Chapter 94: Summer Festival ③

Reading Settings

Translator: Soafp

---

“Nice to meet you. My name is James Burn, Kokoa’s father.”

Burn-san handed me a business card and greeted me politely.

Since I didn’t have any business cards of my own, all I could do was awkwardly introduce myself.

…Maybe I should have had some made.

“My daughter told me that you’ve saved her life several times.”

“No, no, it was really just coincidence.”

“Even so, if it weren’t for you, Fukagawa-san, I might never have seen my daughter again. Thank you very much.”

Burn-san bowed deeply.

Honestly, I had no idea how to respond.

Still, it didn’t feel bad.

If anything, it felt like all the things I had done for Kokoa-san had finally been rewarded, at least a little.

“…However, Fukagawa-san.”

“Yes?”

“My daughter is still only a middle school student. And you already have several wonderful young ladies—”

“Dad!! What are you saying!?”

Kokoa-san, still riding on her father’s back, covered his mouth with both hands.

Did Burn-san think Kokoa-san was in love with me?

Besides, Kokoa-san was supposed to have someone else she liked as her first love.

Apparently, he wasn’t very knowledgeable about his daughter’s romantic life.

“S-Sorry, Ren-sama! My dad isn’t very good at Japanese!”

…No, aside from his pronunciation and intonation, his Japanese was perfect.

I cleared my throat and tried to change the subject.

“Thank you very much for helping arrange the apartment. Thanks to you, it looks like I’ll be able to live in a great place.”

“Not at all. You’re my daughter’s lifesaver, so that’s the least I can do. …Though I should mention again, even if we’re in the same apartment building, my daughter is still only a middle school student—”

“Dad, I told you not to say things like that!!”

Kokoa-san once again covered his mouth with both hands.

This father and daughter pair were unbelievably noisy.

◇

After that, Burn-san ended up touring the summer festival with us.

Whether he had already discussed things with Kokoa-san beforehand or was simply a man of few words, I couldn’t tell.

Aside from when necessary, he rarely interrupted our conversations.

…Instead, he devoted himself entirely to being Kokoa-san’s legs since she couldn’t walk.

“Wow, there are so many people!”

The moment we arrived at the festival grounds, Nodoka’s eyes widened.

She wasn’t wrong.

The crowd was enormous.

I hadn’t come here in years, but it felt even more crowded than when I was a child.

“…I think I might be getting overwhelmed by all these people.”

Beside her, Airi covered her mouth with one hand.

Apparently, she wasn’t good with crowds.

“Is it that bad? Don’t push yourself.”

“No, it’s not that bad. Besides, talking while looking at your face makes me feel a little better.”

“Really? Then should you just keep looking at me?”

I jokingly pointed at my own face.

“As expected of Ren-kun. That’s actually a great idea. If I focus only on you instead of the crowd, I’ll be fine.”

“O-Oh…”

I was only joking, but she took me seriously.

After that, Airi really did spend an alarming amount of time staring directly at my face.

Was she doing this on purpose?

“R-Ren!”

Suddenly, Nodoka stretched out her arm and pointed toward one of the festival booths.

“I want to try that!”

“That? The shooting gallery?”

The way she was getting excited made her look like an elementary school kid.

Come to think of it, she hadn’t had many friends growing up, and she had always been busy taking care of Anna-chan.

Maybe she simply hadn’t had many opportunities to visit places like this.

“I’ll show you how it’s done.”

“Huh? Senpai, have you done shooting galleries before?”

“Of course. Not festival shooting galleries, though.”

“Then what?”

“When I was younger, I shot an AR-15 with my father in America.” [TL: W*F IS A KILOMETER🦅🦅🦅]

“Uh…”

No, that’s actual shooting.

And what was with that story? It sounded like something straight out of a certain child detective who’s secretly an adult.

“Nodoka-san, is there something you want?”

“Hmm… maybe that stuffed animal?”

“Got it.”

Brimming with confidence, Airi handed some coins to the booth owner and received the rifle and cork bullets.

She pressed the stock firmly against her shoulder and stepped forward with her left foot.

Her stance looked so natural that she resembled a professional soldier.

“You know, shooting is all about breathing.”

Muttering that, Airi held her breath and pulled the trigger.

Pop!

The cork bullet shot out with a satisfying sound.

