After moving to the Cocosco next to the massive shopping mall, we headed inside, pushing a cart that felt unnervingly huge.
"This is my first time pushing a cart this big," I remarked.
"Really? I don't think it's that large," Yuria replied.
"No, it’s huge! If a normal supermarket cart is the size of Tanaka’s thighs, then this Cocosco cart is the size of Yuria’s thick ones."
"Hey! What is that supposed to mean?! L-Look, my thighs are plenty big too!"
"............"
"Say something, damn it!"
When I ignored her, Tanaka lost her cool and started thumping me on the back as I pushed the cart.
At the same time, a certain 'Perverted CR7' appeared in my mind. 'Why do you laugh at her thighs? Her thighs are doing their best,' he said—not that it was much of a defense. But still, looking at Yuria’s thighs... Sigh.
Those were thighs I wanted to wrap myself around, on a level that was honestly incomparable to Tanaka’s.
"Tanaka, there's no need to get so worked up," Yuria said. "It’s only Ryouta who gets happy about big thighs anyway. Back in junior high school, I actually had a phase where I tried to lose weight. I mean, being thin makes your proportions look better and makes it way easier to pull off different outfits, for sure."
"W-What was that, Ichinose-san?! Is that the confidence of a winner I hear? For your information, I’m a total genius, ranked second in our entire grade! Don't get all high and mighty just because you won the thigh lottery!"
"I didn't really mean it like that... Hey, Ryouta, is Tanaka always like this?"
"Yeah. Tanaka is basically a human thorn bush, so her blowing up is a daily occurrence. You’d better get used to it."
That was the truth... One of the reasons Tanaka had no friends other than me, besides her being generally reserved, was that she was always like this.
Well, a little bribe would probably fix her mood.
"Tanaka, I'll buy you whatever you want, so cheer up."
"Muu... Are you treating me like a child again?"
"I'm not."
"Then... I want that giant teddy bear!"
"Huh? A bear?"
I looked where Tanaka was pointing, and my jaw dropped.
"It’s... it’s disturbingly large..."
There sat a teddy bear of an unbelievable scale. It was a monster of a plushie, large enough to swallow me whole. What even was this thing?
"I want to sleep while hugging this bear, so please buy it for me."
"At that size, the bear would be the one hugging you... Besides, the biggest one is over twenty thousand yen!"
"Please buy it! You’re the one who said 'whatever I want,' Ryouta-kun!"
"There’s a limit to everything! Settle for a small one."
"Ah, so you are going to buy me one."
I grabbed a small bear, which cost about a thousand yen, and tossed it into the massive cart.
"Sorry, Yuria. I'm paying for this separately, but do you mind if I keep it in the cart for now?"
"Eh? Oh, sure."
"Hehe, it was worth a shot," Tanaka chirped. "Since I have him now, I'm going to name this little guy Ryouta."
"That's creepy, stop it. More importantly, let's go get the ingredients for the DDBBQ—"
"U-Um..."
Just as we were about to leave the toy aisle, Yuria called out to stop us.
"Hm? What's wrong, Yuria?"
"I... I’d like you to give me one of those teddy bears as a present too, Ryouta."
"You too, Yuria? You want one of these?"
"Y-Yeah..."
Yuria answered with a slight blush dusting her cheeks, her lips pressed firmly together.
That was unexpected.
Sure, Yuria had stuffed animals in her room, but you could come to Cocosco and buy these anytime. I thought the ones she already had were much cuter... but if she said she wanted one, who was I to refuse?
"Of course! In fact, after everything you did for me today, I'd be honored to buy it for you."
"Really? You’re sure?"
"Yeah! So, Tanaka went with brown, but what color do you want, Yuria?"
"I... Well then, maybe I'll go with pink! Oh, but purple might be good too!"
Yuria’s face lit up with pure joy, and she began picking out a bear, frolicking like a little kid.
Did she really want a teddy bear that much?
If that was the case, I’d happily squeeze into a bear suit and stay in Yuria’s room twenty-four-seven just to be near her...
While nursing a weird sense of jealousy toward the bear that would get to witness Yuria’s private life every day, I placed the pink teddy bear she finally settled on into the cart.
"Hold on, Ryouta-kun! Isn't your attitude a bit too different compared to when I asked? Please buy my stuffed animal as willingly as you did for Ichinose-san!"
"Give it a rest, Tanaka. If you’re going to complain, I won’t buy it at all."
"Ah—! I'm sorry! I'm not complaining!"
Tanaka really couldn't keep her mouth shut. Honestly, this girl...
"Hmph. Tanaka, are you jealous by any chance?"
"I-I-I-I’m not jealous at all! If anything, didn't you only want a stuffed animal because you were jealous of me, Ichinose-san?!"
"H-Huh?! I-I'm not jealous! I just happened to decide I wanted one too!"
I didn't quite get it, but the two of them continued their frantic bickering, both looking strangely flustered.