Vol. 2 Chapter 6 – Let’s Go Hang Out Somewhere

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Around six in the evening.

Ayano’s homework was finally finished.

Kotarou only had a little left, so he headed home to finish it at Sayo’s place. Kyousuke walked the two of them to the station, and then he and Ayano started heading back together.

“Pfft… kuh, buh, nfu…!”

“How long are you going to keep laughing? That’s enough already, right?”

“I-it’s just… I keep remembering it…!”

Covering her mouth as she stifled her laughter, Ayano’s shoulders shook.

Thinking back to what had happened just a few hours ago, Kyousuke let out a heavy sigh.

When they had returned full of enthusiasm with a huge amount of cake, the first thing Sayo asked was what happened to the ice cream. The ice cream they had put in the convenience store bag had melted into liquid, completely inedible.

Then, when they explained why they bought cake instead, they got scolded for treating Ayano like a child. On top of that, Sayo confessed that she had never once been appeased by cake, leaving Kotarou in shock at this unexpected truth.

The one saving grace for Kyousuke was that, watching that whole ridiculous exchange, Ayano had laughed.

But apparently it had really hit her funny bone, and now she kept randomly remembering it and breaking into giggles again.

“But those cakes were really good. Thanks to you, I got to eat a lot, Kyousuke.”

“…I think I’m done with cake for the next three months.”

Whether it was her stomach capacity or calorie concerns, it was hard for Ayano to eat multiple cakes herself.

So Kyousuke had offered to finish whatever she only took a bite or two from.

Sayo also volunteered to help, and in the end, Ayano got to try ten different kinds of cake. Naturally, that meant Kyousuke had to take on the extra burden.

It had been tough, but it was a good day.

He got to see and talk with Sayo and Kotarou, and he spent the whole day with Ayano. As a day to close out summer vacation, it couldn’t have been better.

“School starts tomorrow, huh.”

“We barely got to hang out at all.”

They passed by a pair of middle schoolers chatting happily.

Maybe they were on a date. Holding hands, they went into a family restaurant together. Watching them, Ayano seemed to follow them with her eyes, so Kyousuke spoke up.

“What’s wrong?”

“If you’re hungry, we could stop by somewhere.”

“Huh? N-no, that’s not it. Don’t worry about it.”

She faced forward again and resumed walking.

An evening at the end of August.

Even at this hour, it was still hot, so Ayano took off the shirt she had been wearing over her clothes. Underneath, she had on a tank top, the fabric clinging to her back with sweat. When she tugged at the hem and let air flow inside, glimpses of her skin flickered into view, leaving Kyousuke unsure where to look.

“…Summer vacation is ending, huh.”

“Yeah.”

Even without checking the forecast, it was obvious tomorrow would be brutally hot. The cicadas would keep crying, and the feeling of summer wouldn’t fade anytime soon.

Even so, for a first-year high school student, this summer ended today.

Saying he had no regrets would be a lie.

But it wasn’t bad. Thanks to Sayo and Kotarou, and above all Ayano, he had spent a fulfilling and satisfying August.

“Hey.”

“Yeah?”

“Let’s go hang out somewhere.”

“Sure, but when?”

“…Right now.”

A strand of her swaying side hair stuck to Ayano’s lips, damp with sweat and saliva.

She brushed it away, then stuck out her tongue slightly and wiped her lips.

“Wah! So close—!”

“I told you, a little more to the right.”

A few minutes later, Kyousuke had been dragged by Ayano to a game center.

Almost as soon as they arrived, Ayano had already spent about two thousand yen on a crane game. The prize slipped right out of the claw, and she let out a frustrated cry.

“You want that dog that badly?”

Inside the glass case was a cute dog plush keychain.

It was merchandise of a sticker she often used when messaging on her phone.

“But it’s cute, isn’t it? I love all the ones in that dog series. You like it too, right, Kyousuke?”

“No, I don’t even know what series you’re talking about…”

“It’s from the same series as that cat one you always use. It’s called『Nyanko to Shibata.』Don’t tell me you’ve been using it without knowing?”

When he looked where she pointed, the cat sticker Kyousuke often used had been turned into a plush keychain inside the crane machine.

Now that she mentioned it, the art style was definitely the same.

