Holding hands with Shiro-san, we walked along the stone-paved street lit up by the setting sun. This might be something obvious, but the Sanctuary was so quiet that it was hard to believe that we were actually in the middle of a festival.

  The geta we were wearing made a pleasant sound as we walked along the cobblestone path, and combined with the setting sun, it created a rather melancholic atmosphere.

  [……I haven’t had many chances to look at the flowers in the Sanctuary like this, but each one of them is unique, aren’t they?]

  [I’ve been making them as ideas come to mind, so I’m sure I’ve created a wide variety. The most recent one…… would be that flower over there.]

  [Its shape resembles a marigold, it’s hard to tell with the setting sun…… but it has a silvery color, right?]

  Normally, I would just look at the flowers vaguely, and find them beautiful, but after visiting the White God Festival today, I realized how precious the flowers that bloom in the Sanctuary are. It made me feel like they looked a little different than usual.

  Rather, I suppose it’s truly fortunate that I’m able to see the flower garden of the Sanctuary leisurely like this, which even the Supreme Gods find difficult to look at leisurely.

  While thinking about this, I glanced to the side and looked at Shiro-san’s side profile. Shiro-san’s face, illuminated by the setting sun, seemed to have this mysterious beauty that makes her presence even more prominent.

  ……I felt that what was truly fortunate above all else is that I got to see a side of Shiro-san up close, something that other people wouldn’t be able to see.

  Of course, I am well aware of Shiro-san’s overwhelming beauty, but that isn’t all there is to it. I know this because I’ve had the opportunity to see it up close, and to others, it may seem like she hasn’t changed much, but to me, Shiro-san seems to be changing more and more.

  Instead of the unapproachable and unrealistic beauty she had back then, I felt a soft warmth in her overwhelming beauty…… What I can say for sure is that the current Shiro-san is much more attractive than she was back then.

  And since she’s changing day by day, it’s always nice to find something new that I had never seen before, just like today.

  [……You can say it out loud, you know? Saying those things out loud would make me happier, and my grip on your hand would be a little tighter.]

  [That certainly is very tempting.]

  Well, she could read my mind, so she knew what I was thinking…… but there was nothing uncomfortable or stressful about it.

  I sometimes felt embarrassed about it, but I knew it wasn’t a problem because of the deep trust I had for Shiro-san.

  [……Shiro-san looks even more beautiful than usual today, so even though I intended to look at the flowers, you were just so attractive that I couldn’t help but admire you instead.]

  [I’m very happy that today’s Kaito-san can say all these things upfront.]

  [No, I still do feel embarrassed…… b- but well, I’d like to firmly compliment my lover while we’re on a date like this.]

  Just like Shiro-san herself declared earlier, Shiro-san smiled very happily. Her grip on my hand tightened just a little bit.

  ……Well, I really was embarrassed, but since the other party was Shiro-san, who could read my mind, I felt that there was no point in hiding my feelings and it was easy for me to be honest.

  Continuing to enjoy my time with Shiro-san like that for a while, as we were walking along…… it suddenly became dark, as if the lights went out.

  When I looked up, I saw a starry sky, which told me that the Sanctuary had switched to night. The flower garden began to glow with a faint light, so there was no problem with our footing.

  However, the fact that the sky has switched to night means……


  [……Does that mean the fireworks are about to start?]

  [Yes, they’re about to start.]

  [In that case, which place…… would be the best one to see the fireworks?]

  [I’ve “created a lawny hill” where we can get a good view of the fireworks at the end of this path, so let’s watch them over there.]

  [……I see, that certainly looks like a good place to watch them.]

  Unnn. That’s right, it’s Shiro-san after all. Anything is possible for her after all. Something like a lawny hill would be easy to create for her.

  Hmmm, even so, fireworks…… and then, there’s that lawny hill…… Considering that Shiro-san often tried to execute rather over-the-top situations for our previous dates……


  [……I guess we’d be sitting side by side with each other?]

  [That’s roughly it.]

  [Roughly?]

  [You see, if we just sit by each other, my shoulders would be free, and that would be quite an alarming situation, don’t you think?]

  When Shiro-san uses this phrase, it means that she wants me to do something for her. In a situation where we’re sitting next to each other watching fireworks, she mentioned her shoulders……


  I’ll be watching fireworks…… while embracing Shiro-san’s shoulders?

  When I glanced at Shiro-san while thinking about this, I somehow felt like she had a somewhat happy expression on her face.

  [Since Kaito-san has probably thought of a countermeasure for this predicament though, I suppose there wouldn’t be any problem at all.]

  [……I guess so.]

  I guess it would be tactless of me to ask her if I should embrace her shoulders, so I’ll just think about this and execute it myself. Well, judging from Shiro-san’s reaction, I’m sure it’s the right answer……


  Even so, how should I say this…… She looks really happy. Even when her voice doesn’t have any inflection, I can feel that she’s excited…… I suppose this cuteness too may also be Shiro-san’s charm that is usually hard to notice.

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