Editing Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu:Volume1 Chapter2 (section)

===4===

After spending a period of time with Nobunaga.

The main activity of today (in Haruka's opinion) was finally going to be completed, as the scheduled time to buy the PTA drew nearer. 

"It's now four forty-eight in the afternoon...It's time for the main activity of the day!"

I followed behind Haruka as we made our way towards our final destination. Because we had completed all our previous objectives successfully, Haruka was in an extremely good mood. Right now, I had two paper bags in my hands, filled to the brim with the spoils of war (all Haruka's), other than the mountain of free coupons, posters and catalogues, there were also manga (the newest issue of <<INNOCENT SMILE>> etc) and a few light novels. Though there weren't a lot of them, due to the fact that all of them were paper products, the two paper bags were extremely heavy. 

"Yuuto-san...Are you alright? Maybe I should take one bag."

"No, it's alright, I'm fine."

Her concern came as a relief, but if not to carry things, I don't know what I'm here for today.

"But..."

"I'm really fine, I'm used to such heavy loads."

Ever since I started primary school, Ruko and Yukari would hire me to carry things for them at a cost of 50 yen per hour (I was forced to take the job). 

Especially when it was summer, where I would be panting like crazy in the hot weather while the two of them happily ate ice-cream beside me...Now that I think of it, shouldn't that be classified as child abuse?

Thinking of how I was abused in the past, I naturally felt a tad depressed, while Haruka looked at me worriedly.

"You don't look so good...Umm...Is...Is it because the bags are too heavy?"

"No...I just remembered my cruel past."

"Cruel?"

"That's not an expression for something else."

"?"

A question mark appeared above Haruka's head. 

"Ah, it's nothing, let's not talk about me anymore. We should move on! It won't be good if the PTA's sold out."

I mustered all of my strength to lift the bags higher and walked on ahead of Haruka.

"Yuuto-san."

I was immediately halted by Haruka.

"Shouldn't it be that way?"

"..."

Speaking of which, I don't know where the store is.

"It's this way."

"...Right."

I nodded and followed behind Haruka.



My words actually came through.

Even though I had said it on a whim, I had never expected it to come true.

"...Sold out?"

"Yes, I'm really sorry..."

The bespectacled shop assistant bowed deeply in apology.

Right now, we were in the video game section on the third floor of the large electronics store. The two of us, who managed to reach the store by the scheduled time, only saw the 'out of stock' sign that had been pasted onto the box that had formerly stocked the limited edition silver PTAs.

"The limited edition silver PTAs are extremely popular, such that 70% of our stock were pre-ordered, while the remaining 30% were sold out before lunch."

The shop assistant also told us that the situation in the store today was extremely chaotic, such that if the customers didn't start queuing up yesterday, they wouldn't have been able to get their hands on the limited edition silver PTA.

"So there aren't any ways to get it?"

"All the other chain stores are also out of stock, so even if you were to go to any of our chain stores, you probably won't be able to buy it..."

The shop assistant answered my question seriously. He looked like those giant apes that live in the mountains, but he was probably a nice guy.

All in all, the result was clear.

"We were too naive..."

If we had really wanted the limited edition silver PTA, we should have had been prepared to have started queuing way before the store's opening time. To saunter into the store at 5 in the afternoon was really a grossly uninformed decision.

"..."

I looked to my side at Haruka, who stood there like a statue, her eyes devoid of all light.

"Ah, Haruka."

Though Haruka was usually perfect, and occasionally clumsy, looking at this blank expression of hers, I didn't know what to say to her.

"It's alright, we were just unlucky."

"..."

"Haruka?"

"...Huh? Ah?"

Haruka finally came back to reality, but she had a dead look in her eyes...looks like she suffered a deep psychological wound.

"Let's just leave this place first, since we can't do anything about it."

I wanted to prevent the atmosphere from becoming too awkward.

"...Al...Alright."

After answering lifelessly, Haruka walked towards the elevator. But her body started to sway unsteadily halfway to the elevator.

"Haruka?"

"Hmm? What?"

Just as she answered me, Haruka's body suddenly fell forward.

"!"

The second before Haruka slammed into the ground, I managed to catch her. Wow! Her waist is so thin, and she smells so nice...No, now's not the time to think about such things,

"Haruka! Are you alright?"

Haruka squeezed her eyes together in my arms.

