Infinite Stratos - Volume 4, page 9
"What's wrong, Houki-chan? Why are you so loud? What just happened...oh my?"
Noticing that something's amiss, aunt Yukiko came over to look at Houki and Ichika.
"Oh my."
*PAN!* Seemingly thinking of something, aunt Yukiko clapped once, and there seemed to be a light bulb above the head.
"I can settle the things here, Houki-chan. Hurry up and go to the summer festival."
"What!? ...uu, as expected of a dream, things that are impossible just continued to happen. If that's the case..."
Houki continued to mutter as she still seemed to be thinking that she's dreaming. Seeing Houki like this, a light bulb appeared above aunt Yukiko's head.
"Eih!"
*PAK!*
In contrast to her usual gentleness, aunt Yukiko swung a sharp karate chop.
"OUCH!!?"
"Houki-chan, hurry up and return back to reality."
"Huh..."
The brain that was hit caused Houki to recover.
Then, aunt Yukiko turned Houki to the right side and pushed her out.
"Okay, okay, move faster. Go take a shower to wipe the sweat off. Auntie here will take out the yukata for you during that time."
"Th-Tha-That..."
"Okay okay, hurry up!"
Auntie didn't want to let Houki have a chance to talk as she pushed her back to the main house. As they left, she even said to Ichika,
"You must wait for her. It's a boyfriend's job to wait for his girlfriend."
"Huh?"
Ichika was momentarily stunned, but aunt just blinked at him and brought Houki into the house.
He didn't know what was going on, but since she wanted him to wait, Ichika could only wait.
◆
(Th-Tha-That's impossible!)
*SPLASH!* After letting the hot water drip down her head for the third time, Houki repeated what she said.
(Ichika came to the summer festival. There's was a possibility...and-and-and also!)
*Splash*, Houki washed herself a 4th time.
The wet black hair continued to drip, but she didn't mind.
(Th-Tha-That Ichika-that Ichika actually-that Ichika actually, called-called me 'Pretty'...)
Right now, Ichika, who had been beautified four times in Houki's mind, softly said.
"You're so pretty, Houki..."
"Ho-Hold it, Ichika! Did-Didn't you come here to see the fireworks? Why-Why are you always looking at me..."
"That's because I want an excuse to be along with you."
"I-Ichika..."
"Houki..."
And then, their lips slowly touched each other—
"KYAAHHHH!!"
*SPLASH!* She again drenched another full bucket of water on herself.
"Houki-chan? I seemed to hear a scream. Are you alright?"
"I-I'm okay! I'm alright!"
Houki said such a lie without thinking, but she didn't look alright at all.
"Any-Anyway, you should be done, right? It's been past 30 minutes."
"Huuh!?"
Completely forgetting about the time, Houki frantically washed her hair and body to clear off the sweat.
After bathing, she immediately used the hairdryer to dry her hair. Aunt made things faster by putting the yukata on Houki without allowing her to refuse, and she could only let her aunt do that.
"Mn, okay, Houki-san's really suited to wear a yukata~ because you have hair comparable to your mom."
"Tha-Thanks..."
Houki thanked her aunt for putting on the yukata and praising her, but the fact that she was wearing something different from usual made her unable to hide her panic.
Actually, Houki hadn't worn a yukata in many years, but the presence and completeness she gave was comparable to the models in magazines, even displaying her own personal style.
(It-It suits...me well...I guess! At-At least I don't look weird wearing it, right?)
Having no confidence in her own looks, Houki said that as she looked at the mirror.
The red goldfish that was swimming about leisurely was printed on the white-based yukata with light blue patterns on it, and the silver pearls and gold patterns weren't too much. They matched each other really well, creating a clear balance and presence of dignity.
"Then, bring this along. You can put your purse, handphone and other important stuff inside."
Saying that, her aunt passed a little bag to her.
