— — — — — —
"So pretty! This place is gorgeous. I could seriously live here forever."
Yui stopped walking.
She found a spot where sunlight filtered through the bamboo overhead, tilted her head back, closed her eyes, and basked in the warmth with a blissful smile.
"Nice idea. Except there's no electricity, no internet, and you'd have to cook for yourself."
"I don't think you'd last three days. Actually, three days might be generous."
The Destroyer of Atmospheres, Yukino Yukinoshita.
Though, considering Yui's cooking skills, living alone out here probably would be a legitimate survival challenge.
"What's wrong with... my cooking? It's... not... that bad..."
Yui's voice grew weaker and weaker. By the final few words, she was practically whispering.
Lies don't hurt people. The truth is the real knife.
Judging by Yui's puffed-up cheeks, the attack had clearly landed.
Still, her sulking never lasted long. A moment later, she was shouting again, "Lanterns! There are lanterns down there too!"
Everyone followed the direction she was pointing.
Along the fences lining both sides of the path stood rows of warm-colored lanterns.
"Perfect! I saw pictures of Arashiyama at night in a magazine before. The bluish-green bamboo forest with all these lanterns lit up..." Yui clasped her hands together excitedly. "This is absolutely the perfect place for a confession!"
Oikawa stayed silent.
His thoughts drifted back to what Ebina had told him last night, and a headache immediately followed.
Tonight... Almost certainly wouldn't go as smoothly as Yui imagined.
"It really is romantic." Yukino glanced around the bamboo grove. "It would make a great place for a confession."
'So this is where Tobe plans to make his final stand?'
The sun was already beginning to set. Soon, the lanterns along the fences would glow with their warm light.
This bamboo forest would become the stage for a confession.
But... Would things really go that smoothly?
A cold gust of wind swept through the grove.
Oikawa pulled his coat tighter around himself.
Today was freezing.
...
..
After dinner, Oikawa returned to his room.
Tobe had already changed into a brand-new outfit and was pacing back and forth.
"This is bad. I'm already nervous. What do I do?"
Ōka patted him on the shoulder. "Relax. You're definitely going to succeed. I'm more worried that once you start dating Ebina, you won't have time to hang out with me anymore."
"No way." Tobe immediately replied. "I'll still hang out with you."
The joke eased the tension in the room considerably.
"Tobe..." Hayama walked over.
The moment Tobe heard him, he turned around anxiously, "What is it, Hayato? I'm seriously freaking out right now."
"It's nothing." Hayama paused. "...Good luck."
His expression was unusually serious, though he still managed to force out a smile.
Only Ōka and Yamato, the two muscle-brained sports idiots, still seemed convinced Tobe was going to succeed. Hayama clearly had already noticed that something wasn't right.
...
A moment later, Hayama left the room.
Hachiman hesitated briefly before following him out.
Oikawa left as well. He headed downstairs, bought a can of coffee from the vending machine, and settled onto a nearby sofa.
This sofa... Might end up being the most memorable thing about the entire school trip.
As he sipped his warm coffee, his thoughts remained a mess.
Mostly because of what was going to happen later.
A situation like this... He really wanted no part of it.
At that moment, a familiar figure sat down beside him.
Today's Kawasaki wasn't carrying her usual vocabulary book.
"You got good-luck charms for Taishi and Keika?" Oikawa asked, thinking of those amulets called omamori.
"This one's for you. I hope it keeps you safe." Kawasaki nodded and took a Shōai Anzen charm from her pocket before handing it to him.
The Shōai Anzen charm was an omamori for overall protection and warding off evil.
Oikawa smiled as he accepted it. "The ones you got for Taishi and Keika were protection charms too?"
"No. I got Taishi a victory charm. I hope he'll get into Sobu High."
"And for Keika, I got a health charm. I want her to stay healthy and never get sick."
Kawasaki explained each one carefully.
Oikawa smiled, then asked, "What kind did you get for yourself?"
"An exam..."
Her voice was too quiet for him to catch.
"What was that? I couldn't hear you, Kawasaki."
"An exam-passing charm."
This time she spoke more clearly.
"Oh. Right." Kawasaki pulled out her phone. "Let me show you something."
She opened her photo gallery and held the screen toward him, "These are pictures of the Senbon Torii at Fushimi Inari Shrine."
The endless rows of vermilion torii gates filled the screen. A large part of why Fushimi Inari Shrine was so famous was because of those endless gates.
Torii were traditional structures found at Japanese shrines. They served as a boundary between the sacred realm and the human world, a kind of spiritual gateway.
