Locking eyes with the girl for a brief moment, Haruto felt a ripple in his emotions. His brow furrowed slightly, then relaxed again. Watching the girl lying in bed, her gaze fixed on him, he closed his eyes and let out a quiet breath.
"If you're willing to stake your whole life on this, I won't stop you. I'll respect your choice."
"I've already placed everything I have on the scales."
"Love isn't a set of scales. If you insist on weighing feelings like that, it'll only lead to imbalance. When you give and give, and one day realize your effort isn't matched by what you receive… all those memories will just be swallowed by emptiness."
Haruto felt no guilt as he looked at her. He could admit to himself that he had never truly fulfilled the role of a proper boyfriend. His attitude toward his relationship with Setsuna had always been half-hearted at best.
When he first agreed to date her, maybe it was her passionate feelings that moved him—rekindling some long-buried spark of youth. Or maybe… it was simply a moment of loneliness.
"Fireworks festival. Are you going?"
He didn't dwell on the emotional tangle between them, instead asking the question calmly.
The girl lying in bed said nothing. She simply gazed back at him, her eyes gradually cooling, then turned her back to him and pulled the thin blanket up over her shoulders.
Haruto had long accepted that he could never quite read her heart. Seeing her turn away, he made for the door.
"Get some rest."
Leaving her with that, he stepped out, closed the door, and found Mai sitting in the living room.
"You heard?"
"Heard what?"
"The mark on your face from pressing it against the doorframe says enough. Eavesdropping that hard?"
"…Huh?"
Mai touched her cheek, rubbing lightly as if she could feel the uneven imprint. Her expression shifted to something caught between awkward and embarrassed.
Haruto reached into his pocket, fished out a key, and set it down on the coffee table in front of her before heading for the door.
"Better to give this back for now. If the day comes when I and Setsuna really do get married, then you can hand it to me. Right now… it's still too soon."
"Haruto…"
He paused at the doorway when she called his name. Turning back, he held her gaze for a moment, then smiled faintly.
"I'm fine. But she… I don't think she's figured things out yet. That kind of blazing, all-consuming love—" He shook his head. "—I can't return it."
With a small wave, he left the Kiyoura household, shutting the door behind him, and walked slowly down the stairs.
Back at his apartment, the bathroom light was on and the faint sound of running water filled the air. Closing the door, Haruto poured himself a cup of tea and sat at his desk. He thought about writing, opened a document, but quickly closed it again. His mind was too clouded to produce anything coherent.
"Love…" he murmured to himself.
Compared to his relationship with Setsuna, he realized he preferred the ease of someone like Sayuri—love without overthinking, where the other person took the lead and cared for every detail. He had always been selfish by nature. Only someone mature and patient, like Sayuri, could truly embrace all of him.
"She's still too immature now…"
Recalling his feelings with Setsuna he rose and sat on the edge of his bed. He lay back and soon drifted into sleep.
When Sayu stepped out of the bath, she found him fast asleep, still in his clothes. After watching him for a moment, she quietly began undressing him.
Half-asleep, Haruto's eyes opened to see Sayu leaning over him. His mind, still sluggish, didn't think too deeply about it.
"So forward?" he mumbled, slipping an arm around her.
The next morning, Haruto woke feeling drained. Even after a full night's rest, the fatigue clung to him.
Beside him, Sayu was still asleep. Haruto got up, glanced at the air conditioner humming in the corner, and made his way to the bathroom. By the time Sayu was dressed and finished washing up, Haruto had breakfast ready.
"Tonight…"
"Hm? Oh—the fireworks festival? Sure. You'll have to come back here first anyway. We can head out from home."
"Uh… yeah."
Sayu, holding her bowl, nodded quietly at Haruto's words. She lowered her head and began eating dinner in silence.
After finishing his breakfast, Haruto headed straight for the door.
"I'll leave the house in your care."
"Mm. Be careful on the road."
He glanced back at the girl standing by the doorway, sighed softly, and set off toward the cram school.
_ _ _ _
"There were quite a few mistakes today."
"Probably because I wasn't in the best frame of mind," Haruto admitted. "I kept spacing out, so it's no surprise I got more questions wrong."
"Knowing the reason for your mistakes is usually a good thing," Tsubota replied with a smile, setting down his pen. "But if something's troubling you, you can talk to me. Maybe I can help."
Haruto looked at the man sitting across from him and suddenly asked,
"Tsubota-sensei, do you have someone you're dating?"
"Uh… well… I've been busy with the cram school, so… not at the moment."
"Then never mind."
Pulling his test paper toward him, Haruto glanced at the mistakes, stood, and returned to his seat. He began checking the answers against his own work to figure out where he went wrong.
Meanwhile, Tsubota sat frozen, replaying their brief exchange in his mind. His expression turned slightly awkward.
Touching the bridge of his nose, he wondered if perhaps it was time he considered going to a blind date.
