Volume 7 - CH 3

The last day before the cultural festival arrived, which was packed full of students preparing for the big event. We from class 1-C were diligently working on our riddle tournament, but as you may know, a cultural festival uses the whole of the school. Even random benches and long tables were used and carried around everywhere, all to assist the whole student body.

“The theater club is amazing. They’re making their own stage.”

“Can’t just call professionals over as a TV studio would. If you’re gonna do a stage play, you gotta get everything together yourself.”

Since I helped in the cultural festival execution committee, I was well aware of what the theater club was up to. Although we were moving towards the middle of October, all this hard work of us guys really made you forget how chilly it could be. After we finished helping with everything for our own class, all the boys including me returned to the classroom and just laid on the ground with our drenched black t-shirts.

“Oh hey! A black Sajocchi looks so weird!”

“Can you not make it sound like I’m on my villainous arc?”

“Dark Sajocchi!”

“You’re bored out of your mind, huh?”

I didn’t even have the energy to care about the girls’ gazes as I simply leaned against the wall, when Ashida approached me, fully equipped in her familiar winter uniform look, wearing a yellow knitted hoodie. She didn’t even hesitate a second to talk to me about whatever came to her mind. She talked about stuff I couldn’t give two farts about while poking her finger with her long nail right into my hip. Meanwhile, the manager of the boys’ basketball team Hashimoto went to give another club member a towel with a paired “Good work.” The romantic waves they were giving off were only inflicting more damage. Ah, stop, you’re tickling me!

As for Natsukawa, she was working with the committee as always, and I was freed from my work so I helped with my class. Since the committee has the prince from all afternoon TV dramas Ishiguro-paisen, they should be just fine. I mean, that’s just the kind of face Gou-senpai has. He’d definitely nail the role of the police inspector, as well as the criminal. Maybe even a male host, who knows.

And since Ashida is running low on Natsukawa energy, she usually comes to annoy me instead. You damn…! I’m low on Natsukawa-gen myself! Must be nice to be a girl. If Natsukawa was actually here, she could just leap at her without remorse. All I can do is fill up my energy with her faint fragrance lingering in the air when I pass her by…!

I know full well that I’ve gone mad, and even Ashida was utterly disgusted by the severity of my belief and faith in Natsukawa. Ever since our discussion about Natsukawa’s birthday, she stopped bringing up the topic of my birthday present for her. I still haven’t forgotten her expression from back then. She’s definitely making this a taboo, isn’t she? It’s fine, I can still give appropriate advice. Just ask me.

“Hey, look at this! When you press the button, it actually makes a sound like during those quiz shows! Ain’t that amazing?”

“Oh, and that? That hat thing that makes the question mark light up.”

“That’s how it’s supposed to go. In fact, it even blew away the hat at one point. When we made a neckband, it almost strangled the participant.”

“Scary!”

The riddle tournament is set up to have five participants in the first round, but they’re expected to be on the level of the children coming to visit this school. Can’t have people strangling for just some simple attraction like this. I’m glad we rejected that.

“All right, then here’s a question for you, Sajocchi.”

“What do you want now?”

When I finished up another part of my work, Ashida suddenly acted like we were already in a quiz show. Interestingly enough, that’s become a bit of a trend in our class. Even more so since the girls are responsible for preparing the questions, which is why we got more than enough. I’ve already answered at least twenty in the past few days, and my head is already a mushy mess from all the work.

“What do you call an event where you kiss the other person a thousand times.”

“K-K-Kiss a thousand times…?!”

“Why are you this flustered? And don’t stare at me like that, you’re scaring me.”

That’s because the question itself is already maniacal without knowing the answer. Of course, I’d end up fumbling over my own words. Even the most play of boys would go “What?!” at that. Just try it out, I tell you.

“…Does it happen in America?”

“It’s a riddle, so there are no locations. We’re not talking about some event happening in American clubs.”

It’s much more unthinkable in Japan, but when talking about America and its limitless possibility, it definitely doesn’t sound too far-fetched. It’s the land of unlimited freedom, after all.

“A thousand…thousand…thousand…?”

Crap. Normally I’d be doing much better during riddles like these, but the abruptness of the situation is really throwing me off concept.

“Then I’ll give you a hint. What’s another word for a kiss?”

“Canoodle?”

“Gross.”

“Why?!”

