‘If you’re looking for a change of pace, then let’s go shopping together.’ That was essentially what Nanaka was proposing. Her invitation was so simple that Kai nodded along, half sighing out the word, “Sure,” but that was nothing more than a surprise-triggered defense mechanism. Her words circled around his brain until he finally comprehended their meaning, and then he revised his reply: “S-Sure?!” It was less of a reply and more of a reflex.
“Okay, I’ll see you in front of the station at ten,” she concluded.
Well after Kai had split off on his own path home, the words repeatedly haunted him: it was only a change of pace. They were only going shopping together.
Apparently Nanaka’s laptop had been on the fritz, and she wanted him to come along to help her pick out a new computer. It was a normal shopping trip, with a clearly defined goal.
Nanaka had even added a disclaimer, saying, “You know... if you’re just looking for a change of pace.” She had seemed pensive about the fact that there didn’t seem to be anything in it for Kai, but he couldn’t have cared less. He was overjoyed. Personal benefit was the last thing on his mind. In fact, the entire situation was a benefit—just the fact that he could go shopping with her. He could have easily convinced Nanaka not to worry if he had explained all that, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it.
When Kai arrived home, he quickly found himself in a frenzy. Clothes, he thought. They didn’t have a club meeting tomorrow. Since they weren’t going to school, he couldn’t justify wearing his uniform. That meant he needed to wear his own clothes, but his habit of purchasing things with plain, boring designs meant that every combination he tried was a tired copy-paste job.
Pulling out his wardrobe left him in a state of shock. After staring down his fashion choices for a while, he took a deep breath and decided that there wasn’t much to deliberate on, and that he would go dressed in his usual attire.
However, reaching that decision didn’t stop him from worrying about it, and he found himself unable to focus long enough to come up with anything new for the project proposal. With his recent all-nighters in mind, he slipped into bed early to rest his body, but there was no way he could fall asleep so easily. His eyes were shut, but his mind was as bright as day.
We’re just shopping. We’re just shopping. We’re just shopping. As Kai chanted his Buddhist mantra, his mind finally wandered into the realm of dreams.
Kai sprang out of bed the next morning before his alarm had even rung. He committed himself to his usual routine of social game documentation to calm himself down, but his heart was busily thumping its way out of his chest.
After completing his work, Kai changed into his drab t-shirt and pants. There was still an hour to go, so he opened his laptop in an attempt to work on the Summit plans, only to find that his brain wouldn’t cooperate. He gave it up within 15 minutes and began to fiddle with other apps, looking for inspiration, when he realized that he could also do this at their rendezvous point. Laptop aside, there wasn’t anything out of place with a guy standing around, playing on his phone.
No matter what, he wanted to avoid being late. Kai was on pace to wait a full half hour for Nanaka, but he didn’t mind the downtime. The clear skies relentlessly barraged him with rays of sunlight as he stepped out of his house, realizing that this could very well have been the hottest it had been in days. It wasn’t even noon yet, but the broiling heat wrapped around his skin, causing beads of sweat to gather on his arms as he walked to the station.
Nanaka wasn’t there yet by the time Kai reached his destination. He checked the time to see that he was exactly 30 minutes early. No wonder she wasn’t around, he thought, given that he was way ahead of schedule.
Kai made his way into the shade and booted up the app he’d downloaded at home. He may not have been in the sun anymore, but it was still burning outside, and he could feel the heat creeping into his hand as he held his phone.
After waiting for around 15 minutes, he heard a light set of footsteps and a voice calling, “Kai-kun!” Nanaka waved in his direction as she approached, wearing a cool blue top with a bit of breathing room around the collar, along with a skirt and sandals. The simple outfit fit her well, and she looked like she had jumped straight out of the ‘summer stylings’ section of a fashion magazine.
“You’re early!” she said enthusiastically. “Did you wait long?”
“No, I just got here,” he told her. “I didn’t wait at all.”
“...Hmm,” she mumbled. Then, after staring at him for a moment, she laughed. “That’s a lie! You’re sweating a lot, you know?”
Kai wiped his hand across his forehead, only to find it awfully moist: the shade hadn’t been enough. He pulled a small towel out of his shoulder bag to clean away the sweat.
“You could’ve waited in a nearby convenience store,” she pointed out.
“...Now that you mention it...” That would have been the logical conclusion, but Kai’s brain had been too entrenched in the idea that they were meeting in front of the station. It was sad how quickly his brain overloaded.
“If you’re good to go, then let’s get moving,” Nanaka suggested. “It’ll be cooler in the store, anyway.”
Kai quickly lined up beside her as she began walking. Their destination was the electronics store beside the station, so it didn’t even take them five minutes to walk over. Once inside, they rode the escalator up to the floor with all of the personal computers.
“Are you looking for another laptop?” Kai asked.
“Nope!” was Nanaka’s reply. “I was going to, but when I asked Eru and Akane-san, they said a desktop would be better for me.”
“I guess that makes sense if you’re going to use it for a while,” he said thoughtfully.