Head Over Heels From The Scarf I Lent Her Chapter 16

“What a great shot, yes, it is! I got a snap of the cutest girl in town!”

“Don’t even think about selling it.”
“Oh, fine.”

What did she mean by “fine”? Was she actually planning on selling it? Women are frightening creatures.
Anyway, the four of them have sat down at a family restaurant chain famous for their low prices. Of course, it’s not going to be anywhere nearly as good as a proper restaurant, but they can at least be a little rowdier at a place like this. With so many conversations going on at once, it isn’t quiet at all.

The four of them sat down at a table; Satsuki and Akane sat together, across from Tooru and Jun.
After waiting for quite a while, they finally managed to sit down and go through the menus. The three of them almost have the menus memorized, but it’s all new to Satsuki. She has read through it numerous times, seemingly as if she enjoys learning about all the different dishes.

Even right now, Akane is stealthily taking photos, causing Satsuki to blush red. It’s definitely an ongoing activity too.
Tooru and Jun have long decided on what to order and are simply waiting on the two girls.
Tooru’s mother could never make up her mind until the last minute either back when she would take him out for food. Reminiscing those warm, fuzzy memories, he calls out to the girls.

“I’m already good to go. Make up your mind.”
“That’s right. I’m hungry! So hungry!”

Jun, with a fork and knife in his hands, begins to pump his fists. What are you, some kind of child? is what Tooru was thinking, but he spared Jun from his thoughts.

“Ōyodo, you know you look like a total child, right?”

Tooru could almost hear the knife ripping through Jun’s heart. Akane seems to only rib on Jun for some reason.

“Just like how we girls take time to pick out clothes, we take time picking food too. Isn’t that right, Satsuki!”
“Hmm? Umm, right.”

Fl.u.s.tered by suddenly being dragged into the conversation, Satsuki half-hearted agrees to the question. Akane’s eyes gleamed as she grabs her phone again to capture the moment.

“Cuties like you are picture-perfect no matter the facial expression. So blessed!”
“Umm, thank you?”

How should she even react to that? Akane moves around to capture Satsuki at different angles, but perhaps she just remembered what Tooru said, she puts down her phone and looks down at the menu.
She quickly decides after a skim through.

“I’ll get the wonton noodle soup.”
“How ‘bout you, Satsuki?”
“The Korean stew, please.”
“We’re all set then.”

Tooru press the b.u.t.ton on the table to call the waitstaff over and leans back in his chair.
Since they only shopped for Satsuki, the haul today wasn’t too big. But having to carry it all morning was certainly tiring. A s.h.i.+rt or a dress doesn’t weigh much, but it adds up quickly. The bag was underneath the table, dividing Tooru and Jun.

Now waiting for the food to arrive, Tooru idly checks his phone.
It’s a few minutes past 1:00 PM. They arrived before 12:00 noon, so that means they had to wait for an hour to get seated. It’s the weekends, so it’s to be expected.

Maybe Akane has taken a liking to her, but she keeps badgering Satsuki with questions. It makes Satsuki uncomfortable, but she’s not avoiding her questions either.
Jun fixed his gaze towards Akane, s.p.a.cing out. He’s probably thinking about something, but Tooru isn’t insensitive enough to outright ask him.

“So, Tooru is a good friend of yours, hmm? Hoho, and you two have just met a month ago? Lucky you, Tooru.”

Catching the tail end of their conversation, Tooru looks over at Akane.
He answers her with his elbows are on the table and arms holding up his chin.

“I’ve really gotta thank all three of you for treating me normally, even at school.”
“As I’ve said, where there’s a scandal, there’s me. I know there’s more to this thing. My Akane-sense is tingling.”
“You’re like some kind of anime character anime, aren’tcha?”
“How rude, Jun. I’m a real human being. See? I’ve even got feet.”

As she says that, Jun yelps out in pain.
Under the table was Akane’s foot and Jun’s s.h.i.+n. That must’ve hurt bad.
Conversely, Satsuki is just blankly sitting there as if unaware of the battle going on underneath the table. Even if she knew of it, it probably wouldn’t be very funny to her either, so Tooru changes the topic.

“I didn’t know you like spicy food, Satsuki.”
“Oh, I don’t have that in my notes either. So, what’s the official position?”

Seeing Akane whipping out her notepad rattled Satsuki some more and she puts her hands together.

“Yes, I do. I enjoy kimchi and chili peppers. I like to sprinkle a bit of ground cayenne on my udon to make it just a bit spicy too. “
“I see, I see. Do you like it so spicy that it burns?”
“Not that extreme, but I do like spicy foods. Though I like my sweets as well.”

