Chapter 087 The Ninth Girlfriend Shiina Hiyori / Chabashira: Listen to everything Shimizu says!
At seven o'clock in the evening, Shimizu Akira walked to the bottom of the dormitory building. From far away, he saw that Shiina Hiyori was already standing at the entrance.
Today, the library young lady had changed into a slip dress paired with a silk short shawl set, which, set against her long grey hair, was truly a beautiful scenery.
Shimizu Akira walked over, and Hiyori raised her head, smiling slightly towards him.
"Have you been waiting long?" he asked.
"No, I also just arrived." Hiyori shook her head, "Where are we going next?"
Since Shimizu Akira had promised before that he would give her a perfect date after the unanimous vote exam finished, she had rarely given him a phone call this morning because of this. Seemingly asking about the exam matter, in fact, it was taking the opportunity to test how well-prepared he was.
Since the other party was already prepared, the detective young lady felt that she would just leave everything to him.
Shimizu Akira had actually been planning this matter for the entire day.
He walked to her side very naturally and extended his hand: "Then come with me, Hiyori."
Shiina Hiyori stared at his palm for quite a few seconds. Thinking of the relationship between the two, holding hands was actually no big deal, so she only then slowly placed her own hand on it.
Shimizu Akira used a little force.
Hiyori's palm was quite a bit smaller than he thought, slippery and tender, yet somewhat cold.
He couldn't resist gently tightening his grip a bit.
Shiina Hiyori, on the contrary, instinctively shrank back a little.
Shimizu Akira thought she wasn't used to it, "Are you not used to holding hands?"
"It's fine, I just feel... a boy's palm is much larger than I imagined, and very hot, scalding me a bit."
"Then you'll have to get used to it; in the future, holding hands will only be more, not less."
"Mm. So... were you preparing for this the entire day today?"
"In the morning I thought about the itinerary a bit, and in the afternoon I went to scout the location."
"Scout the location?" Hiyori raised her head, "Where did you go?"
"You'll know when you arrive."
"Are you nervous?"
"Not nervous." Shimizu Akira said, "What about you?"
"...A little bit."
"No need to be nervous." Shimizu Akira gripped her hand tightly, interlocking their ten fingers, "Just come with me."
The two walked forward along the main road, crossed the playground, and came to the small park in the commercial street.
Shimizu Akira suddenly stopped his steps.
"We're here," he said.
Hiyori looked around; they were currently standing on a small piece of open ground in the park.
On the ground sat an inconspicuous small cardboard box, and next to the cardboard box was a plastic bucket, with several slender things inserted inside the bucket.
Before she could react, Shimizu Akira had already walked over, squatted down, and opened the cardboard box.
"This is..." Hiyori walked closer to look, and the box was filled with all sorts of fireworks: sparklers, fountains, small rockets, and also that kind of fireworks disc that spins on the ground.
Hiyori froze for a moment, then raised her head to look at Shimizu Akira.
"This is what you prepared during the day?"
"Mm." Shimizu Akira took a handful of sparklers from the box and handed them to her, "Didn't you say that when you were a child, you liked setting off fireworks very much?"
Hiyori took the sparklers, staring at them for quite a few seconds.
She had indeed said so.
That was still a matter from last year. The two people were sitting by the library window, and she said that when she was a child, every summer she would set off fireworks together with her father; later, her father was busy writing novels, busy with work, and never set them off again.
"You still remember?"
"Your matters, I remember them all."
Hiyori tightly gripped the sparklers in her hand.
Shimizu Akira pulled out a lighter from his pocket, and Shiina Hiyori stared at his hand.
"These fireworks and the lighter, did you buy them all using the cultural festival's budget?"
"Yeah. Especially the fireworks, they were quite a bit more expensive than I imagined."
"How many budget points were spent in total?"
"About sixty thousand or so."
Other small fireworks were fine, but solely that one medium-sized lifting firework, No. 5 Jade, alone cost twenty thousand budget points.
"Does the school approve of setting off fireworks?"
"I asked this afternoon; it's definitely not allowed. But you also know, this school can use personal points to buy the vast majority of things. So I spent an extra two hundred thousand personal points to buy out this rule. There are a few school side uncles I know who are also keeping an eye on this area, staring to see if it will catch fire. Right, the lighter also came about this way; after finishing letting them off, it has to be returned to the school side," Shimizu Akira explained.
Shiina Hiyori inexplicably felt some heartache: "So much money... spending two hundred thousand personal points is one thing, how could you also spend such an important cultural festival budget?"
"Don't you like fireworks?" Shimizu Akira smiled, "Points are meant to be spent, so there's no need to be that heartbroken."