You were the one who asked me, though! And that’s another word for kiss. In French, it’d be baiser…So I’m not wrong, right? Why am I being called gross for guessing? I don’t deserve it, right? Calm down. Canoodle…baiser…a thousand times. Huh? You do that a thousand times? Not good, the sheer number is making my head spin. Even some playboy would have his world shaken at that amount. I feel like your lips would peel off if you did it that many times.

“Give me another hint.”

“Another one? I feel like this question is easy even for a child.”

Don’t you dare bring up a thousand kisses during an event aimed at children. What if their parents are freaking out? And this is especially bad if Natsukawa is participating…Actually, considering Natsukawa’s older sister parameters, if Airi-chan asked for it, it might actually happen. Yeah, forget I said anything.

“Th-Then…what kind of sound does a kiss make?”

“The sound of…a kiss?”

Um…when I think of a brief kiss with only short contact, I don’t think it makes that much of a sound, right? So, are you asking me what kind of sound a french kiss makes? Or am I just a pervert for thinking that? Did I become an adult without even realizing it?

“Hey, why are you giving me that look?! And why am I feeling embarrassed despite just giving you a hint!”

“Well, tell me. What kind of kiss even makes a sound?”

“H-Huh? That’s not what I meant! You perv!”

“You brought it up in the first place!”

“I’m talking about the sound effect! A damn riddle doesn’t need that much reality attached to it!”

“Then say that from the start! You’re making my fantasies go wild!”

“Stop it! Now I’m gonna visualize it, too!”

I know that we usually don’t hold back around each other, but we’re still boy and girl. Some things are awkward nonetheless. Also, how does she keep talking about love and whatnot despite being this innocent deep down? I’ve never seen Ashida this flustered before. But anyway, enough about that…A sound effect, huh? And a thousand of that…Oh, I get it.

“The sound effect for a kiss is chuu, and since a thousand times is senkai, you got chuusenkai, which is a raffle.”

“Correct! Guess your mind isn’t as rotten as I thought it’d be?”

“You’re one to talk. I had no idea you were this pure-hearted.”

“Oh shut up!”

I teased Ashida a bit, which had her running away as if she didn’t want me to see her face even a second longer. Combining my image of Ashida as a hot-blooded sports club member and absolute normie, seeing her this flustered gives me the shivers. Maybe I always had a bit of a sadist attribute slumbering in me? But seriously? Making an unpopular guy a sadist? That’s just not fair.

*

“…What did you do to Kei?”

“I have no recollection of doing anything.”

Once the afternoon arrived, the cultural festival executive committee apparently finished most of its work, which had Natsukawa return to our class, and told me from start to finish about all of the committee’s agenda they went over today. I was a bit worried she’d just go home without saying anything, but I feel better now. And more than anything, I’m just happy that I get to enjoy Natsu— (Rest Omitted).

After we talked for a bit, Natsukawa started looking around. I see this gesture a lot, actually. Usually happens when Ashida isn’t at her seat and she wonders what she’s doing. Honestly, I’m jealous. I also want her to look for me.

I grew curious myself and joined her in looking around. I know Ashida well enough that she can pick up Natsukawa’s sce—presence and leap at her. That’s the daily yuri I get to witness. At the same time as I felt jealous, I don’t mind if Ashida went out even more than that! I wanna see something more stimulating! But after a bit of looking around, I quickly spotted her. She stood next to the teacher’s desk which acted as the host’s podium, glaring at me from a distance, like she was watching an animal at the zoo. And since she wouldn’t dare approach me, she equally is staying away from Natsukawa, too.

Realizing this, Natsukawa rammed her sheet protector into my side and fiercely questioned me, which led to where we are right now. Though I have to say, I don’t dislike her giving me such a sharp look as she gazes up at me—Ah, the corner…That hurt…!

“Ashida gave me a weird hint for a riddle she threw at me. And this is how she started acting after I bullied her a bit.”

“See, so you did something!”

“Ouchies!”

I guess Natsukawa was a bit lonely at the fact that Ashida didn’t come to greet her, as her attacks grew more fierce in power. Even through my thin t-shirt, the corner of the sheet protector actually hurt a lot. To think the day would come when Natsukawa would bluntly assault me like this…But, I need to put up with it. Don’t raise your voice, me…If I scream in joy, there’s no doubt that her affinity towards me would drop to abysmal levels…!

“…Not fair that you two are having all the fun.”

“…”

Natsukawa averted her face after faintly uttering these words. If it wasn’t for me standing next to her, I don’t think anybody would have picked up on that. But here I was, not knowing how to even respond after seeing her sulking expression. Or maybe this is the moment where I shouldn’t say anything? Man, girls really are complicated. To think I would succeed in making both of them sulk in such a brief span of time.

