Chapter 26: The Name-Challenged

“Now, what name should I pick?”

Akiha Sakura pressed the small keys on her phone, her little head sinking into deep thought.

She was currently lying on her bed, staring at the ‘New User Registration’ page in front of her, completely stumped.

As the saying goes, clothes make the man, and a horse needs a fine saddle.

An online username is like a person’s mirror, always giving a first impression.

“What should I pick…?”

Akiha Sakura found herself in a real pickle.

After all, she was utterly clueless when it came to naming things.

In her past life, she’d chosen the name ‘Lone Prideful Wild Wolf’ for a game, and her friends had laughed at her for over half a year.

Every time she got killed by an opponent, they’d say the wild wolf had turned into a stray dog.

It had nearly made her so angry she’d reincarnated ahead of schedule.

‘I definitely can’t come up with one myself. I’ll have to look at other people’s for reference or just use an existing name.’

Akiha Sakura rolled over, lying flat on her back and holding her phone up.

She typed out several names that popped into her head, then deleted every single one without exception.

‘No good. Even I think the names I’m coming up with are stupid now. How did these even get into my head? Oh my god!’

Akiha Sakura abruptly sat up on the bed, scratching her messy hair.

‘My head is just full of names like “Sakura something” or “something Sakura”! I have no other ideas at all!’

“Sakura-chan, what are you thinking about?”

Just then, Akiha Shiori walked into the room carrying a fruit platter, smiling as she looked at the troubled Akiha Sakura on the bed.

‘Oh, right! I can just ask Mom!’

Rather than relying on herself, a girl who had only been female for a little over fifteen years, it was better to ask her mother, who had been a woman for over thirty.

Akiha Sakura sincerely believed her mom was sometimes more fashionable than she was.

“Mom, can you help me think of a name?”

“?”

Hearing Akiha Sakura’s request, Akiha Shiori froze for a moment, then slowly put down the fruit platter with a puzzled look.

“Sakura-chan, you already have a name. Do you want to change it?”

Akiha Shiori stroked her cheek with a troubled expression.

“But changing your name isn’t easy. You have to go to…”

“Ah, no, that’s not it!”

Akiha Sakura quickly interrupted her mother’s train of thought.

She hurriedly raised her hand to show Akiha Shiori the ‘O-Wei’ registration screen.

“I just want Mom to help me think of an online username!”

“Ah, is that so?”

Hearing this, Akiha Shiori couldn’t help but sigh in relief.

After all, if her child wanted to change her name, it really wasn’t something that could be done casually.

She blinked and looked at the phone screen Akiha Sakura was showing.

“This is… O-Wei?”

“Mm-hmm!”

Seeing that her mother actually knew about ‘O-Wei,’ Akiha Sakura quickly nodded, looking at Akiha Shiori with anticipation.

“What’s the difference between this and the Qiuqiu we used before?”

Akiha Shiori didn’t really understand the distinction.

In her view, it was just another trendy chat app.

“Compared to Qiuqiu, it’s more popular with young people~ You can also watch short videos, shake to find friends, and stuff like that.”

“Alright, alright, I know I’m old and don’t understand you young people’s things. I’ll leave you to it, Sakura-chan~”

“No, no, no, Mom, I didn’t mean it like that!”

Akiha Sakura anxiously grabbed Akiha Shiori’s hand, acting coquettishly with her for the first time in a while.

“Good Mom, you know I didn’t mean that!”

“Mm-hmm, alright, alright. So, how about just naming it ‘AkihaSakura’?”

Akiha Shiori smiled and shook her head.

After thinking for a moment, she offered a suggestion.

However, the name she gave made Akiha Sakura instantly dumbfounded.

‘What’s the difference between that and using my real name online?’

“No, no, no!”

Akiha Sakura shook her head vigorously like a rattle-drum.

“Mom, using your real name online isn’t trendy anymore!”

“Well, just kidding—”

Akiha Shiori replied with a laugh.

“How about ‘See Cherry Blossoms in Leisure Time’?”

