Volume 2 - CH 2.3

The day of the firework festival came before I knew it.

My shift ended at 3pm. I was absent-minded all day long to the point that Kawasaki was amazed that I managed to get through the day without any accident. I had trouble deciding what to wear for the festival, but ultimately settled on a normal shirt and jeans. I was thinking of wearing a jinbei, but I figured that Shiina probably wouldn’t wear a yukata. (T/N: Jinbei is a Japanese’s traditional summer clothing. The top looks like a kimono, but the bottom is a pair of trousers instead.)

I mean, she’d probably go to the festival by bike, so it would be impossible for her to pedal it if she were to wear a yukata. The girls who went to the festival wearing a yukata usually came with their parents’ vehicles, but Shiina was living alone, so that wasn’t an option.

Not to mention that the location of the park was quite awkward since there was no train station nearby, so she wouldn’t be coming by train.

There was still an hour before the promised time, but I couldn’t wait any longer, so I took my bike and left my house. It was sunny today, but the current temperature wasn’t as hot as usual.

We decided to meet up in a coffee shop near the park where the festival would be held.

The closer I got to my destination, the more crowded the street became.

I didn’t like being in the crowds much, but I didn’t really hate this bustling atmosphere either.

Eventually, I arrived at the coffee shop thirty minutes before the appointed time.

I arrived way too early, I know.

I should buy a coffee or something while waiting.

As I thought so, I heard a trotting sound coming from behind me.

When I turned around, I saw someone wearing a bright red yukata.

“Hello. You’re early.”

She styled her hair differently than usual. It was curled up and was being held by a kanzashi. (T/N: A kanzashi is a traditional hairpin.)

There was a faint smile on her lips. Her face looked prettier than usual because of her makeup.

Everything about her looked so refreshing that I let out my true feelings involuntarily.

“…Man, you look so cute.”

“E-Eh?!…”

In a blink of an eye, her face turned red.

She looked even cuter. I can’t… I’m barely hanging…

Then again, whatever thing that she’d do, she’d always look cute.

I might have defeated her in my previous life, but she completely owned me in this life.

“S-Stop joking around! L-Let’s just go inside!”

“I’m not joking though… Anyway, if you came here earlier than me, you shoulda wait for me inside.”

“I just arrived. I thought I got here too early, but there you are.”

She looked at my face and giggled.

Why did she look so relaxed?! I felt so nervous, it was killing me!

It’s strange. I was supposed to be the one watching over her stumbling around like a fool, but why was I the one who was stumbling around like a fool instead?! Was it the after-effect of my love for her?!

“Anyway, how did you get here? You didn’t ride a bike while wearing that, did you?”

Still, I have to hide my current state of mind from her.

“Taxi.”

Oh right. She was filthy rich!

It slipped my mind that she could just call a taxi instead. I wonder how much money she had to spend for that?

“I don’t normally ride a taxi, but…”

“It’s nice riding it once in a while”, she continued.

“Because of the yukata, you have to, huh?”

“Yeah. It’s too far to get here by walking.”

She could just wear normal clothes and come here by bike, why did she insist on wearing a yukata?

Maybe because I was staring at her for a long time, she glanced downward to look at her yukata.

“…Do I look weird?”

“…I just said that you look cute.”

“…R-Right, you did. S-Sorry, it’s my first time wearing a yukata.”

“Why were you wearing it anyway? I mean, I’m happy to see you in it, but, you know…”

Oh cr*p, I slipped up again.

“Y-You’re happy? I-I see… T-Thank you…”

She muttered shyly.

I felt my cheeks heated up. No good, I need to be more careful. I can’t let my true feelings come out again.

“A-Anyway, I looked up ‘how to enjoy fireworks festival with your friends’, and they said that I have to wear a yukata, so I prepared one in a hurry… Was I wrong?”

“N-No… You don’t really have to wear it, but there are a lot of people who do.”

We managed to find empty seats inside the crowded coffee shop while talking.

The place was cool because it had AC inside.

I ordered an iced coffee and Shiina ordered an apple tea.

When my iced coffee arrived, I sipped it. It tasted bitter.

Shiina looked at me in surprise.

“You drink it black?”

“I prefer black.”

I used to enjoy adding more sugar to my coffee, but these days, I found that the coffee tasted better without any sugar.

“I don’t really like bitter stuff like that.”

“I know. Even back in your previous life, you just ate sweet things.”

We managed to have a pleasant conversation.

I glanced at the clock and realized that there was still time before the festival started.

