Chapter 261: Cowry Shell Born From Swallow
"Goodbye, thank you for visiting, please come again!" The schoolgirl in charge of greeting at the entrance called after the guests.
Her throat was a little dry, today there were too many customers, hardly any time to rest.
Before the Festival began, the whole class had agreed: the money earned this time would be used for the winter school trip. At that time they could buy lots of ingredients and eat more grandly than the other classes.
A soft laugh rang out behind her.
"Sakurai-san, could you stop laughing?" Suruga Subaru glanced sideways.
He was too handsome, making it impossible for her to get angry, moreover he was her best friend's boyfriend.
"Sorry, sorry, but your frowning face just now was too cute, I couldn't help it." Sakurai tried to hold back his laughter.
That expression, tired yet forcing a smile, was indeed amusing.
"Alright then, I'm heading back."
Subaru stuck out her tongue making a funny face, then packed up and left.
When she was gone, only two people remained in the classroom.
At noon there was an hour break, in the afternoon the work no longer had anything to do with Sakurai and Ai-chan.
"Cute, huh?" Hayasaka Ai suddenly hugged Sakurai from behind, her fingers lightly brushing across his stomach.
Sakurai & Hayasaka: (ᵕ—ᴗ—) (≖ᴗ≖ ✿)
"That was just a polite way of speaking… If I had said straight to her face that her expression just now was funny, wouldn't that be too rude?" Sakurai felt the flesh on his waist was in imminent danger.
It seemed as if girls naturally all knew one move, called—twisting their boyfriend's waist.
Looking so slender and pale, seeming to have no strength at all, yet at this moment squeezing with formidable force.
Could this really be the power of "love"?
Sorry, but this kind of love… Sakurai thought he couldn't endure it.
"At least in front of me, don't praise other girls as cute. This is the most basic requirement for a boyfriend, right?" Hayasaka Ai released her hands from his waist.
Just now Fujiwara Chika had suddenly appeared, making Ai-chan a little upset.
Although in the past their confession's success was thanks to Chika's encouragement, her words had sounded as if if it weren't for her pushing, then the one chosen in the end would have been her instead.
Indeed the unpredictable "F variable." What Kaguya said was not wrong at all.
[A parasitic creature that only wastes air.]
[Cancer of the Earth.]
[For the sake of men, can do anything.]
Chika: ૮₍˶ ╥ ‸ ╥ ⑅₎ა sorry~
"Ai-chan, what's wrong?" Sakurai noticed she seemed absent-minded.
"It's nothing." Hayasaka Ai came back to her senses, deciding not to say it out loud.
A little jealousy might make her boyfriend love her more, but too much jealousy only made people uncomfortable.
She didn't have a princess syndrome, nor did she expect Sakurai to devote all his attention to her.
Instead of trying to drag down rivals in the shadows, it was better to raise her own place in his heart. Stand upright and you need not fear a crooked shadow. At this moment, Ai-chan's thoughts were exactly like that.
"Come on, let's go. I heard the sweets shop next door is selling canelé." Ai-chan gently tugged on Sakurai's sleeve, leading him out of the classroom.
On the classroom door, the sign "Temporarily Closed" was hung up.
...
At the pastry shop next door, there was a special heart-shaped dessert for sale. During the Devoted Hearts Festival, these new-style gifts symbolized affection, a confession. Besides the students who wanted to seize this chance to bravely pursue true love, there were also many visitors who bought some as souvenirs.
Ai-chan and Sakurai chose a quiet corner to sit down, with the table full of sweets.
"Girls eat sweets with another stomach"—a saying that sounded sly but was very true.
"Isn't that Tsubame-senpai over there?"
Ai-chan suddenly saw Koyasu Tsubame step in from the entrance, accompanied by Ishigami Yuu.
"Probably just patrolling, the executive committee has lots of work."
"And what about you, Sakurai-chan? You're also a member of the executive committee, so why did you exclude yourself?"
"People are different, you can't lump everyone together."
The two spoke softly.
Until Sakurai saw Ishigami buying a giant heart-shaped cookie originally meant for display in the shop.
