Chapter 56: Cultural Festival, Day Two (A Date with Hisui)
The maid cafĂ© wrapped up without any major issues. The only mishap was my parents showing up when I wasnât expecting them, which was a bit embarrassing. Dad commented, âAlice, I must sayâwholesome indecency is truly wonderful.â Iâm not entirely sure what he meant by that, but it probably wasnât anything respectable. Mom pinched his cheek afterward, so Iâm guessing I was right.
Well, putting that asideâat last, the time had come. I had to fulfill the obligation tied to the Wiso tournament prize⊠in other words, a date with Hisui.
In the end, Iâd given in to the lingering heat in my body yesterday and went along with it, so I still didnât have any sort of plan. That said, itâs Hisui weâre talking about. I figured it would probably work out somehow, and honestly, I was feeling pretty optimistic. After all, weâve known each other since we were little.
For good measure, I made sure to wear a matching set of underwear this morningâwhite with some fancy lace.
Not that I was planning to do anything, or let anything happen, of course. Alicia did tease me, saying, âOh, so youâre going with cute underwear today,â but that was just a precaution. Nothing more.
Once my shift at the maid cafĂ© ended, I changed out of the maid outfit and back into my uniform. I debated it for a moment, but ended up keeping the bloomers on. Iâd thought about taking them off since theyâd gotten kind of stuffy, but the idea of strengthening my mental defenses before meeting Hisui won out.
âŠAlso, if anything like yesterday happened again and my underwear got a little damp, the bloomers would help hide it.
After I finished changing and checked my phone to message Hisui, I found one already waiting: âIâm right by your side.â Thatâs terrifying!?
I looked up, and sure enough, there she was, just outside the classroom, waving to me with a small hand.
âGood work today.â
âHisui⊠You waited for me?â
âYes. I was really looking forward to this.â
âWell, Iâm honored to hear that⊠So, is there anywhere you want to go?â
âNothing in particular. Would it be okay if I left it to youâŠ?â
Looks like Hisuiâs passive nature hasnât changed. Back in the day, Souta and I would decide what we were doing, and Yuna and Hisui would just follow along. I still donât know what got into her yesterday, but seeing this familiar side of her again was kind of a relief.
âGot it. Then how about we walk around and check out some of the booths and displays?â
âSounds good.â
We pulled out the festival program and picked something random that caught our eye to start with, wandering around and stopping wherever looked interesting.
At the carnival-style shooting game, where the corks wouldnât fly straight no matter how hard you tried, we both ended up with consolation prize lollipops and grumbled about it while sucking on them. The smoky, savory scent of grilled soy sauce from a grilled rice ball stand lured us into some spontaneous snacking. At the Russian takoyaki stand, where one ball had mustard hidden inside, Hisui bit into the spicy one without flinching. She was sweating and her cheeks were twitching, but she didnât say a word.
We entered the limited-edition rock-paper-scissors tournament. I lost all my stars in no time and got sent to the âpenalty room,â but Hisui, whoâd collected a pile of stars, rescued me and helped us clear the game.
At the crepe stand, we ordered different flavors and tasted each otherâs.
We also poked fun at the art and craft club exhibits and played an escape game made by the computer club.
After all that nervousness about Hisui, I felt sillyâit was ridiculous how much fun I was having with her.
Before I knew it, the two-hour time limit was long gone, and I was still walking around with her, completely ignoring the whole âprize dateâ condition.
âPhew, that was a lot of fun.â
We were relaxing together in the Wiso Clubâs room. The old school building, with the exception of yesterdayâs tournament, was mostly off-limits to visitors and made for a perfect place to take a break.
Hisui brewed us some tea using Suzukaâs tea set. For the record, we had her permission. At some point, those two had become good friends, apparently.
âSitting here like this⊠it almost feels like weâve gone back to the old days.â
âYeah⊠it really does.â
Back when we were kids, I spent more time with Hisui than anyone elseâexcept for Souta. Once we got to middle school, though, boys and girls hanging out together started getting teased by the others, and before I knew it, we hardly ever spent time just the two of us anymore.
âHey, do you remember the summer festival when we were in second year of middle school?â
âOhâwas that the time we got so caught up with the baby chicks that we ended up getting separated from everyone?â
ââŠThatâs right. I panicked when I realized weâd lost them, tripped and twisted my ankle. I even ruined the yukata Iâd gone through all that trouble to wear. I felt so pathetic and scared⊠I couldnât help but cry.â
âI think I⊠carried you on my back after that, didnât I?â
ăIkuto-san!ă
It was rare for Alicia to interrupt me like this while I was talking to someone. âŠWhatâs going on?
âYes, you said, âDonât worry, Iâm here,â and gave me a piggyback ride to help me.â
Something feels off.
ăSheâs not talking to Aliceâsheâs talking to Ikuto-sanâă
âThat was when I realized⊠how I really felt about you. There on your back, it all became clear.â
Hisui and I had been talking naturallyâjust reminiscing. But that memory belonged to when I was Ikuto. There was no way Alice could have known about it.
âI love you, Ikuto. Iâve always, always loved you.â
She looked me straight in the eye as she said it, smiling. But tears were spilling down her cheeks, falling without end.
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