Summer Vacation Arc: 82 Goldfish Scooping and the Only One

Summer Vacation Arc
82 Goldfish Scooping and the Only One

The executives were gone and the disciples had also all gone out to the festival, so the Aidou house was very quiet.

In just one room, Yuuri’s grandfather’s, the sound of go pieces clacking against the board sounded out as usual.

“I’m glad you stayed behind, perfect boy. When you get to this age, you can’t stand the loneliness of being alone.”
“It doesn’t look that way to me, though.”

In front of Yuuri’s grandfather, Hayate calmly answered his cheerfulness.

“Are you ok with not going to the festival?”
“Yes.”
“Seeing Meru-bou in a yukata is something pretty rare, you know?”
“…Right now, even if I go, I wouldn’t enjoy it.”
“Fumu… If you stay that angry, Meru-bou is pretty pitiful.”

When it came to his turn, Hayate immediately placed a black piece without hesitation and glared at Yuuri’s grandfather.

“That’s not something the one who intentionally dragged Meru into those siblings’ problems should say.”
“Foh foh. I’m not sure what you’re talking about?”
“Nothing, really… It’s unrelated to you.”

Hayate threw out those words coldly. Yuuri’s grandfather smiled faintly at that.

“I gave you proper warning, didn’t I? I told you not to let Meru-bou out of your sight.”
“Yes. That’s why I won’t complain.”

Hayate snorted while staring at the go board.

“It was a good opportunity. I’m grateful in a sense.”
“You truly are a terrifying guy…”
“Not as much as you are.”

Hayate and Yuuri’s grandfather talked about that and continued to place their go pieces for a while.

“Meru-chan, do you want to eat something?”
“Nah. I don’t really like eating while walking.”

Meru and Fuuga were walking around the festival together. Since Fuuga was wearing the mask, he didn’t get surrounded anymore, but they garnered a lot of questioning looks at the strange sight. The two of them were bothered by those looks for a while, but they gradually got used to it and naturally shifted their focus to the numerous stalls.
When Meru responded with that to Fuuga’s concern, he had a slightly surprised expression. Not that Meru could see it with the mask blocking his face.

“That’s rare these days.”
“Really? Are you okay not eating anything?”
“I’m full.”

Fuuga answered with a lively voice. Since they hadn’t had dinner, there was no way he was full. When Meru tilted her head doubtfully, Fuuga laughed.

“Then, Meru-chan, what do you want to do? Target shooting or the ring toss or…”
“Hmm…”

Meru hummed as she looked over the surrounding stalls. There was nothing in particular she wanted to do, so she decided on the first thing to catch her eye.

“Rengetsu-kun, do you like goldfish?”
“Eh? They’re fine, I guess.”
“Then let’s go scoop goldfish.”

Meru said and quickly walked over to the goldfish scooping stall.

“Oh! Welcome! For two people?”

When Meru entered and crouched down in front of the tub full of goldfish, the man running the store spoke to her. He had a peculiar expression for a moment when he first saw Fuuga with the mask on, but he promptly returned to his business face and handed the paper scoops over to them.

“I’ve never scooped one before. My scoop always tears quickly.”

Fuuga grumbled, crouching next to Meru. Even though he got some tips from the man there, he couldn’t get the knack of it.
As soon as Fuuga stuck the scoop into the water and a goldfish got on top, the scoop tore just as he’d said.

“Aaaah!”

Meru cackled seeing Fuuga downcast.

“Hey, Rengetsu-kun.”
“…Mm, what is it?”

Although he wanted to do his best and show Meru his good side, it was no good in the end, so he replied to Meru feeling dejected. Meru was even more entertained seeing that.

“How many can you raise?”
“Eh, me?”
“Yeah.”
“I think I could raise any in the single digits?”
“Okay.”

Meru said and rolled up the sleeves of her yukata.
And then she immediately tossed one goldfish into the bowl.

“Eh…what’s with that technique!”
“It’s not good enough to be called a technique.”

Meru said and once again easily scooped up a goldfish.

“You’re good, young lady.”

The stall owner unconsciously let out a sound of admiration. Even though she had already scooped two fish, her scoop didn’t show any signs of breaking.

