The social phobia substitute will not dream of the band girl

..

"Would it look better if I drew a line here? ...Ah, Toothpaste, it's crooked—"

!! ?

When Pingxin opened his eyes, he saw Toru Asakura painting on his face. Wasn’t it Hina who came to do my makeup today?

Or was it possible that I had fallen under an illusion or hypnotism at some point?

"Toru, when did you come?"

Ping Xin asked, pretending to be calm.

click-

Ping Xin looked in the direction of the sound and saw Higuchi Enka, who was calm and collected, clapping her hands non-stop.

Is this revenge for what happened on the train before?

Ahhhhhh......

No, what on earth am I supposed to look like when I’m being photographed?!

"......Give me!"

“…Ah~!?”

Pingxin pounced on Enka like a hungry tiger and threw her onto the sofa to grab her phone, but the delicate sound she made made the scene a little awkward.

Bang!

The water cup in Fukumaru Koito's hand fell to the ground, but luckily it was a shatterproof cup...

No, why are you here too?

"...Koito, when did you come?"

*After resolving the misunderstanding, the four of them put makeup on Ping Xin together.

Chapter 12: Tacit Understanding, No Need to Say More

"Eat?"

"eat."

The two came to the front of the roadside mobile vending car and lined up obediently.

"I forgot my keys again. That's not good."

"Yeah...indeed."

Asakura Toru got home and found that he had no key, no one was home, and it seemed that Enka next door was also not at home, so he had no place to stay, so he started wandering around.

"Want this?"

"Well, that's good."

Then, while wandering around, Toru found Hiranobu, and they decided to spend some time together... June isn't too early to eat ice cream, right?

In short, the two of them each ordered a portion of ice cream, but not multiple scoops, after all, they had to go home for dinner soon, and if they took turns eating, it would actually be a "double scoop of ice cream".

"It's just that I didn't expect Koito and Hina to see your message... This kind of thing happens sometimes, like when you have some free time and want to invite others to play games, but everyone finds out they're all busy."

“Mmm…delicious.”

But fortunately, Toru is not a particularly sentimental type, at least a simple ice cream can shut her up.

"It makes sense that my uncle is away because he has to work, but what about my aunt?"

"Class reunion."

If that's the case, there's nothing we can do...

After all, even if it is a mother-daughter relationship, they are ultimately different individuals, and it is normal and ordinary for them to have their own lives.

"But what happened? Did you simply forget to bring it when you went out?"

“When I found him, there was a ‘boom’… and then he was outside.”

So that's how it is, wind...

"You really know how to catch the timing—" Ping Xin exclaimed.

"Yeah...it's a really nice breeze~" Toru agreed.

At this time, a breeze blew...

You are really good at reading the atmosphere.

"...By the way, why are you eating so much from my bowl? Isn't honeydew melon delicious?"

"Hey, but you ate it too. It was strawberry."

Perhaps because the food in other people's bowls always looks more delicious, Hirashin and Asakura Toru kept taking food from each other's bowls.

But this probably has nothing to do with taste, they would still do this even if they swapped ice creams——

"...But if he hadn't met me, where would Toru have ended up?"

"Hmm... I don't know."

Does that mean you were planning to wander around aimlessly?

What a free guy...

After a brief sigh, Ping Xin continued, "So, what do you want to do now?"

Originally, she would probably follow the wind, blowing to every corner, whether occupied or not, until she got tired and stopped at some point.

But now——

"Hmm... I don't know. How about you?"

"I see... I don't know either."

Pingxin finally won the battle for food, and now Tou's bowl was as clean as if it had been licked.

"I don't have any plans today... If I did, it would probably be to [clear my mind and adjust my state of mind]. Anyway, I'm pretty free."

"Then, let's go."

Asakura Toru smiled slightly and threw the empty bowl in his hand away.

“…Hahahahahahaha——”

Pingxin made a three-pointer, and Toru picked up the empty bowl on the ground and threw it into the trash can, laughing and being laughed at. Although it was not funny, it was still very funny.

"You have such a bad personality, Shin."

"Oh, I thought you knew all along~"

Ping Xin took out a tissue and wiped her mouth, then another three-pointer went in. He was truly gentle, but also truly good at making people angry.