While he spoke, he used the lighter to ignite the sparkler in his hand.
"For you."
Shimizu Akira handed the ignited one to her.
Hiyori took it over, using her own sparkler in her hand to lean over and ignite it.
"..."
Golden sparks burst forth from the tip, crackling and popping. Hiyori held up the sparkler, looking at those scattered sparks, slowly revealing a happy smile.
"Does it look good?" Shimizu Akira asked.
"It looks good." Hiyori turned her head, looking at him, "It looks very good."
Shimizu Akira took out a few more from the box, ignited them, and distributed them to her. The two people each gripped a handful of sparklers in their hands, and the sparks on their hands just danced like this in the night wind.
"Akira-kun."
"Mm?"
"Did you set off fireworks when you were a child?"
"I did." Shimizu Akira thought about it, "When I was a child at my grandmother's house in the countryside, every Lunar New Year we would set them off."
"Grandmother's house in the countryside?"
"Mm. There weren't that many tall buildings over there, and at night many stars could be seen."
"Then do you guys know how to play with small rockets?" Hiyori pointed to those slender fireworks in the box.
"I do." Shimizu Akira squatted down, took out a small rocket from the box, inserted it into the soil of the park, and then used the lighter to ignite the fuse.
"Chiss!"
The fuse burned to the end, and with a "shiu" sound, the small rocket rushed up into the night sky, bursting open in the darkness, making a crisp "pa" sound.
Hiyori raised her head, looking at those scattered sparks, her gaze lighting up for a moment, yet faintly somewhat worried.
Shimizu Akira explained: "It just rained this afternoon, the ground is wet. And I checked the weather forecast, it will rain again around nine o'clock tonight, which was why I asked you out at seven o'clock. I know you like environmental protection, afterwards I will also clean up the shredded paper clean together with the remaining few uncles."
Shiina Hiyori only then smiled; this person, just like her, cared about these minor details.
"Then let's have another one." She nodded.
Shimizu Akira took out another small rocket, inserted it into the soil, and ignited it.
This time Hiyori squatted next to him, staring at that fuse slowly burning.
"Shiu——pa!"
Another rocket rushed up into the sky.
Hiyori again laughed softly.
She extended her hand, rarely pulling Shimizu Akira's sleeve. "Can I try?"
Shimizu Akira handed the lighter to her.
Hiyori took it over, squatted down, and pressed it against the fuse.
A flame shot out, and the fuse was ignited.
"Shiu pa!" Another small rocket rushed up into the sky. Hiyori tilted her head up, looking at that small flower of firework, laughing very happily.
The two people next played with the spinning fireworks disc.
The fountain fireworks sprayed golden sparks over one person high on the ground, and the spinning disc spun frantically on the ground, making a "zizi" sound, sparks flying everywhere. Hiyori was afraid of being scalded, shrinking back several steps. Shimizu Akira very naturally blocked in front of her.
Finally, it was the largest box of fireworks in the box, a round cardboard box, with the words "Romantic Fireworks" printed on it.
It was precisely this toy that directly spent a small half of Shimizu Akira's budget.
Shimizu Akira placed it right in the center of the open ground, ignited the fuse, and then pulled Hiyori to retreat quite a few meters.
"Chiss!"
The fuse burned out, and bunch after bunch of golden sparks sprayed out from the cardboard box, spraying higher and higher, spraying denser and denser, finally bursting open in the sky, turning into countless golden shooting stars, slowly falling from the night sky.
Hiyori tilted her head up gazing, her eye sockets inexplicably somewhat moist.
"Thank you."
"Thank you for what?"
"Thank you for doing these things for me. Thank you for remembering the words I said. Thank you for being willing to accompany me to set off fireworks. Thank you..."
She didn't finish speaking, because Shimizu Akira lowered his head and kissed her.
Not the forehead, but the lips.
Hiyori froze for a moment, then closed her eyes.
The night wind blew over, carrying the scent of fireworks.
The golden shooting stars were still slowly falling, as if a rain of light was falling in the night sky.
Not knowing how long passed, Shimizu Akira only then released her.
"Hiyori, I like you, can you associate with me?"
"Okay."
A simple and single word, yet it made Shimizu Akira laugh open-heartedly as a whole person.
He couldn't resist picking her up, swinging her around for quite a few full turns.
Shiina Hiyori was swung by him into feeling somewhat dizzy, having no choice but to use her fists to gently pat his shoulder, protesting in a small voice.
Shimizu Akira only then placed her down.
While Shiina Hiyori sorted her hair, she gave him a white eye, "Why are you so excited? Didn't the meaning in my words two days ago already promise you?"
