The sky gradually darkened.
Lanterns hung like fruit on trees, illuminating the pathway from the riverbank embankment toward the Shinto shrine above. The warm orange-yellow light coiled upward, resembling a fire dragon lying on the mountainside, its glowing body climbing from the foot to the peak.
Although called a mountain, its height was less than a hundred meters, and the slope wasn't too steep. As long as they followed the winding road upward and didn't climb the stairs, they wouldn't feel tired from the ascent.
The stalls lined up on both sides of the road like building blocks made people unconsciously keep climbing, and once they realized it, they had already arrived at the shrine on the mountaintop.
Not long after night arrived, tourists passing back and forth filled the air that should have been quiet and peaceful, like nocturnal insects.
Yuu avoided a group of mischievous little children running around swinging balloon hammers, and pulled the small hand in his grip slightly toward himself, allowing Iroha to avoid an adult man who was chatting and not paying attention to the road ahead.
"It's to anticipate situations like this that I'm holding hands with you." Yuu said with a calm expression. "So, don't misunderstand."
"Senpai, the tsundere trait is outdated, especially if you're not a golden-haired girl or a losing girl." With her usual cold response, Iroha complained in a flat tone, then thrust the candy apple in her hand toward Yuu's mouth. "This apple isn't sweet at all. Senpai, you try eating it."
Avoiding the small bite mark that seemed deliberately facing him, Yuu bit the candy apple. He chewed the sugar coating and fruit flesh, licked his slightly sweet lips with his tongue, then gave a fair assessment:
"It's pretty good, isn't it? The sourness of this apple blends well with the sweetness of the sugar coating, and it also hasn't been stored too long so it hasn't lost moisture."
But that was only to the extent of being edible.
Snacks like this basically didn't require much skill, and there wasn't much that could be improved or changed. As long as the ingredients used weren't too different, the taste was almost the same. No need to nitpick.
Anyway, this food definitely wasn't as delicious as his cooking.
"Is that so~" Iroha rolled her small soft and glistening lips, observing the candy apple that had been bitten twice with slight difficulty accepting. Suddenly, she bit right where Yuu had just bitten.
Her mouth was very small, couldn't accommodate things too large. She also always paid attention to elegance and cuteness when a beautiful girl ate.
So, when eating candy apples, she would bite it slowly with her tightly spaced white teeth like a hamster, then cover her mouth with her small hand and chew carefully—it looked very troublesome, but in her opinion, girls were indeed troublesome creatures.
Especially a beautiful and sweet kouhai who was dating her Senpai at a fireworks festival, she was a fighter jet among troublesome creatures! She must not show any lack of grace under any circumstances!
After swallowing a piece of candy apple as gracefully as a princess, she closed her lips. Her small purple tongue licked the sugar crumbs at the corner of her mouth at an almost invisible speed. Then she furrowed her brow, looking very confused.
"Hmm... How should I put it..."
Yuu felt somewhat strange: "It's just a candy apple, does it need to be thought about too much?"
Iroha didn't raise her head: "Huh? The taste of the candy apple isn't important."
"?"
(Then why did you ask earlier?)
Yuu glanced at her. His gaze fixed on her beautiful side profile, glowing from the lantern light. In his mind, he had already simulated a dough-kneading scene.
Not realizing the danger in his gaze, Iroha sighed somewhat helplessly. She rotated the candy apple's bamboo stick: "I'm just thinking, using a candy apple to create the feeling of an indirect kiss isn't romantic at all. My heart isn't pounding."
"Try thinking about this." Yuu said amiably, "My saliva contains a powerful virus that can cause instant mutation on the spot. Eating my leftovers will turn you into a Licker that kills with its tongue—How about it, is your heart starting to pound?"
"...I'm going to step on you with my geta."
The lively beautiful girl half-squinted her eyes, coldly staring at his face as thick as a city wall.
The sound of geta tapping on the floor became clearer and heavier at this moment, as if containing strong killing intent.
Yuu averted his gaze and said in an innocent tone: "Anyway, only Japan considers unhygienic behavior like this as romantic. Even setting aside customs, in sports clubs, it often happens that boys and girls directly drink from each other's water bottles, and they're not embarrassed at all."
"How can that be compared... Forget it, there's no use talking to you, you primitive person who doesn't understand romance!"
Her small mouth pouted as if sulking. Iroha handed him the remaining candy apple and huffed twice: "Finish it for me! I want to eat something else, I'm afraid of getting too full."
"Senpai isn't a trash can for your leftovers."