Oh, is that right? thought Tooru, making a mental note of it.
She looked so happy eating that pudding cup last time, so he thought she only liked sweets. Satsuki hasn’t put anything spicy in their lunches either.
Before their conversation finished, their waitress came by with two of the four items.

“Here you are. A wonton noodle soup and a Korean stew.”

The waitress places the stew in front of Satsuki and then the noodle soup in front of Akane. Then, she places the receipt and its holder on the table, excused herself, and quickly dashed back to the kitchen. The two girls are practically drooling over their food. Though the boys’ orders haven’t arrived yet, Tooru wouldn’t mind if the girls started first.

“Go right ahead. Dig in before it gets cold.”
“Aww, no fair! My food isn’t here yet!”
“What are you, a kid?”
“Et tu, Tooru? I’m a big boy!”

Tooru ignores the crybaby and looks over to the girls, encouraging them to eat.
Satsuki and Akane share a look with each other, giggle, and start on their meals. There is a noticeable difference in Satsuki’s reaction today compared with last time at the Italian joint.

“It’s alright.”
“Yes, it’s alright.”
“Well, it’s a diner chain after all.”

While patting the pouting Jun on his back, Tooru lets out a hearty chuckle.
The rest of their orders soon arrive: a steak set of Tooru and a pork cutlet bowl for Jun.

“Anything else I can get for you?”
“That’s it. Thanks a lot.”
“Alrighty then, enjoy your meal.”

After the waitress blitzed away, the four of them resumed eating.
This really does taste just alright. It’s nowhere near comparable to Satsuki’s cooking. It wasn’t long ago that he felt eating out at a diner was a treat, but now he’s used to the good life.
The perpetrator sits across from him, enjoying her Korean stew; one hand holding her hair aside, the other spooning bites of food. Tooru stares at Satsuki, thinking how refined her behavior is.

“Umm… is something the matter?”

Satsuki asks Tooru as he sets his cutlery down to protest with both hands.

“O-Oh, no, not at all. You seem like you’re really enjoying it is all.”
“Now, now, Tooru, you can say that you’ve been enchanted by her.”
“Enchanted? … well, that’s not not the case.”

If he said no outright, surely, that would hurt her feelings.
Then, Akane flashes a grin and leans over to hold Satsuki again.

“Hehe, lucky me! I get Satsuki all to myself. I bet you’re jealous, aren’t ya?”
“No, I’m not! You know you can snap back at her, right, Satsuki?”
“Well, I’m jealous!”

Ignoring whatever Jun shouted, Tooru looks over to Satsuki. She’s a little anxious, but her smile is still bright.

“It’s my second time to be taken out, so I’m happy, though a little fl.u.s.tered.”
“Wait, you mean there was a first time?!”
“Right, we didn’t tell you about that first time they went to the movies together.”
“Two people viewing a romance film?! Isn’t that something known as a date?!”

Akane brings out her notepad and scribbles something down while Tooru scrambles to answer her.

“N-No, it’s not a date! We just went to see a movie! Nothing more!”
“R-Right. That was not a date… I think.”

Satsuki follows up on Akane’s attack with a blush, forcing Tooru to jump out of the frying pan and into the fire. Now, Jun comes kicking while Tooru is down.

“That’s a date to the rest of us. I’d be asking her out already, if I were you.”
“Asking her out?! Friends don’t do that! That’s what we are.”

Ask her out. That’s the same as a confession, isn’t it? Those words made Tooru’s heart race.
It’s been three weeks since they’ve met, but he stills sees Satsuki as just a friend. Though, she has already told him that she really likes him, albeit in a seemingly casual way instead of anything weird. Still, every time he hears her say that really gets to him.
But the two of them don’t know that Satsuki has said that she really likes Tooru. They probably have good intentions, but that’s exactly what the road to h.e.l.l is paved with.

“Right? You think of me as a friend, right?”

He meant to indirectly, casually ask her, but somehow that slipped out.
For a moment, Satsuki looked very troubled, but she hid her embarra.s.sment by looking downwards. Tooru was worried that he inadvertently hurt her, but she seemed fine. Satsuki looked back up and at the three of them.

“Right. Tooru is my friend.”

Satsuki flatly responding like that was probably the worst thing that happened to Jun and Akane. Tooru, though, oddly laughs out loud.

“See? We’re just friends.”
“d.a.m.n it all! I was going to use all this intel I’ve gathered to set you two up together!”

Akane resentfully cries out, but Tooru ignores her. Instead, he focuses on his now cold steak.

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