Chapter 3

Before imagining the loss of a loved one, I couldn't even see myself getting a girlfriend in the first palace.

"But, losing someone important to you…is bound to be painful. And it'll take a long time before that wound can heal."

"Yeah…" Ayaka gulped down the rest of her ramune, almost as if she wanted to cut off the conversation.

And then, her eyes shot wide open, like she spotted something.

"Huh?"

"What's up?"

"That's Yumiko-san. I didn't expect to spot her here…Also, is it just me, or is she walking toward us?"

Yumiko—Nobody at our school didn't know that name.

"What are you on about? No way Yumiko would come to a sweets store like this—"

Black hair swaying along the summer breeze. As our eyes met, I forgot to even breathe for a moment—Yumiko Hotaru. She's a student at our school, and even in the same year as us. But, it's almost like she belongs to a different world…like she just came to ours on a visit. After all—her family is extremely rich. Sure, you could wonder why a wealthy lady like her would attend our commoner school, but according to the rumors that reached me, her parents wanted her to learn how the real world worked, which is why they chose a school like ours.

And she wasn't only wealthy, she only had the looks and body figure of a model or idol. Her long hair looking like a black thread only added to the prim and proper impression she gave off. All her facial features of hers looked like they were handcrafted, and her jet-black eyes stood out especially. The contrast between these and her snow-white skin was breathtaking, and I consider her to have much greater artistic value than any vase or fruit sorbet.

"—Hello." Her voice was clear like a bell, pleasant to listen to.

For a moment, I was awestruck, only to slowly realize that she might be talking to us.

"H-Hello!" Ayaka snapped back to reality a tick faster than me, politely greeting Yumiko with a lowered head.

As the other person was like an idol at school, it was natural that she would be nervous. I wasn't much better.

"To meet you here…What a coincidence, Yamada -kun, Shinomiya-san."

"Huh? Y-You know us?"

"Of course I do, we're in the same year."

"That's true, but…We're in different classes, and we never even talked before, no?"

"Yes, that's true. But I know you two, as you are quite famous."

"F-Famous? We are?"

"Yes. That boy who's with you…Kusama-kun. He always brings the weirdest things to school, causing a ruckus in the process, right? One day, he talked about summoning a spirit, which filled the entire school with smoke, and when the teacher scolded him, he said 'This was necessary to summon the strongest spirit! And if I have that, I could even rule the whole world,' which really stuck with me…"

"Ah, well…I'm sorry about that stupid friend of mine."

Leaving aside Ayaka and me, Kazama really stands out. And since he's a weirdo, it's all in a bad way, of course.

"Why are you apologizing? It's not like he's hurt people, and I enjoy watching the ruckus he causes. Not to mention…"

"Not to mention?"

"When that happened, you spoke to the teacher, right? Saying 'Sensei, it's fine to scold him as much as you like, but he's just an idiot, not a bad person…A bit too much of an idiot, but that's beside the point.' And then you helped him clean up after, too."

"Ah…That may have happened."

Her warm and pleasant gaze made me feel itchy all over. I didn't do it because we're friends or anything, I just would have felt bad leaving him alone to clean up all that mess.

"Also, you remember that?"

"I told you, it stuck with me. I've been meaning to talk to you at least once."

"That…is an honor, I guess?"

"It's nothing special, you know? Just like you know about me, I know a fair bit about you. That's all there is to it."

That might be true, but hearing that from the celebrity at our school…someone who is admired by everyone, honestly scares me a bit.

"More importantly, what brings you here, Yumiko?"

Some old-fashioned and outdated sweets store isn't a place where a rich lady like Yumiko would normally be visiting. And I don't think her house is in this direction, either.

"Huh? W-Well…I learned about the existence of this store a while back…and I never came to such an establishment before, shamefully so."

"Well, I would have guessed as much. But that's nothing to be embarrassed about. I'm assuming you wanted to check it out today?"