Shimizu Akira didn't even think: "Can that be the same? This is a proper association application! This represents that you, Shiina Hiyori, are precisely my, Shimizu Akira's, girlfriend."
"Haven't you already associated with eight girlfriends? How come up to this point, hearing someone promise to associate with you, you can still be this happy?" Shiina Hiyori thereby became the ninth girlfriend, folding her arms across her chest, instead righteously and aboveboard dissing Shimizu Akira's relationship with his girlfriends.
Shimizu Akira was silent for quite a few seconds before saying in a low voice: "Actually, I originally thought....... there was no possibility between us two."
Shiina Hiyori heard this sentence and looked at Shimizu Akira's face; the other party's expression was instead very serious, not looking like he was joking.
"Why would you think this way?"
"Because you are a girl who is not quite able to accept sharing a man with others, aren't you?"
"You're right." Hiyori opened her mouth to say, "I am indeed not quite able to accept it.
It has been like this since childhood. Things I like, I don't like sharing with others. Books are fine, pens are fine, characters in novels are also fine. Sharing means losing.
So I thought for a very long time last year. Thinking whether you are ultimately worth me breaking this principle.
Then I discovered, you were already in my heart long ago. At a time when I hadn't even reacted to it, you were already there.
It's not acceptance. It's that even if I can't accept it, I have to accept it. Compared to sharing you with others, I even more cannot accept not having you."
Shimizu Akira moved his lips, and again couldn't resist picking her up, this time refusing to let go until he had kissed her for a full five seconds.
"Kissing again?
You said so many love words, did I not again become unable to control myself?"
Shiina Hiyori's cute face was slightly red, "Then you also speak about when you started having thoughts toward me. Otherwise, with only me alone saying those shy words, it's not quite fair."
Shimizu Akira placed her down, holding her hand and saying: "When was it... probably the second month of the school opening, that time when I went to the library to tutor Suzune with her schoolwork and encountered you."
"That early?"
"With ulterior motives, after all."
"I understand. So it turns out the first time we met, you already knew I planned to investigate the matter of renting the surveillance."
"Yeah. Then it was the second time; I served as your assistant, investigated quite a few matters together with you, and also deliberately guided you to mistake a few clues. Afterwards, I originally thought you would follow along those messy clues to completely exclude me, hiding in the dormitory alone secretly smirking. The result was..."
"This matter I also know." Shiina Hiyori began to laugh out loud, "It was Sakayanagi who contacted you, right? Saying that I noticed the clues."
"Yeah!" Shimizu Akira said with a smile, "That night sure enough you came to catch me. To tell the truth, if it weren't for Sakayanagi's reminder, I really was going to be caught red-handed by you on the spot. But you instead said, emotionally you understand me, planning to help me hide it over. Miss Hiyori, do you know how sweet that sentence sounded? That should be the first time my heart fluttered for you."
"But you still didn't tell me the truth, and in the final outcome temporarily deceived me. That night in the dormitory, my whole brain felt sorry for you."
"Uh... this matter is my wrong, I apologize once again."
"Alright, alright, I forgave you long ago. And then?"
"And then it was last year's uninhabited island special exam, as well as the getting along for over this one year." Shimizu Akira thought about it, "The figure of you confronting Suzune, helping me hide Kikyo and Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's identities, and again dating with me, planting trees together... that seed of good impression slowly sprouted, growing into a towering great tree."
"A towering great tree?" Hiyori tilted her head, "Then how large must that be?"
"Very large." Shimizu Akira opened his arms gesturing a bit, "So large that I myself couldn't control it."
"Then have you controlled it now?"
"No. Nor do I want to control it."
"Then when did you determine that the tree had grown to completion?"
"Probably when you said 'let it continue to stay here then' in the old bookstore."
"Is that so."
"Mm. At that time I thought, inside this girl's heart, a lot of things are packed. Books, stories, old day memories, future strangers. I want to become one of them."
"Why didn't you say it at that time?"
"It wasn't the timing for a confession; you at that time were in the literature girl stage! I'm afraid you would have given me a big white eye on the spot!"
"Hehe..." Shiina Hiyori couldn't resist covering her mouth and laughing out loud.
However, she still extended her hand, gently touching his face: "Akira, even if you confessed to me at that stage, I would have promised you. Actually, it's the same this time; even if you didn't prepare those fireworks, I would have promised you."
"Why?"
"Because I am Shiina Hiyori. From the moment I agreed to date you, I had already made the decision to be together with you."
Shimizu Akira gripped her hand, placing it by his lips and gently kissing it. "Thank you, Hiyori."
