Ch.281If Side Story. Tokyo Slayers: Final Chapter (19)

Nanami looked a bit angry.

And Souta thought he knew why.

For some reason, Nanami disliked when Yuka and Souta hung out alone. It seemed that Nanami and Yuka had many incompatibilities, so she was sensitive about being left out when they spent time together.

Yuka was no different—if she found out Souta was alone with Nanami, she would run at full speed to insert herself between them.

Souta wasn’t sure how their relationship had become like this. He’d heard that even friends could feel jealousy, but this seemed a bit strange.

What made it worse was that these girls were fighting around him, causing people to misunderstand Souta’s situation, which was quite troublesome.

“…”

After arranging the meeting place by email and heading out, Souta found an obviously irritated Nanami waiting.

And like Yuka whom Souta had seen previously, Nanami was also wearing a yukata. At least Souta could understand why Nanami was wearing one today.

Today wasn’t about checking out the festival situation—they were actually going out to have fun.

The festival visit that had originally been scheduled for after the trip was moved up at Nanami’s insistence.

Since festivals were happening everywhere during summer, finding a location wasn’t difficult.

However.

“You’re here.”

“Yeah.”

Nanami and Yuka exchanged greetings.

For some reason, Yuka stood with her shoulders squared, looking triumphant, while Nanami looked like she could grind her teeth at the sight of her.

If Souta had to guess the cause, it was probably because Yuka had been able to walk around alone with Souta, while Nanami had to go around with her friends.

In truth, Souta had tried to understand what Nanami and Yuka were thinking.

Souta had plenty of same-sex friends too, and naturally had many days when he made plans to hang out with them. In such situations, if his friends went on a trip without him—

Well, he could understand to some extent. After all, Souta was often busy with his part-time job and frequently had to return home early to take care of his little sister.

Above all, lately his friends seemed to be quite concerned about the fact that there were many girls around Souta. While Souta felt it was very unfair, it was also a bit awkward that his friends saw him as what they called a “popular guy.”

“Big brother?”

And here was one more person who seemed likely to misunderstand the situation between those two.

“Shii.”

“Why is the atmosphere between those two like that? Big brother, did you do something again?”

Seeing Shii narrowing her eyes and looking up at him, Souta felt even more wronged.

He hadn’t known why Yuka had called him in the first place, and all they did was walk around the festival site checking things out.

It was true that his heart had raced a bit at each of Yuka’s actions, but that was unavoidable for any healthy teenage boy. Yuka was that beautiful, and she was wearing a red yukata that suited her perfectly.

Though she wasn’t wearing a yukata here.

Ironically, it was Nanami who had properly dressed in a yukata who looked indignant, while Yuka in casual clothes looked much more relaxed with her confident expression.

Though he wasn’t sure what exactly made her more relaxed.

As Souta was feeling somewhat overwhelmed by the atmosphere between the three girls including Shii, Harumi Fukuda arrived right on time.

“…What are you two doing?”

Fukuda asked incredulously, looking at Nanami and Yuka who had been silently facing each other, causing passersby to whisper and walk away.

“Oh, you’re here,” Nanami said.

“Well… I came at the agreed time.”

Fukuda answered and glanced at Souta. That look clearly suggested he thought the situation was Souta’s fault, making Souta want to explain himself.

But before Souta could offer any explanation—

“…”

He saw a girl quietly walking toward them.

She wasn’t wearing a yukata either. She was wearing a black t-shirt from among those that Yuka and Nanami had picked out for her, along with short pants.

Her shoes were still the loafers she wore with her uniform, which didn’t quite match, but it was a much more comfortable outfit than walking around openly in a school uniform.

Seeing Kotone Kurosawa like that, Yuka and Nanami, who had been glaring at each other, turned their attention to her.

The atmosphere between them softened somewhat. They seemed touched that Kurosawa had worn the clothes they had picked out for her.

“Kurosawa!”

Nanami shouted and ran to Kurosawa, taking her hand.

Kurosawa, seemingly unbothered, followed Nanami’s hand and walked toward them.

“Well, now everyone’s here. It seems some people have already enjoyed the festival, but I guess it doesn’t matter since it’s a different place?”

At those words, Fukuda gave Souta an incredulous look.

Even though Nanami hadn’t specifically mentioned any names, the fact that the attention turned to Souta made him want to say something again, but the atmosphere suggested that Nanami might explode if he tried to explain, so he decided to just go along with it until the mood improved.

Especially since Yuka had already straightened her shoulders and was smiling confidently, which seemed to be making Nanami’s mood even more heated.

“Alright, alright,” Nanami said, looking around at the group.

“Today we’re going to walk around, eat various things, and watch the fireworks before going home. Now, Shii, come here.”

Nanami said this while pulling the wrist of the surprised Shii.

Shii looked very surprised but didn’t shake off Nanami’s hand. This was probably thanks to the adaptation that had occurred during the past semester as Nanami hung out with Souta and Shii.

Though Shii didn’t look particularly fond of Nanami, she at least seemed to know that Nanami had no intention of harming her, which made Souta feel a bit relieved.

Yuka, Souta, and Fukuda followed behind the three who had started walking first.

The subtly sharp atmosphere quickly dulled as soon as they entered the crowd.

Nanami loves to eat. Although Souta had rarely seen teenage girls who disliked eating, Nanami particularly enjoyed snacks and desserts among those around Souta.

“Here, Souta. Aah~”

Nanami would pick up a takoyaki and put it in Souta’s mouth, or

“Souta, here. Want a bite of this apple candy?”

She would offer him the apple candy she had been eating.

The more Souta went along with it, the more comfortable Nanami’s mood became. It seemed she really had come out wanting to have fun.

“Here, Kurosawa too.”

Nanami also offered food to Kurosawa.

Everyone present shared the knowledge that she liked “sweet things,” so most of the food that went to Kurosawa was sweet.

Souta thought that he could now read Kurosawa’s expressionless face a little better.

He still couldn’t read exactly what she was thinking, but at least he could tell whether she was in a good mood or not.

Kurosawa had been in quite a good mood since they all entered the festival. Her mood improved even more whenever someone gave her something sweet.

“…”

And there was one occasion when Souta became certain that Kurosawa was in a very good mood.

Kurosawa usually didn’t pay much attention to her surroundings. She was so quiet that she seemed indifferent even to herself, making it difficult to know what she wanted.

So when such a Kurosawa stopped in her tracks and stared intently at something, naturally Souta and everyone around were surprised.

The place where Kurosawa stopped was in front of a goldfish scooping stall.

A large styrofoam container was filled with water, and red goldfish were swimming around in it.

Seeing Kurosawa’s eyes following the goldfish back and forth, Souta crouched down beside her.

“Do you want to try this?”

Kurosawa looked at Souta.

Though her eyes still didn’t seem to contain any emotion, Souta could tell she was questioning his words.

“This is a game where you scoop up goldfish,” Souta explained.

If you catch them, you get to take them home.

Souta had received two when he went with Yuka. Those goldfish were currently in a large ice box that had been in the storage room, filled with water, and then moved to new supplies he had bought the next day.

“Do you want a goldfish?”

Kurosawa turned her gaze back to the goldfish and then,

“…Yes.”

She answered very quietly.