“Okay, I’ve got a question for you, Natsukawa.”

“Huh?”

“What do you call an event where you kiss a thousand times?”

“…?! K-Kiss…?!”

“……Huh?”

According to Ashida, I was the weird guy getting all flustered because of such a perfectly normal question, yet when I threw it at Natsukawa, she blushed as red as a ripe apple and panicked.

“Wh-What are you even saying…Geez!”

“Huh? Um…”

She pushed her sheet protector onto me, only to wildly flap her hands at her face and rush out of the classroom.

“…What?”

I didn’t even give her the questionable hint yet. Was it really that stimulating of a riddle? Now I sorta understand why this was taken off the list of riddles used for tomorrow. On a whim, I looked over at Ashida, who gave me a real condescending expression along the lines of “You deserved that.”

*

“Oho…”

I let out a voice of admiration when going through the surprisingly thick pamphlet for this year’s cultural festival. I must have sounded like some producer with crossed arms standing backstage as I admired the progress of the idols I was managing. I did help out with the committee, and I don’t want to diminish my own work, but looking at the sheer amount of stuff, my role feels a lot smaller than I anticipated.

Compared to the average cultural festival, ours at Kouetsu High usually is a lot bigger. Then again, I’ve only ever visited the festival from here, so I don’t know how it holds up with other schools. Even so, I was a bit overwhelmed with the variety of stuff that’d be happening over the next two days.

We first-years have comparatively smaller stuff like the riddle tournament or other areas for taking breaks, but the second and third-year classes have stuff much more crazy. I’m looking at empty classrooms being turned into cafes and so on.

“All right, everyone! It’s time to head home and be ready for tomorrow! Don’t cause any trouble on the way home and take no detours!”

I was starting to feel excited like the day before going on a trip to the amusement park, only for our committee rep Ootsuki-chan to completely kill the mood with a sharp warning. Is she an esper? I was gonna take a quick stop at the nearest convenience store or buy a game at the rental shop to play all night. I’m glad she warned me.

“You’re just as excited as us, Ootsuki-chan!”

“Geez! Don’t call me out!”

That comment from Yamazaki had Ootsuki-chan act even more flustered. In her way, I guess she’s just nervous and hoping that nothing bad will happen. Acting any different from usual during times like these is basically asking for something to go wrong…so I guess I’ll just do as I’m told. Playing all night before a big festival is a bit too risky. I can practically see myself oversleeping.

“All right, then be careful everyone. And keep the schedule in mind!”

With the final call from class rep Iihoshi-san, we all disbanded. Of course, some folks were still laughing like they didn’t care, or made promises to go for some karaoke, but that’s just how people tick. Ootsuki-chan sure enough didn’t like that, as her eyebrows were twitching…I should just head home while I can.

“See you tomorrow, Natsukawa. Ootsuki-chan might go full berserk soon, so better hurry home.”

“Huh?”

Ootsuki-chan being pissed is so unsatisfying…This past week, she was just in a bad mood, and it felt so dragged on. And yet, when something good happens, you’d think she’d cheer up, right? Wrong. She’d get excited and make a mistake, which has the vice-principal scolding her. Resulting from that, she’d come to complain to us. It’s a hellish two-hit combination. Though, the people in clubs such as Ashida won’t be going home anytime soon. In that way, I really feel like I haven’t been doing much.

I helped with the student council, the public morals committee, and the cultural festival committee, but without that, I probably would be bored out of my mind right about now. Normally, you’d hate it if random stuff took up your free time after school, right? It makes me wonder why I’ve even been working this much.

I made my way through the hallway, heading for the shoe lockers at the front gate when I heard lots of conversations on the way. Karaoke, bowling, everyone’s feeling tense before the big—Actually, they all seem to be doing just fine. Was the night before a festival always this exciting for people? Maybe I’m the irregularity for wanting to sleep early?

“Did we have a solo karaoke box nearby…?”

“You should go straight home…!”

“Whoa?!”

Right as I reached the front lockers and opened up my phone app to check for solo karaoke nearby, someone suddenly spoke to me from close by, which made me do a side step out of shock. I ended up searching for solo koala, which made me sad. Seriously, who’s the sick evil who wants that poor koala to be all alone…!

“…Huh?”

“She said that we shouldn’t take detours, right…?”