"Mm, I merely lost my balance..."

It's probably anemia or something similar! Haruka's skin, which was already extremely white, now became even paler...What do I do, should I ask for help from the shop assistants? Or should I call for an ambulance?

"Umm...Yuuto-san, I'm alright. I should feel better after resting for a while."

Haruka shook her head weakly as though she knew what I was thinking about.

"But..."

"Please don't make this into a big incident, I don't want to cause you any trouble."

...No choice, looks like I should respect Haruka's opinion.

"...I get it, either way, we should leave this store and find some place to rest...Please endure this for a while."

"Huh? Yuu...Yuuto-san!?"

I carried Haruka, whose eyeballs rolled into the back of her head, but this action was misunderstood as the people around us started to cheer and whistle, leading me to run out of the store awkwardly.

...Whether it was carrying a princess in my arms, or being carried (of course I don't want to be carried like that), this was the first time that I've experienced something like this. 





Looking for a place to rest, I ended up in a small park.

"It's....so tiring..."

I really carried Haruka in my arms while running. Though Haruka wasn't heavy (on the contrary, she was as light as a feather), since the club that I joined in school was the 'go-home club', it was still extremely tiring for the me who never exercises. God, I'm getting older now...Perhaps it's time to consider whether to buy the products from the fourth store. The kind of products that I'm talking about are the products that foreigners advertise to the people in front of the televisions in the wee hours of the morning, products like weird-looking all-enabling indoor track machines - "Hey! Nancy! I have something really nice to give you today!" "Wow! Bill, what's that?" That kind of product. This product can be paid for in installments, only 12800 Yen including taxes...ah, that's just my impression of such advertisements!

"Hey, oh!"

Haruka probably fell asleep as I was carrying her, and she was sleeping as soundly as Sleeping Beauty. I placed her lightly on the park bench, and finally relaxed.

--She really did faint.

She really did wish to buy the limited edition silver PTA, and as all her expectations were dashed in that one moment, it was just like what people say, that the higher the expectations, the greater the fall.

Haruka, who was now lying on the bench, was breathing regularly again. 

If she still doesn't wake up after a while more, maybe I should seriously consider whether I should call an ambulance. Although I didn't want to blow up the incident either, Haruka's condition was the top priority.

If I were to call an ambulance, should I use my cellphone, or use one of the public phones that are now as rare as a fossil? I mulled over the two choices as I turned to look at Haruka once more...

"Ah..."

Haruka had already woken up.

Coincidentally, our eyes met.

"..."

"..."

...This was rather awkward.

"Ah, are you feeling better now?"

"Ah, yes..."

Haruka nodded, looking a little nervous.

"Thanks to you, I'm feeling much better now, I think it's probably because I wasn't able to sleep properly yesterday night."

"Wasn't able to sleep properly?"

"...About that...Yes, I was really looking forward to today, so I couldn't bear to close my eyes, just like the night before I'm about to go on a trip..."

"I see."

"..."

"..."

We lapsed into silence.

It might have been less awkward if we shifted our gazes away from each other, but for some reason, we were unable to do that. My eyes just couldn't bear to move away from Haruka's beautiful features, her hair that was slightly wet from sweat, her lightly blushing cheeks, and her small, cute cherry lips. But, why was Haruka also staring unblinkingly at me?

I felt that my heart was beating furiously, my throat was parched, and even my breathing became rough and irregular. It can't be...are these the symptoms of cardiac arrest?...No, it can't be, I don't have any history of heart problems, and my body should be perfectly healthy (even though my level of fitness is around that of a sixty year-old grandfather), and my meat intake was far lesser than that of the American Leopard, so that should count in my favor.

But...Why...Just what is happening?

This kind of charged atmosphere didn't change and just like in the last moments before an engine completely goes out, it will be working over-capacity, resulting in overheating.

I felt that if this were to continue for another 10 seconds, I could very well depart from this world. Just at that moment, a strange sound came from my pocket, breaking the tension.

"Ah..."

The charged atmosphere was broken.

<<The Ride Of The Valkyries>>

This was a tune from the movie <<Apocalypse Now>>, composed by Wagner, a tune with an extremely frightening rhythm. This wasn't a ring tone, but a message incoming tone...Only one person would select this tune as the message incoming tone.

"Ruko..."

