“Maria! Hurry up, or I will eat all of it!”

When I went to everyone’s side, I saw Takuto Kiryuu’s arm made of marzipan on Sumire’s plate… How scary.
Apparently, on my plate, there is a roof section, and what is this? It’s probably something… Aaaaah! It’s Takuto Kiryuu’s legs made of marzipan! So Scary!

“Well? Where is he?”
“Ah, umm…”

“It looks like he has something to do, so he went home,” I secretly told Sumire and Hitomi so as not to be heard by Kiryuu, Ryuune, and Amamiya, who knows the situation probably can guess what happens somehow even if Keito is not here.

Suddenly, my eyes met with Tengenji’s eyes, and he smiled as if he could see right through me.
Tengenji should not know about Keito’s involvement in this matter, but he might have guessed it because Ryuune is here.

“You’re really amazing.”
“Huh?”

I tilted my head in confusion, but Tengenji didn’t say anything further. I wondered if he was talking about making Kiryuu laugh after a long time? But still, it’s like Sumire made him laugh, so it wasn’t me, right?

Does that mean he has some kind of intuition? Maybe I should not underestimate him too. He is a bit unreliable, unlike the original story, but more or less, he is still the main hero.

When I looked at Amamiya, who was standing next to Tengenji, he mouthed, “Thank you.” As a friend, Amamiya was worried about Kiryuu’s situation, so I guess he was relieved that I was able to make him laugh. Well, I’m glad I managed to do it somehow.

We all sat around one table and ate the divided house of sweets. The cookies were really delicious because Hitomi had learned to make them from Sumire’s brother. The problem was the marzipan. I’m a bit reluctant to eat the Kiryuu’s marzipan legs.

Hmm? Sumire’s appearance is strange. She’s holding the arm of the marzipan on her fork and glances at Kiryuu in front of her.
Then she takes a little bite and looks at Kiryuu again.

“…It doesn’t hurt, right?”
“What the hell are you saying?”

As Kiryuu looked at Sumire suspiciously, Sumire put the marzipan’s arm into her mouth and crunched it mercilessly.
Ah, perhaps she suspected that there was something cursed in it because it was made by Ryuune. I know how she feels a bit.

“Oh, Sumire. If you want to make cursed marzipan, I will teach you.”

Ryuune is saying such a dangerous thing and laughing! It seems that she is very talkative about curses, and she was talking without using the puppet.

“Sumire, please don’t learn it.”
“…H-Hehehe, it’s okay. Hitomi.”
“Just now, you were thinking about it, right?”

She probably thought about cursing her brothers for a moment. But, unfortunately, Ryuune’s curse is really going to work, so please don’t do it.

“These cookies are delicious. The pattern is also unique.”

The one that Asami ate was my polka dot cookie. I’m sorry. Unique is not a word you usually use for polka dots, right? Does it mean it looks like a very weird pattern? Ah, Hitomi, please don’t avert your eyes.

“This kind of birthday party is fun, Takuto.”
“Good for you, Takuto.”

Without making eye contact with the happy Tengenji and the smirking Amamiya, Kiryuu said in a small voice as if muttering, “Ah.” Then he suddenly put down his fork and bowed his head. My eyes widened in surprise.

“Thank you.”

I didn’t expect Kiryuu to thank me like this, but I guess it means he’s starting to change little by little.

Even after this, everyone was still making noise as they did in the tea ceremony room like usual. Kiryuu didn’t smile like before, but I think his expression was softer than usual.

When I was cleaning up, I peeked into the home economics preparation room, and there was no sign of Keito. There is a door leading to the corridor in the home economics preparation room, so I guess he must have gone out through there.

Thus, I was able to fulfill Keito Kiryuu’s request without fail. From now on, it’s up to them.

＊＊＊

After Keito’s mission was over, I was taking my mid-august make-up classes alone. This day also ended in the morning, and while relaxing in the air-conditioned classroom, I opened my schedule book.

“…It’s blank.”

Even though it’s summer, my schedule was a big nothing.

How do you do? I’m Maria Kumoruiwashi, a lonely young lady. I couldn’t even go on a family vacation because of make-up classes (my own fault,) and, so far, making a house of sweets was the biggest event in the summer.

Summer is supposed to be about something more, right?
Like one summer’s adventure, a young lady type of elegant vacation, wearing a yukata, watching fireworks, and holding hands. So cute! Yes, but I don’t have a partner.

I was wondering, but maybe I’m not popular!? 

Sumire does a lot of dumb things like ‘uwahahaha,’ in front of us, but usually, she’s lovely, and people say she’s not good around boys, so they want to protect her, and she has a fan club!?

It seems that there are boys who admire Hitomi because she is beautiful and feels like a cool older sister. Moreover, Hitomi is quite admired by the girls, so she is popular as well.

“Hey.”

Me? I’ve never talked to boys other than Tengenji and the others for anything other than administrative purposes since I entered high school. Furthermore, most of the boys, who talk to me, stutter.

