With Tanaka joining us for some inexplicable reason, our duo became a trio.
Damn it. If we hadn't run into her, I could have been enjoying a pervy, thick-thighed barbecue—the DDBBQ, as I called it—alone with Yuria. What a waste.
Then again, this was only the second time I’d hung out with Tanaka this summer, the first being that trip to the pool. Before that, you’d have to go back two years to our third year of middle school.
Given the "blank year" in our history, I wasn't sure if I should consider it a blessing or a curse that we were back on terms where we could just hang out like this.
"Ryouta-kun? What is it? Why are you ogling me with those perverted eyes?"
"As if anyone would look at you that way. I was looking at you with pure disdain."
"Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?!"
"Now, now, let’s not start a fight the moment we meet. Anyway, I was planning on heading to Cocosco, but before that... Tanaka, did you already get what you came for?"
"My goal? Oh, you mean Anumate? Not yet... but it’s not like the BL books are going anywhere. I can always come back another day."
As Tanaka hesitated, Yuria suddenly leaned forward and gripped her shoulders.
"I-In that case, let’s go there first, Tanaka! We can’t have you tagging along for our errands without doing your own thing!"
"Wait, but Anumate is a bit..."
Good grief, Yuria... just how badly did she want to go to Anumate?
She was supposed to be hiding her otaku side from Tanaka, but her desires were so overwhelming that she was trying to use Tanaka’s errand as a smokescreen to sneak in.
I got it, really. Anumate was paradise for otaku. I understood the temptation... but there was a much higher chance that the hell of an otaku-reveal was waiting for her on the other side.
"Hold on a second," I interjected.
"Ry-Ryouta?"
"If Tanaka buys her BL books now, she’ll just get sucked into reading them and lose interest in the DDBBQ. Anumate is a no-go."
"Well, I can't exactly argue with that logic... but what even is this DDBBQ?"
"Crap... Anyway! No Anumate! Got it?"
"F-Fine, I get it. Let’s just go to Cocosco then."
I sympathized with Yuria’s urge, but the risk was simply too high right now.
She’d mentioned before that she found it difficult to go into Anumate by herself, so she probably thought having Tanaka and me there made it the perfect opportunity... but she was just going to have to suck it up.
Still, for her to try something so bold with Tanaka right there... Was it possible that since Tanaka was an otaku too, Yuria actually wanted to come clean to her?
"Hey, sorry about earlier, Ryouta."
As we made our way toward Cocosco, Yuria lagged behind with me and whispered in my ear while Tanaka walked ahead.
"Sorry for what?"
"I can never work up the courage to go into Anumate by myself. I wanted to see the one in this mall so badly that I tried to use Tanaka as an excuse. I’m really sorry."
"Ah... right. I see."
So her curiosity had just won out.
Man, for someone who always treated me like my libido was running the show, she was just as bad in her own way.
"I'll take you to Anumate whenever you want," I promised. "So just hang in there for now, okay?"
"Oh... Y-Yeah. You’re right. I guess... I’ve always got you, Ryouta."
As she said that, she leaned in and gently bumped her shoulder against mine... Wait! Hey, hey, hey! Is she—is she actually pressing against me?!
"Oh, by the way, aren't you going to call Airi-tan?"
The second Tanaka turned around to ask, Yuria smoothly pulled away from me.
"A-Airi’s busy! She stopped by this morning, but she’s already gone home!"
"I see."
What was that just now?!
Between the pounding in my heart and the throbbing in my lower half, I was a complete mess.