Chapter 16

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Series: A Love That Lurks at the Dining Table

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The next day, I was staring at red leaves swaying outside of the train’s window.

This train was heading to the resort our school trip was located at.

We had to arrive at school early today since the amount of time it would take to get from the station closest to school to our destination was about two hours. Everyone was wearing their casual clothes instead of their uniforms, all either sitting in their seats or huddled by the door, talking happily.

“Are you okay, Maki-kun? If you start feeling dizzy, let me know right away.”

“Mm.”

And Meina-chan was taking care of Maki-kun like usual.

Since Maki-kun was wearing his usual parka, he didn’t look much different from normal.

On the other hand, Meina-chan, despite looking very anxious, was wearing casual clothes that made her seem very different from how she usually looked.

As I was watching those two from the corner of my eye, I heard a girl begin to talk.

“Oh yeah, is Hino-kun not coming today?”

“I guess he has work.”

“Really…? That sucks.”

They were the girls who were close to Sasaki-san before.

Even though they were always the rowdiest in the class, since Sasaki-san got expelled from shoplifting, they haven’t been as rowdy.

“Oh wait, have you seen Hino-kun’s kiss in his drama?”

“I saw! His partner, um? What was her name? The girl who was on the special the other day in the third row from the front. I was so envious of her I got a little jealous.”

“Me too. I saw an interview with him the other day, and he said they were shooting right after the summer break. I was surprised that he didn’t say anything about it at all.”

“It must be nice to go out with Yousuke for work! Just how much virtue did she gain in her past life?”

I felt my mood worsen as the girls got more excited. Maybe because Hino-kun was gone and I was distracted.

I should have known that he was active on TV and in magazines, and that he would be talked about even if he wasn’t there. But it’s like he wouldn’t leave my head.

Those girls were still talking about Hino-kun, but I couldn’t let myself get depressed over it. I wanted to stop liking him. Then I could properly face him and give him the food I made.

While praying for my thoughts to disappear, I leaned against the wall and waited for the train to arrive at our destination.

◇

“From here on is your free time. But you must return before night.”

The teacher looked over all of us in the class in front if a large museum.

After arriving at our destination safely, we went to the museum to see the exhibits and had lunch at the attached cafeteria.

And now we all have free time. According to the handout given to us beforehand, we had to return to our hotel by 5 PM, take a roll call with the teacher near the front desk, have dinner, take a bath, and go to bed.

It was around 1 PM now so we had about four hours of free time before we had to gather together.

“Did you want to go together, Mizuka-chan?”

I turned towards Meina-chan when she called for me. Maki-kun was standing next to her.

Originally, we had plans to go around just by ourselves, but I suggested that she bring Maki-kun with her.

Somehow Meina-chan seemed calmer when she’s taking care of Maki-kun than when she’s away from him. I saw during cooking class how exhausted she was when they’re apart.

“Anyways, we should look at souvenir shops. I saw the itinerary, and tomorrow we’re going to wake up early, eat breakfast and then head back so we don’t have time to go shopping.”

Meina-chan compared the map attached to her itinerary to the map on her phone. I agreed with her and Maki-kun didn’t seem to have any complaints.

“Alright, there’s a lot of souvenir shops on the main road so let’s go there…”

We followed her instructions. We arrived at a road lined with wooden buildings and wrapped in a warm, calming atmosphere. Flags advertising local specialities like manju and eggs stood up along the road and I could smell the scents of foods coming from the buildings.

I could smell plump, sweetly steamed wheat… It smelled delicious.

While I was looking around and walking, Maki-kun unexpectedly stopped moving and turned to me.

“Me-chan’s friend.”

His tired eyes reflected me. Meina-chan kept staring at her map and continuing forward.

When I went to call for her to stop, Maki-kun whispered, “See you.” When I tried to ask him what he meant, someone grabbed my hand from behind.

“Eh, Hino-ku…”

I turned around to see the one who grabbed me was Hino-kun. There he was, wearing a hat, glasses, and a mask… He was more disguised than I’ve ever seen him.

“Why are you he– Ah–“

Before I could finish my question, he gripped my hand and started running. I could hear Maki-kun quietly say, “I’ll tell Meina so don’t worry,” from behind.

I turned my back to his voice and followed as Hino-kun took me into an alley between two buildings.

◆◆◆

Hino-kun took me by the arm and we ran until I was out of breath. I didn’t know how long we’ve been running since we entered the alley, but he was beginning to slow down. Finally, after checking behind me, he stopped.

“No one from class should show up here. I’m sorry, Igarashi-san. Are you tired from all the running?” Hino-kun asked me as he removed his mask and put his glasses in his shirt pocket.

I ended up whispering, “Why?” because of how stunned I was.

He just laughed and said, “I got off work,” like it was nothing.

“E-eh!?”

“I had a shooting nearby today. The morning session finished early and I can’t do the evening shooting yet. Since I have a long break, I thought I would go on a date with you.”

He started leisurely walking, taking me along by the hand. He delightfully informed me that, “Around here there’s a matchmaking shrine I’ve been wanting to go to,” and pointed with his free hand. “Apparently it’s really convenient. You can find your soulmate there, or if you go with a lover, you’ll be tied together forever.”

“Really?”

I struggled to supress the darkening of my feelings at his delight.

Before he never seemed to care about romance… But now there was a chance that he found someone he liked because of how excited he was to go to the shrine.

My chest hurt as he turned to me and asked, “Did you not want to go?”

“I did. I think it would be fine to find my soulmate.”

