When I Saved a Lost Plushie, I Got Close to a Young Lady From a Yakuza Family
After a fun-filled vacation, school begins.
“Good morning, Sagara-kun. What’s wrong? You look like you have some dark circles on your face.”
-Uruwashi san peeks into my face as I take my seat.
I love the worried look on her face.
“Good morning. Is it? I couldn’t sleep last night. Maybe it’s because I drank an energy drink.”
I blurted it out.
After she left, I watched over and over again the music videos that Uruwashi had taught me.
The songs and videos were great, but what caught my attention more than the music was the costumes.
The ruffles on the shoulders, the volume of the skirt, the patterns and designs. Every single detail.
On that day, I only looked at a lot to solidify my image.
It was to make a plush outfit with the outfit Uruwashi said was the cutest.
I wanted to give it to her as a surprise, so I had to make sure she didn’t find out.
“From now on, you have to avoid energy drinks because they contain too much caffeine. Sagara-kun’s sleeping time is more important.”
“Yes, I will.”
Uruwashi’s genuine concern for my wellbeing made my heart ache a little.
The next day. It was after school.
Uruwashi-san comes over to my house and while I’m cooking, she says
“Sagara-kun. What’s this?”
“Oh, that!”
What Uruwashi-san was holding was a pack of instant coffee.
She must have found it when she was throwing away the cooking garbage.
“Do you know there is caffeine in coffee?”
“Oh, that’s right.”
“If energy drinks are bad, you know coffee is bad, too?”
“No, I just like the taste of coffee.”
Uruwashi-san looked at me with a sharp gaze as I scratched my head and laughed.
I was a little scared and my legs were trembling.
“Turn around, will you?”
Uruwashi grabs my chin with the hand that is not holding the coffee packet.
I’m a little nervous in more ways than one.
“It seems your dark circles haven’t healed yet. Be careful with the caffeine.”
“……, I understand.”
Uruwashi took her hand off my chin and resumed cooking.
I used to make clothes for plushie during school breaks, lunch breaks, and after I got home.
But nowadays, Uruwashi is always around, no matter what time I am there. I know it is a very extravagant problem.
So I have to eat dinner with her and then work on it late at night after Uruwashi leaves and I’m alone.
That’s why I’m caffeinated.
I was naive to think that since I washed my cup, she wouldn’t notice.
But there is still a plan over here.
“Sagara-kun. I don’t want to put you in danger if you don’t know, but the tea and chocolate you see here are also high in caffeine, so don’t eat them for a while.”
Uruwashi opened the cupboard.
Oh no. My food had been leaked to Uruwashi san.
“H-hee”
“I will know”
I felt fear in the depths of Uruwashi’s eyes as she smiled thinly at me.
Suddenly I ran out of ideas. I’d have to work harder without relying on caffeine.
That evening, I proceeded to work at the workbench.
Today, I will create a design for the costume I saw yesterday. The frills and patterns in real life are very detailed, but the limited size of plushie’s clothes limits how elaborate I can make them, so I have to deform them to some extent.
This selection process is a test of taste and a lot of fun.
I had to hide the finished design so that Uruwashi would not see it.
After that, I made a pattern, bought the actual fabric, and cut and sewed it. I made a few samples and brought them to a satisfactory result.
When I was working diligently on these processes over several days.
While having dinner with Uruwashi.
“Sagara-kun. You’re hiding something, aren’t you?”
Gasp
“Nothing, nothing at all.”
“Your hand with the chopsticks is shaking. That’s suspicious.”
Uruwashi’s sharp eyes catch mine.
“I know what’s going on.”
What? Did she know that I was secretly making the costumes?
“You’ve seen the music video for “Asterisk” since I left, right?”
“Umm……”
“I could hear you when I left the house.”
Uruwashi-san put the finishing touches on my stuttering.
I was working on it right away because I didn’t have much time to spare, but it turned out to be my fault.
“You don’t have to hide anything. The bears haven’t changed either.”
Indeed, it was not a good idea to hide something from Uruwashi, who has been so good to me, even if it was a surprise.
“That’s right,…… actually,…….”
“You’ve fallen in love with Kudo-chan, haven’t you?!”
She furrows her brow and questions me.
If she says something like that while sitting at the dinner table, it feels like I am being interrogated about cheating on my daily routine.
“I understand. If she is that cute and can sing and dance, anyone would love her.”
“Eh? What?”
“I watched the first day of the PV release many times, but I don’t need to watch it every day to the point of sleep deprivation, do I?”
Uruwashi’s outburst did not stop.
“You said she was beautiful that day,…….”
“No, I didn’t.”
“What, are you trying to tell me that Kudo-chan isn’t beautiful?”
Uruwashi looks at me with eyes that have lost their highlights.
I don’t want to deny it
“No, no, no! Stop, Ten-chan! I’m sorry, I apologize for hiding things from you!”
“I knew you were hiding it from me. You fell in love with her”
“I told you that’s not true.”
I stood up and took out the finished plush clothes from the workbench.