Yuu rolled his eyes, but he wasn't too bothered. He finished the remaining candy apple in a few bites and put the bamboo stick into a plastic bag.
Anyway, he was already used to finishing his sister's leftovers, and he didn't like wasting food—the remains of two small bites from the beautiful girl were still within his acceptance range. More than that, and it would truly be unhygienic.
As a note, there were no trash cans on the road to this shrine, so garbage had to be carried by oneself, or thrown away below.
"In this world, there's no ordinary Senpai who holds hands with his kouhai while strolling at a festival..."
Iroha muttered softly, sounding like she was complaining, but the base of her ear behind her light brown hair somehow turned red. The feeling of embarrassment she had just gotten used to emerged again.
To divert attention, she looked up and saw left and right. Suddenly, she pointed at a stall beside them, her eyes slightly sparkling, and the corner of her mouth seemed to grin mischievously.
Yuu thought Iroha would say a classic line like "Well, are the people over there all virgins?" but instead she only said:
"Senpai, treat me to one chocolate banana!"
"Why should I?"
Although asking that, Yuu honestly walked to the stall and requested one chocolate banana from the vendor.
Honestly, he was already prepared to treat her tonight. He even planned to pay for the earlier candy apple, but Iroha stopped him with the reason 'I can pay this small amount of money myself'. She had already paid before Yuu could take out his wallet.
Men always have a bit of pride. In some social events or friend gatherings, there are often scenes where everyone scrambles to pay. If you don't let him pay, he'll actually get annoyed.
Yuu also wasn't the type of person who was stingy enough to split the bill with his date. So, when Iroha asked him to treat her, he actually felt relieved. His pride was finally fulfilled.
After paying quickly, Yuu handed her the chocolate banana.
"Why should you? Hmph-hmph, of course it's because~"
Iroha suddenly showed a sly smile. She looked left and right, then took the initiative to pull Yuu's hand to a shaded spot beside the stall, letting his large body block the view of the crowd outside. Then she took the chocolate banana, her moist eyes slightly looking up, and blinked twice as if teasing.
"Ding, dong, ding, dong, guys' favorite fanservice scene, starring Iroha-chan!"
"..." Yuu fell silent for a moment.
She waved the banana proudly: "How about it? Is this surprising? I know, Senpai must be expecting this scene to appear when inviting a girl to the festival... Wait a moment..."
Would doing that motion in public be somewhat inappropriate?
Suddenly realizing this, Iroha's movements stopped. She met Yuu's somewhat strange gaze.
The delighted expression from teasing was still displayed on her face. As if only now remembering to be embarrassed, her cheeks flushed deeper, and her expression became slightly awkward.
But since she had already done it, not continuing seemed like it would be more embarrassing. Iroha could only clear her throat, pretending to be calm. Her flushed face tensed, but her voice volume unconsciously became lower.
"I-I should say first, this is special fanservice only for Senpai, okay? If you don't block it well, and others see it, I won't forgive you..."
"Relax, I've blocked it well."
Yuu suddenly spoke. His low and magnetic voice was full of confidence.
He directly used the state of no one eavesdropping behind the wall to cut off the possibility of being peeped at.
The girl had already released his hand, standing in front of him without defense, as if he could reach out and embrace her at any time, hug her graceful and slender figure wrapped in yukata, carefully feel the girl's softness and fragrance.
Although it looked strange to be holding a chocolate banana but not eating it...
However, cuteness was justice. As long as she was cute, it didn't matter.
"Well, what's this so-called fanservice? And what's its relationship with the chocolate banana?"
Looking down at her who wasn't moving, Yuu blinked his big pure and innocent eyes. His gaze was full of curiosity like a small child, with simple thoughts anticipating the next move.
His acting was very natural, full of emotion.
"Deliberately asking, Senpai's wicked sense of humor is really too much."
While wrinkling her small nose, Iroha stared at him angrily, like a performer forced to do an embarrassing act.
She was already beginning to regret—the idea of teasing Senpai with this fanservice scene and making him fall in love had really failed from the moment she felt embarrassed.
But the chocolate banana had already been bought, and she had also said she would show the fanservice scene. Now she couldn't possibly just put that banana directly into Senpai's mouth as if nothing had happened, right?
Not keeping her promise wasn't a big problem. Most importantly, she didn't want Senpai to look at her with that gaze like looking at an ignorant little sister, and she also didn't want to be looked down upon...
(Just do it! I'm a very brave girl!)
After taking a deep breath, Iroha gathered her courage. She recalled again the movements she saw in a small video yesterday, and brought the banana close to her slightly parted lips.
