Chapter 174 – Shopping Always Ends Up Like This

The quiet, cool voice of Yamada Ryo—soft enough for only the two of them to hear—pulled Aoki Kei out of his thoughts. He blinked and returned to the present.

“Nothing. Just zoning out.” Turning his head, he met Ryo’s gaze as he spoke.

Ryo gave a small nod. She hadn’t really been curious about what he was thinking—she had just wanted to start a conversation.

So after his reply, she leaned a little closer, skipped past the previous topic, and asked something else.

“Suki-san, you don’t seem all that interested.”

“Not interested?”

Kei tilted his head, unsure what she meant.

The victory party? Grocery shopping? Or the current discussion?

If she meant grocery shopping… well, honestly, he really wasn’t interested.

But somehow, he doubted that was it—Ryo was famously lazy, so she shouldn’t be too excited about it either.

“Grocery shopping,” she clarified, blinking slowly. “You look like you couldn’t care less.”

“...”

Kei gave her a once-over, as if to make sure he’d heard her right, then sighed.

A few seconds later, he finally replied, “I don’t mind washing vegetables… but actually shopping for them? Pass. I just can’t get into it.”

Truthfully, he’d rather spend that time doing something else—he knew nothing about picking quality produce, so it all felt like fumbling in the dark.

Ryo stared at him for two seconds, then leaned even closer.

The sudden closeness made Kei instinctively lean back a little.

“If you’re not interested… then come with me instead,” she said flatly, her expression unreadable.

“Me? With you?”

His confusion quickly shifted to suspicion.

“You’ve got your eye on a new bass, but you’re broke, so you want me to tag along… and pay for it?”

“Wow. No trust at all. So that’s what I am in your eyes, huh? A terrible bassist who tricks people out of money, borrows cash and never pays it back… trust crisis, trust crisis…”

She put on a pitiful face, clearly overplaying it.

Kei scooted his stool back a few inches, feigning sudden realization.

“Oh—so you’re not like that?”

“...”

“Nothing to do this afternoon,” she said at last, dropping the act. “Just felt like wandering around.”

Honestly, she didn’t even need to explain—the act might have worked, considering he’d been a second away from agreeing without thinking.

After a brief pause, Kei decided that aimlessly wandering around was fine.

He nodded.

“Sure, why not.”

Ryo, who was still leaning close, straightened up immediately at his answer.

With a deliberately serious gesture, she brushed aside the fringe that had fallen over her eyes, then lifted her chin with mock generosity.

“Then, Suki-san, I’ll treat you to dessert this afternoon.”

“Thanks.” Kei looked away, replying in an offhand tone. “Your approval rating just went up.”

She didn’t respond right away—only stared at him for a few seconds, then allowed herself the faintest smile.

After they broke eye contact, Ryo’s gaze lingered on his profile, and she suddenly recalled what she’d seen when they had been close earlier—

It was late November, cold enough outside that Kei wore a jacket.

But inside STARRY, with the heater running, it was warm enough that he’d unzipped it, tugging his shirt collar slightly looser.

From that close distance, Ryo had gotten a clear view of his collarbone.

And while it wasn’t like she was obsessed with such things… well, art was art.

Kei’s build was flawless, his collarbones sculpted like they belonged in a gallery. And in that half-covered, half-revealed state…

If she was honest, it was a little… suggestive.

Her thoughts were abruptly cut short by an upbeat voice.

“Ryo~ Want to come along this afternoon? We can go shopping too. You’ll get moldy if you stay holed up all day!”

Nijika’s cheerful tone snapped Ryo back to reality.

She quickly shoved the image from her mind, looked up, and replied, “Ah… sure.”

Nijika, satisfied with her nod, turned to Kei.

“Kei-senpai, you should come too! Picking ingredients together makes it feel more fun!”

Kei glanced at Ryo, then at Nijika, and nodded.

“I’m fine with that.”

“Great! Feels like it’s been ages since we last went out together. The last time was… hmm… wait, when was it again?”

“Terrible memory, Nijika. It was October—when we set up the Twitter account and went outside to take photos.”

“Oh! Speaking of that—Ryo-senpai, Nijika-senpai, Bocchi-chan, Kei-senpai! Let’s take another group photo today and post it on Twitter!”

“Uh… I-I’m fine with that…”

…

In the end, after Kei’s agreement, they decided to go shopping in the afternoon and pick up groceries while they were at it.

Around 2 p.m., they let Seika know and headed for Shibuya’s shopping district.

After arriving, they lounged in a café for a bit, then wandered through a clothing store.

Nijika bought a pale-colored hat, while Kita spent a good while dragging Kei around to try winter scarves.

As always, what was supposed to be grocery shopping inevitably turned into this—and Kei had expected it, so he didn’t mind playing along.

After browsing for a while, they finally headed toward the food section around 3:30 p.m.

But before they could get there, Ryo grabbed Kei and, after saying a quick word to Nijika and the others, pulled him away toward a dessert shop.

According to her, there was a place nearby with an excellent reputation.

It was so close they didn’t even need a train—just a short walk.

On the way, perhaps out of boredom, Ryo struck up a conversation.

“Suki-san, when it comes to ice cream… do you prefer chocolate or strawberry?”

“Chocolate. Strawberry’s a bit too sour for me.”

“Oh… so you’re pure sweet tooth.”

“What about matcha vs. chocolate?”

“They say desserts shouldn’t be too sweet, but… I lean heavily toward sweet stuff. So still chocolate.”

“Mm…”

She nodded, then fell silent for a moment.

A few seconds later, she glanced at him again.

“Suki-san.”

Her eyes were steady on him.

“Come to think of it… Kita likes you, doesn’t she?”