“The new clothes for the new song? But why do you have it, Sagara kun? It’s not even on sale yet. ……”
I’m glad she could tell just by looking at this outfit that it’s the outfit for the new song.
“I made it. Here, it’s for Ten-chan.”
“Sagara-kun made it? It’s amazing! It’s so awesome, it’s divine! Can I really have it?”
“I wanted to make Ten-chan’s most favorite outfit into a plush outfit. I’ve been working on this for a long time. It’s not for anyone else, but for Ten-chan.”
“I can’t believe Sagara-kun went to …… sleepless nights to make this for me. I’m too happy.”
“I’m sorry I worried you because I was sleep deprived. Also, I think she is an amazing idol, but that doesn’t mean I like her”
Uruwashi-san’s eyes went black and white when she heard my words.
It seems that she has not caught up with her emotions.
“I really appreciate you, Sagara-kun. And I’m sorry I doubted you so strangely.”
Uruwashi bowed deeply as she gently held the wet clothes in her hands.
“Don’t worry about it at all. It’s just a thank you for making me dinner recently. So, Ten-chan, if you don’t mind this…”
I took out my phone and showed her the website.
“I’d like to go to the “Asterisk” collaboration café with you.”
“I wanted to go, but I gave up because I’m alone… I’d like to go if we could go together, but I can’t make a reservation.”
I manipulate my phone and show her the email screen.
“Actually, I already got a reservation for this Sunday before noon. Are you free for the date?”
The collaboration café will only be open for a limited time.
I wanted to go with Uruwashi during that period somehow with the new costume, Banira-chan. That’s why the costumes were being made at a rapid pace.
Besides, the collaboration café can be reserved when there are cancellations.
Since I often worked late into the night, I checked the schedule every time I was working to see if there were any cancellations, and somehow managed to secure a slot.
“I’ll be there no matter what! Thank you, Sagara-kun!”
Uruwashi hugs me tightly.
I was about to suffocate when my face was buried in her large breasts!
“Tenchan, if you keep this up, we won’t be able to go to the collaboration café.”
I tap her on the back with a thump.
“Wow, …… sorry.”
Uruwashi, who had come to her senses from the violent ups and downs of her emotions, was unusually embarrassed.
It seems to have made her quite happy.
◇
The night after I finished asking Uruwashi out.
I was trying to fall asleep in bed early when I received a call on my phone.
The caller was Emi.
“Hello, what’s up?”
“Sou-chan. How are you doing?”
“I’m not sleeping well, so I’m going to bed. If you don’t want anything, I’ll hang up.”
“Hey, hey! It’s your cute little sister calling you.
Don’t hang up right away, be more pleased!’
Emi’s high-pitched voice pierces through the phone and sticks in my ear.
“Oh, what is it already. Tell me your requirements.”
Emi doesn’t call me for nothing.
In the past, she would cling to me even when there was nothing going on, and would cry if I tried to leave her.
“So-chan. I heard you’re dating Ten-nee”
I could see through the phone that she was smiling at me.
What was she talking about?
“Dating? No, I’m not.”
“Yeah, the other day. Didn’t you go shopping for a pouch?”
Emi’s voice shook and she sounded confused.
“I did, but that wasn’t a date, that was a plushie activity”
“Are you serious about that?”
Emi with a stiff tone, and now I ask the question in a puzzled tone.
“Eh, I’m serious… but maybe not?”
“When a man and a woman go out together, that’s a date!”
That’s not true. It’s me and Uruwashi.
This is not a date.
“What do you wear when you go out?”
“The same as always……”
“I can’t believe it! You have to dress up and look cool!”
Suddenly, I heard a loud voice, so I took my phone away from my ear.
I could still hear what she was saying. It seemed I had made her angry. I heard her say, “Hey, Sou-chan, are you listening?” so I put the phone to my ear.
“You did promise to go out with Ten nee again next time, did you?”
“No, that’s …….”
“Yes, there is. You have to be strong when that happens, you know? Oh, that’s right! Emi will help you!”
“Emi, you’re enjoying it!”
“…..”
Please say something.
“Oh, well, when’s the next time?”
“Next time is Sunday.”
Why do I have to tell my sister my schedule?
“In that case, you’re free on Saturday, right? Yep, you don’t have any plans, do you? So we can still get ready in time…”
I felt like Emi was saying terrible things to me, but I let it slide because it wasn’t a mistake.
If you answer back, you’ll lose.
Emi took the liberty of holding up my schedule and hanging up the phone.
a selfish little sister.
I lay back on the bed and thought.
Emi called it a date when a man and a woman go out, but am I going on a date with Uruwashi?
Thinking about it, I thought that going to a cafe after school and viewing cherry blossoms were plushie activity, but are they also dates?
Was I, who has been without a girlfriend for a million years, on a date?
A date with that out-of-school beauty, Uruwashi Tian?
“No, no, no, no, no.”
While I denied it with my mouth, the word “date” kept running through my mind.
From now on, I’m somehow feeling nervous about meeting Uruwashi-san.
Emi is so…
Today, the lack of sleep did not help.