When did she prepare that...Thinking about it, Houki decided not to think about it even further. Aunt Yukiko has always been such an intelligent person. She would always prepare things for anything.
"Th-Then, aunt Yukiko."
"What is it?"
"Than-Thank you..."
Seeing Houki say this shyly, aunt showed a really mystified look, and then responded with a radiant smile.
"No problems. More importantly, here, don't keep your boyfriend waiting."
"No, that's not it. Well, about that—"
"Okay okay, hurry up."
She got prompted out of the corridor by her aunt and walked down the corridor. On the way, she looked up at the clock hanging on the wall, and found that it was already past 6pm. The outside was already darkened by the orangey-red sky.
"The fireworks will start at 8. Find a place where both of you can be alone."
"So-So I say...he's not—"
"Okay~ be careful on the way~"
"Uu..."
Even though Houki wanted to say something to her aunt who didn't want to hear her explanation, she was forced to wear the wooden sandals and had to go out of the house. She didn't have any room to argue back.
Besides, she was most mindful about Ichika who ended up waiting for an hour.
(Wha-What should I do? I spent a longer time than expected. Did Ichika go home already? And aunt even got mistaken...ahh, what should I do!?)
Houki took care not to mess up the bottom of her skirt as she hurriedly rushed to the bird gate. In the past, when they said that they would meet up, it would be over there.
(Where's Ichika...)
Having reached the tori gate, Houki found that it was hard to find Ichika as there was a lot of people gathered there.
Besides, almost everyone would go through the tori gate to the shrine, so even if she stood there, she would feel that she was blocking everyone.
(So Ichika really went back...)
Just when Houki thought of that, someone grabbed her hand.
"You're so slow, Houki. I was getting impatient—oh? You're dressed in a yukata."
"I-I-Ichika! Where were you!? I didn't notice you at all!"
The second unexpected meeting made Houki overly nervous as she couldn't express her words properly.
(Ca-Calm down, calm down a bit...ahh!? My hand! He's holding onto my hand...!?)
It was only now that she realized that Ichika was holding onto her hand tightly, and her face immediately reddened.
Luckily, the surroundings got a bit dark, so Ichika didn't notice her blushing.
"Ohh~ that's not bad. This attire suits you."
"Re-Really? I-I-I think so too!"
—I-I got praised!? Did I get praised again?
Dragging along Houki who was drowning in the praises and feeling somewhat fearful, Ichika continued to head through the crowd.
"Then let's go walk around. Also—speaking of which, I haven't been to the summer festival in two years. Last year, I was preparing for my exams."
"..."
Houki placed her left hand in front of her chest to try and check & control the beating of her heart as she followed Ichika from behind. Her right hand was still being held.
"Cotton candy, yakisoba, grilled corn. This place has everything. As expected of the Shinonono shrine."
She didn't know what Ichika meant by that, but right now, Houki almost couldn't hear it.
Right now, Houki was only worried about whether Ichika could hear her heartbeat or not.
"Houki?"
"Wha-What?"
Ichika thought that Houki couldn't hear his words because there were so many people in the crowd, so he brought his face closer to Houki.
At that moment, Houki remembered the moment when they were at the seaside last month in the middle of the night. They didn't kiss, so she frantically pulled her distance this time.
Right now, Ichika looked completely the same as when she peeked and saw him.
"Hey, don't move around. You'll knock into others."
"Uu, okay, sorry."
"Alright, where do you want to go?"
"We-Wel-Well..."
After avoiding the people, the hand that was released now felt really anxious.
However, Houki couldn't say that she wanted to hold hands, and the fingers that were hidden behind could only move about anxiously.
(Bu-But, we're alone now. It's different from school. We're alone. Y-Yeah!)
Thinking about this, she immediately felt happy about the current situation, and yet couldn't get rid of the loneliness of being unable to hold hands.
"Speaking of which, Houki, you really couldn't catch goldfish."
"That-That was the past! The past!"
"Mn? You're different now?"