“See Cherry Blossoms in Leisure Time?”

“…”

***

“…”

“Good morning, you two! Sticking together as usual today, I see!”

The next morning, as Akiha Sakura and Yuuma Tsugumu were walking to school as usual, Momoka Aoi’s voice came from behind them.

“Good morning, Little Aoi.”

“Good morning, Momoka.”

“Mm-hmm!”

Momoka Aoi walked straight up to Akiha Sakura and Yuuma Tsugumu, carefully scrutinizing their expressions and appearances.

“Hmm… I don’t see any difference.”

“Huh?”

Hearing Momoka Aoi’s words, both Akiha Sakura and Yuuma Tsugumu were taken aback, but neither stopped walking.

“Little Aoi, what are you talking about?”

Akiha Sakura looked at Momoka Aoi, also sneaking a glance at Yuuma Tsugumu out of the corner of her eye.

‘Is she talking about Tsugumu?’

“Hmm…”

However, Momoka Aoi didn’t answer Akiha Sakura.

She fixed her gaze on Yuuma Tsugumu’s bangs, a flicker of dissatisfaction and helplessness seeming to pass through her eyes.

Then she walked over to Akiha Sakura and wrapped her arms around her.

“Huh???”

“Yuuma, you go on ahead. I have something to talk to Sakura-chan about!”

Before Akiha Sakura could react, Momoka Aoi started shooing Yuuma Tsugumu away.

“?”

Yuuma Tsugumu looked at Momoka Aoi’s actions, completely baffled.

“What’s up? Are you going to talk trash about me?”

“As if! If I just wanted to talk trash about you, why would I need to do it secretly? It’s obviously girl talk! Now hurry up and go!”

Momoka Aoi waved her hand, signaling for Yuuma Tsugumu to scram.

“…”

Hearing Momoka Aoi’s words, Yuuma Tsugumu genuinely couldn’t find a reason to retort for a moment.

He looked at Momoka Aoi, then at Akiha Sakura, and had no choice but to continue walking ahead.

“What is it, Little Aoi?”

Akiha Sakura, held back by Momoka Aoi, was clearly a bit annoyed.

After all, this was a precious part of walking to school with Yuuma Tsugumu.

With Momoka Aoi’s interruption, her perfect attendance for the month would be ruined.

“You guys went to the amusement park yesterday… didn’t you?”

“?”

Hearing this, Akiha Sakura sharply turned her head to stare at Momoka Aoi.

“Were you following us?”

“As if I have that kind of free time!”

Momoka Aoi pouted, pointing at Akiha Sakura’s small handbag.

“What?”

Akiha Sakura looked down at her handbag, confused.

“Did you plant a tracker?”

“What? I’m telling you to check your phone! Don’t you always keep your phone in your bag?”

“Well, that’s true.”

Akiha Sakura took out her phone and saw the text message Momoka Aoi had sent.

“What is this? I didn’t see this message from you when I got up this morning! And… when did you take this photo?”

Akiha Sakura looked at the photo Momoka Aoi had sent, eyeing her suspiciously.

The photo showed Akiha Sakura slumped on a bench like a dead pig, looking up in exhaustion, with what seemed like a little ghost escaping from her mouth.

Yuuma Tsugumu was sitting next to her, playing on his phone.

“Don’t tell me you…”

“It wasn’t me!”

Momoka Aoi cut Akiha Sakura off, then pulled out her own phone and opened her messages—showing them to Akiha Sakura.

“Sender—Shimizu Mitsuki? Who’s that?”

“Ah, that’s not important! Look at the message she sent!”

Akiha Sakura tapped on the message from Shimizu Mitsuki.

The same photo appeared on the screen, accompanied by a message:

‘Hey, look who I saw while I was working?’

“So—your friend saw us while working at the amusement park?!”

“Mm-hmm, that’s right~”

Momoka Aoi smiled and confirmed.

‘But if it’s Momoka Aoi’s friend, and she knows about me and Tsugumu-kun, then we must have met before, right?’

“Could it be… that clerk from the other day?”