By the time they reached the mountaintop, everyone’s clothes were soaked through with sweat.
Suzuki Yuu wiped the sweat from his forehead. This climb had drained him as well, but fortunately, Hasegawa Aoi had left the main group midway up; otherwise, he would have suffered even more.
At this moment, the girl was leaning entirely against him. He could tell that if he took just one step back, the petite figure before him would topple straight to the ground.
“Senpai, you really ought to work out a bit,” Suzuki Yuu said helplessly.
“Human evolution is all about sitting comfortably! Torturing your legs like this is going against progress!” Hasegawa Aoi retorted, out of breath yet thoroughly self-assured.
Suzuki Yuu shook his head and chose not to banter further.
Just then, his phone vibrated. He took it out and saw a message from Kobayashi Keiko:
[Shiina has woken up, but she doesn’t seem happy. She says she wants to see you.]
His heart skipped a beat.
Not happy? What could have happened this time?
As he was lost in thought, Hasegawa Aoi noticed his change in expression and leaned closer, asking,
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing. Just a message from the teacher—Chisa seems to be awake.”
“That’s good news.” Hasegawa Aoi responded reflexively, but then realized something was off.
That meant Suzuki Yuu would be heading back soon, right?
At that thought, a knot of reluctance formed in her heart. She didn’t want to part ways just yet.
But she knew, once they rode the cable car down and the group disbanded, they would inevitably go their separate ways.
She reached for the key hanging on her backpack and handed it to him.
“What’s this?”
“The key to your place…”
Hasegawa Aoi explained the key’s backstory to him.
“Such a plain and simple business move… and Senpai, your way of thinking is really something else,” Suzuki Yuu quipped.
“In any case, if you run into trouble, this key might help you out.”
Hearing her words, Suzuki Yuu considered for a moment. With this in hand, he didn’t have to worry about getting locked out.
He stowed it away in his backpack.
Soon, the teachers in charge called for everyone to take the cable car down.
After descending the mountain and disbanding, Suzuki Yuu hurriedly said goodbye to Hasegawa Aoi and rushed toward Katsuragawa Manor.
Upon arriving, he quickly took out the key and unlocked the door.
Then, he saw a scene he would never forget:
The room was dim, lit only by the moonlight spilling through the window, outlining the figure of a girl.
Shiina Chisa stood with her back to him. She seemed to have just come out of the hot spring, and at that moment was raising her arms, slipping into a deep-blue yukata.
Just as the fabric was about to cover her pale back completely, she heard movement at the door and turned around in surprise, her eyes for the first time full of unguarded panic.
“Eh?”
Suzuki Yuu quietly closed the door and fell into thought.
“Ninety-nine points…” he whispered, his expression serious but his tone thoroughly satisfied.
After a moment, a light, melodious female voice sounded from inside:
“Come in.”
He opened the door again. By now, Shiina Chisa had already dressed.
Her back was to the entrance, sitting upright on the tatami by the window. The deep-blue yukata made her skin seem even whiter than snow, the moonlight tracing her in a cool, silvery outline.
The room was silent, save for the sound of flowing water and bamboo clacking outside the window.
Shiina Chisa’s eyes no longer held the panic from before, only the familiar calmness.
“Sorry.” That was the first thing Suzuki Yuu said as he entered.
“It’s fine. If you want to look, I won’t refuse. I was just caught off guard.” Her tone was steady and composed.
“Are you feeling better?” Suzuki Yuu averted his gaze, dodging her remark, and asked after her health.
“I still have a bit of a low fever, but I should be fine by tomorrow.”
“If you’ve caught a cold, it’s better not to soak in the hot spring.”
“I woke up and saw you weren’t by my side. That made me a little upset, so I wanted to relax a bit.”
Shiina Chisa spoke lightly, and Suzuki Yuu detected a trace of grievance in her voice.
“Uh…” He fell silent.
“Yuu, come sit next to me.”
Shiina Chisa’s gaze turned to the window. It was already late at night, the full moon high in the sky.
Suzuki Yuu’s throat tightened. He knew there was no refusing her, so he walked over and sat beside her, purposely keeping a fist’s distance between them.
Neither spoke. Outside, the bamboo “thumped” softly—the only sound in the room.
“It’s very quiet here.” Shiina Chisa finally broke the silence, her voice so soft it seemed to melt into the moonlight. “I really like this kind of atmosphere.”
“Yeah.” Suzuki Yuu followed her lead.
At that instant, he suddenly felt a weight on his shoulder.
He turned to see Shiina Chisa gently resting her head on his shoulder.
Her hair brushed his neck, making every muscle in his body tense.
“Chisa…” Instinctively, he tried to pull away.
“Don’t move.” Her cool voice cut off his movement—a command.
Suzuki Yuu froze, letting her lean against him.
“I wasted three whole days. Not a single thing I wanted to do got done, and I feel like everything’s only getting farther away.”
“Uh…” Suzuki Yuu understood perfectly what she meant by “things she wanted to do,” but didn’t dare say it out loud.
“But for some reason, I suddenly feel pretty happy like this.”
He didn’t reply much to her confession—he just stayed silently by her side.
