CH 232

Shizuku and Kirasaka stood next to each other and glancing over at a board set up in the middle of the two student council tents.

There, one black line was drawn in the middle to separate the board.

It was made so that students who have purchased the delicacies offered by the student councils of both schools could vote for their favorite based on their opinions.

The rows of stickers lined up in a mess on either side of the line were currently receiving a similar number of votes.

“Hmm…surprisingly the other side is not too far off.”

Shizuku puts her hand on her chin and murmurs.

Kirasaka also looked at the number of votes and the current queue in front of the stores, and looked like thinking about something.

I looked at the group of students surrounding the two tents as well, but it appeared the ours had a bit more than theirs.

However, it won’t be much at the peak time.

After lunch, it would be okay to take turns and take a break just as the crowds began to shift to the staple food stores.

For some reason, the order was decided between the girls standing discussing  something, and Kirasaka was to take a break at the same time as me.

…I want to insist on individual freedom.

However, such opinions are irrelevant to these girls.

They are irregular creatures, sometimes forceful and bold in their actions.

As expected of the princess, the queen, and the general manager.

From now on, I would like to propose to the students the idea of calling them ‘The Rulers’.

Perhaps already having their sights set on the Sakura Festival, the pamphlet held in Kirasaka and Shizuku’s hands had several circles on it.

…So, are you going to visit all of them?

Time is of course of the essence, but Minato’s wallet is going to scream.

Of course, there’s no way I’m going to pay for all of them…

Minato-kun quality there, please bear your own expenses.

“Well, after you, I’m off to take a break.”

“Have a good time.”

The president, on behalf of the student council who are still working in the tent said that.

The rest of the members also smiled and waved at us.

Kirazaka also gives a small nod and walks past me, plucking the sleeve of my uniform with her fingertips.

I won’t run away, you know? I’m not stupid, okay?

The question of whether or not the word ‘not stupid’ conveys the message came to mind, but I’m not going to worry about that.

“Where are we going…?”

“Then…”

I asked Kirasaka, who was still proceeding despite the attention of the male students.

Kirasaka breaks off her words, releases the sleeve of my uniform she was pulling on, and opens the pamphlet.

With her thin white fingertips, she points to a few stores.

“We’re going to buy a drink and some light food, and then go to the special place.”

“…Special place?”

Was there such a place set up at this festival?

There is no place that comes to mind when I tried to recollect it from my memory.

However, Kirasaka resumed her steps without offering any special explanation.

The way I walked behind her looked as if an ordinary citizen following a celebrity walking down the street.

Well, I do realize that people around me probably see me that way.

It is a problem that naturally follows you when you work with Shizuku, Kirasaka, and others, including Yuuto, who is not here.

It is a waste of mental effort to be concerned about it.

I brush away the depressing glare along with the bangs that are beginning to grow.

…I cannot do the same for the stares, though.

I followed Kirasaka as she went along and arrived at the drink stall.

The sign says ‘Tapioca’ in large letters, so I didn’t have to wonder what the main attraction was.

While I was thinking about what to order from the small menu list, Kirasaka was the first to order.

“Special deluxe coconut milk with brown cane sugar and tapioca topping, please.”

“…A weapon? Or is that some kind of special equipment?”

“At this point, it’s almost like a spell that can only be understood by women, like ‘vegetables with lots of garlic and oil, extra caramelized’…”

I was the only one puzzled, and both the store’s receptionist and Kirasaka herself finished handing over the goods as a matter of course.

At any rate, I order something called tapioca milk tea and proceed to the next store.

After purchasing yakisoba, takoyaki and other such thing, our last stop was under a tree in the courtyard.

To put it nicely, this was where Kirasaka and I met.

I looked where Kirasaka was going and noticed it on the way.

Indeed, this is the only place where she would call a special place.

There were many stalls in the nearby plaza, and the place was no longer as quiet as usual.

However, there was one place that was so empty that I felt uncomfortable of us both.

The reason was that a certain gentleman was standing there.

Dressed in a neat black tailcoat and meditating in the midst of the bustle, everyone paid attention to the figure, but he was moving away.

Kirasaka approached the figure and called out to him.

“Thank you, Ji.”

“Ojou-sama, please call me if you need anything.”

Kuroi-san, whom I have spoken to several times, gives a small bow to Kirasaka and quietly turns back and disappears from sight.

In doing so, he bowed to me as well, and I bowed back to him in a puzzled manner.

His deep facial expression turns into a gentle smile, and I get a glimpse of this person’s kindness.

