Chapter 7

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Editor: Leo

It’s not like I wanted to dance with you…

Wrapped in the darkness of the impending night, a large hole was dug in the middle of the sports grounds of the school, filled with planks, posters, and any sort of flammable objects. Around this was almost the entire student body gathered, waiting in anticipation. From now on, the finale of the school festival would happen, the folk dance. In the midst of that, Mitsuki, wearing cat ears and a maid uniform, was nervously looking around.

“Hiyori…isn’t here? Is she still angry? …Just come on out now.”

Mitsuki just called out into nothingness, as a shadow appeared out of thin air.

“I’m here…what is it?” Hiyori gave a clearly grumpy response, to what Mitsuki furrowed her eyebrows.

“The folk dance will start soon, and it was your dream to dance with that guy, right? This time, we’ll do a proper switch, okay? Take this with you.”

Mitsuki held the bag with the takoyaki and small extra towards Hiyori. However, where she would normally gleefully jump into Mitsuki’s arms, Hiyori just kept expressionless.

“That’s true, but…No, I’ll hold off for now.”

“Eh? You, holding off? Is it going to rain tomorrow…?” Mitsuki just gazed up towards the sky, her expression colored with surprise.

Watching this, Hiyori just poked Mitsuki’s chest with her fingers.

“Kyaa?! H-Hold on?! What are you doing in a place like this…” Mitsuki tried to cover her chest, narrowing her eyes.

Hiyori let out a deep sigh, as she continued.

“Well, of course I want to be lovey-dovey at school…and do perverted stuff…and I thought of finally trying it out today…you know?”

“Thought of trying it out…what were you planning on doing?”

“Well…that’s not something I can say out loud, you know?” Hiyori said something horrendous with a completely calm expression.

“?! N-Not going to happen! Never ever!”

“Tch, Mitsuki, you really don’t get the romance of a girl, right?”

“I don’t even want to understand a romance like that! There’s lots of things wrong with it, after all!”

Because of their usual exchange, Mitsuki was clearly relieved.

“Listen. If you would have switched with me during the obstacle race, I would have gladly danced with Onii-chan. This time, you worked really hard, so you deserve to dance, right?”

“You don’t have to be so considerate. I’m not all too interested in the folk dance anyway…”

“Ahhh, small tits! Don’t be so cheeky!”

Hiyori snapped, as she kept pushing her fingers into Mitsuki’s most erogenous zone on her chest.

“Ahnn?! W-W-What are you doing?! I’m not…cheeky…”

“What-e-ver~ Onii-chan might take the cake for being dense, but you’re not half bad!”

“Ehhh? What are you talking about?! Don’t lump me in together with that guy!”

“Maybe you just started resembling each other because you live together?”

“We don’t resemble each other at all. What are you sulking about now?!”

“I was just thinking that this time around, it was my absolute loss. That’s all! I was all stuffed watching Onii-chan as he was working so hard for you!”

“—Eh?”

Failure…defeat…both Hiyori and Yukina-san keep bringing up these words, but what exactly are they fighting on?

Mitsuki didn’t know what Hiyori was referring to, but she oddly found her heart beating faster.

“You and Onii-chan were really lovey-dovey on stage at the award ceremony! The president and everyone else in the audience agreed as well!”

“That wasn’t the case at all!”

“Okay okay! Anyway, that’s how it is, so I’ll pass this time!”

“What’s up with that…Even though I thought you’d be really happy.” Mitsuki dropped her shoulders in disappointment.

“Thank you, Mitsuki. But, I won’t lose next time, okay?” Hiyori flashed an embarrassing smile, as she shrugged with her shoulders, disappearing into the dark sky.

“Hiyori is so weird…” Mitsuki muttered, as she dropped her eyes on the bag in her hands, pouting.

*

As Yuuya was just spacing out, reminiscing about all the happenings of that day, as Mitsuki, still wearing her cat-ears maid cosplay, walked towards him, pushing the bag she was holding onto him.

“—Here!”

“Hm, what?

“If you want some. You didn’t eat anything this whole time, right?” Mitsuki had a sour expression like always, averting her gaze.

“Ohhh, takoyaki! You’re a lifesaver! I was so hungry! Wait, this is?”

As Yuuya gazed inside the shopping bag, he found a small dal that looked like an octopus mascot.

“An extra! You can just throw it away if you don’t want it.”

“No, I’ll take it. Did you make these?”

“…Something wrong with that?”

“You really are good at making stuff like this!”

Taking out the mascot, Yuuya put it into his own pocket, and took out the takoyaki itself. Checking the taste, he let out a shocked voice.

“Did you grill these, Mitsuki?! Not Ayaka?!”

“…Again, something wrong with that?!”

“No, I was just really surprised because it was so delicious! You made all these weird-looking ones before, with the legs sticking out here and there! Torii even called them an alien!”

“! I was practicing, okay!”

“They sure got delicious!”

Yuuya kept praising Mitsuki, as her face burned up bright red.

“…Ha…Hohh, hot! But delicious!”

The takoyaki were still steaming hot, but Yuuya kept gulping them down with a big smile.

