The next morning.
"You look out of it, Naoki."
Manaka gazed at the listless Naoki beside her, unable to hold back her concerned question. "Didn't sleep well last night?"
"More like I didn't sleep at all. Last night, the sky suddenly lit up for a while, right? After that, I couldn't sleep."
With slightly sleepy eyes, Naoki yawned as he spoke.
Last night, after seeing the rainbow light in the sky from the park, he and Artoria, thinking it was a monster, began searching the area. No matter how much they looked, they found no trace of a monster. They only stopped and went home to sleep after one or two in the morning.
Of course, that alone wouldn't have caused Naoki's sleeplessness. More importantly, Artoria's earlier words about Manaka liking him kept replaying in his mind the moment he closed his eyes in bed.
How could he sleep soundly after that!
Glancing at Manaka's face as she walked beside him, Naoki suddenly asked, "By the way, when's the school trip?"
"Huh? Naoki, why ask that out of the blue?"
"Just curious. Last year was Okinawa, right? Not sure where we're going this year."
"Where does Naoki want to go?"
"Kyoto. Kiyomizu Temple." Due to lack of sleep and his brain not fully awake, Naoki blurted out his true thoughts without hesitation. "They say it's pretty effective there."
Kiyomizu Temple?
Manaka frowned, slightly confused—what was effective there?
Curiosity drove her to pull out her phone and search. Seeing the information that popped up, she froze.
(Confessing love there is supposed to be very successful? Huh? So that's why Naoki wants to go to Kiyomizu Temple? Is he planning to confess to someone?)
Slowing her steps, Manaka leaned toward Artoria, who was walking behind her. "Pendragon-san, um… I wanted to ask, our talk yesterday—you didn't tell Naoki, did you?"
"I told him."
"What?!"
Unable to hold back, Manaka let out a shocked exclamation!
Naoki, walking ahead, turned around. "What's wrong? Manaka, why'd you yell? Is there a bug?"
"N-no, it's nothing. Just talking about something with Pendragon-san."
"Oh, by the way, you two hurry up, we might be late."
"Okay!"
After dealing with Naoki, Manaka leaned back toward Artoria's ear. "You… why did you tell Naoki, Pendragon-san?!"
"Because after you left last night, Natsukawa asked what we talked about. I figured you didn't forbid me from telling him, so I did… Did I cause you trouble?"
"N-no… It's not trouble, it's just too…"
The fact that Naoki knew her feelings was too shocking for Manaka. Though it was ultimately something that made her very happy, if possible, she still wished she could've told him herself.
After all, Manaka always worried that if Naoki knew her feelings, their close relationship might change—she loved how they interacted now.
If that could be maintained, she could accept it even without confessing.
But now Artoria had spilled everything. Manaka wasn't saying she did it poorly; in fact, she wanted to say she did it too well, but…
"By the way, Natsukawa said he likes you too."
"…"
"…"
"Pendragon-san, what did you just say?"
Manaka felt her ears might be hallucinating. She pinched her arm hard—it hurt, meaning this wasn't a dream. But if it wasn't a dream, how could she have heard that?
Seeing Manaka's slight doubt, Artoria repeated, "Natsukawa said he likes you too, just like you like him—"
"W-wait a second, Pendragon-san, hold on!"
Manaka hurriedly covered Artoria's mouth. If she kept talking, Manaka was genuinely afraid she'd lose control and do something irreversible—she could even say she was already dying to do it!
Naoki liked her… This fact was more shocking than when Artoria said Naoki knew she liked him!
If the earlier revelation was like Mars colliding with Earth, this was on the scale of a galaxy exploding!
Her gaze completely lost control, darting forward. Manaka could feel her heart pounding wildly. Her expression probably matched her feelings—overwhelming joy she couldn't contain.
Taking several deep breaths to calm herself and adjust her expression, Manaka let go of Artoria's mouth. "Sorry, Pendragon-san, that was a bit rude… Um, about Naoki saying he likes me… you're not lying, right?"
"I have no reason to lie to you, Sajyou." Artoria said with a smile. "What I said was exactly what Natsukawa told me last night—there's no doubt about it. But please don't let him know I told you. He might want to keep it a secret for now—you two understand each other so well in this regard."
"I-Is that so? Yeah, you're right. Naoki and I do have some similarities." Manaka, her heart in turmoil, repeatedly touched her hair. "Naoki wants to keep it a secret… I understand, I'll try my best to act normal."
Maintaining composure was easy for Manaka, as it was something she'd always practiced. Otherwise, with all the close physical contact between her and Naoki in the past, without that composure, she'd have lost control countless times.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
The real world.
Watching Artoria's maneuvers on the TV, Merry and Morgan exchanged glances, then Morgan gave a wry, resigned smile first. "That one… is like that too?"
"No, she's a bit more perceptive, but this one… Is [King Arthur doesn't understand human hearts] actually true?"
"Though there's a slight deviation, it's… more or less like that. Lia's nature has always been very straightforward."
"Hmm, how about we make Lia the wingman team from now on?"
"I think that could work."