Chapter 266: Gifting You a Few Stars
Sakurai Saki and Hayasaka Ai walked along the hallway of the school building.
"Ai-chan, have you ever heard of the seven ghost stories of the school?"
Hayasaka Ai recalled: "Hanako in the bathroom, 13 steps at night, the human body model in the biology room, the moving statue of Ninomiya, the piano in the music room at night, the sound of a ball bouncing in the empty gym…"
"You really remember them well." Sakurai Saki said with a smile.
He was simply trying to find a topic.
Suddenly.
"Tap tap."
Footsteps echoed from around the corner.
The two looked at each other, then tightly clasped hands.
'Gulp~'
Sakurai & Hayasaka: (｡>﹏<)><(ó﹏ò｡)
Just as their hearts began to beat faster, the footsteps drew closer.
A few seconds later, a beam of light appeared.
"Huh? Senpai, why are you two here?" Iino Miko held a flashlight, shining it straight at Sakurai Saki and Hayasaka Ai.
Today she was on patrol duty, and happened to pass by here.
"We… khm, we just came from the bonfire over there."
"You're not planning on engaging in some indecent male-female interaction, are you?" Iino Miko suspiciously looked at Hayasaka Ai.
Miko: (.≖ˇｪˇ≖｡)
Hayasaka-senpai was precisely the person she always kept an eye on.
And Sakurai Saki as well!
These two key surveillance targets sticking together—and even as a couple—there was no doubt they were about to do something strange!
"Class 2-A is holding a celebration, we were planning to join in."
… This was clearly a lie!
Miko didn't believe it at all.
Hayasaka Ai gently tugged at Sakurai Saki's sleeve, signaling him to think of something.
Sakurai Saki recalled the tricks he'd used before to deal with Miko, and reached into his pocket.
"Seems like I bought a bag of cookies today."
Sakurai Saki suddenly remembered his secret weapon for victory!
He hurriedly pulled a small bag of cookies from his pocket and handed it to Miko.
"Se… senpai, what are you doing?" Iino Miko said in a fluster.
Sakurai & Miko: ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡ ( •̀ ᴖ •́ ｡)?
Bribery? Was this an attempt to bribe her?
Unbelievable! It had been months since she was last bribed, why was it happening again all of a sudden!?
"Last time, Miko-chan, didn't you place first in the midterms? And now you're also taking responsibility for patrolling the festival. This bag of cookies is both a small consolation and a reward for getting first place." Sakurai Saki explained.
Right now, he only wished Miko would quickly leave, and not disturb the world of two people between him and his girlfriend.
"O-oh, thank you." Iino Miko put the cookies away.
"I'll head off first, senpai, see you later." Miko gave a slight bow, then left the two of them.
Miko: (づ ᴗ _ᴗ)づ
Sakurai Saki let out a breath of relief.
Sakurai: （´∇｀''） phew~
Thank goodness she was easy to fool.
If Miko-chan had discovered that he and Ai-chan wanted to go up to the rooftop at midnight, they'd be doomed.
After all, that was indeed a violation of school rules.
...
After walking a few steps, Iino Miko took out the bag of cookies Sakurai Saki had given her. She happened to be a little hungry and was planning to eat some.
The first few cookies were just ordinary animal shapes.
But when she got to the middle.
'What's this?' Miko held up a heart-shaped cookie in front of her.
Why would Sakurai-senpai give this kind of cookie to her?
It must just be that he didn't know, right?
Iino Miko bit into the heart-shaped cookie.
'Really tasty.'
( ˘͈ ᵕ ˘͈♡)˚๐*˟♡
...
On the rooftop, the winter wind blew through their hair, Hayasaka Ai's golden hair shimmering under the firelight below, looking extraordinarily pure.
"Really lively."
By the bonfire, the dancing still continued.
"When the Devoted Hearts Festival ends, this year will also be coming to a close." Sakurai Saki leaned on the railing, observing the crowd below.
