18 - Even if they don't show it, their heart is stormy (Patreon)

RAW

“This is a good chance, I want to try going to more places I don't usually go to.”

Hiuri said that after taking a break at the cafe.

The arcade was a new place for Hiuri. The reason was that it was a difficult place for her to enter alone.
Therefore, with me here, she can enter places that are difficult to enter alone.

“Where do you want to go?”

Dream Hiuri only told me about the arcade. So other than that, I don't know of any places Hiuri hasn't been to.

“Let’s see... Karaoke, I guess. It's hard to go in alone.”

I see, that makes sense. Certainly, karaoke is difficult to enter alone.

It seems that solo karaoke is becoming mainstream these days, but it still takes courage to go to a karaoke store alone.

“So... Does Hiuri sing?”
“I can sing at least. How about you, Kazuki-kun?”
“I guess I can't sing much...”

I'm not very good at singing. Or rather, I don't sing.

Even though I said that to Hiuri, I've never been to karaoke before either. My parents were busy and that’s not the kind of place families go to anyway, and I also didn't want to go to karaoke by myself.

“So... shall we go?”
“Then, let’s try going there.”

I look up the location on my smartphone and move to a nearby karaoke bar.

After paying the slightly higher fee, we went to one of the rooms.
Being alone in a room with Hiuri makes me really nervous. In the dreams, it is always just the two of us in the white space, so it shouldn't have been that different from that time, but for some reason, I am randomly concerned about Hiuri.

“...Kazuki-kun, aren't you going to sing?”
“Eh, Ummm.”
“Then I'll sing first.”

Hiuri nimbly operate the control panel on the desk and set a song.

I more or less also search for songs in the control panel I receive from Hiuri, but... there aren't many songs I can sing...

“Nngh!...It's been a while since I last sang.”
“I think I’ll just listen...”

After adding one famous song that even I know, I exhausted my strength. You’re too out of touch with the ordinary world, me.

“~~~♪”

Hiuri's singing voice is wonderful to hear. It's a singing voice that makes you want to hear more.

I can't create karaoke in the dream. As expected, it is impossible to create a karaoke box without knowing the karaoke sound system.
I've seen Hiuri humming before, but this is the first time I've seen her sing properly like this. Hmm, so picturesque...

When she finishes singing, I can’t help but applaud. Hiuri's voice was very clear, so I had always thought that she would have a beautiful singing voice, but it was even better than I expected.

“Next, Kazuki-kun.”
“Yes!”

She hands me the microphone, and I stand up straight.

“...You don't have to be so tense. I won't laugh.”
“Ah, sorry.”

I take one deep breath. It's not like I'm singing a song I don't know, so as long as I calm down, I should be fine. As long as I don't go wildly out of tune, it won’t be unsightly... is what I'd like to believe.

“~...~♪”

Compared to Hiuri, I’m pretty bad at it. Still, Hiuri listened without saying anything.

When I finished singing, she even applauded. I'm a little embarrassed, but I know I'm not good at it, so I don't get carried away.

“Isn’t this okay? It wasn't bad.”
“Thank you. But I think I'm better suited to listening...”

If I were the type who watched anime, I probably would have had a large repertoire of songs I could sing, but since I didn't have that kind of hobby, I only know the songs that you can hear on the streets.
Besides, even if I know the song, I may not be able to look it up because I don't know the title of the song.

In the end, at karaoke, I only sang when Hiuri got tired, and she sang most of the rest of the time.

“Fuu... it surprisingly takes a lot of stamina to keep singing.”
“I guess so. Thank you for your hard work, Hiuri.”

Since there were only two of us, and we were both unfamiliar with singing, the karaoke ended in an hour.
Next time I come, I'll have to expand my repertoire a little more...

“Hmm—, we sure played a lot. Today I even managed to go to a place I've never been to before.”
“I’m glad Hiuri enjoyed it.”

When I said that, Hiuri turned around and approached me.
She was so close that I thought she was going to kiss me. As expected, we're still only friends, so it won’t happen.

“What about you, Kazuki-kun?”
“Eh?”
“I had fun. Did you have fun, Kazuki-kun?”

What, so it’s that?

“Of course it was fun. I invited Hiuri out of nowhere after all, so it was more important that you enjoyed it.”
“Is that so, then it’s fine. For me, whether Kazuki-kun enjoyed it or not is more important.”

