Looking at the scene before him, a smile appeared on Hoshino Sora's face, and he then leisurely closed his eyes, the girls' joyous laughter echoing in his ears, making him feel very comfortable.
Accompanied by such sounds, Hoshino Sora felt drowsiness overcome him, and as his heart calmed, he slowly fell asleep. When he woke up again, the surroundings had completely darkened.
Erina Nakiri and Alice Nakiri lay on either side of him, their eyes also slightly closed, the gentle breeze caressing their hair as they enjoyed this hard-won tranquility.
Hisako Arato and Mito Ikumi were the same; by then, there weren't many people left in the park, only some elderly people and children, who also seemed to be preparing to leave.
Looking up at the sky, the beautiful night view came into sight.
"Erina, the moonlight tonight is truly beautiful."
Seeing such a sight, Hoshino Sora sincerely sighed, the night view today was indeed excellent, with a clear sky and countless stars adorning the deep night sky, like twinkling jewels, irresistibly drawing one in.
On a silent night, looking up at the starry sky, one can almost hear the stars whispering. They are bright or dim, far or near, as if telling an ancient and mysterious story.
The most striking feature in the starry sky is the Milky Way, stretching across the heavens like a silver river, dividing the night sky in half. The starlight of the Milky Way twinkles, as if pulsating with the rhythm of life.
"Yes, the moonlight today is truly beautiful."
Facing Hoshino Sora's sudden words, Erina Nakiri's expression suddenly froze, her gaze also fixed on the sky; the night view today was indeed very good.
At the same time, she silently repeated the phrase in her mind, repeatedly chewing on its meaning, and finally, as if she had thought of something, she directly spoke it aloud: "The moonlight is beautiful... Do you like it?"
Because the pronunciation of "the moonlight is beautiful" (The moonlight is so beautiful) is very similar to the pronunciation of "I like you" (goodきだ), Erina Nakiri naturally assumed that Hoshino Sora was confessing to her, and that he used this subtle method because he was shy.
After all, up until now, it had always been them confessing to Hoshino Sora, and the number of times he had said "I like you" to them was very few, as if he was shy to speak it proactively, showing it more through actions.
Through their time together, Erina Nakiri knew that he was a very reserved person, who liked to prove himself with actions, disliked sweet talk, and didn't make empty promises.
Yet, such a person would utter such a subtle confession while out enjoying the evening breeze. If she hadn't had some literary background and felt the phrase was familiar, she might have truly missed this rare confession.
Without any ulterior motive, simply hearing the boy say he liked her made her happy. Erina Nakiri covered her face with her hand, her cheeks flushed pink; she was actually shy because of a phrase with an unclear meaning!
"Hmm?"
Noticing Erina Nakiri's abnormality beside him, Hoshino Sora looked over in confusion, while Hisako Arato, who had heard her muttering, also had a very rich expression on her face.
Her intuition told her this was just a coincidence, but what if it wasn't? Was he really confessing to her, using this homophonic method? It didn't seem impossible...
"What's wrong with you? Your face is so red, you haven't caught a cold from too much cold wind, have you?"
Turning to look at the flushed Erina Nakiri, Hoshino Sora noticed something was off, and he slightly sat up to look at her, simultaneously reaching out to touch her forehead, pushing her hair aside, and feeling her body temperature up close.
As their eyes met, the air was filled with ambiguous tension. Erina Nakiri felt her mind go blank, and then she couldn't hear anything else.
"So hot, could it be a fever? That shouldn't be, we haven't been out that long. Let's find a pharmacy and buy some cold medicine on the way back."
"Hey, did you hear what I was saying?"
Feeling the temperature of Erina Nakiri's forehead, Hoshino Sora couldn't help but say, then he lowered his head and touched her forehead with his own; her forehead was indeed much hotter than his, and the air she exhaled was also very hot.
All the symptoms were related to a cold.
"No need, I don't think she has a fever, she's just being silly."
Alice Nakiri had been paying attention to Erina Nakiri's changes all along. Hoshino Sora might not have heard Erina's final mumble clearly, but Alice Nakiri had heard it distinctly. To be so shy over a non-existent confession, Erina was truly weak!
Although she also felt a surge of emotion for a moment, considering that the night view was indeed beautiful today, and combining it with Hoshino Sora's current reaction, she concluded that he was simply complimenting the beautiful sky.
"No, not at all, maybe I really do have a bit of a cold."
Seeing Hoshino Sora's reaction, Erina Nakiri also realized that she might have misunderstood, and she felt a bit awkward, but the blushing and racing heart were not fake and wouldn't subside anytime soon.
One could only say that the atmosphere was too good, and his casual remark made her self-seduce. It was terrifying. Could this be the legendary love-struck brain?!
For a moment, her mind was filled with many thoughts. Feeling Hoshino Sora's concerned gaze, Erina Nakiri awkwardly averted her eyes, then closed them again, as if trying to escape reality.
"Then you need to see a doctor. Without further ado, let's go now."
Only then did Hoshino Sora realize that her reaction was not at all like a fever, but simply embarrassment at what he had just said.
So he couldn't help but chuckle softly, reaching out to grasp Erina Nakiri's wrist, wanting to lead her to see a doctor, to see what kind of cold she had caught.
"Forget it, cough cough, I suddenly feel much better, no need to see a doctor!"
How could a feigned cold dare to face a real doctor? Erina Nakiri couldn't help but smile awkwardly upon hearing Hoshino Sora's words, then she stood up, brushed the dust off her skirt, and kicked a stone by her foot, putting on a facade of being perfectly healthy.
"Did you misunderstand because of what I just said?"
With a smile in his eyes, Hoshino Sora had thought of confessing when he had just said the phrase "The moon is beautiful tonight," because Natsume Soseki's "The moon is beautiful" was also very famous in his original world.
However, since the words were already out, he couldn't take them back, but he also didn't expect Eri Nai Erina to actually understand and react so strongly.
It has to be said, this girl always gets shy at strange times.
"What words? There's no misunderstanding here."
Looking at Hoshino Sora, who had also stood up and was now very close, Eri Nai Erina suddenly said stubbornly. Even though they had such an intimate relationship, it wouldn't matter if they just said it directly.
But, perhaps due to the embarrassment caused by her earlier overthinking, Eri Nai Erina chose to be stubborn at this moment. Even though she knew what he was talking about, she just wouldn't admit it.
This feeling was like her mind suddenly glitched, making her unable to process the concept for a moment.
"Isn't it a misunderstanding that when I said 'The moon is beautiful tonight,' it was a homophone for 'I like you'? Why else would your cheeks turn so red for no reason? If there's no misunderstanding, I don't believe it."
It was an unexpectedly direct hit. Looking straight into Eri Nai Erina's eyes, Hoshino Sora spoke word by word. Come to think of it, this guy seemed to have been a tsundere before.
He had thought she had changed after they started dating, becoming much more straightforward, but now it seems she hasn't changed at all.
"No..."
Eri Nai Erina wanted to struggle one last time.
"First, I need to clarify that when I said that, I did indeed think of 'I like you' and imbued it with that meaning, although the simple praise of the night was more prominent. From this perspective, you didn't misunderstand.
It's just that I really didn't expect you to be shy. That's quite surprising to me. We're already like an old married couple, yet you're still as pure as a young girl. How cute."
Carefully observing Eri Nai Erina's face, Hoshino Sora seemed to want to discern something from it, but the girl's face showed nothing but shyness; he couldn't find a second emotion.
"What do you want to say?"
With one hand hanging normally and the other gripping its elbow, accentuating her good figure perfectly, Eri Nai Erina said coyly, feeling both happy and embarrassed.
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