“Meeting at HQ tent — let’s go.”
“But can we get takoyaki first?”
Suzuno had stayed glued to the takoyaki stand the whole call.
“There are other takoyaki stands, right?”
“I want this one. Please, Yuito-kun?”
She’s stubborn under the cuteness. As ever.
“Okay. Fireworks aren’t for a while — let’s eat first.”
“Yay — thanks.”
She beamed. The stand line moved and we stood waiting. She spoke up.
“Isn’t it pretty rare for it to be just you and me?”
“Yeah — Kano-san or my brother’s almost always with us.”
“Right? When was the last time we hung out alone?”
I tried to remember and came up blank. We’d had quick chats at school, but real one-on-one time — nothing recent.
And the weird thing — I noticed I wasn’t that excited. Past-me would have been thrilled. Something was different about my own feelings now.
“You went quiet — what’s up?”
”…Oh, sorry, thinking about summer homework.”
I lied on the spot.
“Yuito-kun being earnest even now.”
“You should be more earnest — last year you waited till the last day and came crying to me.”
“Ugh…”
She fell silent. (For the record, I didn’t let her copy. That wouldn’t help her.)
“Just so you know, I’m not letting you copy this year either.”
“Aw — what if I beg?”
“To contact me you have to go through Kano — you good with that?”
“Oh, right. We don’t message directly anymore.”
After Kano deleted Suzuno’s contact, my phone never got it back. I’d tried, but Suzuno stubbornly refused too. (Honestly I no longer felt strongly about re-adding.)
“If Kano found out, that’d be terrible.”
”…Yeah, never mind.”
Kano is strict — she’d thunder if Suzuno copied homework. And Suzuno had no intention of re-adding me even now. That stubborn, huh.
We bought takoyaki and stood eating.
“Mm — good.”
“Yeah, this place is worth the line.”
The festival-vibe-bonus, but also just genuinely good. We were down to the last piece quickly.
“You take the last one.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I’m good.”
(I wanted it, but Suzuno was eating with such joy I yielded.)
“Thanks, Yuito-kun.”
She popped it in beaming. As I was watching her enjoy it, my phone buzzed. Yuki Kano.
“Hello?”
“Yuito? Ayato and I are at HQ tent already — when are you arriving?”
“Sorry, eating takoyaki with Suzuno — a bit more.”
Her tone dropped audibly.
“Oh — so you’re abandoning me and flirting with Suzuno?”
“No, we’re just eating takoyaki.”
“A guy and a girl sharing takoyaki at a fireworks festival look like a couple, no?”
“That’s stretching it.”
I scrambled to fix the mood, but no thaw.
“Then maybe Ayato and I should share a kakigori, hmm?”
”…I’m sorry, my bad.”
The image of Kano and my brother sharing kakigori made me genuinely sick. I apologized.
(Past-me wouldn’t have felt this. I’m in deeper on Kano than I’d thought.)