I Was Hired As A Tutor By A Cute Little Devilish Junior - Chapter 7 Outing

“Why don’t we go get some lunch first?”
“Explain yourself first.”

It was a few minutes after we left Shiina’s apartment. When I checked my watch, it was 12:30 in the afternoon.
It was a good time to have lunch. My stomach was just beginning to growl with hunger.
But I had more important things to do right now.

“An explanation? Oh, like why I’m not in a skirt today?”
“Why did we go out so abruptly?”
“I have two reasons. One is that it seems to be windy today and I don’t want anyone but Senpai to see my underwear.”
“I didn’t ask that.”

I replied with a sigh to Shiina, who had too many needless things to say.
Since when did she grow up to be a bad girl who doesn’t listen to others?
Well, first of all, I don’t remember raising her.

“If you’re asking me why I went out, all I can say is that I’m in the mood.”
“Didn’t you have something planned for this afternoon?”
“Here’s the schedule.”
“…”

Shiina said with a dumbfounded look on her face.
Did she make plans for both of us without telling me? What a selfish thing to do.

But I was still worried about what I was going to do for lunch. Did she invite me out today with that in mind from the start?
I don’t know if I should call her a schemer or just selfish…

“…Anyways, I’ll think about it after lunch.”
“Let’s do that♪! Let’s do that♪!”

Shiina replied to my words with a happy face and walked ahead of me with a skip in her step.
After a little while, Shiina slowed down and walked alongside me.
As I looked at her curiously, she asked me in a slightly unsure voice.

“Murakami-senpai. Can we hold hands?”

Shiina asked me with an upward glance. For a moment, I almost stopped in surprise and confusion, but then I quickly turned my head and moved my feet.

“Shiina, I’ve been wanting to ask you something, is that okay?”
“What is it?”
“Shiina, do you normally do this kind of thing with someone who is not your boyfriend or anything of the sort?”

In response to my in-depth question, Shiina turned her head away with an unhappy look on her face.
However, she immediately raised her head and turned around to look at me.
Shiina’s face was the usual cheerful, yet smiling one.

“As I said before, I only do this with Senpai, okay?”
“…Why me?”

I asked Shiina again the same question I had asked before.
Of course, I asked the question because I wanted to know the truth.
But somewhere in my heart, I wanted to hear something false.

I understood why I felt that way when I heard Shiina’s next words.

“I said this before, too. It’s a secret♡”
“…”

I was somewhat relieved by Shiina’s words, which were so obvious and deceptive.

It was true that Shiina had said the same thing before.
When I asked her why she chose me as her tutor, she said it was a “secret.”

Maybe I was afraid to ask her the real reason.
I’ve been turning my back on my desire to know what Shiina thought of me.
That was why I guess I was relieved by her words.

“I will definitely tell you the reason later on, Senpai. My mind isn’t ready for this yet…Ehehe…”
“Your mind isn’t ready…Yes, you can’t help it then.”
“Yes, I have no choice♪”

Normally, I would have asked her back what she was doing to prepare her mind.
But now, I agree with Shiina’s feelings. Maybe it was me who needed to prepare myself.

“I’m sorry for asking such a strange question. Let’s get some lunch.”
“Yes!”

Seeing Shiina’s cheerful reply, a smile naturally appeared on my face.
I knew Shiina had to be like this. I was thinking about such a trivial and unimportant thing.

“Hey, Senpai? In the end, is holding hands…”
“I refuse. If it’s inside the house, sure, but outside, people will look at us. I don’t want to die because of that.”
“Heh? You’re going to die?”

Shiina tilted her head.
She may not be aware of it, but if someone at school saw her doing that, we would be in trouble.
It was okay if I’m the one who suffered the damage, but the spark would inevitably go to her as well.
I don’t want to do that, because I was half the cause in that cause.

“Let’s go. I’m hungry.”
“Hmm, you’re a glutton, aren’t you?”
“Better than Shiina.”
“Eh~? Am I that much of a glutton?”
“You are very picky about certain things.”

I laughed at Shiina, who tilted her head again, and started walking.
As we walked out into the city, various stores came into view.

I didn’t know this because I hadn’t walked around Shiina’s place much, but it seemed to be the best shopping area in the area.
There were many stores that I had never heard of around her house and many billboards and signs that I had never seen.

“Is there anything you want to eat?”
“Not particularly, I guess. I’m fine with whatever Shiina likes.”
“Are you sure? Hmmm~, what should I do~?”

Shiina replied happily, and as she walked lightly, she began to look at the signs in the shopping district.

“I think pasta would be good, but since Senpai’s here, ramen would be good too. Yakiniku is also a good idea.”
“What kind of high school girl eats yakiniku at noon?”
“It’s not impossible. You have to eat when you can while you’re young.”
“It’s the fact that she’s talking straight forward that’s so weird.”
“That’s terrible. I’m really going to yakiniku.”
“Stop it. I said it’s Shiina’s favorite food, but that’s really going to upset my stomach this afternoon.”
“Ah, that’s true, too. Then pasta it is!”

I followed Shiina’s lively voice and entered a restaurant that seemed to be her favorite.
In the calm atmosphere of the restaurant, there were more female customers, with a few couples here and there.

I sat down at empty table for two by the window and picked up the menu.
I placed the menu on the table so Shiina could see it, and looked at it the other way.

“There’s quite a lot on the menu here.”
“…”
“Shiina?”
“Eh? Ah, yeah, I guess so. It’s tough when there’s a lot of girls.”
“I didn’t ask.”
“Ahaha, I’m just kidding. You’re talking about the menu, right?”
“Of course. Please don’t make any bad jokes for my heart.”
“I’m sorry.”

Shiina scratched her head with a bitter smile.
Sighing, I looked down at the menu again.

Only about half of the dishes were things I had eaten or heard of, and the rest were things I had never heard of.
I tried for a while to decipher the menu like a spell, but eventually gave up and ordered carbonara.

She asked for Japanese spaghetti, which seemed to be her favorite.
I wished I could return the time I spent trying to decipher the unknown pasta.

After ordering, Shiina and I chatted for a while, and it didn’t take long for our food to arrive.

We both said “Itadakimasu” together, and then picked up our spoons and forks.
It had been a long time since I had eaten a real pasta dish, so I was a little confused about how to handle the fork.

To be honest, the taste was really good.
I don’t know if it was because I had only eaten my parents’ home cooking, but it was so good that it changed my perspective on pasta.
Shiina seemed to enjoy the food as well, and when she saw my surprised face, she smiled even more happily.

After fully enjoying our lunch, Shiina and I went around the shopping district.
There was nothing in particular that we wanted to see or buy, and we didn’t actually buy anything.

However, just wandering around the shopping street with Shiina without any purpose was more fun than I expected.
It would be nice to have a day like this once in a while, just to take a break.