We could kill some time at the stalls outside, but considering Shiina’s weak stamina, it would be better for us to stay here instead. I mean, that was the reason why we decided on this place as the meeting place.

Of course, we could try to meet up right before the festival started, but, you know…

I wanted to see her sooner.

I wanted to spend more time together with her.

“…It’s great that it’s sunny today.”

“…I know, right? I bet the fireworks will look pretty.”

“…”

“…”

However, we soon ran out of topics and fell into silence.

We ended up finishing our drinks really quickly because we used them to cover up the awkwardness. 

“…Oi, that girl over there looks really cute.”

“Woah, is she an idol?”

Perhaps because of the silence, I could hear the voice of the girls chatting from a distance away.

“Look at that girl, she looks really cute…”

“I should try to hit on her.”

“Don’t you think you should focus on your girlfriend sitting in front of you?”

I could hear the conversation of the couple sitting two seats away from us.

Aside from those, I felt countless gazes at us. Shiina seemed to also notice this as she let out a wry smile.

“…Are they talking about me?”

“Obviously, yes.”

No matter how insecure Shiina was about herself, when people clearly showed their interest in her like this, she was bound to notice it. Well, she was the cutest girl in the world, so it was obvious that she’d stand out.

“I’m not used to receiving this kind of gaze…”

“That’s surprising.”

“If only they’d scorn me instead, that’d make me feel more comfortable…”

“That’s new to me. I thought you’d love this kind of gaze.”

“I mean, when they look at me like that, it feels like they’re placing a lot of expectations on me…”

I don’t know about that… She looked at me and smiled.

“I think I understand what you went through back then…”

Ah, so she was talking about that. I understand where she was coming from.

Back in my previous life, the gazes the people sent me were filled with expectations. It was suffocating.

“If the gazes are filled with scorn, I don’t need to worry about anything.”

If anything, I think she just felt numb to it at this point.

Normal people wouldn’t feel good by being scorned by others.

“Remember that no one in this world wants to hurt you.”

“Is that so? Well, even so, people have their likes and dislikes. Maybe there are people who secretly hate me, they just aren’t here at this moment.”

She had a point.

“Still, everyone I’ve met so far has been kind…”

“You have to cherish them well, okay?”

If she cherished them, they’d also cherish her.

When I told her this, she stared at me blankly.

“I know. Well, after experiencing their warmth, it’s hard to let go of them… It made me feel like I don’t want to be alone anymore…”

There was a soft smile on her face.

“…I won’t let you be alone.”

“Really? …Will you be friends with me forever, then?”

I couldn’t nod to that. I didn’t want us to stay friends.

“Like I said, I will never let you be alone ever again.”

That was why I repeated my words instead.

“Is that a promise?”

“…Yes, I promise.”

I nodded and offered my pinky to her.

She, then, intertwined her pinky with mine.

For some reason, she looked like she was about to cry.

“It’s a pinky promise”, I said.

Then, she muttered,

“…If you break the promise, I’ll curse you to burn forever in hell.”

“Isn’t that punishment too severe?!”

I said that, but honestly, I think that it was too light.

“I’m kidding. I should be the only one who’ll burn forever in hell.”

“I won’t let that happen. I’ll drag you up to heaven with me.”

“…I-I see.”

“…”

“…”

“A-Ahem…”

I let out a cough to clear the awkward atmosphere and pulled back my pinky finger.

Doing Japan-esque things like this was proof that we had gotten used to living in this world.

Suddenly, Shiina opened her mouth. As if she understood what was in my mind, she said,

“Well, this much should be fine. We’re still high school students, after all.”

*   *   *

When we left the coffee shop, the sky was dyed in orange.

The sun would set soon and more people came to crowd the streets.

I walked alongside Shiina to the site of the fireworks festival.

There were food stalls lined up on the streets near the riverbed.

Lanterns illuminated the street, accompanying the people passing by.

“This place is so crowded.”

“Do you want to go home?”

“No. Being in the crowds once in a while doesn’t feel bad.”

…Once in a while, huh? Come to think of it, the other day, the pool was quite crowded.

She was probably being considerate to me. I should invite her to a quieter place next time.

As I was thinking about that, she asked me a question,

“I’m looking forward to seeing the fireworks. When will they start?”

“Hm… A while longer, I think. Let’s grab something from the stalls to kill some time.”

“I’m quite hungry”, I added while rubbing my stomach.

Since she was wearing geta and it was quite hard to walk while wearing it, I slowed down my walking pace. (T/N: Geta are basically flip-flops, but they were made of wood and they had heels.)

