Autumn Festival and Baby Castella 7
『I’m heading to the shrine first.』
A message with an anime character doing a victory pose (banzai) was sent from Shōhei.
Sōma looked around and said,
“They’re gone without us noticing.”
“Miki-chan also sent a message saying ‘Let’s meet at the shrine.'”
Chika, staring at her phone, hadn’t noticed their absence until just now either.
“Do you think they went off together?”
“Probably. The messages came at the same time.”
It wouldn’t be strange to think that the two had discussed and sent the messages simultaneously, not wanting to worry Sōma and Chika.
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“It looks like Shōhei managed to handle things himself after all.”
“It seems so.”
Relieved that the troublesome request had been resolved, they let out a sigh of relief.
“I wonder what kind of magic he used.”
How Shōhei managed to take Miki, who had declared she would be flirting with Chika today, on a date was something to be asked later.
Putting his phone back in his pocket, Sōma asked Chika,
“What should we do now? I guess we’ve had enough baby castella tasting for now.”
They visited three stalls and had a meaningful discussion. It was fair to say they had achieved their goal for the day.
They could head straight to Ebisu Shrine to wait for Shōhei and Miki, but if they hurried, they might catch up with them.
“Since we’re here, let’s have some fun.”
They had only eaten baby castella since arriving at the festival.
They wanted to check out other stalls too.
“Let’s compete in a ball scooping game.”
As they started looking for a ball scooping stall, Chika tugged on his sleeve hesitantly.
“Um… would it be bad to sneak a peek at Miki-chan and Kikuchi-san?”
“What? You want to spy on their date? That’s in poor taste.”
“That’s true, but…”
Sōma showed reluctance, but Chika didn’t let go of his sleeve.
“I’m against it. We might get caught. We shouldn’t do something that could interfere with them.”
It was the alone time with Miki that Shōhei had asked for help to achieve.
He didn’t want to do anything that could spoil his best friend’s happiness.
“You’re not worried that Shōhei will do something strange, are you? If so, that’s an insult to him. He might seem frivolous, but he’s actually a good guy. He would never do anything disrespectful to a woman he likes.”
Sōma glared lightly, and Chika waved her hands in denial.
“No-no, that’s not it. I don’t think Kikuchi-san is dangerous. It’s not that… I just want to learn, or something like that…”
“Learn?”
“Um… I’ve never really been involved in anything like romance or love affairs.”
“I figured as much.”
He nods without missing a beat.
Anyone who watches her on a daily basis would understand that.
In the environment where she is firmly surrounded and pampered by girls like Miki, there’s no room for a guy to get close—not even a millimeter.
If it’s been like this from elementary school to high school, it’s no wonder Chika never had a chance to develop romantic feelings for someone.
“That’s why, even when I hear about someone in class confessing or starting to date, I’m just like, ‘Oh, is that so?’ It felt like watching a romance in a drama or celebrity gossip news. I wasn’t interested at all.”
“It probably be due to your environment, Chika”
Sōma nods in agreement, and Chika looks in the direction of the Ebisu Shrine, where Miki probably went.
“I seriously thought romance was something irrelevant to a child like me. But now, a boy who says he likes my best friend Miki-chan has appeared. This is a huge surprise to me, something I never even imagined. And at the same time, I realized something. I thought, ‘So, love is actually something that can appear quite close.'”
What she thought was an event on the other side of the TV screen suddenly felt within reach, close enough to touch.
It’s not unreasonable for her to be surprised and confused.
“So I’ve become curious. What is romance really like? What does it mean to like someone? I wonder what kind of face Kikuchi-san makes at Miki-chan. And how does Miki-chan respond to him? Such questions came to mind.”
“So it’s not just a nosy curiosity?”
“That’s not it. Of course, even if it’s not for nosy reasons, it doesn’t mean it’s okay to secretly watch them.”
He ponders what to do.
It’s not something to be praised for. If caught, he would be scolded by both Shōhei and Miki.
Moreover, their peeking could expose Shōhei’s feelings for Miki.
If that happened, no amount of apologies would ever be enough for Shōhei.
Frankly, he’s not keen on the idea.
Sōma sighs softly before reluctantly speaking.
“Alright. Just for a little bit. Also, when we meet up with them, let’s treat them to takoyaki or something. I’ll chip in for half.”
“Okay, understood.”
Chika offers this after serious consideration.
Looking at her face, he just couldn’t bring himself to refuse.
***
Shōhei and Miki were easy to find.
They seemed to have been peeking into various stalls and hadn’t moved far ahead.
They were competing at a shooting stall, taking turns shooting cork guns side by side.
“Don’t get too close, or we’ll be spotted.”
To minimize the chance of being noticed, they pretend to look at prizes at a lottery stall two stalls down while keeping an eye on the situation.
Miki seems to have won a prize, receiving a box of sweets from the stall owner, which she proudly shows off to Shōhei. He claps and praises her.
At a glance, they seem to have a pretty good atmosphere.
“By the way, has Saito said anything about Shōhei?”
“No.”
While pretending to look at a faded plastic model box, he asks, and Chika, pretending to look at a stuffed animal prize, immediately shakes her head.
“Kikuchi-san has never been a topic of discussion between us. Maybe we talked a little about him on the way back from visiting Sōma-san’s house last month, but I don’t remember well.”
“Well, that’s probably about it.”
As far as Sōma knows, Shōhei and Miki have never been deeply involved.
The most interaction they had was when they crashed at Sōma’s place.