Tou smiled. If he thought about it carefully, this person's personality had already been what it is today since kindergarten. What changed was never his nature, but his attitude and way towards life.

"Well... who knows—"

"If you eat something cold right after eating this, you'll get an upset stomach, you know~?"

As they were talking, Toru's gaze was drawn to other vendors' carts. Heishin knew she wanted to eat something else, but eating ice cream (cold) first and then oden (hot) would most likely lead to a fight with the toilet...

Toru Asakura died in a fight with the toilet. Why did I have such a dream?

"Oh, but you can handle it, right?"

"Hmm... who knows~"

......

...

..

Just like when Shimokitazawa Hongxia ran away before, there were many mobile food trucks selling food and drinks in this open space, so the two of them ate to their heart's content -

Sometimes they sit on benches, sometimes on public tables and chairs with parasols, and sometimes they squat directly on the ground.

After successfully unlocking various postures, the two of them even bought some to take away after eating, and walked to the long stairs in front of the shrine while eating.

Although it was not the same time and space or the same place, Ping Xin remembered the school idols who had trained on similar terrain, and... the male protagonist who jumped off a building in a fighting (funny) manga.

"...Oh~"

Following two barks, a dog that was neither big nor small, not cute but not very majestic either, but rather looked a bit silly came over.

"What do you want with me, you dog?"

No no no, only Enka and I can understand you when you talk like this. A dog with limited comprehension ability can't decipher it at all——

"Wang!"

"Hey, do you understand?"

Seeing Pingxin's surprised look, Tou laughed twice and said, "Are you alone?"

"Wang Wang!"

"Even though I don't understand what Toru is saying, I can tell through 'smell' that there's kindness and some inexplicable feelings... The existence of life itself is truly a miracle~"

If it wasn't inappropriate to feed a dog privately, Pingxin would have wanted to reward it with half a starch sausage, but now he could only enjoy it alone with regret.

"Judging from the fact that it ran towards you when it saw you, it might be a dog from a nearby house. But you don't have any impression of it, which means it's not a guard dog from the street. It probably saw you a few times while walking its dog and remembered you."

This dog is so enthusiastic about things, it's like a otaku has been reincarnated. She's obviously a female dog?

"Hey, wait..."

After she squatted down, it licked the palm of Asakura Toru's hand directly. In order to prevent possible bacteria, Pingxin directly executed justice on it——

“Oh~oh~!”

With just a slight movement, he tickled the puppy until its belly was exposed. Even Tou, who was standing next to him, clapped his hands in respect.

"Kurobuta...! Ah, Kurita...!"

Hearing the woman's call not far away, the dog, which was originally lying on the ground and allowing others to touch it, quickly barked twice in response.

"Oh my god, I told you not to wander around...! ——I'm so sorry, I'm causing you trouble, right?"

After smiling and patting the dog's head, the woman politely apologized to the two of them.

“Not at all”

"Hmm, maybe we should actually be thankful for this kid spending some time with us... Look if you want, but taking photos is forbidden. After all, it's perfectly normal for humans to be curious about what's underneath the mask—"

After sending the man and the dog away, Tou asked Pingxin why he said that.

"Hmm... because she was surprised when she saw you. It seems that traffic management really has a big impact on popularity."

"Oh, I see..."

To be honest, Asakura Toru doesn't care about this kind of thing at all, but if Hiranobu is happy, she will be happy too -

"Let's go."

Chapter 13 Let's go together

"Let's go... The sun is about to set—"

After seeing off the man and the dog, Toru Asakura took the lead.

"Well, let's go then."

The empty packaging was thrown accurately into the trash can, followed closely by the ordinary letter.

Although he didn't know where she was going, she probably had a destination this time, so he just had to follow her obediently.

They walked like this for more than ten minutes until the slope turned into flat ground, and they finally arrived at a place on the mountain along the way.

There was a small park not far away, but it didn't have any special climbing frames. The two of them didn't go anywhere, just stopped somewhere, and even though there were benches and wooden benches, they stood in the middle of the road.

The height here is not low, so you can see the sunset and clouds in the distance, as well as buildings as big as drink bottles and small boxes, and almost invisible people.

The wind was whistling in my ears, and it was always cold up there. Pingxin took out a coat from somewhere and put it on Asakura Toru.