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Chapter 8 Kitagawa Umume!

"Hey, Xiu, where are you going?"

"I'm going to work today."

"What about karaoke?"

"You and Yoshikawa go."

""

The image of himself and Yoshikawa Yuki singing in a karaoke room flashed through Ishikawa Toru's mind, and he quickly shook his head vigorously.

Although Yoshikawa Yuki, like Iura Hide, rarely has an awkward silence when she's around, it's still strange that the two of them went.

What if Hori misunderstands me?

"Should we ask Kono and Sengoku?"

Ishikawa Toru, holding the discount coupon, found Sengoku Sho.

Unfortunately, he and Sakura Kono were both busy with student council work and didn't have time, so the discount coupon remained unused until it expired.

Of course, at this moment, Iura Hide was unaware of, and did not care about, the fate of that discount coupon.

Before any acquaintances he encountered could even greet him, he dashed out of the teaching building like a gust of wind, and then out of the school gate.

Even after he had already arrived at the convenience store where he worked, in the classroom of Class 1, Grade 1, located on the second floor closest to the stairs, a girl with long, smooth pink hair wearing a thick pink tracksuit jacket finally mustered up the courage to put down her schoolbag and leave the classroom carrying only her guitar.

Then, after another ten minutes or so, Hidetoshi Iura, who worked at the convenience store, had changed into his work uniform, handed over his shift to the previous employees, and started organizing the shelves.

She finally made it to the door of the light music club's activity room, only to be dumbfounded when she saw the door was tightly closed.

"Huh? The Light Music Club doesn't have any club activities today?"

A shadow appeared out of nowhere, enveloping her completely. Dry leaves, seemingly from nowhere, swirled and landed on her head, making her look both desolate and comical.

Meanwhile, inside the convenience store, Iura Hide was absentmindedly tidying up the shelves while frequently turning his head to look towards the convenience store entrance and at the time on his phone.

"Is it her? Could it really be her?"

A mix of nervousness, worry, and anticipation caused him to drift into a daze without realizing it.

Then, a sweet voice with a hint of coquettishness suddenly rang out beside him.

"Hehe, this beer doesn't taste good at all. If you want to drink it, I suggest you choose this one!"

Slender, jade-like fingers and a section of snow-white arm suddenly caught Iura Hide's eye, the purplish-red nails pointing to another canned beer on the shelf.

Whether it was the scent of shampoo, skincare products, or the girl's own fragrance, it wafted on the breeze and lingered around her nose.

Iura Hide took a deep breath unconsciously, his heart racing uncontrollably, and the tension made his whole body stiffen.

"Don't you know that the legal drinking age in Japan is 20?" Hideki Iura turned around, trying to appear calm, and asked in return.

What came into view was a delicate face and purplish-red eyes exactly as I remembered.

Her long, silky golden hair cascaded down her shoulders, the ends deliberately highlighted with a gradient coral color.

The school uniform shirt, which was originally unremarkable, had only the second button fastened at the collar, and was deliberately pulled open slightly to the sides, revealing a sexy collarbone and a hint of her breasts.

The hem of her shirt was tied with a pretty bow, and her slender waist was so delicate it could be encircled by a single hand.

The originally ordinary school uniform plaid skirt was deliberately raised to thigh level, making it look exceptionally seductive.

A very standard JK (high school girl) outfit!

So

Is this Kitagawa Kaimu really the Kitagawa Kaimu from "The Dress-Up Doll"?

"If she really is Kitagawa Kaimu, does that mean that this world is not just Hori and Miyamura's world, but a crossover anime world?"

"At least, Inui Sasuha and Sugaya Nowa, who are among the changing dolls, should exist, right?"

That's right. Although Kitagawa Kaimu is the female protagonist of the dress-up doll series and a super anime otaku, he's really not a fan of her other side—her gyaru personality, where she can change clothes casually in front of unfamiliar guys.

but……

"She's so pretty! Even prettier than Hori-san!"

At this moment, the distance between the two was only forty centimeters. Being bombarded with beauty at such close range, even though Iura Hide didn't have much of a feeling for her, his heartbeat, which had just calmed down, started pounding wildly in his chest again.

At the same time, while he was sizing up Kitagawa Kaimu, Kitagawa Kaimu was also sizing him up.

I don’t know if it’s just my imagination, but Kitagawa Kaimu has a feeling that Iura Shu seems a little different today than usual.

The moment our eyes met, memories etched deep in my heart involuntarily surfaced before my eyes.