“Y-Yeah…Sorry.”

“Y-You don’t…have to apologize for that…”

Yeah, but…Um…what? Why is Natsukawa here? And why’s she out of breath? Can you please fix your hair, I’m getting really weird ideas here. I was thoroughly taking this fresh sight of my crush when she took a deep breath and looked up at me. That’s weird. Wasn’t she still packing her bag when I said goodbye?

“You got here pretty quick, huh? Got somewhere to be?”

“Wha…No, no I don’t really…”

“?”

Natsukawa averted her gaze and started mumbling to herself. I felt awkward and looked down at my phone, which happened to search for my ‘solo koala’ input, directing me to a video called ‘Lonely koala makes friends.’ Maybe the world has become a nicer place since the last time I checked. I put my phone away to once again look at Natsukawa, who gazed up at me with a serious expression, one hand with its overly long sleeve pressed against her chest.

“Let’s go home together?”

“Ah, sure.”

…Huh? Wait, what? Did she really just say that? Since I heard it far too clearly, I can’t just put it off as me mishearing things. Maybe I wasn’t a solo koala, after all…?

“Seriously…?”

“Wha…Why do you need to make sure…?”

“No, well, I was just thinking that maybe that’s why you came rushing after me?”

“Huh…?!”

Ah, crap. It’s already too late for me to think that. What am I even saying, there’s no way. And as expected, Natsukawa immediately averted her face. I thought I had learned about not blurting out whatever I think through Big Sis’ harsh involuntary lessons, but I guess I really never learn, huh?

“…A-Am I in the way?”

“Of course not. Let’s go home.”

“Geez…And now you’re all calm…”

She showed an oddly defeated reaction as she pouted a bit and changed into her outdoor shoes. Since it felt like she might just walk on ahead without me, I hurriedly slammed my slippers into my shoe locker. Somehow, this feels odd. Standing near the crowded shoe lockers right after school is over, people are preparing to head home with someone…And I was a part of that. Not to mention that I’d be heading home with Natsukawa of all people.

“Now that I think about it, this is the first time we’re actually going home together, huh?”

“What…? But before, we…”

“I mean…Up to this point, we had Ashida with us, or we just ended up on the same way home since it was late…and all that. This is the first time we’re going home together after classes are over.”

Anything other than that was me just tagging along with her, heading home to wait for her, or silently following after her…Wait a second. That really makes me sound like a stalker, huh? Now I’m even more confused. Why did she ask to go home together?

“Sure came outta nowhere, yeah. What made you change your mind?”

“Ah…”

Seriously, I can’t believe I was acting like such an eccentric bastard back then. I’m surprised I didn’t have the police called on my ass yet. I wouldn’t be surprised if she just started doubting every single action I took. Then again, this is a thing from a few months ago, so maybe I’m just wasting time thinking about it. I just don’t want to hurt Natsukawa anymore, and I don’t have any intention of ever doing that again.

“B-Because…”

“Yeah?”

“Today…you and Kei were talking the entire time…”

“Yeah……Yeah?”

Huh…? That’s not the answer I expected. I was talking about a more general sense of the question…But, oh, she’s just limiting it to today? Then…Yeah, I guess it wouldn’t be too weird if I see us as friends. And that allows me to relax a bit, too. Otherwise, it’d just come to bite me later.

“Sharing riddles with each other like that…Not fair.”

“Ohhh…”

Her hand that peeked out from her long sleeves reached for my right wrist, gently grasping it. It felt a lot more sweaty than I expected, but its warmth was conveyed from her skin onto mine. Yeah, scratch that. The past doesn’t matter. I’m living in the present. And if I don’t enjoy it now, I won’t ever be happy. I can’t take back what I’ve done in the past, and if she isn’t bothered by it anymore, then whatever. I’m not gonna think, I’m just gonna enjoy this extremely lucky moment that I am in right now.

“Natsukawa.”

“Yeah…”

“Your fingers are a lot more delicate than I thought.”

“…?!”

I had my thumb run along Natsukawa’s left hand’s fingers, confirming their warmth. When I voiced my genuine impression, Natsukawa breathed in once and immediately pulled back her hand. Even if she thought of me as gross, it was my happiness. I guess I’m all talk and no bite since I haven’t changed at all despite proudly declaring it so.

Natsukawa tightly grasped that left hand in front of her chest and grew silent. She simply looked up at me in disbelief and shock. It took a moment of silence for a small change to finally appear on her face and facial color. I don’t know if that happened because I made her angry, but even so—

“Let’s go home?” I asked calmly.