When I looked around, I noticed there were more couples than I originally thought here. Of course, families or students walking in groups could be seen here and there but, compared to them, the number of couples was simply bigger. They were quite noticeable because they were walking while holding each other’s hands.

…I looked at Shiina’s hand.

Her small hand was free.

Wait, we aren’t dating yet! It’s too soon to take that hand!

Calm down, me! Drive the sinful thoughts away!

“I’ve never gone to this kind of festival with a friend before.”

Meanwhile, Shiina was walking happily. If I were to leave her alone, she’d probably start skipping her steps.

…With a friend, huh? I was the one who told her to be my friend.

Seriously, I screwed myself up. I shoulda asked her to be my girlfriend instead back then! Who knows if she’d nodded because of the atmosphere at the time!

“Ah, I want those! Cotton candies!”

She excitedly bought a big cotton candy at one of the stalls. Her eyes sparkled at the sight of it. The middle aged man who manned the stall looked at her warmly.

What is she, a grade schooler? Well, I’m not mean enough to say it to her face when she is this happy.

She licked the cotton candy. How could she look cute while doing it?

It seemed like she was struggling because of the sheer size of the thing. Nevertheless, she looked like she was enjoying herself.

“So tasty! It’s so sweet!~”

“Of course it’s sweet. It’s a lump of sugar.”

“R-Right… W-Will I get fat from eating this?”

“Just enjoy it, don’t worry about it. It’s fine for you to get a little fatter anyway, besides—”

I almost said ‘You’ll look cute either way’ to her, but I managed to hold myself back at the last moment. I kept repeating myself, but she was really cute today. It felt embarrassing to say it out loud over and over again, though.

“Besides?…”

She waited for me to continue my words.

“N-Never mind…”

When I tried to dismiss it, she looked a little miffed.

“If I get fatter, my good looks will be gone, I know that much, okay?”

“So you’re aware that you’re cute.”

“S-Shut it! Everyone keeps telling me that I’m cute, so I can’t help but accept it!”

I called her cute again. Her face turned bright red.

Seriously, I need to stop.

Anymore of this or I’ll die out of embarrassment.

…Anyway, I’m hungry. I should grab something too.

“I’ll get some yakisoba.”

I muttered. Shiina, then, turned her head around to look at the various stalls.

“I’ll get okonomiyaki then.”

“You’re going to eat more? You’ll get fat for real.”

“There’s no way cotton candy is enough to fill my stomach!”

Shiina groaned before going to the okonomiyaki stall.

I parted with her to buy my yakisoba before going back to her side again.

“Where shall we eat?”

“Since everything is about to start, we should look for a decent place to see the fireworks.”

A lot of people already occupied the grassy patches on the side of the streets.

Since I brought a sheet with me, I just needed to look for an empty spot.

As I was walking toward a less crowded place, Shiina stopped me.

“…Ah.”

“What’s wrong?”

I followed Shiina’s gaze, only to find Shinji and Yuuka there.

They were so close to each other. Rather, they were practically clinging to each other.

Yuuka noticed us and immediately pulled away from Shinji.

“Y-You guys are here too? W-What a coincidence!”

Said Yuuka with a bright red face. Her eyes wandered around like a guilty criminal. She needs to calm down.

Meanwhile, Shinji just shrugged his shoulders calmly at the sight. How could this one be so calm?

“H-Hello.”

Shiina bowed as she greeted them.

After looking at both of them alternatively, she tilted her head slightly.

“…Are you two going out?”

A blunt and direct question that completely ignored Yuuka’s efforts to hide everything.

“A-Ahaha… We aren’t going out… Yet…”

The ‘yet’ part was said in a small voice. That sounded cute, actually.

“Oh, really?”

Asked Shinji teasingly.

Well, after seeing what they did it was hard to believe that they weren’t dating.

“Y-You shut up!”

Yuuka desperately tried to cover his mouth, but he managed to dodge her.

The usual exchange.

Then, Yuuka cleared her throat and tried to change the subject.

“Anyway! You look cute in that yukata, Mai-chan!”

“R-Really?”

“I shoulda worn a yukata too. I want to take some pictures with you…”

“You don’t need to wear a yukata to do that…”

Shiina pulled up her phone and opened her camera.

Yuuka smiled when seeing that and both of them proceeded to take some selfies.

Meanwhile, Shinji and I were busy admiring both of them.

“So, since when? I’ve noticed you two got along better recently.”

