Case of the Summer-Exclusive Tropical Parfait Chapter 2: Shake Half (Part 1)

Full Text

Chapter 1 Part 6 | Contents | Chapter 2 Part 2

If someone I know well takes an unthinkable course of action, I would wonder about what happened to them. If these unthinkable actions pile up, I would be worried for them and wonder if some significant incident happened that brought about a change in their mental state. And if that continues further, I would start doubting if I was failing to properly understand that person in the first place.

The feelings of doubt I had about Osanai-san was entering that realm.

It was the summer vacation in our second year of high school. While Osanai-san and I should have no reason to meet outside school, we had met multiple times in this particular summer break. About one week had passed since I was handed the “Osanai Summer Sweets Selection” or whatever it was called, and we had that battle of wits with Charlottes as the focal point. Having made a careless error, I lost the match, and as a result was frequently called out by Osanai-san. We’d gone out to eat the peach mille-feuille in sixth place and the Ujikintoki in ninth place. Both of them were delicious, as expected of desserts selected by Osanai-san. However, as for why she, as a person who wasn’t so cute that she was unable to eat desserts alone, always asked me to accompany her, I had no idea.

And this email arrived today.

“Today, we’ll be going to a shop between La Roche and Ginsendo. We’ll meet there at 3:30pm.”

Checking the map attached to the Osanai Summer Sweets Selection, I found La Roche at the north-northeast section of this city, Kira City. It was located almost at the border to a neighboring city. On the other hand, Ginsendo was at the west-southwest. It was also a shop at the edge of the city. Since the email mentioned a shop in between those two, I drew a line from one shop to the other. There were two dessert shops on that line, but one was really close to La Roche, while the other was almost in the exact middle point of the line. That would be the strongest candidate.

The shop was called “Berry Berry Sanya-dori Shop”. It was seventh place in the list with its frozen watermelon yogurt, so that was likely to be the right one.

The problem with the email was that it was too simple. That meant she expected me to figure it out on my own, and was just playing around.

As I pedalled on my bicycle towards the destination, I frowned as I thought of something that I was not satisfied with.

We’ve been hopping from one dessert store to another for three days straight in the summer holidays, and on top of that, sending playful, mysterious messages. It’s almost like we’re dating.

As a healthy second-year student, it’s not like I have no interest in dating. Having Osanai-san as my dating partner would be, to put it mildly, thrilling, but I don’t think of her badly such that I would reject her. If I had to say, I prefer girls with a more mature appearance, but it’s not like I can’t cover up that preference. Rather, as a high school student with a not-so-nice personality, I, Kobato Jougorou, would be honored.

However… that differs too much from the image of Osanai-san I have in my mind. The actions of Osanai-san this summer totally betrayed my expectations. That means that either I severely misunderstood her, or…

I stopped my bicycle at the traffic light and muttered.

“Or she’s up to something.”

I’m even willing to bet ten dollars on that.

---

Chapter 1 Part 6 | Contents | Chapter 2 Part 2

---

Editors (Tier 2) : Joshua Fisher, _Maki

Assistants (Tier 1) : Definitelynotme, Rolando Sanchez

Thank you very much for all your support!