"Y-Yes…I was quite intrigued by it. That's why I wanted to see it with my own eyes once…Would it be okay for me to enter? Or do they need a reservation?"

"It's not some high-class restaurant that's booked out for most of the year. You can just enter," I explained, but Yumiko still seemed fairly hesitant, seeming nervous to set foot inside.

For that reason, Ayaka and I decided to tag along. Seeing us, the elderly lady at the cash register greeted us with a warm "Welcome."

"Wow…So many sweets I've never even seen…"

To us, nostalgia is overwhelmingly strong, though. But for a rich lady like her, all this must be entirely new. And I don't mean that in a degrading way. Seeing her look around like an excited kid contracted her usual attitude, and it was honestly quite cute.

"…By the way."

"Yeah?"

"I've been curious about it for a while now…But what is it that you're holding?"

"Ah, this? It's called ramune. A sweet carbonated drink."

"Oh…It looks so refreshing. How wonderful…" She stared at the ramune bottle in my hand.

"…Wanna try a sip? Ah, wait."

That was close. Usually I'm pretty nonchalant whenever Ayaka's involved, but we're talking about Yumiko here. She'll think of me as a pervert if I force this onto her. However, I can't just say no either, so I turned to Ayaka.

"Ayaka, can you let her try a sip from yours?"

"Sure. Here you go, Yumiko-san."

"Really? Thank you." She accepted the bottle and took a sip. "Delicious…!"

Yeah, I'm sure of it now. Yumiko's the type of person who'll say "I've never had something as delicious as this!" when trying her first bowl of ramen. Her eyes will be sparkling during that entire time, too. It's an absolute template when dealing with rich ladies like her. But even so, her expression right now is something I won't get tired of.

"But you have some too, Ayaka."

This time, I offered my own bottle of ramune to Ayaka. I was the one who basically said to hand hers over to Yumiko. At this rate, I'm just a stingy idiot who's not willing to share.

"Hueh?!"

"Hm? Why'd you scream like that?"

"B-Because…this is…"

"This is what?"

"An indirect…N-No, nevermind! Don't mind me!" Ayaka blushed furiously as she waved her hands and took a sip from my ramune.

It should still be cold, so it hopefully helps her cool down a bit…or so I thought.

"…S-Sure is hot, huh?" Her cheeks were beet red, and I could practically see steam rising from her head.

"You okay? You're not going through a heat stroke, are you?"

"N-No! This isn't…what you think…!"

Suddenly, I heard a faint snickering voice next to me. Turning around, I saw Yumiko looking at us with a faint smile on her face.

"…What?"

"Don't mind me. I just felt a bit jealous."

"Jealous? Why?"

"Hee hee, it's nothing."

After that, Yumiko went to try some of the sweets in the store and bought a bag full. Finishing her purchase, she showed a satisfied grin.

"With all these sweets bought, I think I shall excuse myself now. I'm sorry for obstructing your time together," she said and walked down the path she came as her long black hair fluttered.

Ayaka watched her walk off and then mumbled something in a daze.

"Wow…That was my first time speaking to Yumiko-san, but she wasn't at all as arrogant as you'd expect from a rich lady. Ah, I really admire her. I want to be like her."

"Ayaka, your eyes are sparkling way too much."

"But can you blame me? You also think that she's beautiful and a great person, no?"

"Well…I do, I guess?"

I never talked with her before, and although she can be a bit sheltered of a rich lady, she's a lot more open and frank than I thought she'd be, and she seems like an interesting person. Then again, I wouldn't even think of dating her. She's like an unattainable flower to me. I'd just be scared of placing a flower like her in a dull flower pot. She should bloom in total freedom instead.

"Yeah…I guess you would…"

Hearing my words, Ayaka seemed like she was lost in thought and took a sip from the ramune in her hands. It was a sweet carbonated drink, filling the blue and translucent bottle, but the bubbles had long disappeared.