Just as I expected, three simple words appeared on the LCD screen of my cellphone: Message from Sister.

"Feel like eating curry tonight. Go and buy the ingredients quickly, be back before seven!"

...It wasn't any of my business whether she liked curry or not, but she's already twenty-three, and not only can she not cook, but she even pushes all the household chores to her younger brother (me)! What kind of woman is she, what kind of sister is she! And she even wants me to be back home before seven! I really have a lot of complain about, but only this time...Perhaps I should squeeze out some tears of gratitude for this timely message.

"A message?"

"Yes, from my sister."

All thanks to the timely appearance of the message, the tense atmosphere was completely broken down.

"You have a sister?"

"Hmm? Haven't I told you about her before? She's seven years older than me..."

"Is...Is that so..."

But this could only break the silence for a while, Haruka's cheeks were still flaming red, and I've also accidentally made a weird action...What should I say now?

Anyway, I have to divert the topic somehow.

"Yes, it's like that. Ah, right. Haruka, are you thirsty? I'll go get us some drinks, so just sit here and wait for me alright."

"Ah, alright. Then..."

"I'll be right back."

I let Haruka, who seemed to have something to say, sit on the bench before making myself scarce. Because if I continued to stay with Haruka, I felt that the atmosphere would become extremely awkward.

I bought red tea and coffee at a nearby vending machine, taking the opportunity to regulate my breathing and to calm myself down. I don't know what's happening, but I must first let my heart slow down to its normal rhythm. I breathed in and out deeply five times in a row (from an objective perspective, I'm really a strange person), finally managing to get my heartbeat back to an acceptably normal level. Whew, I think I'll be able to relax for now. I can't make Haruka wait for long, so I should go back now.

I ran back to Haruka.

"Here, this is for you. Do you mind red tea?"

"Mm, thank you. I like red tea very much."

I passed her the can of red tea that had the logo of a lemon of it. As Haruka brought it up to her mouth with a smile,

"Mm, it has a really unique taste, this kind...may taste nicer."

"Unique?"

This wasn't anything special, just a can of lemon red tea that could be bought anywhere.

"This is my first time drinking canned red tea."

...So that was why. In school, I've really never seen Haruka drinking canned or packet drinks before as she always brought her own teacup and thermos.

Looking at Haruka gulping down the red tea, I also started to sip from my can of coffee. A crow that was above me kept making melancholic cries, perhaps it had seven children waiting for it to come home in the mountains!

"About just now...I'm really sorry."

Under the setting sun, Haruka softly apologized.

"Fainting in front of so many people...I must have given Yuuto-san quite a bit of trouble, right?"

"Ah, it wasn't much!"

Though the looks that were cast on me from all directions were indeed rather painful when I was carrying the sleeping beauty in my arms, this wasn't Haruka's fault, and I did get something out of it.

"...I'm really very sorry. Yuuto-san specially made time to go shopping with me, but in the end..."

Haruka lowered her head.

"...I'm really useless. Because of my oversight, all the silver PTAs were sold out. Not only was I not able to complete the main objective of today's shopping trip, I also got Yuuto-san into quite a bit of trouble...I'm really really useless, as useless as 'Useless Girl Megu-chan'. If I had known this was going to happen, we shouldn't have come at all. Yuuto-san, you must be thinking the same thing right..."

Haruka gripped the metal can tightly as she took a deep breath. I could understand that Haruka was extremely depressed, but...she doesn't have to put herself down like this. And anyway, who's Megu-chan?

And also, there was a huge flaw in Haruka's logic.
 
"Wait a minute. It might have been due to your oversight that we weren't able to get the limited edition game console, and we do feel sad about not being able to get it, but...I didn't force myself to go on this shopping trip with you, I accepted your invitation because I wanted to go shopping with you.

That's the assumption that you've made which I want to challenge."

"Hmm..."

"Anyway...I enjoyed myself immensely today, I saw a lot of new things that I've never seen before (For example, cat-ear maids, cat-ear maids, and cat-ear maids), which is why I cannot agree with you when you say that we shouldn't have come in the first place if we had known that we'll be unable to buy the silver PTA. On the contrary, I feel that it is an honor for me to be able to accompany you on this trip."

This were my true feelings on the matter.

"Yuuto-san..."

[[Image:NHnH vol01 163.jpg|thumb]]
Haruka started sobbing with her head leaned to one side.

