Chapter 216: Fireworks Festival
Early August.
One month of summer vacation remained.
Recently, Sakurai Saki had changed his permanent ability.
A few days ago, he randomly drew something rather interesting—slightly more useful than the quest system.
[Superpower: Future Diary (Wish Diary)]
[Effect: Obtain a diary. Write in it the wish you want to fulfill, and it can be guaranteed to be 100% accomplished.]
[Side Effects: None]
Sakurai Saki had previously received a future diary during Golden Week, but that one recorded events that would happen in the future, whereas this one was completely blank.
It guaranteed 100% fulfillment, but you had to act on your own—the diary was more like an insurance policy.
If he wrote that he wanted to have a happy summer vacation, then if it wasn't happy, perhaps time would be reset to the start of summer vacation?
Sakurai Saki wasn't sure yet. For now, he had only written one small thing — [Today, I can win a prize from the school's vending machine].
After writing it, Sakurai hurried to school to reclaim the can of coffee the vending machine still "owed" him last time.
Very satisfying—the dreams of a man could be that simple.
It wasn't about conquering the world, nor having a house full of wives and children—Sakurai Saki just wanted to drink coffee.
'Damn it, that trash Word Spirit ability isn't even as good as this diary.'
If the day ever came when the Word Spirit ability actually became useful, that would definitely mean the end of the world was near.
...
At the Shinomiya estate.
Kaguya was writing in her diary.
But her diary was perfectly ordinary, with no wish-fulfilling powers.
Even so, Shinomiya Kaguya wrote in it every night, recording the interesting things that happened during the day, and wishing for tomorrow.
[I want to go to the fireworks festival]—this was the wish she had just written.
In Japan, every year from June to August, there were countless festivals held all over the country, and naturally, fireworks festivals were indispensable.
But ever since she was a child, Kaguya had never seen fireworks up close.
She had once watched fireworks from her room.
That meant watching them through a narrow window, from a very far distance—the view wasn't bright or grand, blocked by tall buildings, leaving only small corners visible. But their beauty wasn't diminished, and Kaguya had still been quite content.
She didn't have many friends, so the chance to go see fireworks was already a luxury.
Saying that Kaguya wanted to see fireworks was the same as saying she wanted to experience the summer atmosphere with friends.
Everyone wearing beautiful yukata, wooden geta clogs, enjoying all kinds of food stalls… her wish was simple.
Perhaps compared to Sakurai Saki's dream of drinking coffee, it was a little harder.
For any ordinary high school student, going to see fireworks with friends was an extremely easy thing to do.
Unfortunately, in the eyes of Ojou-sama Kaguya, enjoying summer was a difficult task. Before joining the student council, the only person she could truly call a friend was Fujiwara Chika.
Summers were boring, but this summer, Shinomiya Kaguya longed for beautiful memories.
"Hayasaka, I want to go see fireworks." Kaguya turned to look at her maid.
Kaguya: ( •̀ ᴖ •́ )
Hayasaka: (¬_¬")
"Kaguya-sama, if you want to see fireworks, you only need to say one sentence in the student council group chat," Hayasaka Ai replied.
As she spoke, she took out her phone.
It seemed Sakurai-chan had already returned from Fukuoka.
As for Sakurai Saki's kendo tournament, neither Hayasaka Ai nor Kaguya had missed a single match, but Hayasaka Ai had only sent congratulatory messages—she hadn't gone in person.
She had thought about going to Fukuoka to be with Sakurai Saki, but there was too much work in the Shinomiya household, and she couldn't leave.
"Ah, right, Kaguya-sama, my boyfriend might not be able to go with you," Hayasaka Ai said casually.
"Hayasaka, can't you use a different way of addressing him?" Kaguya felt goosebumps all over.
'My boyfriend'… just how thick-skinned does a woman have to be to say that out loud?
Doesn't she feel embarrassed?
"Besides, what does whether Sakurai-san goes with me or not have to do with you?" Shinomiya Kaguya felt that going to see the fireworks was a student council group activity, just like the Tanabata event last time.
"…" Hayasaka Ai didn't answer.
She simply sent a message to Sakurai Saki.
Hayasaka: Darling~ in a few days there's a fireworks festival at Meiji Jingu Gaien, let's go together, okay?
⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡
A few seconds later, read.
My boyfriend I love love love the most: Sure, I'll come pick you up then. [Orca like.jpg]
ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧
Shinomiya Kaguya saw the slight curl of Hayasaka Ai's lips and could practically smell the sour stench of "love" wafting over. Covering her nose, Kaguya complained, "Uuu~ flaunting your relationship in front of me again, Hayasaka, you're so annoying."
Kaguya: (¬`‸´¬)
"I've already made plans with him. In a few days we'll go to Meiji Jingu Gaien—there's a fireworks festival at the New National Stadium," Hayasaka Ai said, showing her the chat.
"Oh." Kaguya turned her head and said angrily, "You two just go enjoy yourselves, I'll give you the day off."
Seriously, just leaving her behind at home—Hayasaka was being too cruel.
"Kaguya-sama, you can still go with the student council. There's still time to arrange it," Hayasaka said helplessly.
She just didn't want Kaguya to be a third wheel, not abandon her.
If Kaguya-sama wasn't within sight, Hayasaka Ai would still worry something might happen to her.
"Then why don't you go with the student council?" Kaguya asked in confusion.
"Have you ever seen a couple go on a date and bring along five or six other people?" Hayasaka Ai replied through gritted teeth.
Kaguya-sama, do you really not understand, or are you just pretending?
That night I'm planning to stay over with Sakurai-chan—how could I go together with everyone else?
"Fine, if you don't want to, then forget it," Kaguya said in a sulky tone.
( ｡ •̀ ᴖ •́ ｡)
She pouted, took out her phone, and sent a message to the student council group.
A while later.
Kaguya's face lit up with joy. "Everyone says they're free! How wonderful!"
"Yes," Hayasaka Ai also felt quite happy.
Kaguya-sama would have someone to go with, and she herself could enjoy her first summer with her boyfriend.
"Hayasaka, for a fireworks festival, is there anything I need to bring?" Kaguya asked, her face full of excitement.
"Just bring some money and you'll be fine," Hayasaka replied.
In truth, she herself had never gone to a fireworks festival with friends—Hayasaka spent 300 out of 365 days a year revolving around Kaguya.
When she was little, she had gone to see fireworks with her mother, but she had long since forgotten what it was like.
Still, Hayasaka Ai knew how to look things up online, which already made her a bit better than Kaguya in that regard.
Traveling online was still a kind of traveling—there was everything on the wiki.
"Oh, a few hundred thousand yen should be enough." The smallest bill in Ojou-sama Kaguya's wallet was 10,000 yen.
Hayasaka: (¬_¬)
Forget it—when the time came, she'd just give Kaguya-sama some small change.
Normally, Hayasaka handled the shopping. There was even a time when Kaguya-sama said she wanted a drink from a vending machine, then handed Ai-chan a 10,000 yen bill—never mind the fact that vending machines didn't even have a slot for 10,000 yen bills. Hayasaka Ai had been completely speechless at the time.
There were some areas where Kaguya-sama seriously lacked even basic common sense.
...
"Should I write about going to see the fireworks with Ai-chan in the diary?"
Sakurai Saki thought for a moment and decided he should.
It was his first summer with his girlfriend—he didn't want anything to go wrong.
[Successfully attend the fireworks festival with Ai-chan]
Closing the diary, Sakurai Saki lay down on the bed.