Volume 1 - CH 12

On the way home from the karaoke party, after we beat our throats.

Kasumi said she had something to do, so we went to the park on the hill that has become a place we used to go.

"Mmm~!! The view from here is great, isn't it?"

"That's right. And finally, I feel freedom."

"Yes, that's right."

We looked at each other and breathed a sigh of relief, then took the cider we bought out of the bag.

To be honest, I have been feeling pain in my stomach for a long time. Yes, a very sharp pain.

That night and this morning I ate in smaller portions, so my parents were very worried about me.

Well, my life as a festival committee member is over now.

"Then, let's toast for our hard work!"

"Yay!"

We clink our cider cans and take a sip.

The sensation of the cider wafting through our mouths was pleasant.

"It stings."

"Yes, it stings, right..."

"The surprise of the festival has made us old, hasn't it?"

"Hahaha. It's a different kind of tension than a concert at the Tokyo Dome".

We talked about things that weren't important and looked at the scenery from there for about an hour.

"Time flies so fast. The last few weeks you were sitting here worrying about it."

"Now that you mention it, that's true..."

"Ah, don't talk about it. I'm at a disadvantage."

There is not much to talk about during this trip.

It's just that we feel like we've been through a lot together.

"The sky, it's so beautiful."

Early summer. The sun is setting slowly these days, and even at 5 o'clock in the afternoon, the sky is still as bright as the summer sky.

The color of the indigo gradation in the sky is too beautiful to be expressed in words.

"...Instead of looking at the sky, why don't you look at Miru?"

"No, just take a look. Really, it's so beautiful."

"...I don't want that!"

"Whaa!?"

The sky I originally saw turned into a bright cherry blossom color.

It seems that just as I was admiring the sky, she came from behind me.

"Well, now you have Miru-chan all to yourself!"

"Waa~~, that's great~~"

"Stop spelling it... You're too stiff."

Kasumi removed her hand from my shoulder and continued talking.

"Hey, let's take a picture as a memento."

Then she took out a small round camera from her school bag.

"It's called a 'cheki'. It is an instant camera, so the photos are printed instantly."

"I know what it is. That's what idols usually use to take pictures, right? But why now?"

If it is to capture the moment of the school festival, it should be no problem for her to use it in the classroom.

"Because I want to use it here. Because this is where I met you."

"...I see, okay."

When I think back to when we first met, Kasumi has changed a lot.

I don't think she got rid of her 'Mirufy' trait when she came up with the idea of taking pictures here with her 'cheki' camera, but I don't mind her clumsy attitude.

I agreed and said, "Well, let's take a picture," and then Kasumi, with a bright smile on her face, held the camera lens towards us, probably to take a selfie.

"Three."

"Uh, wait, the pose..."

"Two..."

"So, you want to make a sign of the perfect heart? How did you do that?"

"Fufufu. One."

Gosh, I hate my lack of posing ability that I can only do a 'peace' pose in a situation like this!

"Yosh, it's done!"

Kasumi happily took a printout of her photo from the top of the camera and held a magic marker in her hand, which she also took out of her school bag.

She wrote something on it, then dried the ink by exhaling air and held it out to me.

Obviously, Kasumi was smiling happily, and I was looking a little nervous.

Then I saw the words that Kasumi wrote──────.

"W-Wha...!?"

"Hahaha. Ren-kun, you turned out to be weak with this kind of clichéd things."

At that moment, I couldn't breathe as if my heart had been grabbed.

"...You got me."

Again, I looked at the photo in my hand.

"I love you! Will you stay with me forever?"

It was written in cherry-blue letters. With many heart marks.

"...This."

Looks like she thought if it was me, I wouldn't misunderstand her no matter how much she tried to tease me.

Although this is almost synonymous with gratitude!!!

Of course, I'm also very uncomfortable with the situation of being alone in the park with this annoying but very cute girl!!

"Fufufu. Ren-kun, your face is red."

"...Yeah, just like you."

"Huh!? You're lying, right! My face is not red!"

"It's really red, okay. Huh? Isn't that Kasumi who always says you like me so much?"

"Uuu~~ That's because... this is the first time I've said I love you..."

"...Eh."

"Besides, this is not my usual idol habit, I really mean it!!"

And here, you can see a national idol figure with a bright red face and teary eyes.

""......""

Is this really the 'like' of gratitude?

I couldn't speak either and we stared at each other for a few seconds.

This frustrates and tickles me because the distance between us is so close that if we were just a millimeter closer, we would touch each other.

"...I want to tell you one more thing."

Kasumi said awkwardly and moved a little closer to the fence at the edge of the park, which was useful to prevent people from falling.

Her beautiful hair blew gently in the summer breeze.

"Thank you, for finding me."

It was unexpected, so unexpected that I wanted to stop it.

Her bright and fleeting smile, like cherry blossom petals.

Note from The Translator:

So, what Miru wrote on the photo there was "Aishiteru", and Miru's habit was to say "Daisuki". Because of that, I always write "I really like you" in all the previous chapters, even if translating "Daisuki" to "I love you" sounds better in some of the conversations. I really want to save the word "I love you" for this last chapter, when Miru really said different thing. Well, just to make it more special ^^