"Sob...Thank you...Thank you very much. I...I also had a lot of fun today, this is the first time that I've gone shopping with someone...I'm really really happy today, though I'm sad at not being able to get the PTA, I'm really really sorry, and...and..."

"Ah, don't cry."

"Alright..."

Though Haruka agreed to not cry, her sobs only got louder and louder. I had an overpowering urge to offer her my handkerchief...but I realized that my handkerchief wasn't of good quality enough to be offered to another person, so I could only dig out a packet of tissue that was being handed out on the street (as for the company that was giving out tissues, it's a certain financial corporation whose president had recently been arrested).

"Sob......Thank you."

Looking at Haruka using both the mass-produced cheap tissues together with higher quality silk tissues to wipe her tears was rather unbelievable.

It took ten minutes for Haruka to stop crying.






"We should get going..."

"...Right, it's getting late."

Haruka, who finally stopped crying, stood up from the bench with a smile on her face.

"But...I still feel depressed over the fact that we weren't able to get the silver PTA."

"We could go and ask the other stores whether they still have the silver PTA in stock the next time we have a day off."

Upon hearing my words, Haruka gave a shocked expression.

"Really?"

"Of course. Haven't I already said I also had a lot of fun today, and I also wish to be able to go shopping with you?"

"Ah, I'm so happy!"

Haruka skipped forward, while in front of her was---

"Haruka! In front of you!"

"Hmm?"

It was too late.

Bang. After that huge noise,

"...It hurts!"

...Haruka had knocked into a pole, which must have been really painful. Should this be classified as being an airhead? Or just plain clumsiness? But after looking at Haruka, I couldn't help but smile slightly.

"...Yuuto-san, it's mean to laugh at other people!"

"Hmm? I'm not laughing."

"Yes you are! You're laughing! And you're laughing really happily!"

Haruka smashed her small fists into my chest, of course, it wasn't painful at all.

"Yes, yes, it's all my fault."

"...I can't feel your sincerity."

"Really, I'm being really sincere over here."

What to do? I looked around me, hoping to find a way to get out of this tight corner, when I suddenly saw a rectangular shaped machine. That's it, that's the thing.

"Why don't we try that again as the last activity of the day? My treat."

I pointed to the capsule vending machine that Haruka had used during the day, and our current position was in the park right behind that store.

Haruka's indignant expression immediately changed to an excited one.

"Really!? Yay!"

I took out a hundred-yen coin and passed it to Haruka, who promptly threw it into the coin slot and turned the handle, causing a round capsule to roll out. 

As she opened the capsule, Haruka suddenly shouted loudly.

"This is the one! This...This is...the 'Shy shy pose'."

Huh? What? Is she speaking Japanese?

"This is the favorite pose of the female protagonist of the <<Shy Triangle>> Aki-chan. Look, it's really cute isn't it?"

Resting in the palm of Haruka's hand was the figurine of a blue-haired girl who was lightly grabbing onto the hem of her skirt with her fingers. I see, this pose is called the 'Shy shy pose L'. For some reason, this pose seems strangely familiar?

"I'm going to treat it like a treasure!"

Haruka smiled happily as she hugged the figurine.

"...Treat this like a treasure?"

She was planning to treat this figurine with a strange-looking pose like a treasure? Could it be that Haruka likes this figurine more than the piano-playing one?

"This pose is very cute, so I really like it, and..."

Haruka blushed as she said...

"And...this is something that Yuuto-san bought for me. So it's extremely valuable, a most important piece of treasure to me."

She actually said something like that.

......Now this was a predicament.

She was so serious and was blushing so furiously that I didn't know how to answer her, so before I could figure out my answer, my face was burning as I didn't dare to look straight at Haruka.

The cold wind of the sunset blew onto my face, and I took the respite given by the cold air blowing onto my burning face (about three minutes) to finally come up with an answer.

"...Please take good care of it."

......To be honest, I don't know if that was a good enough answer, but at least I gave an answer.

My first shopping trip with Haruka ended like this.

On a side note, this was something that I heard from Nobunaga after the shopping trip, that the figurine with the strange pose seemed to be an extremely rare item, with only fifty of them in existence, an extremely valuable product...I really don't know how this society works sometimes...


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| Forward to [[Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu:Volume1_Chapter3|Chapter 3]]
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