“She’s amazing, right? Meru-chan is perfect at whatever she does.”
“I-I see.”

The man smiled at Fuuga uncomfortably. Knowing the man was thinking that he was an eccentric for wearing that mask, he took it off so only Meru and the man could see his face.

“Ohh…”

The man was also involuntarily astonished by Fuuga’s appearance. More or less guessing the reason he was wearing the mask, he said, “It must be hard for you.”

“I think Meru-chan could take all of the goldfish in this tub.”
“There’s no way, right~? Young man, you’re deeply in love with the young lady.”
“I love her so much that it’s a problem.”

Fuuga spoke with a carefree smile. Frankly speaking, Meru and Fuuga didn’t look like a well-matched couple. The man arbitrarily guessed that Meru was deeply in love with Fuuga while Fuuga liked her and so they ended up dating. So he was a little flustered when Fuuga confirmed the words that he’d said as a joke.

“Rengetsu-kun. Quit making embarrassing jokes.”
Ehhh. But I’m serious!”
“That’s even worse.”

If such a good-looking guy said those words to a normal girl, she would probably blush a little. However, Meru instead warned him with a troubled expression and was even readily evading his affection. Toward good-looking guys who came along with women in tow, the stall owner was always somehow irritated by them, but for some reason he kind of wanted to cheer Fuuga on.

At any rate, Meru’s scoop still didn’t show any signs of breaking. Around the time Meru took her tenth goldfish, the man began to think things were bad, seeing her sitting with a relaxed expression.

“Y-Young lady. Could you…”
“Hahaha. It’s just like I said, right?”

The man’s expression was anxious while Fuuga was smiling cheerfully.
It was just goldfish scooping, but they were able to get plenty of enjoyment out of it. Meru also felt it was about time, so she intentionally stuck her scoop into the water and tore it.

Taking the goldfish from the man, the two of them returned to the group of festival-goers and walked along with the flow.

“Here, I’ll give them to you.”

Meru said and handed the goldfish she’d just gotten to Fuuga walking next to her. Seeing that, Fuuga let out a wild-sounding “Eh…”

“…Is it okay?”
“Yeah. I have my own… Look.”

Meru showed Fuuga the five goldfish she’d had the stall owner separate into another bag. She took Fuuga’s hand and gave him the bag and he stared at the goldfish blankly for a while.

“Rengetsu-kun?”
“…Eh? Ah, um… Thanks. Hehe.”

Fuuga pushed down on his mask, making sure to hide his broad grin so that she definitely couldn’t see it.

“Hey, Meru-chan.”
“Yeah?”
“You’re seriously way too cool.”

Fuuga quietly murmured those words. Meru said, “Eh?” and took another look at herself. She wasn’t necessarily cute, but she would understand more if he had said cute. At the very least, her current appearance wasn’t “cool.” While Meru was thinking about that, Fuuga laughed.

“Not how you look. Look, like how you gave me these goldfish, isn’t that something a guy would do?”
“Really?”
“Well… Normally, anyway. But I can’t do anything manly, it’s really shameful.”

Fuuga hung his head. With the fox mask on and him looking disappointed, it was somehow amusing and Meru couldn’t help laughing.

“Meru-chan?”
“It’s not really shameful. I was thinking that in the end, you are you.”
“Is that something I can be happy about?”

Fuuga asked uneasily. He wasn’t sure if she was praising him or not. Meru nodded and properly explained herself to Fuuga who still looked confused.

“Earlier, even though you didn’t know the man running the stall, you got along well with him while you were talking, right? I can’t do that kind of thing. It’s amazing.”
“That’s not true. You can also…”
“I can’t.”

Meru said flatly. In reality, Meru was more shy and there were times where she even had trouble speaking closely with her classmates.

“Rengetsu-kun, you’re by far the most popular even among executives…and I know why. You’re really good at socializing. You’re easy to talk to. Your appearance might be a large part of why you’re so popular, but…I don’t think it’s only that.”

Fuuga’s brain wasn’t working very well, having been caught off-guard by Meru’s praises. A short time passed and the next thing he knew, he was bursting with happiness.

