Episode 2 – The hunter who has found prey

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Cafe near the station

We entered a fashionable café with feelings of happiness and confusion at our unexpected reunion.

The joy of meeting old childhood friends.

The fact that the three of them, now as beautiful as actresses, were now far away and out of reach, brought on feelings of confusion.

We are sitting at a table of four, and next to me is Sera chan, two years younger than me, who is wearing expensive brand-name clothes and has short blond hair and green eyes. In front of me is Ai nee, wearing a suit with a bulge at the chest and glasses. And at an angle, Arisa, her flaxen hair shaking faintly, catching me with her red eyes as she sips her caramel macchiato.

I chug the straw stuck in my coffee and then open my mouth.

“I never thought I would see you again.”

Hearing my words, Ai nee replies with the scent of perfume that an adult woman would wear.

“Me too. ……”

Ai nee exhaled with deep emotion and drank her drink. Then Sera chan, who is two years younger than her, interrupts.

“Yuu nii-chan, you’ve grown up, haven’t you? Hihihi.”

Sera chan is smiling devilishly, and I think there are still faint traces of the old days on her face.

“Yes. He’s taller than us, and he has a big back and big hands. ……”

Arisa, wearing a black one-piece dress with ruffles, said, her cheeks turning a little cherry red.

“Well, it’s been fifteen years.”

When I replied in a slightly embarrassed manner, Ai nee loosened her cheeks and said

“But you still have the scar on your forehead, Yu-chan.”

As if thinking back to a bygone era, Ai nee stared at my forehead with her hand on my cheek. Then, the other two also let out a breath and stared at my face.

I see a mixture of nostalgia and apology in these three expressions.

The fact that they mentioned my wounds means that they are more or less aware of the incident.

But it’s over now, and I’m glad the three of them are alive and well.

With that thought in mind, I say to the three of them, without hiding my feelings.

“I’m so glad you are all safe.”

“”!!!!”

When the three of them heard my words, they all twitched and spilled their drinks.

“Is everyone …… all right? Are you wet?”

I asked worriedly, then wiped the table top with a napkin I had on hand. I feel like this would be faster if I went to the cashier and got a rag or something.

“Yuu-chan…… I think I might be wet.”
“I’m sorry, Yuu…… me a little too.”
“Yuu-nii chan,…… me,…… I’m a little sticky.”
“I’m going to …… go to the cashier and get a napkin or a rag.”

I said, and the three nodded their heads apologetically.

“I’ll be right back!”
““…….””

I ran to the cashier and got a large supply of disposable rags and napkins. The waitress was busy with customers, so I cleaned up the table.

The clothes of the three of them looked pretty expensive, so the dry-cleaning bill must have been huge.

As I finished wiping the table clean with this in mind, Ai nee looked at my suit and opened her mouth in concern.

“I’m sorry, Yu-chan. Your pants got wet. …… let me pay for it.”
“N-no. It’s no big deal.”
“No. I don’t want to keep bothering the person who helped us all those years.”
“Yeah?”

As I tilted my head at Ai nee’s slightly strange way of speaking, Sera chan, a short blonde girl two years younger than me, opened her mouth in a mischievous manner.

“I’ll buy you new pants, let’s get out of here. Right? Yuu ni-chan! Hihi.”
“……”

Sure, it was pretty wet, and the drink permeated my skin, making it feel not half as sticky as it should have. But I was getting a little confused, wondering if it was okay to go pants shopping with these beauties, no matter how much we were old childhood friends.

So I looked away for a moment from the two people who were giving me the eye. Then, I looked beyond them.

“Yu, let’s go.”
“…… Yeah.”

Eventually, I left the restaurant, letting the mood of the three of us take over.

We are walking downtown. To my left is Ai nee, and to my right are Sera chan and Arisa. A man walking between the three beauties seems to stand out, and men on the street look at me with jealousy.

