I Became Friends with the Second Cutest Girl in My Class

As we passed through a large torii, with Umi leading the way, a warm and lively atmosphere greeted us.

The sweet smell of candies and the savory smell of soy sauce tickled my nose. At the same time, I heard a quiet rumbling noise from my stomach.

“Hehe, since we’re already here, why don’t we eat something? You brought some money, right?”

“Yeah. I only brought the usual amount though.”

I was talking about the money my mom gave me for food and for having fun with Umi. She had been giving me the same amount of money ever since she found out about our relationship. However, since Umi was the one who invited me today, we decided to split the bills.

We both grabbed some food from the stalls, I bought some yakisoba and ikayaki, meanwhile Umi bought a whole box of takoyaki and some drinks. The two of us then slowly walked up the hill while eating our food little by little.

“I’ve never expected that they’re holding a festival in a place like this. Considering this shrine isn’t exactly a big one…”

“Right? I didn’t know about it either, my mom was the one who told me. Apparently, this shrine always held a festival around the same time every year. Today is the main event, but I heard that they’ll hold some kind of event tomorrow too. Anyway, I thought it’d be nice for us to come to check the place out before tomorrow’s Fireworks Festival.”

“I see. But, you know that the Fireworks Festival will be held over there, right?”

“I know that! …Anyway, can we talk about that later when we finally get to the top? Also, do you want some takoyaki? There’s one left for you~”

“Yeah, sure, but…”

We gently climbed the stone steps while Umi was feeding me the takoyaki in her hand. Eventually, we reached the top of the hill and the shrine’s main building came into view.

There was a large bonfire in the center of the grounds. People were surrounding it while throwing something, probably old good-luck-charms or something similar to that. Maybe it was a part of a burning ritual or something?

We settled on a bench in the corner of the ground, watching the flickering flame while munching on our food.

The yakisoba and ikayaki were more flavorful than the meals I usually ate, but that was probably because of the overall cheerful atmosphere of the place.

Honestly, this kind of atmosphere wasn’t bad at all. That would be an unthinkable opinion to have if I were still the same person as I was a year ago.

Well, actually, I would probably think the same way about all sorts of places as long as Umi was with me.

“Come to think of it, we were so busy during this summer vacation. We couldn’t even go to a festival like this, huh?”

“Yeah, cram school, Sports Festival… Next year, it will be the Cultural Festival instead of the Sports Festival, so, technically speaking, we should have more time, but we will be too busy studying by then…”

Looking back, it really felt like we hadn’t had enough fun together. For me especially, since I had always spent most of my summer vacation at home, I had fewer good memories of it compared to most people.

Still, the summer vacation this year was quite nice.

If there was a memory I’d cherish the most, it would be back when I went together with Umi and her family to her hometown.

Well, I couldn’t remember too many details because things were a little hectic, but it was around the time when Umi and I finally became physically and mentally connected. There were also times when we were together by ourselves during the trip and honestly, I still found myself grinning whenever I remembered those occasions.

“…You’re imagining something perverted aren’t you, Maki?”

“N-No? I’m just looking at the fire!”

“Liar~ There’s no use trying to deceive me~ I can tell from your expression what you’re thinking about, you know~?”

“R-Really?”

“Yes~”

“…Can you specify what kind of expression?”

“…Hehehe…”

It seemed like her words were true, but she was the only one who could tell as I didn’t even realize it.

“Tell me, please.”

“Hehehe, no~”

“Ugh… Why are you so mean to me?”

“Hehehe~ Don’t worry about it too much. I said ‘expression’ but it’s really just a little change from your usual ones. Only someone like me, someone who’s always staring at your face, would be able to tell that~”

“I’ll trust you then…”

“You know, I’ve noticed you were doing this quite frequently recently. But only when we’re together.”

So, apparently she figured out about every thought that I thought I had kept hidden.

Like whenever I thought about those kinds of things whenever we were alone. Or whenever I was thinking about other girls like Amami-san or Nitta-san.

I guess because she figured out that I did about the former more than the latter, she didn’t find it necessary to point it out to me sooner.

“W-Well, let’s forget about that and get going already. We don’t come here just to eat some yakisoba and takoyaki, right?”

“Ah, right. Now that we’ve filled our stomach, time to do what we’re coming here for.”

Ignoring the bonfire, which already got bigger before we noticed it, we went to the back of the shrine.

We entered the pitch-black space, away from the hustle and bustle of the festival, where no light could get through.

“There’s a festival outside, so it feels fine and all, but imagine if there isn’t…”

“The atmosphere here feels great, isn’t it? Right, why don’t we do a test of courage here later? It’ll be a nice way to celebrate the end of our summer vacation, don’t you—”

“Hell no.”

It wasn’t like I believed in ghosts or something like that, but the horror genre wasn’t exactly among my favorites. The Fireworks Festival tomorrow would be good enough to celebrate the end of the summer vacation or whatnot.

But, from the flow of our conversation so far, it seemed like it would be inevitable for us to come back here tomorrow… Hopefully, we won't actually do a test of courage or something similar tomorrow…