Hiyori stood on her tiptoes, gently kissing the corner of his mouth.
"You're welcome, Akira."
Shimizu Akira extended his hand to pull her into his embrace, gently holding her.
"Will you still accompany me in the future?"
"Mm."
"Will you still accompany me to go to the old bookstore?"
"I will."
"Will you still accompany me to set off fireworks?"
"This I don't quite dare to guarantee."
"Why?"
"Because this time it was the cultural festival that the school opened a small opening. Next time it won't be that easy to buy fireworks."
"Quite realistic, indeed."
"Your brain turns that fast, how could I deceive you? It's merely speaking the truth."
"Let's go." Shimizu Akira released her, "Send you back, and then I'll go together with those staff uncles to clean up the scene."
Hiyori instead pulled his hand: "I'll clean up together with you guys."
"Is it okay?"
"I also played with the fireworks. Blindly pursuing romance, throwing all those troubles behind the scenes completely to another person, the days of two people can be very hard to live on; these were my mother's words."
"Since it's the words of the Queen Mother, then I can only obey."
"What are you calling Queen Mother, you should call her Auntie instead!"
"Good, good, good, listen to you."
"Since I became your girlfriend, I should be able to join your girlfriend group, right?"
"This naturally is possible. But how did you know they have a group?"
"Honami said it. I heard that inside the group they also from time to time share some hidden intelligence. In this case, I should also be able to know, right."
Shimizu Akira looked at Shiina Hiyori, whose eyes were inexplicably sparkling, temporarily not knowing what to say.
How did he faintly feel that Hiyori promising to associate with him was also a few parts rushing toward that girlfriend group.
Probably an illusion.
It was merely the detective young lady's persistent instinct for intelligence.
Time quickly arrived at September 20th, Monday.
Shimizu Akira walked on the road to the classroom, discovering that the faces of quite a few second-year students were as usual.
Looking at the situation, after the unanimous vote exam passed, it didn't bring any negative effects to the four classes.
After all, Class A, Class B, and Class D all chose to refuse expulsion; only Ryuen Kakeru's class dropped a person, and the one dropped was Manabe Shiho, whose reputation in the class had always been not too good; other people naturally didn't have much sadness.
Before Shimizu Akira walked to the classroom, his phone suddenly vibrated once.
It was a message sent by Chabashira Sae, telling him to go to the garden area of the teaching building; she was currently watering there. Right now it was seven-twenty; going for a trip shouldn't delay too long.
Shimizu Akira put away his phone, turned a corner, and walked toward the garden area behind the teaching building.
When he walked over, from far away he saw Chabashira Sae squatting by the flower bed, holding a green watering can in her hand, currently watering a row of unknown flowers.
The homeroom sensei's attire today was still the old look: a ladies' suit for the upper body, a black silk hip-hugging skirt for the lower body, paired with a pair of pantyhose.
Not knowing whether it was an illusion, Shimizu Akira stared at her face, feeling her complexion looked quite a bit better than before, and she had even applied lipstick?
Shimizu Akira walked over, standing still behind her. "Sensei."
Chabashira turned her head back, casting a glance at him. "You've come?"
"Sensei, did you put on makeup?" Shimizu Akira couldn't resist asking a sentence.
Chabashira's expression slightly changed a bit, seemingly not expecting he would notice this. "...Mm."
"Is today some special day?"
"No." Chabashira turned her face away, "Just... wanted to try."
Chabashira coughed a few times: "In short, the things you let me do, I have done them all."
"What do you mean?"
"I returned those two million personal points. Half was returned to my parents, and that car was also not bought. It's just that the loan app is slightly a bit troublesome, there's no way to pay it off in one breath, I can only pay back a little bit each month."
Shimizu Akira twitched the corner of his mouth: "That's for sure. By the way, how much did you borrow? What's the interest? How much do you pay back each month?"
Chabashira slowly said: "Twelve months... paying back around one hundred thousand each month."
"One hundred thousand?" Shimizu Akira was thoroughly speechless, "You borrowed one million, and have to pay back one million two hundred thousand? One-fifth interest?"
"Mm."
"No, Chabashira-sensei, the interest of this kind of loan app is too high, right? Even if you want a loan, there should also be cheaper apps."
"It's also my first time using a loan app, I don't have much experience." Chabashira felt herself somewhat innocent.
She usually didn't spend much money, nor did she fiddle with those phone programs.
Until last year, there were still two to three million yen in her card. But over this past year and a half, she had been continuously whaling in games, topping up everything for Shimizu Akira.