Sera chan looks me up and down in front of her and talks to me in profile. The white knit she’s wearing emphasizes her chest area and makes it hard to look at her. ……

“Is Yuu ni chan a working man?”
“Well, yes.”
“What kind of work do you do?”
“I work for ……, a small IT company, developing systems.”
“A-A system?”
“Yes. So…. what’s up?”

As soon as Sera chan hears the key word “system,” she rolls her eyes and looks alternately at her sisters. Sera chan then laughs and fakes it.

“It’s nothing. Systems are important, aren’t they? Because we’re having quite a hard time too!”
“W-Well, sort of.”

We stopped talking again, and the four of us continued walking toward the suit shop. On the way, my arms intermittently brushed against the huge marshmallows of Ai nee on the left and Sera chan on the right. I tried to slow down or quicken my pace to avoid hitting these beauties’ chests, but they kept hitting them as fast as I was going. I don’t think it was intentional, but they should be a little more careful.

As I was looking around with this thought in mind, Arisa scratched her flaxen hair up in a sexy way and the corners of her mouth lifted slightly when she saw me

We went to a suit shop. Ai nee bought me a pair of trousers from the same suit I was wearing.

I wondered if it was really appropriate to give them to me, but the three of them smiled and said it was fine. She even said she would take the dirty pants I wore today to the cleaners and return them later.

After we finished shopping, we walked out of the store. Arisa looked at me with wide eyes, as if she had just thought of something.

“Yu”
“Yeah?”
“Contact.”
“Ah, by the way, we haven’t exchanged numbers yet, have we?”
“Yeah. If I don’t have Yuu’s contact information, I can’t meet with you. ……”
“Y-Yeah, that’s right. I’m so glad you went to the trouble of cleaning it. ……”

Saying that, I took out my phone.

Then I started up Ain (Basically Line), projected the QR code, and showed it to Arisa.

“…….”

However, Arisa stared at my cell phone screen and did nothing. She stood there for a moment, fluttered her long eyelashes, and then turned her gaze from her beautiful red eyes to me.

“Yu’s phone number is better.”
“A-ah, ……, that’s what you mean.”

I handed the phone to Arisa. Arisa’s cheeks turned a little red and she gripped my phone with her thin ivory-colored fingers. She moved her slightly trembling fingertips, typed in her phone number, and pressed the call button. Then the cell phone rings from the bag she is holding in her hand. After confirming this, Arisa breathed a sigh of relief and handed the phone back to me.

Ai nee with long black hair and Sera chan with short blonde hair, who had been observing our exchange, nodded their heads in satisfaction and opened their mouths to speak.

“Arisa, share with me later.”
“Arisa nee chan, you will share it with me too, won’t you?”
“Yes, of course.”

We were near the train station with everyone’s attention on us.

“Yu-chan, are you sure you want to do this? I brought my car, so I thought I’d give you a ride home. ……”
“I’m good. I’ll see you later!”
“Yuu!”
“Yuu nii chan!”
“?”

I was about to turn on my heel when Arisa and Sera chan stopped me. I gave them a look, prompting them to continue.

“See you again.”
“See you later! Hihi.”

Perhaps the three of them are reminiscing about the past.

Until a few minutes ago, I had regarded these three as unattainable beauties. However, there are still faint traces of the old days in their expressions and gestures.

So, just like in the past, I said to them

“Yeah, see you later! Have a safe trip home.”

Saying this, I turned and turned on my heel and went through the ticket gate.

It has been a long time since I have seen the three of them smile. However, there is one thing that bothers me. It may be my imagination, but I feel a mysterious intensity in the way Ai nee, Arisa, and Sera chan look at me.

They didn’t used to be like that. …… They must have experienced something I don’t know about for the past 15 years.

When I think about it, I still feel a wall.

They are beautiful.

I’m sure that the rich and handsome men who can compete with the actors will not leave her alone.

“I’ve got to find a new job.”

I muttered to myself and got on the train.

I got on the train to go to my home where I was alone.

And the memories of the past came back to me.

I am so glad that the three of them are safe.

Really