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Walking through the pitch-black bamboo forest, Ayano Mitsuki couldn't help but feel a little scared.
It wasn't cowardice; it was just that most humans have an instinctive aversion to dark places.
Just as most people instinctively dislike arthropods like spiders and centipedes, there might be exceptions who like them enough to let them crawl on their bodies, but if all humans were to vote, the vast majority would definitely dislike or even fear them, as if this discomfort was etched into their DNA.
Some people even proposed that this fear was something truly etched into human ancestors' DNA after being preyed upon by giant insects in the Carboniferous period. Of course, there's no evidence for that yet.
"Lemon, where are we going?"
Ayano Mitsuki couldn't help but ask the brown-skinned athletic girl walking in front of him.
"I don't know either."
"…Huh?" Ayano Mitsuki suddenly felt that his childhood friend's head seemed to be having problems again.
He tried to calm himself down and said to her, "If there's nothing special, shouldn't we go back to the inn? I keep feeling like something is watching us in the dark…"
"Mitsuki," Lemon Yakishio paused her steps, but she continued to walk forward, saying with an incredibly firm voice, "If this isn't special, then there's no such thing as 'special' in this world for me."
Ayano Mitsuki, feeling helpless, could only follow the girl's retreating figure step by step towards the unknown path ahead.
—Things in the Dark—
"We were almost discovered..." Yuigahama Yui covered her mouth, speaking as quietly as possible.
"Your tracking skills are too poor. Why don't you go back to the inn and meet up with Anna and the others? I can handle things here." Asakura said with disdain.
"No, I still want to go." Yuigahama Yui said resolutely.
"Because you helped so much, you want to witness it to the very end?" Asakura's eyes softened slightly.
"No, it's because the way back is too dark, and I'm scared to go alone." The girl replied, trembling.
Asakura: "..."
He sighed, "Hurry up, they're about to disappear."
"Oh, oh..." Yuigahama immediately followed obediently behind him.
Actually, Anna originally wanted to come and witness Lemon Yakishio's confession, but because Asakura would be using some supernatural methods later, he had Anna stay on standby at the hot spring inn. Just in case, he specifically had Gokou Ruri stay there as well to keep an eye on Anna, so she wouldn't sneak out.
However, Gokou Ruri thought Asakura did this so he could better take care of her two younger sisters, but Asakura denied it.
Anna's comment on this was, "Ugh, a tsundere man is not cute at all."
Asakura asked the inn proprietress for a bottle of Sichuan-style chili sauce—although he tasted it and felt the impact wasn't strong enough, in Japan, where spiciness mostly relies on shichimi powder and pepper, this stuff could already be considered a major weapon.
Tomorrow's lunch would definitely give Anna a big surprise!
Despite Asakura deliberately maintaining a certain distance, Ayano Mitsuki was still successfully led by Lemon Yakishio to the small lake without discovering the two tailing individuals.
Tonight, the moonlight was bright, and the lake was like a huge, well-polished gem, scattering the moonlight and making the surrounding bamboo forest seem to be draped in a layer of moon-white gauze.
Even though it was deep night, the small lake at this moment had none of the impenetrable darkness of night, only a dreamlike, clear moonlight, like daylight.
When Asakura came here to survey the terrain before, it was daytime, but even then, there was a feeling of 'sudden enlightenment.' Coming out of the bamboo forest, where dark walls seemed to press in from all directions, and arriving at the lake, the shocking sensation of everything suddenly brightening was clearly superior to daytime.
This could be seen from the fact that Ayano Mitsuki and Lemon Yakishio both stood silently by the lake, simply gazing at the surface.
However, this stalled the progress.
Asakura quietly circled to Ayano Mitsuki's blind spot and made a gesture to the still-stunned athletic girl, meaning 'hurry up and confess, then fiercely [beep] him.'
Perhaps his movements were too explicit; even at night, even with her tanned skin, Lemon Yakishio's face could be seen turning completely red.
At this moment, she suddenly felt a little regret—not regret about confessing, but regret about entrusting Anna, which meant she might now have to confess under the secret gaze of a large group of people.
But even so, Lemon Yakishio had no intention of slinking away. Perhaps that's how athletic types are; their bodily instincts can overcome shame and shyness, acting before their minds can process.
"M-Mi-Mitsuki!"
"What's wrong, Lemon? Your voice sounds a bit strange. Did you catch a cold from soaking in the hot spring for too long?"
Lemon Yakishio gazed at Ayano Mitsuki's face. He was smiling gently at her as always, seemingly unchanged since childhood.
It was precisely because of his kindness that she had unknowingly fallen in love with this childhood friend.
"Mitsuki, Ayano Mitsuki."
"What's wrong? Why so formal all of a sudden?" Ayano Mitsuki also subconsciously became a little serious.
"I... I think I've fallen in love with Mitsuki."
The girl clutched her chest, earnestly, clumsily, and sincerely pouring out her heart in a loud voice.
"When I see Mitsuki talking to other girls, my heart feels uncomfortably blocked and sour; as long as Mitsuki smiles at me, I can't help but feel happy; if I stand next to Mitsuki, I don't care what happens around me; as long as Mitsuki cheers me on, it feels like I can overcome any difficulty; my gaze and attention are drawn to Mitsuki, and I unconsciously follow behind Mitsuki. I'm an idiot, I always thought I was sick, but I thought for a long, long time and finally understood... Yes, I've definitely fallen in love with Mitsuki!"
Ayano Mitsuki gazed at his childhood friend, for a moment seeing only his own reflection in her pupils.
He wanted to say something, and it was at this very moment,
Stars fell from the night sky.
Countless shimmering blue-green specks of light slowly drifted down around them, as if the stars had transformed into a sudden summer rain, brief yet brilliant.
The lake surface also reflected the glow, making the already ethereal scene even more dreamlike and hazy.
At this moment, the two of them seemed to be wandering in the starry river of the night sky, everything around them so beautiful it felt unreal.
In the night, the entire bamboo forest fell silent, so quiet you could hear a pin drop, with only the short-lived summer insects emitting crisp, fervent chirps.
The girl nervously looked at her childhood friend.
Finally, Ayano Mitsuki spoke.
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