, or that when Satou-san’s classmates, Tosaki and Sasaki, ran into him at a city library, they had a severe scolding and barely escaped with their lives. He was known for having no patience for compromise or cooperation, clashing with various people and out-arguing them. That was Narumi-senpai’s reputation. I had no direct interaction with him, so I just thought of him as someone with a bad reputation.

However, this notoriously bad-natured person was somehow Karasawa-san’s boyfriend.

“Yes, that’s him. I’ll introduce you.”

Karasawa-san answered Satou-san’s question with a very happy look.

Then Narumi-senpai approached us as we were talking in front of the store. He probably thought we were strangers to Karasawa-san, as he looked at us with a slightly suspicious expression.

“Hinako, are these friends of yours?”

It seemed Narumi-senpai referred to Karasawa-san in that way. He asked in a calm, low voice, and Karasawa-san smiled modestly.

“Yes, they are classmates from high school.”

Narumi-senpai then turned his gaze toward me and Satou-san. His eyes, which were far from warm, settled on us, and as I started to bow my head in a greeting, he suddenly spoke.

“I’m Satou Miyuki, nice to meet you!”

Satou-san suddenly began introducing herself to the senior with a cheerful smile, clearly not reading the room.

“I was very much indebted to Hina-chan during high school. I’ve heard a lot about you from her.”

Continuing in a bright tone, Narumi-senpai looked quite flustered. His brows furrowed in confusion. It’s understandable; if someone said that to you upon first meeting, the only response would be to ask, “What kind of things did you hear?” and Narumi-senpai didn’t seem like the type to ask such questions. Satou-san’s lack of awareness was quite something.

I tried to rein her in, thinking it was time to wrap things up since we were on a date.

However, oblivious Satou-san turned to me at that moment and said,

“And this is Yamaguchi-kun—Atsushi Yamaguchi. Nice to meet you!”

Somehow, she introduced me too, so I was like, “Seriously? Me too? I don’t really want to get involved, but do I really have to greet him?” I awkwardly introduced myself.

“Uh, nice to meet you… I’m Yamaguchi.”

“Nice to meet you.”

Narumi-senpai gave a slow nod.

Though he didn’t smile, I thought he spoke surprisingly calmly.

Of course, with just that one sentence, there was no way to judge his true feelings, and he might have been dealing with us begrudgingly.

After that, the conversation didn’t drag on, and Karasawa-san waved goodbye to us before going inside the store with her senior.

As Narumi-senpai’s tall figure was separated by the closing automatic doors, I couldn’t help but let out a deep sigh.

“Ah… I’ve finally spoken to that senior.”

“Yes, me too! I’ve never seen Hina-chan’s boyfriend before.”

Satou-san happily exclaimed with the innocence of a child.

I hope Satou-san knows about Narumi-senpai’s bad reputation. But knowing Satou-san, she might not have noticed the rumors that classmates whispered about. Her ability to ignore gossip could be considerable.

“He really felt like an adult. He’s two years older, after all.”

It seemed Satou-san had quite a favorable impression of Narumi-senpai.

A bit put off by this, I took Satou-san’s hand and started leading her toward the store entrance.

“Come on, let’s go look at clothes. We’re wasting time.”

“Ah, yes. You’re right.”

Satou-san quietly followed me into the air-conditioned store.