He had no idea they were a matching pair.

“Alright, one more try!”

Clink, she dropped in another hundred-yen coin.

With a serious expression, she pressed the button, following the movement of the claw with her eyes. The claw descended, firmly grabbed the keychain, and began to rise.

“Ah! Kyousuke, look!!”

The keychain didn’t fall midway and instead dropped neatly into the chute.

Ayano quickly grabbed it and raised it high like a trophy.

“Here! This is for you, Kyousuke.”

“Huh? No, I can’t take that. You spent all that money because you wanted it, right?”

“I was planning to give it to you from the start. It’s a thank-you for buying all that cake today. Take good care of it, okay? Think of it as me!”

Half-forced into taking it, Kyousuke gave a small bow. 『Th-thanks.』He assumed that last part was a joke, but Ayano did have a somewhat dog-like personality, so hearing that made it hard not to see it that way.

“Then next, let’s get the cat one too—”

“You should stop. It’s a waste of money. If you’re going to spend money, it’s better to use it on something we can both enjoy.”

For Ayano, a thousand or two yen probably wasn’t much.

He understood that, but watching coins disappear like water still hurt.

“Hmm, I guess that’s true. What do you usually do for fun, Kyousuke?”

“…Even if you ask me that, the last time I came here was in middle school. Back then I used to play fighting games a lot, because of the person I went with. I was basically just a punching bag, though.”

“I see… Was it a boy? Or a girl?”

“Huh? A-a female friend, but why are you asking that?”

“…No reason, just curious.”

For a brief moment, Ayano’s gaze changed into something Kyousuke had never seen before.

It wasn’t cold. But it wasn’t warm either. Not exactly neutral either. It carried a strangely indescribable temperature that made him tense up.

“L-let’s not do fighting games. They’re hard to control, and the crowd can be kind of intimidating.”

He didn’t know why, but he felt like this topic was dangerous.

There were plenty of other games. There was no need to force it.

“Forget about me, tell me what you usually did for fun, Ayano. Medals, air hockey, I’ll go along with anything.”

“Me? I usually took purikura photos.”

[Purikura are Japanese photo sticker booths]

The moment she said that,『Ah!』she raised her voice loud enough to cut through the noise of the arcade.

“Yeah, purikura sounds great! Come to think of it, we’ve never taken a photo together, Kyousuke!”

Kyousuke had always disliked photos.

Especially when taking them with someone else, his own smallness would inevitably stand out.

Naturally, he wasn’t enthusiastic about taking one with Ayano either, but he couldn’t bring himself to stop her as she happily pulled his hand along. Besides, after saying he’d go along with anything, he didn’t have the courage to say he didn’t want to.

“Whoa. It’s pretty hot inside the purikura booth.”

“The air gets trapped in here. Wait, is this your first time?”

“Do I look like someone who’s ever had anything to do with this?”

At that reply, Ayano’s lips curled into a mischievous grin.

For some reason, it seemed to have put her in a better mood.

“Wait a sec. I’ll pay half too.”

“Huh? Ah, r-right. Sorry, sorry!”

Purikura cost four hundred yen per session.

Stopping Ayano, who was about to insert the coins she had already prepared, Kyousuke hurriedly took out his wallet.

‘She probably used to pay for everything herself in situations like this…’

Back in middle school, Ayano had been taken advantage of by her classmates.

He hadn’t really thought about it recently but moments like this reminded him of that past. There were probably other habits ingrained in her without her even realizing it.

Thinking that made him angry.

Even though there was nothing he could do about it now, his insides burned.

“Kyousuke, you’re thinking weird things again, aren’t you? Your eyebrows are doing that scrunch thing.”

“…S-sorry. It’s nothing important.”

Ayano grabbed his wrist and pulled him forcefully.

“Smile properly right now. Otherwise, I’ll start to dislike you.”

“Huh?”

“Would you be okay with me disliking you?”

“…That… wouldn’t be good, I think.”

“You think?”

“Not good… it’s not good.”

“You want me to keep liking you?”

“…Y-yeah.”

The words he forced out made Kyousuke’s cheeks burn, but as his temperature rose, Ayano’s smile softened even more.

“Wha—!?”

Suddenly, Ayano pulled him into a tight embrace.