This is Hiuri’s good point.
Hiuri is said to be strong-willed by those around her, but she is actually kind. Even in the dream, she checks if both sides are having fun, not just one side.
I, on the other hand, am concerned about whether Hiuri enjoys herself, so you could say that I have a slightly different personality in that respect.

“We can more or less play for a little longer... but what do you want to do?”
“It's hot, so let's go somewhere to cool off before going home.”

Summer is in full swing right now. Even if we stay in the shade, the hot air keeps us sweating.

To get through this heat, we need something cold, not the shade.

“Ah, then follow me. It's a little far away, but I know a good place.”

Hiuri starts walking. I don't know our destination, so I follow behind her.

“There's a place near it where we can rest, so I think it's just right.”

While saying that, Hiuri continues to move onward.

We pass the station and reach a park a short distance from the city. A food truck is parked there.

I see it’s an ice cream shop. I didn't think there were stores selling ice cream like this nowadays.

“It's delicious here, you know. Better than the numeric stores we often hear about.”* (T/N: I don’t know what she’s talking about, maybe seven eleven?)
“Heeh.”

Hiuri is picky about sweets. So, if Hiuri says so, it must be a really delicious ice cream.

“I'll have chocolate.”
“Then I’ll have vanilla.”

I choose a safe flavor. Apparently, this shop also has some special flavors like pumpkin and lemon. That’s amazing since this is a mobile shop.

Nearby, there are children who look like elementary school students eating ice cream that they must have bought at this shop, so this may be a fairly well-known shop in the neighborhood.

“Here, be careful not to drop it.”
“Thank you very much.”
“Itadakimasu.”

We receive the ice cream from the store clerk, and then we sit on a nearby bench. It's a typical cone ice cream, but it doesn't look like cream, if anything it looks like shaved ice.

“It’s like sherbet.”
“Yeah.”

We quietly eat our ice cream. The air is still hot, but the ice cream cools me down just right.

“For some reason, I wanted Kazuki-kun to know.”
“So that’s how it is.”

I wonder if this is also the influence of the dream. If it's not a flavor I know, I can't reproduce it accurately after all.
It's possible to reproduce it from Hiuri's memories, but in that case the degree of reproduction will be lower than if I reproduce it from my own memories, so it’s still better for me to know.

“...Kazuki-kun.”
“Eh?”

When I looked at Hiuri, she was pointing her ice cream at me.

This is... are we really doing this? For some reason, Hiuri is also looking at me expectantly.

“Ummm... itadakimasu.”
“Yup.”

I bite into the ice cream. I don't into the part Hiuri ate... I don’t think I'd be able to notice something like that when eating ice cream.
The sweet taste of chocolate spread in my mouth, but I am more concerned about what Hiuri is thinking.

“Hiuri-san? Why?”
“Didn’t I say I wanted you to know.”

After saying that, Hiuri heartily ate the rest.

...

“Good evening, Hiuri.”
“Good evening, Kazuki-kun.”

In a different place, in the dream.

After that, I parted with Hiuri quite easily. So, since I missed my chance to ask about Hiuri's impressions, I decided to ask the person herself in the dream.

“How was it?”
“...”

When I asked, for some reason, Hiuri became silent. Then her face became redder and redder.

“Hiuri?”
“Umm, that’s... it was fun. That's my honest feeling.”

That's good. Well, I got the impression that she had fun, but I asked just in case.

“What’s embarrassing for me is that... I’m doing things like suggesting we call each other by name, offering ice cream, and doing those things in plain sight!”

What’s so embarrassing about that?

“Why do you have such a doubtful look on your face? I mean, in real life, we're not dating yet, right? And yet we're doing that kind of lovers-like interaction... I end up having such innocent feelings, it's so embarrassing!”

The Hiuri in the dream comes with memories of real life attached.
Her feelings she felt at that time are carried over as they are, so even if she is used to it in the dream, she is not used to it in real life, that’s why she ends up having innocent feelings.

“I was embarrassed at first, but even though I finally got used to it... I can't believe I have such embarrassing feelings again.”

...Ah, so she was embarrassed by that. I thought she wasn't embarrassed because she was doing it so calmly.

“There's no way I wouldn’t be embarrassed! My heart was pounding at that time!”
“That’s cute in its own way.”
“!... Idiot!!”

...

Morning, I wake up.

I wash my face and comb my hair.

“That was fun...”

――――

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