“Hey.”

I know it. I have things to do. There are times when I think, “I don’t have time to fall in love now!” Still, I feel the desire to fall in love at impulsive moments because I’m a high school girl. Maybe it’s because I was a high school girl in my previous life, and I didn’t have a boyfriend.

“Kumoruiwashi!”
“Yes!?”

When I heard my name, I looked up in a panic and saw Takuto Kiryuu standing with his usually stern face. I wonder if the smile on his face the other day was an illusion? I tried to rub my eyes, but it was still stern.

“W-Why are you here?”
“Because I heard from Keito that you have make-up classes.”
“…I see.”

So they had a conversation after that. I don’t know what they talked about, but I’m glad that they talked. I mean, Kiryuu came all the way here especially to see me, right?

“So, what do you want from me?”
“Thank you.”
“Hee…”

I slipped out a strange voice after hearing Kiryuu’s sudden remarks.
I didn’t understand why he was thanking me. When I frowned and tilted my head, Kiryuu sat down on the chair in front of him.
It was rare to see his face so close like this. Looking at him like this, as expected, he was well-dressed. In addition, he and Keito are brothers, so they have similar facial features.

“I heard that the one who did all the hard work behind the scenes was you Kumoruiwashi.”

I received help from everyone, and I didn’t really work that hard, though.

“I talked to Ryuune and Keito after a long time. I didn’t realize that I made them worried. Sure enough, I cannot understand the other’s feelings until I talk to them.”
“Kiryuu, you’re unexpectedly clumsy, eh?”
“…Well. I guess I’m not as clever as Keito.”

In my opinion, I feel like Keito is clumsy too, though. Even though he cared about his younger brother, he tried to make him smile in such a roundabout way. He should have just shown up there and said happy birthday to him.

“When I was little, I made Keito carry all the pressure from Kiryuu’s family. Until Keito confined himself, I didn’t notice he was driven to that extent. When my mother told me not to smile, it became my turn to carry the Kiryuu’s pressure. I thought everything was my punishment for acting like it was someone else’s problem up until then.”

Kiryu’s expression was a little bitter, and his voice was weak as if he was remembering those days. He’s not like his usual strong self, but maybe he’s just steeling himself normally.

“Also, at that time, I was scared that someone would feel uncomfortable when I laughed. Even now, I still remember the look of contempt in my mother’s eyes.”
“Kiryuu.”

I called his name and made him look at me so that he wouldn’t be consumed by the sadness of the past.

“There are more people who want you to laugh than people who don’t want you to laugh. I’m sure you’re aware of that by now, right?”

It’s not just Ryuune and Keito. Even Tengenji and Amamiya must want Kiryuu to be able to laugh freely.

“…The other day, I really laughed that hard after such a long time.”

It was about the defective house of sweets that Sumire had set up, right? It turns out that Sumire was the one who made Kiryuu laugh, but she seemed to be really shocked that it collapsed. I didn’t expect it to happen like that either. But it turned out okay, so I’m grateful to Sumire for that.

“Weird things keep happening when I’m with you, Kumoruiwashi, so I never get bored.”
“Are you complimenting me? criticizing me? or are you looking for a fight?”
“I’m complimenting you. You and Mizutanigawa are always doing crazy things. It must be tough for Maeshiro.”

Eh, wait a minute. It feels like Hitomi and I are stopping Sumire’s rampage, right? Kiryuu completely misunderstands. The only one who is always acting strange is Sumire.

“Anyway, thanks to you, Kumoruiwashi, I feel like the weight that I carried is a bit lighter than before. Thank you.”
“…Please say your thanks to Ryuune and Keito. I’m just paying my debt.”
“Debt? Was there such a thing?”

I wonder if Kiryuu doesn’t think of that as a debt? Even though he must have been soaked all over.

“You saved me at the pool. So, thank you so much for that time.”
“I think that wasn’t a debt. Abandoning you would have been crazier.”

Well, if he abandoned me, then I would doubt his humanity. But it was still a debt for me. I never thought that Kiryuu would help me.

“Kiryuu, at that time, you were….”
“What?”

I peek at Kiryuu’s face, wondering if I should say it or not.
I wonder why I’m trying to say this? Somehow, it’s a bit embarrassing. But well, I’m sure I won’t have a chance to say it in the future, so I might as well say it.

“You were very cool.”

Kiryuu stood up silently, turned his back, and started walking away. Did I rub him the wrong way?

“I meant… Kiryuu? Err, umm, it’s just a joke. I’m sorry, please don’t get angry.”

When Kiryuu gets angry, it seems quite troublesome. He looks scary. Or rather, his usually stern face is scary.

“So it’s just a joke.”
“Yes.”

In the end, Kiryuu walked out of the classroom without me knowing what kind of face he was making.

It seems that he was in a very bad mood. Maybe he was upset for being called cool because it is out of character?

Eh, no way. If that is so, then maybe he has a little bit of a cute side. That damn, Takkun.

---

<Previous
Next>