Chapter 279: New Year of Three People
"Sakurai-san, where should I put my luggage?"
Shinomiya Kaguya slipped out of Jinguuji's embrace, panting slightly, then asked Sakurai Saki.
Too much enthusiasm. Even knowing the other person liked her a lot, wasn't this a bit overboard? Clearly, her relationship with Sakurai was nothing more than ordinary close friendship.
"Let me take you upstairs." Hayasaka Ai walked up to Shinomiya Kaguya and helped carry her things.
"Thank you, Ai-san." Shinomiya Kaguya thanked her.
The two of them went upstairs just like that.
Sakurai Saki hadn't even had time to ask—[Why is Shinomiya Kaguya bringing so much luggage here?]
Could it be she plans to stay over?
Sakurai Saki's original idea was simply to have Shinomiya Kaguya visit for a day, watch Kouhaku Uta Gassen together, then go to a nearby shrine for Hatsumoude, celebrate her birthday, and send her home. But it was obvious the other party didn't think that way.
'Are we going out tonight? Feels a bit cold.'
Kouhaku Uta Gassen is a Japanese New Year's Eve program.
Hatsumoude is the first shrine visit of the year, to pray and draw a fortune slip for good luck. Normally, people go on the night of the 31st or the morning of the 1st.
But no matter when you go, you can't avoid one thing: crowds.
If you want to worship the gods, you have to stand in a long line.
You have to wonder whether the gods will even acknowledge people who only come to pray once a year like this.
"Mom, why are you so close with Shinomiya-san?" Sakurai Saki came back to his senses and asked his mother, who was making tea at the counter.
No matter how you looked at it, it was as if Shinomiya Kaguya were actually her real daughter.
"That child is truly pitiful, never treated well since she was small. Mama feels sorry for her." Jinguuji Tamaki's tea-making movements were elegant and full of grace. She looked at Sakurai Saki and asked, "What's the matter, baby? Are you jealous? Don't worry, mama always loves you the most!"
Tamaki: ( ⸝⸝´꒳`⸝⸝)♡
Sakurai: (¬_¬")
"No. She's naturally very guarded, doesn't like to accept kindness or help from others. If you act like this it might backfire." Sakurai Saki shook his head.
Shinomiya Kaguya liked to use sharpness to shield her own soft spots, a very peculiar girl, she is a hedgehog.
Different from Hayasaka Ai's habit of hiding things, Shinomiya Kaguya was even more prickly.
Jinguuji Tamaki looked at her adopted child with a smile, saying nothing more.
Perhaps even he hadn't realized that, toward Shinomiya Kaguya, he cared far more than just as a friend.
"My warmth toward Kaguya-chan has another reason too," Jinguuji Tamaki explained. "Think about it, if Ai-chan sees me treating another girl so warmly, she'll definitely feel threatened, and to compete for my affection she'll treat me better, keeping me in her heart."
"..."
Sakurai: ∘ ∘ ∘ (ಠ_ಠ)
What is Mom doing? Balancing both sides? This isn't some palace-intrigue drama, yet she's acting like an Empress Dowager.
"Come on, don't just stand there—take this tea upstairs. I still have to make wagashi to send to regular customers, and also prepare osechi for the coming days. Your Ibuki-nee just went out, and now I'm busy to death." Jinguuji Tamaki instructed.
...
Sakurai Saki carried the tea upstairs.
At first he wondered where the two girls were, and then he heard noises coming from his own room.
Pushing the door open with his foot, Sakurai Saki frowned at the scene before him.
"What are you two doing?"
Kaguya & Hayasaka: ( ˶°ㅁ°) ( ˶°ㅁ°) !!
Right in front of him, his girlfriend and Shinomiya Kaguya were crouched inside the wardrobe.
Hearing the sound, both of them froze, then—like a film running backward—slowly backed out of the closet.
"We… ahem, we're looking for porn books," Shinomiya Kaguya said weakly.
Kaguya: (,,¬﹏¬,,)
This was her first time in a boy's room, and she was super curious about that kind of stuff!
Because, frankly speaking, in a boy's room there's bound to be some 18+ things; after all, boys are all beasts born from desire.
"I'm very interested in your hobbies, Sakurai-chan," Hayasaka Ai said, blushing.
Hayasaka: (⸝⸝⸝-﹏-⸝⸝⸝)
A girlfriend rummaging through her boyfriend's room—surely that's not too outrageous, right?
"My hobbies are perfectly normal," Sakurai Saki said irritably.
The two of them really didn't treat him like an outsider—first thing after entering his room, they started looking for porn books.
He'd been living here for three years. Although there were times when desire surged, he had never bought that kind of stuff.
"All right, have some tea." Sakurai Saki set the tea tray on the small table in front of them.
"Sakurai-san has been living and studying here since junior high?" Shinomiya Kaguya knelt by the low table, glancing around.
Closet, desk, bookshelf, and in front of the desk a window—nothing strange, all very ordinary. Compared to the Shinomiya house it was worlds apart, yet this place was full of the breath of daily life, exactly the kind of "normal" that Shinomiya Kaguya had always longed for.
"Umu."
Sakurai Saki nodded, not denying it.
He had never actually attended junior high; going to high school was only to make himself seem more like an ordinary human being.
If not for his mother being so clingy, he might have gone to high school in Kyoto instead of coming all the way to Shuchiin in Tokyo.
Shinomiya Kaguya looked at the desk.
Here, Sakurai-san had spent his days and nights. During junior high, what worries might he have had? Had any girl ever stepped into his heart? Did he have any close friends back then?
Shinomiya Kaguya realized she knew very little about Sakurai Saki—perhaps even less than he knew about her.
Sometimes sharp-tongued, sometimes gentle; with strangers he was extremely warm, with ordinary people he tried to keep an inner distance, and with those truly dear to him he was incredibly tender. He was very strange.
'...' Shinomiya Kaguya glanced at Sakurai Saki, then quickly looked away.
Thump~
Her heart was beating too fast. So strange.
Just like that night watching fireworks—was she sick?
Kaguya: (⸝⸝๑﹏๑⸝⸝)
"Kaguya-san."
"Uh… um!? W-what is it!?" Shinomiya Kaguya reacted a bit dramatically, bowing her head, not daring to look at him.
'I'm definitely blushing now, how embarrassing.'
Why was it like this? Whenever she looked at him…
"We were talking about visiting the shrine for the first prayer of the year tonight. Didn't you hear?"
"Sorry, I was just thinking about something else. The first shrine visit is fine; I even brought a kimono."
Sakurai Saki nodded, then asked curiously, "What were you thinking just now? You looked like you were in another world."
Thinking about you—she couldn't possibly say that. Shinomiya Kaguya changed the subject: "Mm, I was thinking about everything that happened this year. Don't you think it passed quickly? In the blink of an eye it's already year's end. Next April we'll be third-year high school students."
"It really did fly by." Sakurai Saki raised his teacup and took a sip.
Hayasaka Ai also lifted her cup and sipped. "Only one year of high school life left."
But that's fine—after high school there's still university.
"Umu." Shinomiya Kaguya felt a little wistful.
When high school ends, she'll probably have to part ways with everyone.
Shirogane will go abroad, Ishigami and Iino are a year behind.
"Next summer, let's go to the beach. Didn't we miss it this year? There's still plenty of time to experience everything we should in high school," Sakurai Saki said, noticing her sadness and offering comfort.
After a few seconds—
"Thank you," Shinomiya Kaguya said softly.
"No need to thank me."