“No, well… It’s because I can use minor mind reading. It might be better to say I know what they want me to say…”
“Even if that’s the case, it’s because you can use it well which is amazing. If I could read minds, I think it would just be wasted.”

Fuuga was embarrassed by Meru’s straightforward words, but happy. It wasn’t the first time he’d been told he was good at socializing. He was often told, and there were times when Fuuga himself thought that way. But there was never a time it struck his heart with so much happiness.

“Thanks, Meru-chan.”
“Why are you thanking me?”

Meru asked with a smile. In contrast to Fuuga who was upfront about his happiness, Meru’s expression was a little stiff.

“I get really awkward when it comes to socializing…absolutely no good. So I feel jealous.”
“—”

Their surroundings were echoing loudly with the bustling sounds of the festival, the conversations of the people around them, and the noisiness of the stalls drawing people in, yet for a moment, it felt like the noise disappeared between them.

“Not that it’s an easy position, though…”

He couldn’t read Meru’s mind.
Despite that, he knew what thoughts were floating around Meru’s head right now.
He surely could have looked the other way about it. He could have pretended not to notice. That might have been better for Fuuga. He wasn’t in a position with enough leeway to help his rival in love, even as a joke.
But he couldn’t ignore Meru when she was troubled.

“Meru-chan, did something happen with Hayate-kun?”
“Eh…”

Meru immediately raised her head that had been hanging a little. Unlike her usual self, Meru reacted in a way completely showing he’d hit the mark, and she sighed at herself, saying, “I really am no good.”

“I said something cruel to Kamishiro-kun.”
“What did you say?”

Meru fell silent at Fuuga’s question.
There was a possibility that those words would also hurt Fuuga.
As Meru stayed silent, Fuuga gently caressed her head.

“Meru-chan, did you…say something cruel to Hayate-kun because you wanted to hurt him?”
Meru shook her head vigorously. She said that she’d just told him something that had always been weighing on her mind. After she did, Fuuga kindly told Meru, “Then it’s okay.”

“You didn’t say it with the intention to hurt someone, so I promise I won’t get mad.”
“…”
“So…talk to me.”

His eyes that she could see through the mask were the serious eyes he would show on occasion, so Meru automatically began to talk about it.

Why did everyone like her? That it was by chance, and wasn’t she someone replaceable?

And then Fuuga was quiet for a little while after listening to her. Meru was anxious about that and in the end, hung her head.

“Meru-chan.”
“Yeah.”
“To you, am I or Hayate-kun, Yuuri-kun or Laila-kun or Shoutarou-kun…are we replaceable? Would you be fine if we disappeared?”
“There’s no w…ay.”

Saying that on her own, she had a realization. Those words Fuuga suddenly spoke alone made Meru understand.

“I think Hayate-kun thought the same way you thought just now.”
“Ah…”

Meru couldn’t speak.
Seeing her like that, Fuuga smiled bitterly.

“But, the reality is just as you said.”
“Eh?”
“I mean, I fell in love with the girl who picked up my student handbook that day, told me my smile was weird, and gave me a candy. That is the truth.”

Fuuga said. Just as Meru had said, the reason he liked her was by happenstance, and he might have liked someone else if they had done that.

“But I think that even if we returned to that day again and again, no matter who picked up my student handbook, you are the only one who could move my heart.”

Not everyone could do what Meru had done. No matter how many times they did it over, if there was someone who could move him, it was Meru.
The words he spoke were full of contradictions, but they were kind above all else.

“I’m sure that Hayate-kun wants you to understand that. That’s why it’s okay. You can make up.”

Fuuga said and smiled.
He was glad he had listened after all. He liked Meru, but he also really liked Hayate as well.

“Thanks, Rengetsu-kun.”

Relieved, Meru’s expression rapidly softened.
Maybe because she’d had a weight removed from her mind, Meru chuckled for a while after that.

“That mask is weird after all.”
“You chose it!”
“Ahahahaha.”

A smiling Meru was better than a troubled one.
Fuuga walked alongside Meru while carefully carrying the goldfish she’d given him.

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<TLN>
Moving closer to reconciliation~

3 chapters left in the summer vacation arc!

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