The softness of the opposite sex he had once felt while watching a horror movie together. Since it was summer, she was dressed much lighter than that day, and he could feel the firmness of her undergarments even more clearly.

“If we don’t stick close together, we won’t fit in the same frame, right?”

“E-even so, this is way too close…!”

“If you don’t like it, then grow about thirty centimeters taller right now.”

“Don’t say something impossible!”

Beyond the thin nylon curtain, a group of boys passed by chatting and laughing.

It reminded him all over again that this wasn’t his room or Ayano’s and Kyousuke’s head began to boil over.

“Sorry about today. I was just getting carried away on my own.”

Her voice whispered softly by his ear.

In an instant, the heat drained from Kyousuke’s head, and he gently held her arm.

“I’m sorry too. I wasn’t thinking about you at all, Ayano.”

“…Then I guess we’re even.”

Hearing her say that was an immense relief for Kyousuke.

Even though, if anything, he was more at fault.

“Come on, Kyousuke, smile.”

With all his effort, he forced out an unfamiliar smile.

If it could serve even a little as atonement.

“…Man, I look terrible.”

“Really? I think it’s funny, I like it.”

“I wasn’t trying to be funny…”

By the time they left the arcade, it was already close to eight in the evening.

Feeling the night breeze, Kyousuke looked at the purikura photos they had taken and let out a sigh.

Not being used to photos, combined with the tension of having Ayano pressed so close to him, resulted in a far worse expression than he had imagined.

“Hey, let’s buy some ice cream on the way back.”

“After eating that much cake, you still want something sweet?”

“Today is one of those days where no matter how much you eat, you don’t gain weight. Besides, I missed out on ice cream earlier because someone let it melt.”

Thinking about the ice cream currently being re-frozen in the Fujimura household freezer, Kyousuke fell silent.

They stopped by a convenience store, and Ayano bought some ice cream.

It was a tube-type ice cream that came as a pair connected together. She opened it right there outside the store and said,『This way it’s half the calories』 handing one to Kyousuke.

He wasn’t entirely convinced by that logic, but sharing a chocolate coffee-flavored ice cream with someone for the first time in a while somehow made it taste better than usual.

Ice cream in his right hand, Ayano’s hand in his left.

Turning their backs to the noisy direction of the station, they walked side by side toward the quieter streets, matching their pace step by step.

“…I wonder why.”

“Hm?”

“Why does summer vacation have to end?”

At the oddly phrased question, Kyousuke tilted his head.『Huh?』

“Because, you know, if tomorrow and the day after were still holidays, we could keep playing forever. But instead, it just ends today. Isn’t that kind of unfair?”

“Don’t say things like an elementary school kid…”

“So that means you don’t want to hang out with me, Kyousuke. If we had more days off, we could go to lots more places.”

She puffed out her cheeks and frowned, clearly sulking.

If tomorrow were still a holiday, he’d want to go to the movies. If the day after were free too, maybe fireworks would be nice. Those would all be fun for Kyousuke.

But he couldn’t quite call it bliss.

“I… I actually like going to school too.”

He muttered softly and lifted his gaze.

“Around this time last year, I really hated school. But starting tomorrow, Ayano will be in the classroom again.”

“Even though you barely talk to me at school…”

“That’s true, but…I like stopping by your place, watching movies while studying, and the dinners you make are delicious. And when I leave, I like saying『see you tomorrow.』So if summer vacation kept going forever, that’d be a problem. I want to save the fun for next year.”

Today was fun. Yesterday was fun too. And now, he could believe that tomorrow would be fun as well.

Because of her, he had come to feel that way.

Perhaps understanding what he meant, Ayano murmured,『I see』and finished off the last of her ice cream. Letting out a soft puha breath, cool and sweet, she turned a gentle smile toward him. It was so dazzling that he slowly lowered his gaze.

“…This summer was fun. The most fun I’ve ever had.”

“You’ll be saying the same thing next year too.”

“You think so?”

“I know so. Definitely.”

August 31st. A little past 8 p.m.

Under the glow of the streetlights, a single shadow stretched out from their feet, formed by their hands joined together.

Kyousuke stepped forward.

With a stride just a little lighter than usual, taking one larger step ahead.