A normal torii consisted of two pillars topped by two horizontal crossbeams.
The Senbon Torii, however, was formed by countless torii lined up one after another.
Weathered dark-red gates faded with age stood side by side with brilliant vermilion ones, densely packed together. Under the sunlight, the endless corridor of red looked both majestic and mesmerizing.
The sight was breathtaking.
"That's impressive." Oikawa gave an honest nod. "Now I'm kind of regretting not going to Fushimi Inari with you."
"Right?" Kawasaki put away her phone.
Her feet swung lightly back and forth as she sat there, looking unusually happy. "Oikawa, I think I did really well on the midterms this time. I might even rank higher than I did last time."
"You earned it."
The two chatted leisurely.
After a while, Kawasaki suddenly smiled, "You know, if everything in life were like studying, it'd be nice. If you worked hard, you'd always get something back."
She looked directly into Oikawa's eyes. The smile on her face was warm.
Oikawa paused for a moment.
Kawasaki really had started smiling a lot more lately.
Back when he'd first met her, he could go half a month without seeing her smile once. She always looked tired, carrying the weight of too many responsibilities.
Now... Things were much better.
"Kawasaki, you should rest more. Effort is a long-term thing. You don't have to push yourself so hard. You're already doing great."
Oikawa reached over and gently smoothed down a few loose strands of her hair.
Kawasaki's cheeks reddened slightly.
But she didn't pull away.
Looking into his eyes, she suddenly felt that they were brighter than the evening sun itself. Warmer, too.
'If things could stay like this forever... Wouldn't that be nice?'
Her thoughts drifted to the love charm she'd secretly picked up at Fushimi Inari Shrine.
...
..
The sun finally disappeared beyond the horizon.
The lanterns along the bamboo path flickered to life, casting a soft white glow.
Under the lights, the green bamboo forest seemed to radiate warmth. Even the wind appeared to cooperate, no longer biting with its earlier chill.
If confession spots were ranked from best to worst, then this scene undoubtedly belonged at the very top.
Romantic. Gentle. Beautiful.
This was the stage Yui had carefully prepared for Tobe.
Unfortunately, the performance was destined to end in disaster.
Oikawa watched Tobe standing in the bamboo grove.
His emotions were complicated.
Was it pity? Sympathy?
He really wasn't sure.
Maybe what he felt was even more complicated than either of those.
Nearby, Ōka and Yamato were cheering Tobe on. Hayama, on the other hand, looked tense. His expression carried a rare trace of gloom.
Perhaps he'd already figured out how this would end.
Even so, he was still standing beside Tobe, encouraging him.
Hayama really was an upright guy.
Miura Yumiko wasn't here. She probably understood, just like Hayama, that Tobe's confession had no chance of succeeding.
But since Ebina was her friend, she had chosen not to take sides.
Hachiman looked like a man preparing to march to his execution.
He and Hayama had probably reached some sort of understanding already.
Yukino seemed colder than usual. Oikawa had no idea what she was thinking, but she likely knew this whole thing was headed toward disaster.
Kawasaki wasn't here.
She had zero interest in the matter. At the moment, she was back in her room catching up on sleep, claiming she intended to sleep for twelve straight hours and wake up tomorrow fully recharged.
As for Yui... she was the most optimistic person present.
Right now, she was probably on her way here with Ebina.
Everything seemed ready. All that remained was for the heroine of the evening to arrive.
"What do I do? I'm so nervous." Tobe kept pacing. "Hayama, what if I get rejected? Do you think Ebina likes me? Do you?"
The moment those words left his mouth, anyone perceptive enough already knew the answer.
Unfortunately... Tobe was a sports idiot.
And sports idiots shared a common trait. They never turned back until they smashed headfirst into a wall.
Why call that a virtue? Because on the field, that determination let them charge forward without hesitation.
In love, however, charging forward wasn't always enough.
"Relax. Maybe she likes you too." Yamato said it with a straight face.
Tobe nodded, "Dude, thanks. I feel a lot better now."
Then his expression grew serious. "But even if she rejects me, I'm not giving up. I know I've always been pretty casual. I was casual about dating other girls too."
"But this time... I'm serious."
Honestly? You'd be better off not being serious.
That was the thought running through Oikawa's head as he watched Yui jogging back toward them.
"Ebina's coming. Good luck!"
After cheering Tobe on, Yui returned to stand beside Oikawa and Yukino.
Then she asked quietly, "Do you think Tobe-kun will succeed?"
"I'm not sure. I think the odds of failure are higher."