However—

“You missed completely, Senpai.”

“…I’m just rusty.”

Airi quickly took aim again and fired a second and third shot.

But every single one missed spectacularly, not even grazing the stuffed animal.

“Tch… If this were an AR-15, I’d hit it easily.”

“Yeah, and the stuffed animal would be destroyed.”

Apparently, real rifles and cork guns required very different skills.

Nodoka handed some coins to the booth owner and received her own cork bullets.

“Okay, my turn. Ren, how do I do this?”

“Nodoka-san, why are you asking him instead of me?”

“After seeing your performance, I don’t think anyone would ask you.”

“I’m not exactly an expert either.”

I moved behind Nodoka and adjusted the angle of her arms and the position of her waist.

“That’s it. Stay like that. Lower your hips a little more. Match the height of the barrel with the stuffed animal. Bring your arms forward a bit.”

“Ugh… This is harder than I thought. And I’m kind of nervous.”

Truthfully, I wasn’t even sure if I was teaching her correctly.

I’d played these games a few times as a kid, but I had never actually won a prize myself.

Though for some reason, I always ended up going home with one anyway…

“Ohhh…!”

Kokoa-san’s eyes sparkled.

“This feels just like a shoujo manga! Nodo-san, Nodo-san, is your heart racing!?”

“Could you be quiet!? I’m trying to concentrate!!”

“Eeeh…”

Come to think of it, once Nodoka focused on something, she tended to shut out everything else.

Maybe she had a hidden talent for this.

Curious, I watched as she pulled the trigger.

Pop!

The cork bullet struck the stuffed animal.

“Ooh!”

We all exclaimed at once.

…Except for Airi.

However, the stuffed animal didn’t budge.

It remained standing proudly as if nothing had happened.

The second shot hit too, but it only shifted slightly backward.

“Why isn’t it falling!? Is it glued down or something!?”

“If it were glued down, it wouldn’t move backward at all… Calm down, Nodoka.”

Nodoka immediately began treating the booth owner like some corrupt scam artist, forcing me to stop her.

The booth owner himself simply laughed it off.

Just as Nodoka was preparing to fire her final shot—

“U-Um…”

Yui, who had been watching from behind us, hesitantly spoke up.

“Would it be okay if I gave you a few tips?”

“Hm? Yui, are you good at this?”

“A little… maybe?”

Ah.

Now I remembered.

Whenever I failed over and over as a kid, Yui would always win the prize for me instead.

She won so often that the booth owner used to complain whenever he saw her coming.

“Yui’s actually really good at this. Trust her.”

“R-Really? Then teach me.”

Yui nodded and took my place behind Nodoka.

Then she started correcting her form from the ground up.

“Instead of just bending your waist, try bending your knees a little and lowering your entire body.”

“L-Like this?”

“Yeah. Then try to keep the barrel as steady as possible.”

Apparently, my instructions had been somewhat wrong.

“From what I saw, these bullets tend to drop a little. So aim slightly higher.”

“You have to notice things like that?”

“And that stuffed animal is pretty big, right? In that case, aim for the upper corner instead of the center.”

Nodoka’s expression became completely serious as she raised the barrel slightly.

If only she could use that level of concentration when studying—

Before I could finish the thought—

Pop!

The final bullet flew toward the stuffed animal.

Just as Yui had instructed, it struck the upper edge perfectly.

A moment later, the stuffed animal toppled backward as if it had been faking its balance the whole time.

“Ooh!”

Once again, a chorus of amazement escaped from us.

…Once again, excluding Airi.

“You two are amazing.”

I said it honestly.

Yui had instantly figured out the trick, and Nodoka had immediately put it into practice.

Both were impressive.

Maybe Nodoka actually had a talent for shooting.

After receiving the stuffed animal from the booth owner, Nodoka proudly placed her hands on her hips.

“Well, something like this is easy for me!”

“Nodoka-san, isn’t that taking way too much credit?”

“The person who didn’t even hit it once should stay quiet!”

Everyone burst out laughing.

To be honest, I had always thought summer festivals were ordinary and predictable.

But at that moment, I realized how precious this ordinary everyday happiness really was.

At the very least, I hoped this warmth would last until the festival ended.

That is—

Until the moment I came face-to-face with the worst person in my life.