“Since the start of the summer vacation. She had been liking me for a while and she just got the courage to confess to me.”

His smug attitude was typical of him.

Well, it was true that Yuuka had been liking him for a while.

“…And she said that you aren’t together.”

“I mean, it’s true. I haven’t given her an answer yet.”

“…Yet you flirted with her out in the open like that?”

“I’m going to reply to her tonight. I gave it a lot of thought and I figured that I like her, so yeah.”

He had an unusually serious expression.

His serious expression made him look cool. He rarely showed his serious face like this, what a waste of his good looks.

“I see.”

“What about you?”

He asked me.

“Where’s Hina? Don’t you normally go with her?”

“I invited Shiina instead. Well, I told Hina about it, but she said that she wanted to go with her friends today.”

Since I always went with Hina, I felt the need to tell her. But, it seemed like it was unnecessary since she planned to go with her friends anyway.

I guess I was being too self-conscious.

She told me to do my best tonight.

It seemed like she noticed what I was trying to do.

“I see.”

Shinji leaned his body on the fence at the side of the street with a bottle of ramune in his hand.

He popped the bottle open.

“Are you okay with that?”

I somehow knew what he was trying to say.

After I became aware of what love was, I became aware of the feelings that Hina directed toward me.

“You don’t think that she was being truthful when she said that, do you?”

“…I noticed that she was faking her smile.”

She seemed to have practiced making a fake smile.

“…You like Shiina Mai, huh?”

“…Yeah.”

He nodded, before glancing toward the night sky while sipping his ramune.

The sun had long since gone from the sky. The night sky was filled with stars.

“If that’s the case, I’m not going to say anything else.”

He left my side and joined up with Yuuka, who was playing with Shiina.

“Let’s go. The fireworks are about to start.”

“E-E-Eh? W-Wait…”

He casually embraced her by the shoulders.

Yuuka stiffened up by his actions, meanwhile Shiina’s face reddened after she saw this.

“See ya, Godou, Shiina.”

Meanwhile, Shinji dismissed both reactions and left with Yuuka.

Yuuka, who normally would scold Shinji, seemed to be letting him do whatever he wanted.

Shiina watched their departed backs with interest.

“…I-I just saw something amazing.”

“Well, if it’s those two, it was just a matter of time.”

“R-Really? …I-I didn’t notice that they had such things going on…”

Well, it hadn’t been long since she moved here, so of course she wouldn’t notice.

“Anyway, he is right, the fireworks are about to start.”

We rushed to find an empty spot on the grass patches and laid down a sheet on it. Perhaps because our sheet wasn’t too wide, our shoulders were touching.

While eating my yakisoba, I glanced at Shiina.

She was blowing on her okonomiyaki to cool it down.

When she noticed my gaze, she turned her face away and said, “Could you not stare at me too much?”

And so, I obeyed her and focused on my yakisoba instead. After a while, I noticed she was staring at me, so I stared back at her. When our eyes met, she averted her gaze.

I stared at her longer. Then, she stared back again, and turned her face away again.

What the hell are we doing? Well, this felt comfortable, so I didn’t mind this.

Even the bustling atmosphere around us felt surprisingly comfortable.

We didn’t talk, but it felt fulfilling, somehow.

After she finished her food, Shiina drank the green tea she bought from the vending machine.

I gently placed my hand on her other hand that was laying on the ground.

Sensing my touch, her shoulders trembled.

Then, she looked at me timidly.

“W-W-W-What? W-What are you doing?”

Good question. I don’t know what am I doing too.

“U-Um… You know, the curse’s treatment? I-I thought of doing it right now.”

“But isn’t it hard to concentrate in a place like this?”

“Right…”

The excuse I managed to find was shot down with her unusually logical argument.

Even so, I didn’t move my hand away and neither did she.

For some reason, she looked sad. It seemed like she was trying to tell me something.

At that moment, the first firework was shot.

We both looked at the night sky.

A ray of light soared through the sky.

With a loud bang, a large spark was released.

It felt like the sparks were about to rain down on us.

I could hear the cheers of people around me, along with rounds of applause.

The light that lit up the dark night sky in an instant, faded away in an instant too. The place was enveloped in silence.

“So pretty…”

Muttered Shiina quietly.

Her cheeks seemed relaxed, but she looked like she was about to cry.

Then, a barrage of fireworks was released.

One after another, they exploded in succession, accompanied by the cheering crowds.

The fireworks must be beautiful to look at if the crowds were going wild like this.

I wouldn’t know how beautiful they were since my eyes never left Shiina’s side.