The first answer came from Yukino.
"He won't."
The second, far more certain answer, came from Oikawa.
"...Yeah."
Yui looked a little dejected. After spending the past few days with them, even she had noticed that Ebina's attitude toward Tobe was fairly lukewarm.
Tobe stood waiting in the middle of the bamboo path.
Ebina slowly approached, passing one glowing lantern after another.
Everyone seemed to be holding their breath.
Some were hopeful. Others were waiting for the drama.
But all of them were waiting for this supposedly historic moment.
"Um..."
Tobe finally opened his mouth.
The hesitation alone had practically sentenced him to failure. When confessing, conviction mattered. If you couldn't be certain of your own feelings, how could the person you're confessing to believe your words?
"Ebina, I..." Tobe took a deep breath and gathered his courage, preparing for one final charge.
But before he could finish, however, Ebina walked right past him.
"Sorry. I have something I need to do first. Tobe, can you wait a moment?"
Everyone stared at her in confusion.
Everyone except Oikawa.
At that moment, he felt like a condemned prisoner being marched to the execution grounds, waiting for the signal that would end it all.
He was starting to regret agreeing to this.
Each step Ebina took seemed to land directly on everyone's heart.
One step. Then another. Finally, she stopped in front of Oikawa.
He caught the faintly mischievous smile tugging at the corner of her lips.
"Oikawa-kun."
Then she spoke, "I've liked you for a long time. Would you go out with me?"
The effect was immediate.
Like a stone thrown into still water, the shockwave spread through the entire bamboo grove.
Even the gentle wind that had softened moments ago seemed to grow restless again.
The two people most stunned by the confession were probably Tobe and Hachiman.
One had been preparing to confess. The other had been preparing to charge in and sacrifice himself.
Both plans were obliterated by a single sentence.
Hachiman quietly withdrew the foot he had just started to step forward with.
Meanwhile, Hayama looked completely lost. This development had exceeded even his imagination.
He had expected Tobe to be rejected. But never, not even once, had he imagined that Ebina would confess to Oikawa.
And yet… a tiny spark of hope rose within him. A hope that Ebina might actually succeed. Not for Tobe—but for himself, he really hoped Oikawa would agree.
Ōka and Yamato looked a little disappointed at first. Then their eyes immediately lit up with curiosity.
For people who lived for entertainment, the source of the drama didn't matter. Whether the victim was Tobe or Ebina was completely irrelevant.
Yui stood frozen.
She couldn't understand how things had ended up like this.
She wanted to run forward. Wanted to wedge herself between Oikawa and Ebina.
But her legs refused to move. All she could do was scream silently in her heart, 'Don't say yes. Please don't say yes.'
Everyone was staring at Oikawa.
Waiting for his answer.
"Sorry."
Oikawa paused briefly before giving the response he had already prepared, "I don't plan on dating anyone before university. Right now, my studies are my top priority."
"And I don't have any romantic feelings for you whatsoever, Ebina-san."
The words fell cleanly and decisively.
Yui's lips unconsciously curved upward. Then she quickly forced them back down, trying to look appropriately saddened.
After all, Ebina was her friend.
Hayama looked disappointed.
Meanwhile, Ōka and Yamato nodded with satisfaction.
As for Tobe, the original protagonist of this confession scene, he seemed to have vanished from everyone's awareness entirely.
His shoulders drooped as though the life had been sucked out of him.
"Oikawa-kun." Ebina spoke again. "I really do like you. And I'll keep liking you."
"I'll definitely get into the same university as you. When that happens... Will you give me a chance?"
Oikawa wasn't surprised at all.
This was probably the method she'd talked about. The method that would finally make Tobe give up.
"Sorry. You're not my type."
His answer remained cold and unwavering.
"I only want a chance. Can't you even give me that?"
Honestly, Oikawa was a little impressed by her acting. Did she really have to commit this hard to the role?
After a brief pause, he replied, "Maybe. But that's something for the future. I can't make any promises."
"I understand."
Ebina lowered her head.
Then she covered her face and began to cry.
The others stood frozen for a moment before rushing toward her.
Yui moved the fastest.
Oikawa's role in the play was finally over.
He let out a long breath and stepped out of the bamboo path.
"Good work."
Yukino walked over and quietly spoke beside him.
Oikawa didn't answer.
Instead, he looked back toward the commotion surrounding Ebina.
He had no idea how chaotic things were about to become over there.
After crying for a while, Ebina finally raised her head.
She pulled her glasses from her pocket and calmly put them back on, as if nothing had happened.
.
.
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