"Oh, over there they're preparing to…"
Before he could finish, a confession rang out below.
"Murakami-san!!! I like you!!"
As expected, earlier today Sakurai Saki had been wondering why no one had confessed at the Devoted Hearts Festival—now it finally happened.
Though gifting a heart-shaped present was a fine way to confess, the straightforward way of speaking it aloud wasn't lacking in romance either.
Hayasaka Ai looked at the crowd gathering below.
The boy being confessed to and the girl confessing said something to each other, then embraced, with applause echoing all around them.
Seeing this, Sakurai Saki spoke: "Ai-chan, I like you."
"What's that about? Suddenly saying something like this." Hayasaka Ai said with a blush.
"You looked like you admired it quite a bit. Could it be that just stargazing isn't romantic enough?"
"No, it's not like that."
Ai-chan explained: "I was just remembering when I confessed to you in class. Back then I was so nervous, my heart wouldn't stop pounding."
No sooner had she said this than she noticed the corners of Sakurai Saki's mouth curve into a mischievous smile.
So that line earlier was just to tease her.
"What is it?"
Sakurai Saki looked at her, and suddenly, a pair of slender arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him toward their owner.
Naturally, the two began to kiss, doing exactly what Miko-chan would call an act of violating proper conduct.
After a gentle kiss ended, Sakurai Saki rested his forehead against hers and softly said: "There's something I want to give you."
"A gift?"
"Umu."
"At first I thought of giving you a star, but stars, when seen up close, aren't beautiful at all, so I changed to something else." Sakurai Saki released her, then pulled out a telescope he had prepared in advance.
It had been borrowed from Ryuju Momo.
He adjusted its position, then beckoned Hayasaka Ai over.
Ai-chan looked up at the sky but didn't notice anything unusual.
Then, when she put her eye to the telescope.
"Look."
Her vision, through the eyepiece and lens, stretched up into the heavens.
"A heart shape?"
"Umu. Doesn't the Devoted Hearts Festival have a legend—that if you offer your true heart, you'll gain eternal love?" Sakurai Saki also gazed at the sky with the naked eye. "I kept thinking about what would be the best gift for you. Food has an expiration date. Necklaces or jewelry, no matter how beautiful, grow dull after long wear. Words of sincerity, though simple to say, the more you think about them, the cheaper they feel."
If love could be expressed with numbers, measured with rulers, then feelings would be so much simpler.
"Even the stars in the sky only have a lifespan of 10 billion years. Some don't even last that long. In the end, they evolve into white dwarfs, neutron stars, then collapse into black holes that swallow everything."
"The lifespan of a star is 10 billion years, not eternity. But human life lasts only a hundred years. For me, that's enough—that's the best gift I can think of."
Sakurai Saki lowered his gaze from the heavens.
The blonde girl, at some point, had been looking at him, and at the instant their eyes met, Hayasaka Ai covered her face and squatted to the ground.
Damn it, her heart was pounding uncontrollably.
So embarrassing.
"What's wrong? You don't like it?"
To connect the stars into a heart shape, Sakurai Saki had put in no small effort. If even this wasn't good enough, then he truly couldn't think of a better gift.
"No, I really like it, I like it so much."
"As long as you like it, that's good."
"Mn~."
Ai-chan had thought they were only coming to stargaze. She hadn't expected him to suddenly spring this on her.
After calming down for a bit, Hayasaka Ai stood up, face red, and shyly pulled out a heart-shaped cookie from her bag.
"A gift for you. Sorry, it's just a cookie with an expiration date."
Sakurai Saki smiled as he accepted it. "I'll treasure it."
"Eat it!"
"Umu. I'll keep it for a few days before eating~."
"Whatever you want, hmph." Ai-chan shot him a glance.
Teasing her again—such a bad guy.
...
(Note: this chapter is also very sweet, umu~.)
ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )✧