“……Yeah.”

I stepped outside the main entrance when I heard that faint voice from behind me. After we passed through the main gate, I tried my best to walk alongside Natsukawa, only for me to realize something. I can’t quite match my speed with her. I purposefully slowed down to confirm the reason, when I caught on to the fact that she was looking at my feet……Is she trying to match her walking speed with mine? After a few more moments of observation, we eventually stepped out onto a narrow pedestrian walk. It’s a relatively small street with only a white line on the side, with that being the only place to walk along. Seeing how Natsukawa reacted when I wanted to take the position next to the street, I was sure of it.

“Um…Natsukawa?”

“Wh-What…?”

“I’m not Airi-chan, you know?”

“Huh?! Wh-What do you…”

“I mean…You try to match my walking speed, even taking the more dangerous position as we walk, right?”

“H-Huh…?”

“C’mon.”

Natsukawa seemed baffled at my comment, so I didn’t even bother waiting for her consent and just grabbed her shoulders, switching positions with her. I hope she won’t complain that I just touched her like that…If she were to brush off her shoulders with her hands, I might just start crying for real. Also, she felt so fragile…I was terrified of the answer but still looked at Natsukawa to confirm her reaction, sighing in relief when I saw something different from what I had imagined. I don’t know if she wasn’t aware of it, or if she just did it unrelated to Airi-chan, but…I just hope it’s not the latter. I’d hate to be treated like a child.

“Th-Thanks…”

“It’s amazing you’re doing that without even meaning to.”

I guess it’s her older sister power or something like that, but she’s clearly more like a gentleman than me in that regard. The only difference is that I did it swiftly without saying much, whereas she’d probably say something like “It’s dangerous, let me walk there!”

“Maybe I’d be able to pull that off if I had younger siblings myself…”

“…I can’t even imagine you as an older brother.”

“Not even when I’m playing with Airi-chan?”

“Rather than an older brother…it’s more like you regressed to being a young child?”

“But it’s the mature thing to play along with a child who’s younger than you, right?”

“I don’t think you don’t need to drop down to their age…”

Oh man, she’s just denying me on all fronts, huh? I wasn’t like that because I wanted to, you know? I just don’t know how to interact with younger children, so I had to become a child myself. Like playing horsey and all that…

“Did you never play with other relatives when you were a child?”

“I was the youngest child even amongst my relatives…”

There’s one who’s about the same age as me, but our birthdays are a few months apart. And she’d always act like my older sister when we met. I think she got influenced by Big Sis a bit too much.

“I…see…”

“Why are you grinning like that?”

“I-I’m not grinning!”

Or so she said, but her voice made it apparent she was smiling a bit. And I could even see the corners of her mouth lifted up. She’s definitely enjoying this, isn’t she?

“Don’t underestimate the youngest child, you know? When I was in grade school, my New Year’s money was massive each year.”

“Heh…I see…Hehehe…”

“Okay, maybe you’re laughing a bit too much.”

Is me being the youngest child that funny to her? What’s even there to laugh about? Is she enjoying my stories of the benefits of being the youngest child? Sadly enough, I’m not getting many more bonuses for being the youngest child now that I’m in high school, y’know. If anything, they’re treating me as an adult. Nobody is asking me stuff like “How was school?” or “Did you get a girlfriend?” anymore. If anything, it’s all like “I’m just gonna leave you alone, okay?” type beat.

“Is someone from your family coming to tomorrow’s cultural festival?”

“No, doubt it. They were born and raised here, but my parents’ families and grandparents’ families live scattered all across the place.”

“Oh, really?”

“What about you, Natsukawa?”

“For me…everyone lives pretty near here. Both of my parents are only children, and grandma’s one of three sisters, I think. I don’t have any cousins, either.”

“Oh, really?”

Having no uncle or aunt is one thing, but not even a cousin is something I didn’t even think about. If I were to start counting, I’d probably get sick of it two seconds later. I don’t mind getting my New Year’s money from people whose names I don’t even know, though.

“But, I bet it’s great to get them all together easily.” I commented.

“Huh? Get them together…?”

“I mean, for family gatherings…?”

“You do that…?”

“You…don’t?”

“Yeah…”

…Seriously? I don’t get it. Who’s the one with common sense now? I feel like it’s pretty common to get people together at least during New Year’s, no? Since I was busy with exam season in my third year, the last time I actively participated was in my second year in middle school when my parents practically forced me to.

