Chapter 57 - Summer Festival 2 (2/2)

“I’m Blue!”

Shakiin, he took a stance by himself.

“I’m Yellow!”

The next person went, shakiin, and took his own stance.

“And I’m—a clown!”

Can’t you at least be a color! It seems, she got involved with people that liked special effects. I don’t know about the clown though.

“Umm, Red is with me. Do you need something?”

I broke out in between the men and Hiiragi-chan.

“We just want to act as rangers together.”

“It just so happens that we’re missing a Red.”

The clown nodded along. Then he looked at me closely and raised his voice, “Ooooh…! A comrade.” He grabbed my hand firmly.

Ah. I was mistaken as an friend.

“No, that’s not it. I just happened to buy this one.”

As I tried my best to deny it, someone patted my shoulder.

“It’s okay, it’s okay, there’s no need to be embarrassed.”

What? Is showing tendencies of liking clowns something to be embarrassed about!? Is it treated like some sort of unpopular minor character!?

“A-anyways, we were trying to look for a place to watch fireworks when we got separated.”

“If that’s the case, comrade. Behind the shrine, there’s a narrow path. If you go up that path, you’ll come upon a small observation area. If you go, there probably won’t be anyone there.”

This clown, he ended up being a character that had important information in advancing the story.

“Ah. Thank you.”

“Good luck, young clown.”

“I’m telling you that I’m not a clown!”

I once again thanked the clown, and pulled Hiiragi-chan along as I began walking.

“I was really surprised since you suddenly disappeared.”

“Aaah…I had a lot of incoming messages… Sorry. By the time I noticed, you guys were already gone. ”

Hiiragi-chan once again held on to my hand, and at the same time linked arms with me.

“Thank you for earlier. They probably weren’t bad people but… I was quite troubled so you really saved me.”

“It’s okay. It was good that I helped out before anything weird happened.”

Kara koro, the sound of Hiiragi-chan’s geta could be heard as we moved away from the hustle and bustle of the festival.

The shrine itself was quite deserted since the rituals had ended. It was only a few people going in and out of the office area.

I wonder where the path behind the shrine is?

“Seiji-kun, isn’t this it?”

Where Hiiragi-chan was pointing, there was a narrow staircase that might be able to fit one person passing through. To keep from falling, we held hands as the two of us walked upwards. After a while, just like the clown had told us, there was a small observation platform.

Despite calling it an observation platform, it was really just a small alcove. It was only to the point of having a small roof, wooden table, and maybe a bench for two.

The lights from the stalls could be seen below, and a starlit sky spread out above. The wind blowing in felt comfortable.

Sitting down on the bench, we looked around. It didn’t look like anyone was around.

“This is a great place.”

“Who was that clown anyways…?”

Hiiragi-chan, who took off her mask, remembered what happened earlier and laughed to herself.

“Isn’t he your friend?”

“No, that’s not true.”

Ahahah, Hiiragi-chan raised her voice in happiness. She treating it as someone else’s problem.

While we continued on with such exchanges, the time came for the fireworks to start. Don, the dark night sky was lit up by colorfully blooming flowers.

“It’s beautiful.”

How long has it been since I’ve seen fireworks? As I was dazed off thinking about that, Hiiragi-chan closed the distance between us until our shoulders were touching. After I faced the palm of my hand upward, she put her hand on top of mine as if she was waiting for it. Between the fireworks, we secretly kissed each other.

“It’s absolute, okay?”

“Eh? What is?”

“The promise to come back next year… It’s absolute, okay…?”

“Yeah. I promise.”

As I hugged Hiiragi-chan, who seemed anxious, she wrapped her arms around my back.

“Seiji-kun, I love you. I really really love you.”

“Me too.”

“Will you say it properly?”

She firmly grabbed my cheeks and stopped me from escaping. Her mouth was loosened into a satisfied smile.

No matter how many times I say it, I’ll never get used to it…

“Haruka-san, I love you.”

“Fuguu… T-thank you…”

Hiiragi-chan held her chest down.

“An embarrassed Seiji-kun is so cute that I want to see it, but if this happens, rather than you being embarrassed, I’m the one who ends up like that…”

What’s with this person? She’s so cute.

From start to finish, we were just like this, watching fireworks from the small observation platform where no one came while flirting with each other.