Chapter 34: A Sly Smile

A Sly Smile

The day after the new year began.

After spending some time relaxing at home, I was about to head out for my promised Hatsumode with Tachibana-san.

“Meeting Tachibana-san again today, huh?”

Kaori grinned as she came to see me off at the entrance.

“Well, yeah.” I shrugged.

“…Hey, Iori. Has something been up with you lately?”

My hands, which had been tying my shoelaces, paused. When I slowly turned around, I saw Kaori watching me with concern.

“…Do I seem different?”

“Not exactly. …No, maybe you do.”

“Really?”

“…I can’t quite put it into words, though.”

Kaori shrugged her shoulders.

“Well, if it’s not bothering you, then it’s fine. Sorry for holding you up. Have fun.”

I smiled back at Kaori, who was also smiling, and left the house.

…Since that day, my relationship with Kaori hadn’t really changed. At least, that was how it felt to me. Honestly, after our last conversation, I wasn’t sure how to act around her. That’s why I was consciously trying not to change my attitude.

Pretending that nothing had changed versus nothing actually changing.

That subtle difference was probably what Kaori had picked up on.

“But really, what am I supposed to do about it?”

Human relationships are complicated. I let out a sigh.

Shaking off my thoughts, I hurried toward my meeting with Tachibana-san. The shrine wasn’t far from my home—just a few minutes’ walk.

However, I headed in the opposite direction—toward the station. Given the season, the shrine would be crowded, so we had agreed to meet at the station and head there together.

When I arrived, she wasn’t there yet.

I decided to pass the time by fiddling with my phone.

“…Sorry for the wait.”

A wave of people descended from the train, flowing through the ticket gates. Among them, one person spotted me and walked over.

Tachibana-san, averting her eyes, murmured those words.

“You came in a kimono.”

Her hair, usually tied into low twin tails, was now gathered high on her head with a kanzashi ornament. Dressed in a kimono adorned with red accents, she looked more dazzling than ever.

“It suits you.”

I voiced my honest opinion.

“I-I didn’t ask for your opinion.”

She muttered resentfully, her cheeks tinged pink.

“…Thanks.”

“Still, aren’t you cold?”

It was an unusually chilly day. With only a kimono, wouldn’t she be freezing? I felt a little worried.

“I’m fine. …Achoo!”

“…Here, use this.”

I handed her my scarf. She should have at least worn a fur stole.

“Thanks.”

“No problem. Though, it might not match your kimono. Sorry.”

“It’s not like that…”

“Shall we go?”

I cut off the conversation, not wanting her to stand in the cold any longer.

“Yeah.”

And so, we finally set off toward the shrine for our first visit of the year.

At first, our walk from the station went smoothly. But as expected, the closer we got, the denser the crowd became.

“Well, it is a famous shrine.”

Tachibana-san said, sensing my impatience.

“Once we get there, let’s have some amazake to warm up.”

About thirty minutes later, the torii gate finally came into view.

Between the torii and the main shrine, rows of food stalls lined the path. The delicious aroma in the air was tempting, but if we left the line now, we wouldn’t know where to rejoin, so I resisted.

“Why don’t you grab something? I’ll wait here.”

“Huh…? Okay. What do you want?”

“I’ll leave it to you.”

“Got it. Leave it to me.”

I stepped out of the line and walked toward the food stalls. After some deliberation, I settled on pork miso soup since it would warm us up.

Apparently, many had the same idea, as I had to wait in line before buying two servings. Placing the chopsticks over the cups, I hurried back to her.

As I glanced at the line for the main shrine, I wondered how much progress she had made.

“Ah…”

That was when I spotted her, surrounded by a small group of people. Fortunately, they weren’t guys. It was a group of girls—classmates, to be precise.

“What a coincidence running into you here, Tachibana-san.”

The girls were also dressed in elegant kimonos. Among them, I recognized Yamada-san, who sat next to me in class.

“Who are you here with? Oh, is it him?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Nothing? That doesn’t explain anything. Come on, tell us~.”

Should I join this conversation about love stories?

I hesitated for a moment, but before I could decide, Yamada-san’s eyes met mine.

“…Oh, I see. You came with Saito-kun.”

Yamada-san flashed a sly smile.

Back at the start of the second semester, I had put a lot of effort into a class project. As a result, I briefly gained some recognition, but the twenty-year generation gap couldn’t be bridged. Eventually, I returned to being the odd one out.

For someone like me, being linked to one of the cutest girls in school was probably amusing for them… or was it?

“Unexpected. So that’s how it is.”

Denying it would be better for her. After all, we weren’t in that kind of relationship. It’d be best to act like we just ran into each other.

With that thought, I took a step forward, but—

“Yes, that’s right. Got a problem?”

Tachibana-san declared bluntly.

“…Then we shouldn’t intrude.”

“Exactly. So could you leave us alone?”

“See you later, Tachibana-san.”

The girls had likely already finished their prayers and were heading home. Or perhaps they had other plans—but that wasn’t my concern.

“Enjoy yourselves~.”

Just as she passed by me, Yamada-san teasingly threw out those words.

“Sorry. Did you wait long?”

“Not really.”

Tachibana-san remained as taciturn as ever.

“…Was that okay? Saying it like that? They’ll probably get the wrong idea.”

“…I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t want to.”

“I see.”

Well, if she was fine with it, then I wouldn’t press further.

But for some reason, she shot me a cold glare before devouring the pork miso soup in one go, as if venting her frustration.

Was she really that hungry?

I felt a little guilty about it.