"Of course! Don't think that I'll always be the same as before!"
"Then let's have a match, shall we? The loser will have to treat."
"No problem. Fine by me!"
Folding their arms and nodding in agreement, Houki and Ichika went to look for a goldfish scooping stall.
After walking for a while, both of them reached their destination and tried out for one scoop
"Ah, but Houki, you're in a yukata. Is it okay?"
"I'm used to wearing a yukata already. No need to go easy on me."
"Is that so...then, a showdown!"
"Fine by me!"
Both of them dipped their nets into the water at the same time.
◆
"Sorry to make you treat me with yakisoba."
Even though Ichika was eating the yakisoba happily, beside him, Houki clenched her fist unhappily.
Houki thought that both of them would be tied at 3-all, but one of the goldfish jumped back into the fish tank. Both of them got attracted by the movements of the goldfish, and the net broke at the same time, so the winner was decided then.
"That damned goldfish...jumped back into the water while I was serious..."
"Just the goldfish?"
After a staredown with twice the intensity, Ichika could only shut up.
"Oh well, you don't have to be so angry. Here, the yakisoba's nice. Have some of it, Houki."
After saying that, Ichika passed the chopsticks with noodles on it to her.
(Is-Is-Is this the so-called...indirect kiss...)
Her heart beating wildly again, Houki was cautious not to let her feelings show on her face as she looked at Ichika's expression.
"Hm?"
However, the person himself didn't seem too different from usual. It probably didn't mean anything else.
Even though she's unhappy about this, Houki still felt happy about the gentleness Ichika naturally showed. She looked down in a somewhat shy manner, opened her mouth only when Ichika reminded her with a 'Here, ahh', and ate the noodles on the chopsticks.
"Mn, uu, it-it's better than I thought..."
"Didn't I say so? Besides, you're hungry, aren't you? You were even doing the divine dance just now."
"Uu, mn, tha-that, that's right...I guess..."
In fact, had Ichika not reminded her, she would have forgotten that she was hungry.
But even in such a state, she still nodded her head, because she didn't want to talk too much and end the natural 'Here, ahh' Ichika had said.
(But it seems that this guy will do that to anyone.)
Thinking about this, Houki suddenly felt some pain in her chest.
—I really wish that he would specially do such a thing for me—
Houki couldn't help but think this. This is a 16-year-old girl who fell into the net of love.
"My-My mouth feels a little thirsty."
"You're right—you're feeling hot because of the crowd, right? Can't be helped then. Let's go buy something to drink."
"Uu, mn."
Though she was blushing because of a completely different reason, Houki still nodded her head.
(O-Okay, I'll just hold his hand naturally like that—)
Having a serious gaze as though she was about to draw a sword in a showdown, Houki stared at Ichika's hand.
Then, the perfect opportunity arrived.
(No-Now-Now's the time—!)
"—Huh? Ichika...san?"
"Oh?"
Ichika turned around suddenly due to the call, and Houki's hand missed.
However, as she didn't want to let others see herself being embarrassed like this, Houki raised her hand that didn't reach the target and acted like she was tidying her hair.
(Ahhh, really! Who did that? Who interrupted us!)
"Oh, it's Ran."
(...U, uu? Who's that?)
It's to be expected that she didn't know the person, but the fact that a girl she didn't know yet Ichika knew of suddenly appeared made Houki really mindful.
"Such-Such a coincidence..."
"Yeah. I thought that I wouldn't meet anyone familiar here too. What a coincidence. Where's Dan?"
"Who-Who knows? Maybe he's sleeping at home?"
Thinking about this, Ran seemed to be in a similar yukata getup as Houki. She wasn't in her usual ponytail, instead, she had a complicated hairstyle that was tied and swept behind.
"Oh, this is the first time I'm seeing you in a yukata, Ran! Though I only had an impression of you in a dress, the yukata suits you too."
"Is-Is-Is that so? Tha-Thank you for the praise..."