“You still hold gatherings even though you all live apart?”

“The great-grandma from my father’s side is like the big boss of the family. When I first gained conscience, I immediately learned not to go against her.” I answered.

“Your great-grandmother?”

“Yep. She’s already past 80 and still some powerful monster, I tell you. And the people under her are way too many for me to even count.”

“Oh…I had no idea.”

Now that I think about it, Grandpa and Grandpa from my mom’s side never really get together much. Don’t have many relatives there either. I only met them before from time to time.

“I’m a bit jealous…” Natsukawa muttered.

“Nah, the more people, the bigger the headache. I gotta write so many New Year’s cards it’s giving me carpal tunnel syndrome.”

“And what’s so bad about that? Writing New Year’s cards is fun.”

“Big Sis is saying the same thing…This culture is made for girls, I swear.”

“I don’t think that’s entirely it…”

I just have the image that girls like this whole writing stuff, unrelated to just cards. Even Big Sis put her legs together and wrote them when she was in her blonde gal phase. And they were such a bad match back then. Why even blonde hair color?

“What about you Natsukawa? Got anybody coming to the festival?”

“Mhm…I don’t think we have that kind of relationship…We can always meet anyway…”

“Ahhh…Then again, I guess that’s just how it feels when listening to other people’s family relationships.”

Then again, a chance like this rarely arises, anyway. I don’t even remember who told me about that the last time. And they’re all people I can meet on other holidays, too. I just have a lot more people on my family tree.

“Ah, but, Mom and Dad said they’d bring Airi to the festival.”

“…?!”

“I even told them not to come…Since I’ll be busy with the whole management, so I won’t have much time.”

Th-That almost gave me a heart attack. I thought I’d be running into her family in the classroom or something. The last time I visited Natsukawa’s place, I didn’t even give her mother a proper greeting. Things would be hella awkward if I ran into her at school. There’s a good chance she’ll just talk about the time I was following Natsukawa around everywhere.

“Oh yeah, you won’t have much free time because of your work as a committee member…That’s why you made plans with Ashida, huh?”

“Yep. We decided to walk around on the second day. I’m definitely not joining the committee next year, though…”

“Things might be different in our third year, but joining the committee as first-years is a bit…You would wanna enjoy it fully first, right?”

“Yep.”

If I remember correctly, Hasegawa-senpai became the committee president through an election. In that sense, I almost feel like a bad person because of my lack of love for the school.

“What about you, Wataru? Did you make plans with anybody for the second day of the festival?”

“Huh? Err…not really.”

Since I’m seat filler for the riddle tournament, I entered a shift where it’s probably the most crowded, but that’s about it. If anything, I’m much busier on the first day, because Ichinose-san and I are going to show around Sasaki-san. Can’t forget about that.

“I don’t have any plans for the second day, no.”

“I see…Then, well…” Natsukawa looked up at me with a worried gaze.

I know that she made plans with Ashida for the second day of the festival, and now she’s asking me if I made any promises already. I’m not dense enough to not guess what she’s trying to ask me here, especially not with Natsukawa. How could I call myself the priest of the Natsukawa Cult while staying quiet here?

“I’d rather not die of boredom that day, so you mind if I tagged along?”

“…! Not at all!”

“…Argh…!”

S-So bright! My eyes…! Why is she smiling at me like that? It’s like something deep inside of me was snapped out of existence. It’s like the weight got lifted off my shoulders. I carefully lowered my head again to meet her gaze. Her flawless honor student smile had vanished, replaced by a childish and innocent grin. It’s a different kind of youthfulness from Airi-chan.

“…”

That was close. I forgot I was head over heels for Natsukawa! It’s been a while since I last felt the same way I did when I first fell for her in middle school. This blooming feeling inside of my body…Yeah, this is bad. Even though I’m trying to move on, I keep falling in love with her again and again…

I moved my hand inside my blazer to place it above my heart, trying to force my heart to cool down, but it’s not working. I think my heart hasn’t raced this fast since I entered high school…Man, I can’t anymore.

“I-I didn’t expect you to be this happy…Now even I’m feeling glad that I agreed.”

“…Hey.”

“Oh yeah, I checked the pamphlet before. Did you and Ashida already decide which places you wanna check out?”

“Hey, Wataru?”

“Hm?”

“You said that you don’t have anything on the agenda on the second day, right? So, did you already make plans with someone for the first day?”

…………Lord help me.