But after a while, Shiina Chisa spoke again, saying something that made Suzuki Yuu’s heart clench with conflict:
“Yuu, I like you.”
She said it firmly, not caring at all how Suzuki Yuu might respond.
It seemed clear that, from now on, their connection would only grow deeper—especially after tonight.
Thinking this, and seeing her expression, he couldn’t help but soften and said,
“You really don’t have to… In this world—”
“I’ve tried to make myself hate you.”
She cut him off before he could finish.
Her words left him speechless.
Suddenly, outside, a burst of firelight shot into the sky. In an instant, it blossomed into brilliant fireworks.
“The evening bonfire festival…” Suzuki Yuu muttered, trying to change the subject.
But beside him, Chisa didn’t look at the fireworks. Instead, she nestled even closer to Suzuki Yuu.
“I don’t like fireworks,” she said softly.
“I know, but I’ve never really understood why.”
“Because they’re too beautiful—and disappear too quickly.”
She finished her thought and slowly raised her head. In those eyes, now reflecting the dazzling colors from outside, Suzuki Yuu could see only himself.
“I’ve seen too many things like that since I was little. I don’t like them.”
Shiina Chisa explained, and Suzuki Yuu realized she was talking about her mother.
He had seen a picture of the lady of the Shiina family before—a beautiful woman, just like Chisa.
From what he’d learned, the lady had died when Chisa was eight. It seemed to have left a lasting impact.
That had also been the time Shiina Kazuma took over the Shiina family. Rumor had it a lot happened then, and one by one, everyone close to Chisa had disappeared from her world.
She had told him this herself.
It was then that he finally understood why Shiina Chisa always seemed uninterested in everything. She was afraid to love anything too much.
He was the one who’d suddenly barged into her life and broken that equilibrium.
“I hate everything that’s beautiful but fleeting.” Shiina Chisa spoke again, suddenly hugging Suzuki Yuu’s arm.
“Is it because of your mother?” Suzuki Yuu didn’t move, just asked.
Shiina Chisa didn’t reply, but her reaction was as good as an answer.
“So, do you understand now why I’m so stubborn when it comes to you?”
She spoke as fireworks continued outside, light and shadow flickering between them.
Suzuki Yuu suddenly noticed a bead of tears at the corner of her eye.
“I understand.” He gave his answer.
He knew clearly that Shiina Chisa was being honest; she would never hide anything from him.
At this moment, the girl before him was impossibly adorable—and a little pitiful.
He could feel something trembling inside his chest, yet in reality he did nothing.
“So, Yuu, stop trying to avoid me. I won’t give up, no matter what you think of me, I won’t let go.
“Now that I finally have something precious, I won’t let it slip away.”
As if she’d made a decision, Suzuki Yuu could sense newfound strength in her tone.
He understood what she meant. But he also knew—this kind of relationship couldn’t possibly be healthy.
Shiina Chisa’s attachment to him had reached an almost absurd degree.
Suzuki Yuu knew well that, while it seemed intimate now, if things continued this way, it would be bad for both of them in the long run.
Yet if he kept running away, with Chisa’s personality, things would only spiral out of control.
He reached into his pocket, gripping the key Hasegawa Aoi had given him earlier, and said,
“I understand how you feel, but I can’t return your feelings.”
That was his answer.
Shiina Chisa froze, visibly deflated.
She opened her mouth several times as if to speak, but bit back her words, her whole being anxious and flustered.
In the end, she simply gritted her teeth and asked,
“Why? Is it because of what I did to you before? I’m sorry… I’m so stupid, I don’t know how to love someone properly…”
She grew more and more frantic, her words becoming jumbled, and tears streamed down her face. Suzuki Yuu had never seen her so lost before.
Seeing this, he reached out and gently stroked her head.
“No, like I said, it’s not your fault. It’s mine. Because I want a future I can control for myself.
“And everything you do goes against that.”
At his words, Shiina Chisa paused, opening her mouth uncertainly:
“I, I can—”
“You want to help me, right? But can you really promise your current obsession won’t grow worse in the future?”
Chisa’s eyes darkened. He patted her gently and continued,
“But I’ve never hated you. In fact, everything you’ve done seems kind of cute to me, even makes me a little proud. I can’t believe someone as beautiful and talented as you would fall for me.”
Hearing this, the girl suddenly looked up.
“So, I can agree to your little request just now. I won’t avoid you anymore. You can come see me anytime—but please, don’t lock me up again. That’s just too much.”
Suzuki Yuu spoke softly, wiping away her tears.
For a moment, the girl seemed dazed, not quite understanding what he meant, and murmured,
“Then, our relationship…” She paused, as if a thought struck her, and continued,
“Can I keep renting you?”
Her tone was filled with expectation.
Faced with her request, Suzuki Yuu gave a helpless smile. It would be far too cruel to refuse now.
“Keeping things as they are is fine. It’s up to you—we have plenty of time ahead.”
After he finished, he saw a smile blossom on her face.
Shiina Chisa leaned against Suzuki Yuu’s shoulder again, and he let go of the key in his pocket.
At that moment, the final firework soared into the sky, blooming into the largest flower of all.