Chapter 7.2 (1/2)

Chapter 7.2

The rest would be furniture, but I’m leavin’ all that with you, Mio. For the time bein’, Makoto-san, Doul, Brother and Reena should rotate guardin’ Elle and buyin’ buildin’ materials. Toudou-san, could you help me or Mio? I’d like ya opinion on things, too.」

「Okay. So, all of that aside…」

「Hm?」

「You call Makoto-san and Mio-chan by their first name. Why do you still call me Toudou-san?」

「If I get used to callin’ ya by your name and I accidently call ya that way when we get back home, I could see some problems arisin’.」

Haruna couldn’t help but sigh at this. She could easily foresee that future. Yet, it did already seem too late for her, in some sense. While she had no idea how many years it would take or what type of situation they would be in when they get back, but even if time hadn’t passed in their original world until they returned, as long as they had these memories together, it was clear to her that they would inevitability exude their closeness.

While Haruna was patient and had finesse in many ways, she didn’t have enough self-control, especially when it came to social aspects, to not let it bother her when she had to keep her distance and almost act like a stranger, even though they were on good terms. She was the type not to be too dependent on anyone physically or mentally, but the truth was that she would get rather lonely.

She could read the room, of course, but she would have a hard time spending time with a classmate and keeping it secret. She felt bad for Hiroshi and his phobia, but she knew they had nothing to be guilty about, much less a romantic relationship. Haruna saw nothing wrong in openly maintaining their friendship.

There was no other reason why Hiroshi called Mio by her first name other than to avoid the mutual awkwardness of calling his apprentice by her last name. Of course, now that Hiroshi had discovered that Mio was a woman (unlike in-game), he would seldom get close enough to make physical contact with her.

He called Tatsuya “Brother” after a long night of man-talk. It just came to him. Of course, Hiroshi was heterosexual, so there were only platonic implications here. Like addressing an older friend in the neighborhood.

「Well, I think that ship has sailed beyond the horizon. It feels like I’m being singled out as untouchable, and I don’t like it. Just give up and call me Haruna already. I’ll call you Hiroshi-kun, too.」

「Haruna-sama. I recall you calling Hiroshi-sama that way the other day…」

「That was just the spur of the moment.」

Hiroshi listened with a puzzled expression. Of course, she had screamed it a step away from him, but that was one of the memories he didn’t retain from that incident due to his physical ailment.

「So, is that okay? Hiroshi-kun?」

「…Yeah, sure.」

Haruna clenched her fist in victory.

「Are you two done with your sweet romance for now?」

「Get a room, won’t you?」

「I ain’t got the guts for anything like that.」

「You guys were acting like a new couple, just now.」

「Tell it to Toudou… Haruna-san, then.」

The group couldn’t help but give an understanding glance, hearing Hiroshi’s genuine disgust. They could see that any woman unfortunate enough to fall in love with Hiroshi would be troubled with all sorts of turbulence. The silver lining may be that, combined with his phobia for the opposite sex and his (albeit not ugly) not exactly attractive looks, said woman would not have to worry about infidelity on his part.

「Returning to our original subject…」

Dougan interjected.

「What do you want to do for the rest of the day?」

「I’ll start a temporary remodelin’ of the kitchen with the machines we’ve been usin’. Haruna-san, maybe you can take Makoto-san or Brother and go buy some food. Doul and Reena-san, and Mio, please gather up as much construction materials as y’all can. Sorry, Elle, you gotta stay in. And if there’s time left I’m gonna take down the bathroom, so go bathe at the public bathhouse for the night.」

「Okay. I’ll take care of shopping. Stay here, Tatsuya.」

「All righty.」

With duties assigned, everyone sprang to action. Dinner that night was stew full of meat and vegetables, cooked using a large clay pot.

***

「So, here’s the problem.」

「What is?」

「We ain’t got too much of the spider silk.」

Seeing where the conversation was headed, Haruna sighed.

「So what’s the problem, now?」

Tatsuya joined in.

「The clothes, ya see, I can only whip up five or six outfits, tops.」

「So what’s the matter… Oh, I see.」

「I can’t make enough for everyone. Makoto-san’s got her own clothes since she weren’t restricted, Elle, Doul, and Reena-san are all walkin’ around in smocks, basically.」

The group nearly grunted, hearing this. He was only planning for two to begin with. In fact, Hiroshi’s initial plan was to craft three outfits for both of them so they could rotate them. Suddenly, there were five more people in the picture, throwing a giant wrench in the whole plan.