"what!"

With an anxious exclamation, the limited-edition ceramic figure of Shizuku Kuroe, which she had finally managed to snag today and which cost her a whole month's allowance, spun and fell to the ground.

It seemed as if the sound of a cup shattering would occur at any moment.

But just then, an arm suddenly shot out from the side and caught the falling figure at the last second.

"Great, I caught it!"

"Scared me"

Terrified, she plopped down on the chair behind her and frantically pounded her chest.

Meanwhile, Iura Shu, who had successfully rescued the figure, looked at the figure in his hand, which was full of eroticism, and a strange expression flashed across his face.

"Is this your figurine?"

Her cheeks involuntarily flushed.

However, she immediately changed her expression with lightning speed, instantly adopting a delinquent-girl-like swagger, and quickly got up and snatched the figure from Iura Hide's hands.

"What's wrong with me liking anime like this (emphasis)?"

Although, Iura Hide just caught the figure that almost fell to the ground for her, which practically saved her life.

However, one thing is one thing, and if anyone dares to criticize her favorite anime, especially her favorite Shizuku Kuroe, she'll get angry with them.

Let alone a senior colleague you've just met, even a good friend won't do!

However, despite having mentally prepared herself, she didn't receive the expected ridicule and criticism, such as, "Huh? You hot girl actually like this disgusting nerdy stuff?" or "Hahaha, this is so out of place for you~".

"I don't see anything wrong with liking this kind of anime!"

Iura Hide smiled as usual, a smile that, while sunny, seemed a little silly to her.

"Eh? Really?"

She stared at Iura Hide with some suspicion. A high school girl who likes to watch this kind of adult anime, shouldn't it be normal to be ridiculed and despised?

"After all, hobbies are personal things, as long as they don't hurt others. Besides, I sometimes listen to some ACG music, for example..."

His pupils, slightly lighter than his hair and bordering on amber, showed no trace of lying, and when he talked about his favorite music, his eyes lit up with excitement.

At that moment, whether it was gratitude, guilt, or something else, she was suddenly touched and her heart softened unconsciously.

Although she has been an anime otaku for many years, she has also met several like-minded boys who like anime.

But someone like this, who doesn't actually love anime, and doesn't feign interest in it at all, but understands her simply because he likes music, is so sincere it's almost foolish.

There may be others like this in the world, but this is the first time she has encountered one!

"Hehe, senior, your smile looks like a Shiba Inu that's calling for dinner!"

I don't know what happened, but she just blurted out that sentence out of the blue, which immediately made Iura Hideki, who was recommending a certain anime opening theme to her, speechless and killing the conversation.

Even now, after all this time, she still remembers the sour look on Iura Hide's face back then.

Fortunately, Iura Hide's carefree nature meant he didn't hold grudges, and he quickly forgot about his earlier annoyance.

Perhaps it's because Iura Shu already knows her secret.

Since then, she has especially enjoyed recommending her favorite type of anime to Hideaki Iura.

Despite not watching anime much, Iura Hideki never showed any impatience. When he heard a good opening theme or insert song, his eyes would light up as he discussed it with her.

Just like her younger self who only liked anime, Iura Hide back then had music on her mind.

But now, she senses that Iura Hide is different.

"Senior, have you finished tidying up your assigned area? Could you help me tidy up too? As a thank you, I can treat you to a drink later!"

Chapter 9 Confession, Retreat

Kitagawa Kaimu suppressed the sudden nervousness that welled up inside her, smiled, and deliberately put on a seductive look as she cautiously probed.

"Damn it! Now I finally understand why so many people are willing to be simps even after knowing the true face of a so-called goddess."

Iura Hide almost shivered; goosebumps rose on his skin.

Just kidding! Isn't a two-dimensional heroine like Kitagawa Kaimu a hundred times prettier than the so-called goddesses in the three-dimensional world?

However, he only smiled like a husky, not like a real simp, so even though his heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to jump out of his chest, he still chose to refuse.

"Da~me!"

"Don't you know you're responsible for your own work?"

"Also, you're not old enough to drink alcohol."

Kitagawa Kaimu was initially quite disappointed after being rejected, but her mood immediately improved after hearing Iura Shu's last words of 'concern'.

"But it's so tiring to work two jobs, okay?~~"

As Iura Hide watched the distance between them shrink by more than ten centimeters again, his whole body stiffened, and his heart felt like it was about to burst!

"Oh my god! Kitagawa Kaimu is acting cute towards me!"

"What do we do?!"