After finishing the morning classes at the cram school, Haruto still didn't feel like himself. In the afternoon, he asked Tsubota for leave and skipped the rest of the lessons. Instead, he wandered into a small café, ordered an iced coffee, and gazed out the window at the passing pedestrians.
"Haruto."
A petite figure slid into the seat across from him.
Haruto, who had been staring blankly at the street, turned his head at the familiar voice. Sitting opposite him was Koharu, dressed in a pale sports jacket and a cap tied with a white scarf. Against her dark hair, the snowy white made her stand out like a flake of winter.
Their eyes met briefly before Haruto raised his iced coffee and took two slow sips.
"Didn't go somewhere tropical for vacation? Like Hawaii?"
"I already did. Back when you were still in Itomori. The moment I heard you'd returned to Tokyo, I flew back from Guam. You didn't know it, but I've been following you ever since—managed to capture plenty of precious moments."
As she spoke, the girl pulled a small camera from her pocket and held it up for Haruto to see.
His eyes fell on the tiny device. He wondered when she'd managed to start trailing him—and just how many photos she'd taken. Before he could ask, Koharu quietly slipped the camera back into her jacket.
"You're not going to share some of these 'precious moments' with me?"
"They're my treasures, Haruto. Even you can't see them—unless the day comes when we're married. Then I might consider sharing."
"Married, huh?"
Haruto closed his eyes and let out a quiet sigh before turning his gaze back toward the pedestrians outside the café window.
"Have you ever thought about marrying me?" Koharu asked suddenly. "My family's wealthy, and I'm an only child. If you married me, everything would eventually be yours."
"That does sound nice," Haruto admitted, "but that would mean taking over your family's business, wouldn't it? Managing affairs every day, dealing with responsibilities?"
"Probably," she said with a small shrug.
"Then I think I prefer my current easy-going life. Being buried in work every day, stressed out and losing hair over it… not exactly my idea of fun."
Koharu didn't look disappointed at his refusal. She'd already guessed he would turn her down; she was only curious about what kind of answer he'd give.
Following his line of sight, she turned to the window as well. Outside, groups of young people laughed and chatted as they walked past. Looking back at Haruto, Koharu realized that, for all the time she'd known him, he never seemed to have many close friends nearby.
Most of the people around him were women, and the few men she'd seen in his life were… unusual, to say the least.
Haruto, though aware of her eyes on him, seemed lost in thought. His gaze stayed fixed on the street, his mind adrift.
Minutes slipped into hours. Neither of them spoke, content to simply share the quiet of the café. By the time the sunset painted the sky crimson and the first traces of night crept in, Haruto stirred from his thoughts.
"It's already evening," he murmured. "The fireworks festival is about to start. Are you going?"
"If you're going, I'm going," Koharu replied, flashing her small camera.
Her answer made Haruto chuckle. He rose from his seat and headed toward the exit.
"Then, let's see if you can find me in the crowd."
Waving goodbye, he paid for both their drinks and melted into the stream of passersby outside. Koharu watched his back until he vanished from sight, then slowly stood and followed suit.
_ _ _ _
Back at his apartment building, Haruto glanced toward the Kiyoura residence before heading inside. Sayu was nowhere in sight.
"Not home yet?" he muttered.
Sinking into a chair, he considered changing clothes for the festival.
"Forget it. It's hot outside, and it'll be packed with people. I'll just end up drenched in sweat. Better to keep what I'm wearing."
He'd thought about renting a yukata, but the process of borrowing and returning it later seemed like too much hassle. Casual clothes would do just fine.
Click—
The sound of the door caught his attention. Looking up, he saw Sayu coming in.
"Finished work?"
Sayu was a little surprised to hear his voice. She looked up to find Haruto sitting in the living room.
"Ah… yeah."
"Then get ready. The fireworks start around eight. There's still time, and the trip there won't take long."
"This will be… my first time going to something like this," she admitted.
"You're from Hokkaido, right?"
"Mhm."
"They don't have fireworks festivals up there?" Haruto asked, curious. His knowledge of Hokkaido was limited—mostly just "bears."
"They probably do, but not as big as Tokyo's. And… I always stayed home, so I never went."
"I've never gone before either, so there's no need to be nervous. We'll head out when it's about time."
"Okay!"
Sayu glanced at his calm expression, and a spark of excitement bloomed in her chest.
"As for dinner," Haruto added, "we'll think about it after the festival. Eating beforehand might backfire—if you end up with a stomachache, it'll be a pain."
"Stomachache?"
"Crowds like that make bathrooms hard to get to. Better safe than sorry."
"Right…"
She thought about it and decided he had a point. She'd seen news reports about fireworks festivals—streets jammed with people everywhere. If the toilets were anything like the crowds, the wait would be unbearable.
The anticipation she'd felt moments earlier faded just a little. Maybe going to the festival would be more of a hassle than she'd imagined…
~~~~~~~~~~
You can support me by subscribing on Patreon and read up to 10 chapters ahead.
patreon.com/Ranabir_20