Her fingers pressed the hair beside her ear so it wouldn't come loose, revealing half of her flushed and smooth cheek, and making the girl's movements uncovered.
She slowly lowered her head. Her small glistening lips exhaled warm breath, preparing to wrap around the tip of that chocolate banana, to show that annoying Senpai in front of her that she also had a mature woman's side, and she had to make him fall in love with her, no matter how embarrassing it was—
Yuu suddenly spoke again: "Did you know? According to an internet survey, one of women's movements that easily make men fall in love includes what you're doing now."
"Eh?"
He took the opportunity when Iroha was shocked and looked up, directly snatched the chocolate banana, bit it in half, then chewed while saying unclearly: "The gentleness when lowering the head, like a water lotus shy from the gentle breeze... The movement of lowering the head while tucking hair, even without other props, is already beautiful enough to make people see it and have their thoughts wander everywhere."
Seeing she still seemed not to have reacted, Yuu laughed soundlessly. He pinched her soft and hot cheek with his finger, stared into her eyes, and said: "You fool, if you feel embarrassed, don't force yourself to tease me with a chocolate banana. What's the point of imitating comic scenes?"
Iroha blinked her eyes. Her fingers were still tucking hair behind her ear. She stared at him with an empty gaze for a long time, then suddenly threw out this sentence:
"...So, just by doing this, Senpai will fall in love?"
"Maybe." Yuu withdrew his hand and put the remaining half of the banana in his mouth.
(Strange. Although the actions are similar, women need hundreds of words to describe it, while men only need a sentence of less than fifteen words.)
(Is this gender inequality? I'm angry and feel cold.)
"Really?"
The embarrassment and determination slowly disappeared. Iroha's eyes began to sparkle, and she pursued happily.
Yuu answered perfunctorily: "Really, why would I lie to you?"
"In that case, Senpai, you fell in love, right? You can't help but like me, right?" While maintaining the hair-tucking gesture, Iroha brought her face closer, laughed mischievously, and looked very enthusiastic.
"I didn't expect Senpai to be so easy to conquer~"
"Alright, alright, I've already enjoyed the fanservice scene. Let's continue walking."
Yuu pushed her face away irritably, deactivated the state of no one eavesdropping behind the wall, and turned toward the brightly lit street.
Iroha quickly followed him. Like discovering a new continent, her steps were cheerful and bouncing, and her geta clacked loudly on the stone road.
"Senpai, Senpai, are you embarrassed?"
Yuu rolled his eyes: "You're the one who's embarrassed. Do you want me to imitate your expression earlier? Or want to try again by buying another chocolate banana?"
Iroha quickly consoled him: "Alright, alright, Senpai don't be angry. How could a thick-skinned person like you be embarrassed? I was just joking."
"Which one?"
"Don't worry about such small details... Look, I'm tucking my hair again, you know?" Iroha started playing with her hair, her head swaying left and right like a crazy person. "After tucking the left, switch to the right. After the right, switch to the left. See, this angle is good, right? Hmph-hmph~ As long as Senpai wants to see it, I'll tuck it for you anytime~"
"Although it's good, I don't particularly like this movement. Too much is annoying."
Too lazy to look at Iroha, Yuu sighed as if exhausted.
(I shouldn't have bothered comforting this girl. Wouldn't it be better to let her endure the embarrassment and do that banana-eating act herself?)
(I could see a fanservice scene from a beautiful girl, and wouldn't need to be bothered like this.)
(Sure enough, my kindness is the root of all evil.)
While thinking so, his arm was suddenly wrapped by softness.
"But, I really like Senpai's slightly awkward kindness."
Gently hugging his wrist, Iroha released the hair she had tucked, covering her flushed white cheek. She said in a relaxed tone and small voice:
"Really, no matter how much, I'll never get tired of it."
"...Well, as long as you're happy."
Yuu answered like sighing, but the corner of his mouth unconsciously curved upward.
He looked up at the night sky. The road and stalls extended upward following the contour of the hill. The light from both sides made the gloomy forest warm. The end of the mountain and that fire was the limitless night sky. A few small stars were sparsely hung in the sky, appearing so close yet also so far as to be unreachable.
At that moment, the girl casually placed her hand back in his grip, with the reason that there were too many people, and she didn't want to get separated.
Yuu said nothing more. He grasped again that small hand wet with sweat and cold, and felt his heartbeat and the frequency of the twinkling stars seemed slightly synchronized.
But that was probably just an illusion created by the festival's liveliness.
"Right, just like a dream."
The echoing sound of taiko drums came from the shrine on the mountain above.
And he, holding her hand, continued to climb under this warm night.