Last month she was truly driven into a corner; the phone popped up a small advertisement of "money comes fast," and she in a muddle-headed way clicked in and signed the contract.
It was probably a matter like this.
Shimizu Akira patted his forehead: "Chabashira-sensei, your financial management ability truly needs to be strengthened a bit. By the way, didn't you say before that after graduation you want to support me and my bunch of girlfriends? With your current performance, I very much doubt whether you can ultimately achieve it."
Chabashira Sae was twenty-nine years old this year; hearing these words, her pretty face also blushed.
Shimizu Akira looked at her embarrassed look, wanting to laugh yet embarrassed to laugh out loud.
A dignified high school homeroom sensei, a twenty-nine-year-old adult, was actually harvested like leeks by a loan app; if spoken out, no one would believe it.
But turning the thought around, this person didn't even have extra decorations in her dormitory; how could she understand financial traps.
"Sensei, to speak the truth, how much savings do you still have right now?"
Chabashira turned her face away: "...Ninety thousand yen."
"Only these left?"
"Mm."
"Then can you pay back one hundred thousand yen each month?"
"I can. After promoting to Class A, my salary also rose a lot; paying back one hundred thousand yen is still no problem."
Looking at it this way, there was instead no need to worry too much.
Shimizu Akira said: "So, Chabashira-sensei, is there anything else?"
Chabashira Sae stared at him: "I plan to turn over a new leaf starting from today."
Chabashira Sae, this person, would actually say words like turning over a new leaf; did the sun rise from the west?
He froze for quite a few seconds, "Sensei, these words you say... look as if you committed some big crime before."
"Is it not?" Chabashira looked at him, "When the school opened, I said you guys were garbage. You guys promoted to Class A, and I didn't help much either. For the matter of exams, it still required you to remind me what should be done."
"Sensei, then how do you plan to change?" Shimizu Akira asked.
Chabashira thought about it: "First start from apologizing. Early this morning on Monday, I will apologize to everyone in front of the whole class. Henceforth I will greet every classmate;
when you guys come to discuss matters with me, I won't put on a face again. Even if it's not working hours, I will also discuss with you guys. In short, I will work hard to learn how to be a good homeroom sensei."
Hearing her speak so concretely, Shimizu Akira felt Chabashira should not be lying.
It was merely that she suddenly said this, and he still instinctively revealed a doubtful gaze.
Chabashira seemed to know he would doubt, saying seriously: "In short, I will definitely practice what I preach. Not only this matter, the financial management you mentioned before, I will also work hard at it. Ensuring that after you graduate, I can save up one million yen."
"In short, I hope you can give me a chance." She again stared at him to look.
A chance? Is it the matter of associating with her?
To tell the truth, Chabashira, since that conversation, her changes were indeed very large.
If she could change into a serious and responsible homeroom sensei, and the whole person became positive, that actually was also quite nice.
It was just a chance, and it didn't mean he definitely had to promise.
Shimizu Akira touched his chin, "I can promise you. It's merely that I hope you go do one thing beforehand."
Chabashira answered almost smoothly: "What requirement? I promise them all."
Saying she promises them all?
Shimizu Akira shook his head and said: "Chabashira-sensei, I feel it's necessary for you to thoroughly and completely explain that matter of the unanimous vote exam with your classmates from beginning to end."
"This matter? Those classmates won't necessarily be willing to come, nor will they necessarily forgive me, right." A complicated expression appeared on Chabashira's face.
"It's fine if they don't come. Me letting you go is also not for the sake of apologizing, but merely for the sake of explaining yourself clearly. Your decision back then was not wrong; even if you voted out that leader back then, you guys would not have promoted to Class A. Is this not a very simple logic? Since the decision was not wrong, single-mindedly enduring other people's cold shoulders is still too strange. To yourself, this also counts as an opportunity to completely let it go.
Of course, I also said, it's merely a hope. If you feel awkward, it's also fine not to go."
Merely for the sake of explaining herself, for the sake of reconciling with herself, and completely letting it go?
In the result, the requirement Shimizu Akira proposed was also merely for her sake.
Chabashira Sae suddenly discovered where the most attractive place on Shimizu Akira's body was.
He really would make the surrounding people all slowly become better.
Kushida Kikyo was like this, Horikita Suzune was like this, Karuizawa Kei was like this, and Ichinose Honami was also like this.
Then the question came, up until now her performance had always been terrible; did she truly deserve this classmate?
The answer was naturally negative.
However, Chabashira instead looked at it very openly.
Since it wasn't okay right now, working hard next was fine; anyway, there was still over a year's time.
Then let's start first from untying her largest heart knot.
"Okay, I'll listen to everything you say."
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