“Here, huh…”

Standing at the base of the tree, I look above and mutter.

The sunlight leaks through the trees, and the sound of leaves rustling in the wind spreads a sense of distance from the noise of the surrounding area.

“I’m not particularly interested in anything but this place.”

Willing to sit down directly on the grass in her uniform, Kirasaka lightly taps next to her, urging me to sit down.

Close, I think, and sit down one space away from where she tapped, and started gulping down the drink I had bought.

We did not speak to each other, and a quiet moment passed between us.

I met her at this place at the entrance ceremony, which was sometime a year and a half ago.

Looking back, time passes quickly, and it is difficult to ask myself if it was a fruitful time.

The days were long spent lazily, and now that I have had the opportunity, I am able to stay busy, but this festival will be a turning point for me.

As I was pondering these thoughts, shocked to find that the tapioca in my mouth was almost tasteless, Kirasaka, sitting next to me, said in a voice tinged with melancholy.

“While the students and myself are changing, this place remains the same.”

Her hand on the tree’s bark was gentle, and the expression on her face seemed to be one of nostalgia.

The meaning of “unchanged” is probably not a change in its physical appearance.

From this place where the tree has its roots, it stands facing the sky without moving.

Even in the absence of the students’ interest, this place will never change.

It will be more precious for a long time than the temporary memories that fade and disappear.

“But …things that we want to change do not work out conveniently, do they?”

“…Sorry for being a tricky creature.”

The words themselves sound like a negative statement, but the grinning expression at the corners of her mouth and the teasing tone of her voice prompts me to reply as usual.

I am aware of it, I can’t help my own little change and stubbornly twisted personality.

I take a bite of the takoyaki offered to me silently, and the familiar taste of store-bought sauce spreads in my mouth.

The fact that the restaurant does not make any attempts to make the takoyaki more unique makes me feel at ease, which I like.

“As my father said, it’s up to our actions rather than anything Shinra-kun does …so I’d be happy if you just stay the same.”

“…Contradictory, isn’t it?”

“I want you to change, but I don’t want your essence to change as well. I’m aware of my own selfishness.”

After a short statement, Kirasaka also puts a takoyaki into her mouth.

I remember her father’s words as I leaned my back against a tree that had been vacated for one person.

It’s not just me, it’s all the people around me that are going to change as well.

I do not doubt it, but I wonder if that really is true.

I think that I won’t change, that I can’t change.

But as for Kirasaka, even her father has started to get involved, and to be honest, there is one thing that is troublesome.

That is how to call her.

Kirasaka, and the same Kirasaka, two people respond when I call them by their surnames.

However, I’m not an employee to call him director, and calling him father is uncomfortable.

“Rei…Rei-san?”

Would it be more natural to call her the daughter, since I might be seen as a pompous if I called her young lady?

He is the president of a large company, I must be careful not to get my existence erased because of my poor behavior.

“…”

“What was that?”

As I mumble and mutter in a small voice, Kirasaka next to me stares at me with wide eyes.

She is surprised, but when she stares at me with eyes so big, I can’t help but brace myself.

Well, I am confident that if we fought, I would lose in an instant.

It is more likely the case of me being protected, not the other way around.

“No… nothing.”

When I question the gaze directed at me, she quickly looks away.

I won’t tell you that the coconut milk drink, which was supposed to be sipped and enjoyed slowly, rapidly lost its volume, reminding me of the suction power of a certain vacuum cleaner.

The unchanging suction power …seems to be produced by Kirasaka’s company.

For a while, Kirasaka turned her body away and did not speak.

After eating the food she had bought with a gulp, she finally stood up silently.

“I’ll go back first…”

“…Then, shall we head back?”

Without thinking, I attempted to head back without any other intention and stood up, but she held her palm out as if to stop me.

“No, I’m going to call Kanazaki-san, so you definitely won’t come with me.”

…Not even eye contact and rejection is that it? Or is it a declaration of farewell?

If that happens, I guess I will have to get her in a good mood again because my life could be in danger.

Although I understand that it is not true, I froze involuntarily at the sudden change in response, and Kirasaka left this place with an agile movement she rarely shows.

She fluttered past a group of students with a stunning maneuvering motion and disappeared from the courtyard.

“…”

From the outside it would look like the picture of a confession made in the atmosphere of a cultural festival, and then cruelly rejected.

A student as bright as Kirasaka suddenly showed such agility that naturally, the eyes of those around her were drawn to me, who was the origin of those movements.

I stealthily moved behind the tree to hide from their gazes.