“They’re crazy delicious! The outside is crispy, and the inside is so soft and saucy!”

“…I worked hard after all.”

“You’re not going to eat any, Mitsuki?”

“…I will.”

Mitsuki hesitated for a second, but still nodded along. Watching this reaction, Yuuya stabbed into one takoyaki with a toothpick, and pushed it towards Mitsuki, probably with the intention of feeding her.

“…I-I can eat it myself.”

“No need to hold back. Come on, open your mouth.”

“………” Albeit showing resistance, Mitsuki quickly gave in, opening her mouth.

“Ahh…h-hot…fuu…”

As the takoyaki entered her mouth, she felt the heat run to her head, making her tear up, as she desperately tried to gulp it down. That action looked oddly perverted, and Yuuya found himself getting a bit nervous.

To think that Neko’s hypnotism is still working…

Mitsuki was just normally eating takoyaki, but it felt as if he was watching something erotic. It was weird no matter how much he thought about it. Normally, this was impossible.

No…maybe not as much?

Yuuya asked himself, but his response remained a mystery even to himself. With complicated feelings, Yuuya kept watching Mitsuki as she finished eating the takoyaki.

“Hot…”

“It’s not that hot cry about, right? You have a cat tongue?”

“…Uu…I don’t think so…” Having some fragments of the takoyaki stuck to her mouth, Mitsuki tightened her expression.

“You got something on you.”

“Eh?”

“Right here.”

Yuuya ran his finger across Mitsuki’s mouth, and finally licked it himself. Immediately after, Mitsuki’s face turned beet red, and even Yuuya started to feel flustered.

Even as he knew that she was always getting embarrassed very easily, seeing her feelings this openly shown after doing like that, Yuuya was about to have a grave misunderstanding.

Wait…what grave misunderstanding even…?

Yuuya just shook his head left and right to ban these thoughts out of his head, instead bringing something he meant to say for quite a while now.

“Sorry about what happened at the haunted house today. I didn’t know they changed anything, so I got a bit louder…”

“Why are you apologizing like that? It’s not like you decided to change the layout, right?”

“Well, that might be true, but I was the one screaming at you…”

Realizing that Yuuya was actually apologizing for scaring her with his scream before, her face relaxed a bit, as she let out a sigh.

“That…I’m just not good with that. Suddenly screaming and all that.”

Really? I had no idea.”

“—My father was a good-for-nothing.”

“…Yeah.”

Yuuya remembered back to when Mitsuki explained the reason for her parents’ divorce. To keep it short, it was rather complicated.

“I see. I’ll keep that in mind. Sorry for not knowing.”

“It’s okay. I don’t blame you for not knowing…I never told anybody after all.”

“But, I’ll be careful about that now!”

“…It’s not that big of a deal.”

“I don’t want to do anything you would hate, okay. We promised before, didn’t we. That dad and I won’t do anything to make you sad.”

“………” Mitsuki could only look at Yuuya in bafflement, as he showed a kind smile.

“That’s why…It’d be great if you could just tell me if something is wrong…It’s the worst if you don’t even know what you did bad after all…”

“I told you…I’m bad at that.”

“I see. Then, we’ll just have to slowly work at it.” Smiling happily, Yuuya tapped Mitsuki on the shoulder.

In response, Mitsuki averted her face, her cheeks slightly burning up.

“If you want something, don’t hold back and tell me, okay?”

“………” Mitsuki just pouted in silence.

This situation continued for a while, but Mitsuki finally opened her mouth, albeit still looking a bit sour.

“…Want some hamburgers.”

“Ohhh~”

That wasn’t the response Yuuya expected, so he couldn’t help but open his eyes wide in admiration.

“W-What is it! What’s that reaction?!”

“Ah, well, it’s all good! I got it! I’ll make some tomorrow evening, okay.”

“………”

Brushing away Yuuya’s hand as he was patting her on the head, Mitsuki cast her face downwards. Her long hair hid her eyes, and Yuuya couldn’t make out her expression, but from the looks of it, he guessed that she must have been really embarrassed.

And then, it happened.

“It’s time for the grand finale of the school festival! The folk dance will begin no! Could the participants please line up around the campfire?” The student council president’s cut through the silence between Yuuya and Mitsuki.

“–A folk dance, huh. I’m not really interested, but what about you, Mitsuki?”

“…I don’t really like standing out, so…” Mitsuki muttered in a feeble voice.

“Ah, Mitsuki! Found you! The folk dance is starting, so let’s dance, come on!”

Ayaka jumped at Mitsuki’s back.

“Eh?! H-Hold on?! Ayaka?! I never said anything about that…”

“No need to be embarrassed! Come on, will you?!”

Unable to resist, Mitsuki was pulled along by Ayaka. As Yuuya was watching them walk off, Yukina appeared next to him.

“You’re not going to dance, Yuu-kun?”

“Y-Yuki-nee?!”

Reminiscing about the pro-wrestling old he received during the final round of the Love Quest, Yuuya instinctively took a step back.

“What’s with that reaction? That really hurts, you know?”

“Haha, sorry. Anyway, what about you? Are you going to dance, Yuki-nee?”

