Chapter 964: Festival Date with Alice ② (2/2)

I can clearly see her ears are bright red, and although she is quite embarrassed…… She seemed to be enjoying it, just as much or even more than the embarrassment she's feeling.

[How's the ride, oh princess?]

[Pfft, the heck are you suddenly saying…… Ahaha, it surprisingly looks really ill-fitting to you.]

[Hmmm, I guess I really am not that kind of character huh……]

I tried acting a bit pompous, but she just laughed out loud at me. Well, it relaxed Alice a bit, so I suppose it ended up with a good result.

As I was trying to conclude that what I did was a plus, Alice looked at me and happily smiled.

[……How's the ride huh…… I feel happy.]

[I'm glad to hear that.]

[Well, the only thing I'm worried about is whether or not Kaito-san's thin arms will be able to withstand the weight of the food that will be accumulating from now on……]

[No, you should put those back in your magic box. It's not just about weight, it's also not visually appealing to keep carrying food while we're like this.]

[I'll handle them carefully.]

[I'd like it if you just don't carry them……]

[Ahaha.]

As a happy smile rose on Alice's lips, I walked along with a smile also on my face. How should I say this…… This kind of atmosphere is really nice…… I suppose this must be happiness.

After securing some food from the stalls, I headed for the shrine grounds with Alice. As expected, it was difficult for me to carry her on the stairs up the shrine, so I asked her to get off once and we walked up the stairs hand in hand.

Alice seemed to have calmed down a bit, as she doesn't look as flustered as earlier and seemed to be having fun the whole time.

After climbing up the stone stairs, we reached the shrine grounds…… where we were greeted by an unexpected sight.

There is indeed that shrine-like building, but in front of it…… the place that would normally be cobblestone or earthen ground…… had been replaced by ”a whole lawn”.

[……What the heck is with this incredibly mismatched place……]

[Perhaps, it was just to make it easier for us to sit and watch the fireworks…… The combination of a shrine and a lawn is usually a real thing, but they would at least have a main cobblestone path. There are torii gates there, but how should I say this…… It's like all of God's pathways are covered in grass.]

[I really feel this place is cursed.]

[Kaito-san, the one who did this ”is the one who usually does the cursing”.]

[……Speaking of which, that was the case.]

Exchanging glances with Alice, we wryly smiled, but well…… A lawn like this certainly might be a good place to sit or lie down while watching fireworks.

<Afterword>

Serious-senpai : [……This is hell. The sugar level is so high that I feel like dying…… H- However, since it seemed like the fireworks would arrive soon, this hell shouldn't be that long…… It's over after they see the fireworks, right? They won't go around the festivals one more time after that, right? Right!? That's the case, right!!!?]