Knock, knock, knock, cluck.

Inside the shrine, the crisp sound of clogs can be heard.

Colorful stalls line both sides of the road, emitting a variety of smells.

Red, orange, yellow, green, blue...

The clothes of the girls coming and going are also blooming with bright colors, complementing the yo-yos floating on the water.

Children wearing masks ran around waving toy swords, while adults holding beers followed behind with smiles and gentler expressions on their faces than usual.

The tall and solemn torii becomes a bit softer under the bright light, quietly watching everyone who comes here.

In this small dreamland, there are several lanterns with the names of local businesses and stores hanging on them, illuminating the night with dim lights.

Stand directly below the torii gate.

"Wow……"

Sayu sighed, couldn't help but let go of his palms, and trotted ahead.

Knock knock, knock knock.

"Haha... so spectacular!"

The look with her mouth open looked a little silly, but also a little cute. The girl looked around with such energy, the expression on her face was like that of a child who was taken to an amusement park by an adult for the first time.

Kato Yusuke then put his hand to his mouth like a loudspeaker and warned: "Don't get lost."

"No way." Sayu, who was looking around, turned his head to look this way, with a heartfelt smile on his face, and then he kept pointing around and asked.

"Yusuke Yusuke, what is that?"

"Fishing for goldfish."

"Where's the one next to you?"

"The water balloon seller."

"Where's this one over here?"

"Airsoft shooting."

"And this one?"

"That's just an ordinary mask stall."

Kato Yusuke, who had his hands in his sleeves, slowly walked forward, then took out a hand and reached towards the other person's forehead, and flicked it with his fingers.

"ah!"

Boom——

The girl made a cute sound, and with the soft muffled sound, Sayu covered her head with both hands.

"Hey, what's going on? What's going on?"

The other party looked up with a confused and pitiful expression.

Kato Yusuke responded noncommittally: "This is just a punishment for annoying JK who deliberately picked some childish questions to tease people. Are you a child?"

"Hey, hey, do they look alike?"

"I'm not complimenting you."

"But then again~"

The girl said this and tilted her upper body slightly.

"I think Yusuke is the only one who will really take care of me like a child. At least in the eyes of others, don't I feel like a newlywed wife?"

The unique citrus sweetness that belongs to the other party floats over gently, and mixes with the sweetness in the air, blending into a fruit-like flavor drizzled with a layer of syrup.

The soft hemispherical E cup was looming at the neckline of the yukata, exuding a strong feminine charm. Kato Yusuke couldn't help but look away, secretly forcing himself not to imagine the body temperature hidden in the shadow.

So he decided to change the subject.

"One day you will become a qualified bride——"

The words suddenly stopped at this point, and Kato Yusuke realized what he had said and immediately looked towards Sayu.

I saw that the other party was standing there with his mouth half open, as if he was speechless. He obviously didn't expect to hear such thoughts.

Just a few seconds passed like this.

The girl's fair cheeks slowly turned red.

"That...means..."

Sayu asked him in a voice so weak that it was almost disappearing: "Will I become Yusuke's... bride in the future?"

The sound was as thin as a gnat, but for some reason it still reached my ears clearly.

"Um?"

Kato Yusuke's eyelids twitched slightly, while Sayu lowered his head in embarrassment, his face red to the roots of his ears.

--"bride"

Words that are ethereal but full of fantasy are just like the full moon hanging high in the night sky, so far away that even if they are used as a joke, people don’t know how to react.

Neither of them spoke for a while.

Gazing absently at the bright white leisurely moon, Kato Yusuke silently pondered some irrelevant questions, and then asked them nonchalantly.

"...I just smelled apple candy, shall we go buy it?"

The girl's delicate body trembled slightly, then she slowly raised her head, closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

When she opened her eyes again, a smile bloomed on her face again.

"Well, I want to go!"

◇

A few minutes later, the two stopped in front of a stall.

The stall owner is an easy-going old man who seems to be adding jaggery to the hot circular hearth of the stove. There are also a few eager children surrounding him.

"Is it actually a marshmallow?"

"Ah...marshmallow..."

Sayu murmured, his tone seemed to be filled with emotion.

Seeing this, Kato Yusuke said to the stall owner: "Sorry, please give us one."

"Okay, one hundred yen."

He immediately took out a hundred yen and handed it to the other party.

"...Huh? Yusuke..." Sayu suddenly came back to his senses and cast his gaze over.

"Aren't you going to eat?"

"Well……?"

"Because you look like you want it very much."

"Is it so obvious..."

The girl put the cool catkins into his hand and said softly: "I just remembered that when I was a child, I went to the festival, but I couldn't get the adults to buy it for me. I remember the things at that time very clearly, so I have always been very happy.

interest."

Sayu, who was staring at the heart of the furnace, raised his head slightly and asked a little unconfidently: "Is this weird...?"

Like a piece of fragile porcelain, there was a hint of weakness in the girl's eyes.

Kato Yusuke remained silent, just shook his head slowly but firmly, and pulled the other person closer to the stove. There were originally two children here, but after they got their own marshmallows,

It became empty.

"Although I don't know if I can make up for the regret you had at that time, but now that you are free, let's start making up for it with little things, such as the process of making marshmallows."

"Like This."

Sayu nodded his head slowly, his eyes swaying for a while. Then he focused on the heart of the furnace and watched the process of making marshmallows.

Buzz, woo——

The kind uncle turned the disposable chopsticks in his hands so that the sugar threads were constantly wrapped around them. It was very interesting to see, and it also had the style of a summer festival.

"Ai."

Sayu, who was lowering her head, suddenly called out softly, attracting Kato Yusuke's eyes. The furnace light illuminated the side of her face, dyeing her face with a touch of orange-red like a burning cloud.

The girl murmured: "Why were you willing to answer that kind of question just now?"

Not caring about the other person who became quiet due to a certain emotion, she resisted the urge to turn around and peek, and continued speaking.

""There is someone who will be waiting for me at the finish line." Can I have this expectation?"

No matter how cautious he was, there was still a hint of eagerness to hear the answer in his tone.
To be continued...