Trying to hide her blushing face, Ran lowered her head slightly.
From this, Houki's alert radar immediately raised into alert status as she noticed the girl's affections for Ichika.
"Ahh—Prez is embarrassed—. That's so rare—"
"I see! So Prez wouldn't even go out with boys from other schools and girls from our school because of this?"
"Do your best, Prez♪"
A group of girls in yukata standing behind Ran exclaimed.
"You-You-You people!"
"KYA~ Prez is angry~"
"We just touched the fangs~"
"That's so scary~"
Seeing the girls with her joking around, Ran took a deep breath and wanted to scold them, but Ichika took the first words.
"They're your friends from school?"
"Huh, yeeah, they're, student council members..."
Unknowingly, Ichika went beside Ran, and this distance made her jump, and she even stuttered.
The four girls laughed at Ran for being like this and then continued talking to continue her words.
"We're here today to get inspiration for the school autumn festival."
"Since it's a learning festival, we have to come here ourselves!"
"But I guess it's time for us to go back!"
"Huh? Why are you deciding—"
Ran widened her eyes because she heard that for the first time. This is to be expected, because these teenage girls decided to use the legendary eye contact.
"Bye Prez!"
"We're going off!"
"See you at school!"
"Adiós!"
"Huh? Ah, hey, wait a—"
With quick footsteps, the four girls moved away really fast as if they weren't in yukatas and quickly vanished into the crowd.
Ran, who reached her hand out at the 4 who quickly left, left it in mid-air, and she was left alone with Ichika beside her and Houki, whose mood just seemed to have gotten worse.
"Huh, umm, well, those girls, they just like to joke around."
"Ah, I can understand somewhat."
"They-They're not bad girls. They don't have any ill intentions, you know?"
Ran, who was trying to defend herself with overt passion, found that her body was too close to Ichika.
"So-Sorry!"
Ran immediately backed away from Ichika and turned right. Her face was a lot redder than before.
"Ah—ahem!"
Houki deliberately coughed to remind Ichika, probably unable to deal with their world.
"Oh, sorry, I forgot to introduce. Umm~ she's Gotanda Ran. Do you remember the time I talked to you about Dan? Ran's his little sister."
"I'm Gotanda Ran."
Ran greeted Houki formally. From her attitude, Houki immediately realized that she was her enemy in love.
"And she's Shinonono Houki, my first childhood friend. I told you of her before, right?"
"Nope, you only told me the name."
"I see. Oh well, please take care of each other. Hey, Houki."
"I'm Shi-Shinonono Houki. Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too."
Both of them formally greeted each other again, and then maintained a few seconds of silence.
During that time, both of them were thinking—
(I heard that Ichika-san spoke before of some samurai or some bushido...but-but he never said that she was so pretty. And, and also, those breasts are big...it feels sneaky...that's cheating...)
(That damned Ichika! Lying to me that he's not really familiar with his friend's sister...she's interested in you, right? And also...she's cute in ways different from me...uu, I'm so angry!)
Then, both of them looked at him, expecting Ichika to say something.
"..."
"..."
Ichika looked somewhat embarrassed by their serious looks.
"Wha-What?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing."
Even though both of them answered so briefly, their sharp looks didn't soften any bit.
"Oh."
*PA!* Ichika suddenly clapped. The two people who didn't manage to get his next sentence sharpened their eyes.
"Want to go out together?"
It defied all expectations, but it's an expected answer for a blockhead, and that caused Houki to lower her head dejectedly.
On the other hand, Ran was delighted by Ichika's unexpected answer.
"You see, since Ran's friends went home...ah, Ran, you aren't going home yet?"
"Not-Not that! Okay, please allow me to go out with you!"
Ran forcefully grabbed Ichika's hand, making Ichika look somewhat mystified. Ran realized from his expression that she was really bold, and blushed as she released her hand.
"Let's walk around then."
