Volume 1 - CH 17

What’s under Kamiyama-san’s paper bag?

Chapter 17 Kamiyama-san chooses a hoodie.

“Tsuh… Next, it’s my turn…!”

With those words, Kamiyama-san started walking, but I called out to stop them.

“Ah, Kamiyama-san, wait a moment. I brought this with me, and if you’d like, you can try using it.”

I took out a pair of blue vinyl rubber gloves from my pocket and handed them to Kamiyama-san. What I gave them were long rubber gloves, thick enough to cover up to their elbows, like the ones used for cleaning the bath.

“With these, you can examine the items without getting them wet.”

“Kominato-kun…! Oh, thank you so much… I’ll do my best!”

With a joyful expression, Kamiyama-san received the rubber gloves and firmly put them on both hands. Then, they slowly walked through the store, ready to browse the items without any worries.

Wearing rubber gloves should prevent the items from getting wet with sweat. With that thought in mind, I watched as Kamiyama-san walked away.

Beside me, Harusame and Arai quietly cheered them on, encouraging them to do their best.

Without being denied entry, they successfully entered the store, seemingly without any issues. Now, if they could just examine the items without getting them wet, Kamiyama-san’s problem would be solved.

That’s why I had provided them with thick rubber gloves.

With the gloves on, the items wouldn’t get wet. If they stayed dry, Kamiyama-san would be able to freely pick up and choose whatever they liked. That’s what I believed.

However, I quickly realized that my judgment was mistaken.

Indeed, wearing rubber gloves would prevent the items from getting wet.

However, by adding the option of long rubber gloves to Kamiyama-san, who was already completely drenched and wearing a paper bag with a girl’s face drawn on it, it only enhanced the strangeness and made them even more unapproachable.

They now resembled a mid-boss character from a mystery-themed horror action game.

Inside the brightly lit clothing store, there were stylishly dressed shop assistants and groups of girls as customers.

And amidst them was Kamiyama-san, a tall high school girl soaked from head to toe, wearing a paper bag with a girl’s face resembling one from a manga, and sporting blue rubber gloves that reached their elbows.

The shop assistants and the girls as customers were adjusting their movements to avoid getting too close to Kamiyama-san. It seemed like a failure…

This didn’t go as planned…

As I was thinking that, Kamiyama-san, walking through the store, stopped in front of a shelf adorned with hoodies.

Wearing the rubber gloves, they reached out and grabbed a single hoodie, holding it out in front of their body.

As we watched attentively, Kamiyama-san suddenly turned towards us and nodded a few times, as if to say, “I succeeded in picking up the item without getting it wet!”

I regained my composure and nodded back, expressing my relief.

Kamiyama-san continued to spread out several more hoodies one after another, appearing hesitant and indecisive. It seemed like they were going to buy a hoodie.

Eventually, they held a few that seemed to catch their interest and walked towards a mirror at the back of the store, checking if they suited them while holding the hoodies in front of their body.

Arai, Harusame, and I anxiously watched Kamiyama-san’s back. The store staff and the girls who were customers were also observing Kamiyama-san’s movements, albeit in a different sense.

While the rubber gloves prevented sweat from her hands, droplets of sweat were still falling from her hair sticking out of the paper bag and the hem of her long skirt, creating small water droplets on the floor in front of the large mirror.

Kamiyama-san tried on several hoodies, checking their appearance in the mirror in front of them. Gradually, they narrowed down their choices and finally settled on a thin, white hoodie.

Now they can finally make their purchase.

As we felt relieved, Kamiyama-san seemed to have noticed something and checked the tag of the white hoodie. They called over one of the store staff members.

“Ex…excuse me!” The store clerk cautiously approached Kamiyama-san’s back and spoke up. “Um…s-sorry to bother you, but…what can I do for you?”

Kamiyama-san turned around, their eyes filled with trepidation, and replied, “Oh…what…um, do you have this in size LL?”

“Y-yes, we have it in stock. I’ll bring it for you righ– Ah!” The store clerk’s sentence was interrupted by a gasp as they saw Kamiyama-san’s turned face, causing them to stumble and fall flat on their back. Kamiyama-san, still holding the hoodie, tilted their head, perplexed by the sudden commotion.

I saw it—the paper bag carried by Kamiyama-san and the face of the girl drawn on it.

The colorful paint that adorned their eyes and lips was melting into a gooey mess due to sweat.

From the corners of their eyes and the edges of their mouth, vivid red paint dripped down, resembling tears of blood or spatters of coughed-up blood.

The once princess-like face from the girl’s manga had now transformed into a cursed mask. But it wasn’t just the paint that was melting away.

The entire paper bag was also on the verge of dissolving from the sweat, turning the girl’s face into a haunting specter, akin to a melting spirit in the depths of h**l.

With that appearance, I bet they could star as the protagonist in a horror movie, and even become quite popular… As I entertained such thoughts, the store clerk who had fallen on their backside, trembling in front of Kamiyama-san, shouted with a voice tinged with fear.

As I pondered this, it crossed my mind that Kamiyama-san could easily take on the role of a horror movie protagonist, and become quite a popular one at that… Just then, the store clerk, who had fallen backwards and was trembling before Kamiyama-san, let out a scream, with a voice trembling with fear.

“I… I’ll bring it right away!” The trembling store clerk crawled on all fours and rushed into the back room. With everyone’s attention on Kamiyama-san inside the store, I approached her and asked, “Kamiyama-san… What did you use to paint that picture?”

“Uh… paint…?” I urged Kamiyama-san, who seemed unaware, to look at her face in the mirror.

“Your face looks really messed up…”

“Huh…? Kyaaah! Um, um, I was so focused on choosing… I only looked at my body…”

“I see…”

“Yeah…” I gave a gentle pat on Kamiyama-san’s dejected back and received the white hoodie brought by the trembling store clerk. Together, we headed towards the cashier.

As Kamiyama-san pulled out several damp 1,000 yen bills from her wallet and handed them to the cashier, I felt completely exhausted by that time.