Kujo Hiyori's Daily Life

Ever since Kujo had confessed his feelings to Hiyori that day,

Hiyori had been trying to figure out one thing.

Her Kujo-kun was quite an awkward guy.

Her boyfriend was more mature than everyone around him and more perceptive, yet he was also an idiot who couldn't face his own feelings.

As for exactly how he was awkward...

He was awkward in every way.

He could figure out the rules of the school on the first day of term, and he knew how to handle people with completely different personalities and ways of doing things.

Kujo-kun understood all the first-years, and he understood everything about this school.

If she had to describe him, Kujo-kun was like someone who had traveled back in time from a very distant future.

A lot of novels had similar premises.

Hiyori could imagine how a story like that might unfold.

But to her, what kind of person Kujo was didn't matter.

Because all Hiyori wanted was for her Kujo-kun to be happier each day.

That was all.

One day after school.

Shopping center

Hiyori took her Kujo-kun into a very popular clothing store.

She was going to pick out several pretty outfits for Kujo.

But she couldn't just buy them for him outright.

If she told Kujo directly that she wanted to buy him clothes, he might refuse or pick something cheap.

Kujo-kun was handsome and had a great figure. He suited all kinds of clothes.

She'd heard that before every date, he even made a point of stopping by a barber the day before, letting the barber choose a hairstyle to match his outfit.

But Hiyori knew Kujo-kun wasn't dressing up for the sake of it. He was simply used to making sure his appearance suited the occasion.

That was the sort of choice a mature adult would make.

If she just told a Kujo-kun like that that she wanted them to wear matching outfits, she'd probably make him uncomfortable.

So before their date, Hiyori had made a point of telling Kujo-kun that she was taking him along to buy clothes for herself. Whatever she asked, Kujo-kun would agree without hesitation.

And so,

unaware of Hiyori's little scheme, Kujo was led into one store after another.

If she had to say what was different about this place from the shopping centers Kujo remembered, it was probably that there were no children's clothing stores or playgrounds. After all, this was a shopping district designed specifically for young people by the school.

Some boys might instinctively feel reluctant to go into women's clothing stores, but Kujo didn't think there was anything strange about it.

Even buying sanitary pads wasn't something he could see the point of worrying about. Who didn't have a girlfriend?

And when it came to shopping with Hiyori, Kujo had a little trick of his own.

Hiyori wasn't like other girls. If she didn't have anything she wanted to buy, she generally wouldn't suggest going to the mall.

But since she had something in mind, she still wanted to bring Kujo along to shop.

Kujo figured she was worried that he might not like the styles she had her eye on.

After all, Hiyori was cute from every angle, and she'd look good in any kind of clothes.

After spending some time together, Kujo had also learned that Hiyori was a model girlfriend who cared a great deal about him.

So, his special trick was to show her what he liked first.

If Hiyori wanted new clothes, Kujo would point out some delicate accessories or cute little charms in the shop windows they passed.

Kujo knew that girls' clothes were different from boys'. Boys' clothes were basically shirts and pants, maybe with a jacket on top.

Girls' clothes, on the other hand, had layers upon layers. Some were like mille-feuille pastries—you could never guess what structures were hiding underneath. With others, just looking at them, you couldn't even tell whether that piece of fabric could be called clothing.

If a boy judged something that had nothing to do with his life by his own standards, he'd only reveal his ignorance. Even if it made his girlfriend feel good, it would subtly make them grow apart.

Most people would probably just follow behind and serve as a bag carrier, but Kujo couldn't possibly ignore Hiyori's expectant gaze.

"Kujo-kun, do you like this kind of outfit?"

After they'd had that conversation many times, Kujo had nearly covered the entire shopping center with Hiyori leading the way.

But after a while, he'd started to get a rough idea of why Hiyori had brought him along, based on what she did after picking out each outfit.

Hiyori wanted to buy him some clothes.

Kujo figured she thought his taste in clothes was old-fashioned.

He knew his own taste well enough.

As someone who was older in mind and a traveler from another country, Kujo always made a point of trying to match the fashion of students in Japan.

But his taste still ruled out a lot of options.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt that this was exactly what was going on.

Naturally, she wouldn't say it outright, so she was taking the roundabout approach of inviting him to buy clothes.

Kujo was only half right.

He would probably never understand that, in Hiyori's eyes, he was also the most handsome person in the world.

He looked good in anything.

It was just that when they went out together, Hiyori sometimes got the feeling that she was like a little sister tagging along beside her big brother.

If she could, she'd rather show everyone that he was hers.

That was what Hiyori thought.

Just putting a bracelet she'd bought on her boyfriend's wrist wasn't enough for Hiyori now that she was head over heels in love.

"Matching outfits are either the same clothes in different colors, or just two identical outfits, right?"

Kujo's sudden remark made Hiyori's little hand freeze as she put a piece of clothing back on the rack.

Clearly, by the time they'd entered the tenth store, Kujo had finally figured out what Hiyori was really after when he saw her eyeing a unisex sweatshirt.

Hiyori's intentions were written all over her actions. Even someone as slow as Kujo should have figured it out.

When Kujo thought something suited her, Hiyori would ask whether they had her size and hold it up against herself in front of a mirror.

"Kujo-kun, do you prefer clothes that are a little more formal?"

At that, Kujo's brows twitched.

It was a difficult question to answer.

When people thought of formal clothes, they usually thought of uniforms like school uniforms, or something like a dress shirt. Those kinds of outfits took the difference between men and women into account, so the men's and women's styles were clearly different.

She was avoiding the topic of matching outfits and shifting the conversation to his personal preferences instead.

Kujo hesitated for a moment.

Did Hiyori really want to buy matching outfits, or did she actually think he'd been dressing too old-fashioned lately—or that his clothes were too formal?

The outfit Kujo was wearing was one he'd copied directly from the upperclassmen: loose-fitting, with a slightly casual feel.

Seeing Kujo's puzzled expression, Hiyori smiled and said,

"Okay, okay~ I really do want to try doing something couples usually do with you, Kujo-kun. Would you wear the same outfit in different colors with Hiyori? Or would you rather accidentally show up wearing the same clothes as Hiyori?"

Hiyori spoke more and more slowly, putting special emphasis on the word "accidentally."

Here, accidentally wearing the same clothes was undoubtedly an awkward situation. Two strangers in the same place wearing identical outfits would feel very embarrassed as soon as they noticed each other.

At that, Kujo could only go along with Hiyori.

"You can decide, Hiyori."

Hiyori puffed out her cheeks and smacked Kujo's chest with her little hand.

"Kujo-kun, you choose. Hiyori wants to know what you want to see Hiyori wearing."

Kujo froze, then pointed to a white skirt and white shirt in the women's section nearby.

Only after pointing them out did Kujo realize the problem.

Wasn't that just a uniform?

The sort of outfit people wore for formal occasions.

Kujo held his forehead, then looked around, refusing to give up. His eyes landed on a red evening gown.

He thought Hiyori would look beautiful in it.

"Ah."

Kujo sighed.

Following the boy's gaze, Hiyori looked over too.

Kujo was looking at an elegant dress.

But if she wore it, her back would get cold, wouldn't it?

So Hiyori lightly punched Kujo and complained,

"Does Kujo-kun think the clothes I picked out are too childish after all?"