“Hm, does that mean you don’t have anyone you like?”

“Of course. My happiness is cooking and eating delicious food.”

Was I smiling properly? When I said it, Hino-kun looked at me like he was testing me.

“What about Kawauchi?”

“Eh?”

His name suddenly being thrown out stunned me.

Why did he say Kawauchi-kun’s name?

I never said I liked Kawauchi-kun. It was a complete misunderstanding. When I was about to correct him, I realized.

Maybe it would be better if Hino-kun believed I liked Kawauchi-kun.

If I ever told Hino-kun how I felt about him, it would surely be tramatizing.

He might wonder if I put anything in his food before then and unable to eat any of the food I make afterwards. Then there’s the possibility he’ll never eat anything again.

…Even yesterday, he was scared of the home delivery employee.

“You’re not denying it?”

“A-anyways, let’s go! To the matchmaking shrine!”

I didn’t deny it. I didn’t feel anything special towards Kawauchi-kun. If word got out, people might give Kawauchi-kun or I a hard time, but I didn’t think Hino-kun would spread rumors.

I gave him what I thought was a relaxed smile when Hino-kun tightened his grip on my hand.

“Hino-kun?”

“Let’s go tie some threads and cut away the ones we don’t need.”

“Yeah.”

Wait… Cut threads?

I wondered about the somewhat disturbing tone of his voice as I headed to the shrine with Hino-kun.

◆◆◆

“This is where you pray to be tied together with your crush.”

Hino-kun smiled as he pointed up to the shrine with a pure red rope hanging from it.

After walking for a while, we arrived at the matchmaking shrine. It seemed to be a famous place. The souvenir and snack shops we passed along the way were selling manju, senbei, sake, and paired straps all meant to bring people together.

There were lots of couples by the shrine so it was easy to understand how famous it was. But for some reason, I couldn’t see anyone there by themselves.

“It looks like the purification area is over there.” Hino-kun said and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. Washing your hands here seemed to be the same as any other shrine visit. After we finished purifying, we lined up in front of the offertory box.

But the shrine was full of couples and I felt out of place.

While I was busy being surprised, Hino-kun brought his hands together. I also brought my hands together like I did every New Year for my first shrine visit.

But I didn’t like Kawauchi-kun and I didn’t feel like meeting my soulmate.

I thought about asking for my feelings toward Hino-kun to disappear, but this probably wasn’t the right place for that wish. I did have one that applied, however.

…I want the person Hino-kun likes to like him back and for the two of them to be happy.

Well, I didn’t know if the person Hino-kun liked already liked him back, but surely a matchmaking god would be able to understand that nuance.

After I finished praying with all my might, I turned to Hino-kun, who also finished.

“Are you done?”

“Yeah. You too, Hino-kun?”

“Me too. Then let’s go buy some souvenirs.”

Hino-kun grabbed my hand. Looking around, there really was no one other than couples here. Perhaps rather than tying people together, this place was more famous for strengthening bonds.

I’ll research this place as soon as I get back to my hotel room. I felt a somewhat uneasy feeling as we left the matchmaking shrine.

◆◆◆

“Sigh…“

After I was done souvenir shopping with Hino-kun, I headed to the hotel and now I was lying on the bed in my room.

I already took a bath and dried my hair, so I had nothing to do until lights out time.

Right now it was 8 PM and we needed to have our lights turned off by 10.

We each had our own rooms, and some people seem to have gathered in other’s rooms. But Meina-chan was probably taking care of Maki-kun and I didn’t especially feel like going anywhere.

“For now, I guess I’ll look up that shrine…”

I grabbed my phone off of the bedstand and looked up the shrine Hino-kun and I went to today.

“Eh?”

But for some reason, the top results had bold words like, ” Love Power Spot” “A Must Go Place for Lovers” and “For Couples Only”.

Hino-kun must have been mistaken.

I continued strolling with a terrible feeling. As I feared, the shrine we went to today was just meant for couples.

The shrine was meant to strengthen the bonds between lovers so they would be together forever. But when I went to search for what happens when two people who weren’t lovers went, my screen changed to display an incoming call.

Hino-kun’s name was listed on the screen. I frantically jumped off the bed and clicked the answer button.

“Y-yes?”

“Ah, Igarashi-san?”

“Yes, this is Igarashi.”

Hino-kun’s voice on the other side of the phone sounded somewhat impatient.

“I’m sorry, but can I come to the room you’re staying in?”

“Huh?”

I was rendered speechless at his unpredictable words. When I couldn’t answer, Hino-kun hurriedly continued, “The hotel I was supposed to stay at wasn’t available, and it started to rain, and since I’m close to your hotel…”

I looked out the window to see raindrops hitting the glass.

“Oh, that’s fine. I-I’ll prepare a towel!”

“Thanks… Woa-“

As I went to grab a towel, I heard a splashing sound over the phone.

“Hino-kun?”

“Haha, I just tripped a little.”

“Don’t rush too much and don’t get soaked! My room number is…”

I told him both my room number and floor. He read back what he wrote on his phone.

“Got it. Thanks, Igarashi-san. I’ll head there now.”

“Okay. I have a lot of towels prepared and I’ll start the water in the bath so you can warm up.”

“…… Igarashi-san.”

When he spoke again, I somehow stopped moving while waiting for him to continue. When he did continue, he sounded strangely different.

“I’m sorry.”

His low voice made my eyes widen, but he hung up.

He must have hung up because it was raining and we were done talking. Even though that was the likely case, for some reason Hino-kun’s mood filled my chest with an uneasy feeling.

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