18th Piece – “Matching”

Pre-Chapter Notes: Nothing today, but have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! There’s some slightly more serious stuff in the Post-Chapter notes, though.

---

「Oshi… o…… kun……?」

Oshio Sota, sixteen years old.
Right now I’m suddenly confronting the biggest crisis of my life.

But first, I have an embarrassing story to tell.
After inviting Sato Koharu on a weekend date, day and night I looked forward to her casual clothing like mad, you see.
Of course, when she’s in a uniform she’s charming, but that is to say, casual clothes are special.

I was looking forward to it too much, to the point every day when I’d find a picture of a girl in casual clothes, I’d vaguely think about 「Sato-san in these sort of clothes……」 or something like that. I’d then become flustered and shake off such thoughts, feeling bad, and this has been repeated dozens of times.

—as expected, I’m in high spirits.

I scold myself.

—You’ll be disqualified as a man if you can’t say 「It looks good」 in a sleek and stylish way.

I was inspired to do so just this morning.

However, however, however!
This is so…!

「…pretty.」

Though my intention was to say something not unrelated to the words that spilled out, I became flustered and shut my mouth.
Even if 「It suits you」 is at best, a tall hurdle to jump over, saying that without preface, what were you thinking, me!?
Even if it’s the truth, it’s way too creepy to say it like that!

「……dsome.」

But fortunately, it didn’t seem to reach Sato-san’s ears.
During the same time, Sato-san seemed to whisper something soft, but during all of the chaos I wasn’t able to make it out.

Nevertheless, it’s risky, this is risky.
For me, Oshio Sota, I’m still in the middle of the biggest crisis of my life.

My heart rate was increasing, my body temperature rising.
The area near the back of my head becomes hot, and suddenly it becomes difficult to even make eye contact with her.

To that extent, all of my preparation and work into saying something like 「It suits you」 or a similar template, with one blow, is scattered to pieces.

「T……!」 [T/N: You know when all there is the “tsu” character there’s not much I can do haha]

It’s a miscalculation, a perfect miscalculation.
It’s impossible that the casual clothes of your first love have this kind of destructive power!
And then, without mentally preparing, running into Sato-san now!

—then, finally thinking about it here, I realize that I’m holding onto Sato-san’s arm.

「……Ah!? S, sorry!」

I snap my hand back in order to separate us, laughing with a 「hahaha」 to smooth it over.
To match this, Sato-san also gave a 「A, ahaha」 with a strained smile.

「N, no, t-th-thank you, Oshio-kun.」

……Eh?
Sato-san?
Where are you looking……?

「I, I didn’t expect you meet you here, you know….. by the way……」

……eh?
Sato-san?
Why are you talking to the crack in the asphalt?

Seeing that, Sato-san covers her mouth and her shoulders start to shake.
Then, when I saw the direction of her gaze was no longer at the level of 「looking away」, I thought the worst.

It can’t be…… she’s laughing at my fashion sense!?

「I came to a second-hand clothes store together with Ren, as I thought to buy some clothes, but…」

It could be said it was a miracle I was able to reply honestly.
However now, my tension suddenly went from heaven to hell.

……concerning Sato-san, is my fashion so miserable she can’t bear to see it……?

I was in the depths of despair.
Frankly, I just want to die.

「He, heee…… meeting here, it’s unexpected……」

Sato-san talks to the asphalt without looking at me at all.

……once again, her fashion was completely lovely.
Like a refreshing, yet calming summer, her fashion maximizes her charm, which was both cute and beautiful.

It doesn’t mean that I distrust Ren and his sister, but maybe I might be something to laugh at no matter how much I dressed up.
That sort of thing is evident.

If that’s the case, then it isn’t a situation where you feel even more down, it seems.
There’s something I should say.

「—Sato-san.」

I ready myself and call out her name.
Sato-san’s shoulders spring up in one big movement, her hand covers her mouth, and she slowly turns her head this way.
Her face is turning red, her eyes are darting all over the place. [T/N: Literally “eyes are swimming badly”, but that sounded clunky.]

「W, whwhwh, what is it, Oshio-kun……!?」

The fact it might be so bad that she can’t make eye contact is about to break my heart, but it’s irrelevant for now.
Such a thing is less important.

I look straight at Sato-san, smiling as always, then say the words I practiced countless times.

「—those clothes, they really suit you, you know, I think they’re cute.」

Those words came out unexpectedly smooth, but they came from the bottom of my heart, there’s no mistaking it.
After saying it, I became so embarrassed I wanted to die, but I had no regrets.
Then, I received Sato-san’s……

「How?」

How?

Suddenly, she let out a strange voice, tilting her head to the side, and in that moment, Sato-san crumbled on the spot.
—the clothes she had gone to great lengths to get were going to get dirtied.
Thinking that, I hurried, and extended both of my arms, putting them under her armpits.

「Uwaa……! What’s wrong? Did you hurt yourself when you almost fell over?」

Worried, I look about her troubled expression.
There, I see in the pupils of her eyes, something that begins to look like moisture……

「Uwaaaaa…… that’s a relief……!」

She was crying.
Sato-san embraced me, just like that day, not minding our surroundings and bursting into tears.

「Wait, Sato-san!?」

「It suits you…… Ojio-kun is also…… so handsome, you know…..!」 [T/N: No, this is not a typo, the raw has her mispronounce Oshio’s name, probably because she’s crying.」

「Eh!? N, no, er, thank you……!? First though, you should calm down!?」

Now, I didn’t understand what it was anymore, but anyhow until she stopped crying, I held her in the same position.

……handsome, huh.

It was something very small, but I was proud.
Next time, I’ll have to treat Ren to some ramen.

---

Every time I translate these chapters, I need something for my heart. They really are so cute together, man.

Anyways, not a lot to say for this chapter. But, I did have something to say. As we move on into 2021, I did have a bit of a New Year’s Resolution. I’m deciding between one of two; and that is either (a) I’d like to eventually get my translating skill up to where I can release a chapter weekly by June or (b) take on a new web novel to translate.

I haven’t quite figured out which one I’d like to do, though. The first is a bit easier, but I do like having the two week pace as it gives me more time for proofreading, cultural research where needed, and revising translations. The second would be nice, but if I keep to the two week translation as not to get buried, I’d probably need to reduce the rate of chapters from every other week to every three weeks, hopefully avoiding overlap as much as possible with the other work I take on. I do intend to stay a one man operation at this point in time, which slightly influences this choice.

If you guys have any input on it, do leave it down below. I really do enjoy doing these translations and I know you guys do like them too, so let’s try to find a good compromise area, hm?

Lastly, as this is my last post for 2020, I want to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Thanks for sticking by me for these past four months (wow, time flies!) and I hope you’ll stick by me as we go into the new year.

Until then,
Toasty

---

Previous Chapter

Table of Contents

Next Chapter