That was non-commercial stock, judging from the staff's expression they seemed a little troubled.
But in the end, it was still sold at a reasonable price.
When Ishigami lifted that cookie, facing Koyasu Tsubame—
In that instant, the surroundings immediately fell silent.
"What's going to happen?" Everyone carried the same anticipation.
After all, the other party was a famous figure in the school, the noble flower of the third year, one of the four most difficult girls: Koyasu Tsubame.
In The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, there were five difficult trials that Kaguya-hime gave to her suitors: the stone begging bowl of the Buddha, a jeweled branch from the mythical island of Hōrai, a robe of fire rat skins, a colored jewel from a dragon's neck, and a cowry shell born from a swallow.
Ootomo no Miyuki took the trial of the 'colored jewel from a dragon's neck,' while Prince Kuramochi no Miko chose the 'jeweled branch of Hōrai'...
Coincidentally, in the story, the one who went to seek the cowry shell born from a swallow was Isonokami no Maro.
Sakurai Saki thought to himself, feeling as if this were some kind of malicious joke from a god.
Ishigami Yuu was pursuing Koyasu Tsubame—would the outcome be the same as in the tale of Kaguya-hime? No one knew yet.
(Note: Ootomo no Miyuki = Shirogane Miyuki, Prince Kuramochi = Chika, Isonokami no Maro = Ishigami, Tsubame = Swallow.)
Ishigami & Tsubame: (づ｡ó﹏ò)づ♡ ( °ヮ° ) ?
"Tsubame-senpai, could you accept this?"
"Yuu-kun?" Koyasu Tsubame stood dumbfounded, uneasily anxious.
"This is my heartfelt feeling." Ishigami Yuu had no awareness at all of what he had just done.
He hardly had any friends, and in the student council room no one had ever talked about the traditions of the Devoted Hearts Festival, so he didn't know anything at all!
"T-that!!! Let me… let me think about it!!"
Her face flushed red, Koyasu Tsubame accepted the giant heart-shaped cookie he handed her, then hugged it and ran off.
Everyone around who witnessed it was left stunned on the spot.
Everyone: (°o°) (°o°) (°o°) (°o°) (°o°)
Real or fake? Real or fake? Did Koyasu-senpai just get confessed to?
"Pretty bold." Sakurai rested his chin on his hand, nodding slightly in acknowledgment of Kouhai-kun's courage for daring to confess in public like that.
"Ah~" Hayasaka Ai skewered a piece of cheesecake, holding it up to his mouth.
Sakurai bit into it, chewing slowly.
"My guess is the success rate is 20%. The feelings between the two aren't ripe yet. Tsubame-senapi has a good impression of Ishigami, but it's not strong."
Hayasaka: (─ ‿ ─)
Ai-chan gently wiped the cream at the corner of his mouth with a handkerchief.
Her boyfriend, not even half a year into dating, was now acting the part of a "love expert." She honestly didn't know what to say.
"What? Ai-chan doesn't believe in my judgment?"
"Believe, believe, you're the best." Ai-chan answered perfunctorily.
"Let me analyze it for you. Tsubame-senpai has been confessed to countless times, and among them were boys with better conditions than Ishigami. So why did she always refuse?"
"Why?"
"One, she's been hurt by a playboy before. Two, her standards are set too high."
"And then?"
"That's all."
"..."
Sakurai: ( • ̀ω•́ )✧
Hayasaka: (¬_¬")
That look as if he held the truth of the universe in his hands… and in the end, that was all?
Such a waste of words!
...
After watching Ishigami Yuu's confession, Sakurai and Ai-chan continued in the afternoon to experience many other activities.
Sakurai had planned to watch the performance of the gymnastics club, but unfortunately Hayasaka Ai didn't allow it. Obviously, he was just a little curious since he had never seen gymnastics before, but his girlfriend seemed to have misunderstood something. Because of that, Sakurai Saki felt wronged.
After that, when he said he wanted to see the ballet club's performance, that too was refused.
His girlfriend's possessiveness was a bit excessive, he didn't know whether to feel happy or troubled.
Sakurai: (ಥ◡ಥ)