“Of course. This is my final school festival after all…”

Not being used to seeing such a saddened expression from Yukina, Yuuya averted his gaze out of panic.

“The last, huh…Doesn’t feel real at all.”

“Right! You’re always relaxing all day long, but time actually passes quickly…” With a slightly mysterious tone, Yuuya intertwined her hand with Yuuya’s.

“—?!”

Out of shock, Yuuya could only stare at her, his eyes blinking, when she softly whispered into his ear.

“That’s why—go out with me.”

At these words, Yuuya’s heart almost leaped out of his chest.

Eh?! G-Go out?! W-What does she—

Yuuya’s thoughts came to a halt.

“—Go out with me, to my final folk dance, okay?”

Yuuya was still frozen in place, as Yukina pulled on his hand, taking him inside the ring of people, standing around the campfire. The song of the folk dance started playing, and Yukina + Yuuya followed with their dance.

“…I don’t remember much from it anymore.”

“You just have to go along with everyone else…Look, put out your right leg, just like that.”

Yukina took the lead, as Yuuya’s movements were rather sloppy.

*

Being taken along by Ayaka, Mitsuki participated in the folk dance, but she was always looking for Yuuya in the crowd. And, when she finally spotted him, dancing with Yukina, she panicky averted her eyes, unconsciously putting more strength in the grip on the hand of the boy she was dancing with.

What’s with him…saying he’s not interested, and now he’s dancing with Yukina-san…

Pouting with her lips, Mitsuki tried to keep her gaze away from Yuuya. However, she couldn’t help direct her eyes over to him again, feeling a sharp pain in her chest.

Not good…The gauge on the TST…is turning black again…and still…

She grew short of breath, her feet not properly moving anymore. Even if she wanted to get away from the crowd now, she would only trouble the people around her. Instead, the folk dance continued, and as she came closer to Yuuya, she could feel the darkness inside her, inside the TST washing away. At the same time, her heart started beating faster.

“Ahh…Why does it end up like this…”

The TST started to burn hot, this heat filling her entire body. With expectation and anxiety, Mitsuki found more trouble breathing. Time continued to move slowly. Finally, there was only one more person between Yuuya and her. With that, Ayaka’s previous words flashed back into her head.

Win at the Love Quest…dance together at the folk dance…then the couple will stay together forever.

“Wait, we’re not even a couple…this is way off…but, it’s a jinx…” Mitsuki muttered to herself, as her troubled expression turned over towards Yuuya.

Spotting Mitsuki in the midst of doing so, Yuuya flashed a bashful smile. That smile made Mitsuki’s chest tighten up, softly, and in a comfortable manner.

“Mm…Uuu…”

Mitsuki cast her face downwards, trying to control the storm of emotions raging inside her chest. But, then—The music of the folk dance stopped, signaling the end of the dance.

“…Haaaaa…”

With complicated feelings, relief and disappointment mostly, Mitsuki let out a deep sigh. She couldn’t comprehend her own feelings.

Why would I care about that guy…should just ignore him…It’s all because of the TST, because of Hiyori…playing with my feelings like this…

Full-throttle blaming the TST and Hiyori, Mitsuki was about to separate herself from the campfire, as the song of the folk dance suddenly started to play again.

“?!”

Mitsuki was pulled out of her thoughts, almost jumping up from that spot out of pure surprise.

“We’ve actually had one more dance left! Take it as a bit of a service!”

I don’t need any service like that!

Mitsuki cursed the announcer’s joking words, but that didn’t stop the song from playing. It was now her turn to dance with Yuuya. Her heart was beating out of control, as all the anxiety came rushing back. All the steps she perfectly remembered inside her head felt like they were blown away.

“With this we can dance as well, Mitsuki!”

The second Yuuya took her hand, a shock ran through Mitsuki’s body. As she grew wobbly on her legs, Yuuya softly supported her.

“Mitsuki, what’s wrong?”

“N-Nothing at all!”

Mitsuki took his other hand, and started dancing. Seeing no tension whatsoever in Yuuya, Mitsuki grew poison-tongued.

“…Ahhh…even though I’m like this…this is really pissing me off…”

“Eh? What is?”

“Everything! All of it!”

If she didn’t spit poison at him like this, she’d probably die out of embarrassment. She fell into complete desperation. Her body was throbbing all over, something about to shoot out any second. She was scared, honestly scared, as she was just thinking what would happen.

“Ahhh, I see how it is, Mitsuki.”

“W-W…What do you mean?”

As if he had seen right through Mitsuki’s thoughts, Yuuya flashed a confident smile. At the same time as the dance, which felt longer than usual, ended, Yuuya brought his conclusion.

“—It’s your rebellious age, right!”

“?!”

At the same time as she heard Yuuya’s unexpected answer, Mitsuki felt the blood rush to her head.

“All wrong! You idiooooooooooot!!!”

Mitsuki glared at Yuuya, as she put all her weight into one leg, stomping down on his foot.

“Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuch?!”

Yuuya’s scream ran through the evening sky, and even Yukina and Hiyori could only shrug with their shoulders.