Chapter 45: The Ice Lady and the Lovebirds

As the first three days of the New Year had passed, words such as “the start of work” and “next semester” were beginning to flicker in people’s minds.

The two train rides to the shrine were already crowded with people.

The temple grounds were overflowing with people as far as the eye could see, and needed to be careful just to walk a little.

If only someone hadn’t said, “I want to go to the famous shrine that was broadcasted on TV!” They could have easily gone to a nearby place, but since Asahi lost the majority vote by three to one, he had no choice.

And as expected, the happy-go-lucky girl, the initiator of the meeting, showed up at the meeting place with the same high spirits as she had shown on the messaging app.　

“Fuyu-chan, there’s a campfire looking thing over there!”

“That’s called a bonfire.”

“Ah! Look, look, the guardian dogs that were featured on TV! Fuyu-chan, come with me!”

“Eh? Wai- it’s not safe to run…”

Perhaps the word “distance” did not exist in this girl’s dictionary.

Hinami’s enthusiasm was so strong that it might be the case.

It was already making the storm that blew a few days ago seem cute.

“They’ve only met each other for an hour, right?”

“We met at the station at one o’clock, so it hasn’t even been thirty minutes.”

“Are all girls like that?”

“No, she’s an exception. That’s only possible since it’s Hinagon, the Kaiju.”

“I’ve never heard of such beast.”

“You’ve never heard of the Hinagon? She’s the most powerful Kaiju ever. She can make friends with anyone.”

“Yeah, no idea at all, but that’s certainly powerful if she can do that.”

Fuyuka followed behind, pulled along by Hinami who ran straight to the guardian dogs.

Fuyuka was quite bewildered by the enthusiasm, but she didn’t seem to be uncomfortable at all.

Her face, which had been stiff with nervousness and anxiety at first, finally seemed to be loosening up.

Asahi wondered if this was all due to the power of the monster Hinagon.

It was so natural that Asahi didn’t notice it until he heard it a couple of times when they changed the way they called each other.

“Oh yeah, didn’t you get some kind of nickname too, Asahi?”

“Yeah, about ten seconds after you introduced me.”

“That might be the fastest record. So, why does she call you by your first name now?”

“I rejected the nickname with all of my strength.”

 

“Aa, I remember. As I recall, the nickname was―”

“Don’t even. If Hinami heard it…”

Chiaki peeked curiously at Asahi’s face, who had stopped in his tracks.

“What’s up?”

“Didn’t those two just go towards the guardian dogs?”

“Yeah, they run close together… Wait…”

Chiaki also noticed something along the way, as Asahi did.

They were looking at the cute statues of guardian dogs and the crowd gathered around them.

However, Fuyuka and Hinami were nowhere to be found among them.

Just to be sure, they moved closer and looked, but the result was the same.

The location of the shrine, which they rarely visited, combined with the fact that there was a surprise guest must have made Hinami quite excited.

It was easy to imagine that she had taken Fuyuka’s hand and wandered around without thinking about the consequences.

“Is this what they call…”

 

“They’re lost. Totally lost.”

The two men who were left behind looked at each other after they understood the situation, one was sighing loudly and the other was laughing happily.

“Did you find them?”

 

“Not at all.”

 

It had been a while since they got separated from Hinami and Fuyuka.

They couldn’t have gone very far yet, but there was no sign of them at all.

Asahi took out his phone, but the signal was weak and he couldn’t get a connection no matter how many times he tried.

There was also the option of relying on a lost child center, but considering their age, Asahi didn’t want to use it if possible.

There was certainly no other option anywhere.

The search for Waldo had begun.

“Damn it, you better put a leash on that girl.”

“Even I can’t handle Hina with that kind of tension.”

“Let’s hurry up and find them.”

“Well, well, don’t be in such a hurry. We’re going to meet in front of the shrine anyway.”

“…What’s the basis for that?”

 

“Me and Hina think alike.”

 

If that was the case, then they shouldn’t have gotten separated from the beginning, but there was no point in saying that, Asahi thought.

But, Chiaki had a point.

As long as they were here for Hatsumode, there was a good chance that they would be able to encounter them in front of the shrine.

Whether Hinami would follow was uncertain, but at least Fuyuka could be trusted.

“Since we’re here, let’s walk slowly and talk.”

“Talk about what?”

“About Himuro-san, of course.”

At any rate, the usual grin appeared on Chiaki’s face as soon as he decided to head for the shrine.

The expression on his face seemed to say that he had been waiting for this opportunity.

“Spring has finally come to you. How can we not talk about this?!”

“What are you talking about? We’re still in the middle of winter.”

“Mmmm, you’ve gotten pretty good at feigning ignorance.”

“I’m not. I already told you everything.”

“Well yeah, about how you and Himuro-san are friends.”

Asahi already explained everything by message.

After taking care of Fuyuka, their mutual interests aligned.

Asahi teaches her how to cook and Fuyuka teaches him how to study.

They became friends while promoting such a mutually supportive relationship.

Asahi was leaving out a lot of details, but he was not lying.

He had handled it the same way when he explained it to Kazuaki and Touko, so he was used to it the second time around.

However, things were not so straightforward to this man, Yoshikawa Chiaki.

It sounded good to say that he was watching the surroundings very carefully, but sometimes he could see too much, so one couldn’t be too careful.

In fact, Chiaki didn’t seem too surprised this time either.

It was as if he knew it all along. Or maybe he already guessed where it was headed.

“To be frank, how do you feel about Himuro-san?”

“…What do you mean by that?”

“Well, of course, whether you like her or not… Woah, your face is scary!”

Asahi fell silent while staring at Chiaki.

‘Why do both my parents and this lovebirds immediately connect it to a love affair?’

“Didn’t I explain it to you many times already? Fuyuka and I are friends.”

“No, I know. I know, but I was wondering how it is, based on that. Then, why don’t you tell me if you like her or not?”

“…Of course, I don’t hate her.”

 

Asahi walked quickly through the grounds, leaving Chiaki’s annoying reaction behind.

Of course, if the choice was between liking and disliking, Fuyuka fell into the category of liking for Asahi.

Even if given the third option of normal, his answer would still be the same.

However, if someone asked him if that was in a romantic sense, it was most definitely not the case… or should have been.

Lately, this feeling of liking Fuyuka, who showed her true face at a moment’s notice, had made him hesitate.

“But I guess it was Asahi who melted the ‘Ice Lady’.”

“…On what basis?”

“Because that’s all I can see. No matter how you look at it, Himuro-san is changing under your influence.”

“I can tell by the air between you two.” Chiaki added while chuckling. However, Asahi doesn’t remember doing anything special.

All he had was the memory of him meddling and taking care of her.

That was how Fuyuka began to laugh at some point.

She took a big step forward to change the way she treated others.

“I didn’t do anything…”

“You may think that, but the other party may think otherwise.”

 

The same thing also happened at Christmas.

Asahi didn’t think he gave her anything, but Fuyuka gave him something in return.

‘What does Chiaki mean by influence?’

‘What does Fuyuka mean by receive?’

‘What on earth am I giving to Fuyuka?’

As he walked down the long path, Asahi tried to think for a moment.　

However, Chiaki immediately asked a question.

“Why did you let us meet at this time? You knew it was going to get messy.”

“So you’re aware of being a pain in the a*s.”

“Of course. It’s obvious from the look on your face.”

Asahi knew there was no point in telling him to shut up and be quiet.

Besides, Chiaki had a valid question.

In front of Chiaki and Hinami, they could have remained as just “neighbors,” to avoid trouble.

In such a situation, Asahi took the trouble to create this situation.

In fact, as the day came to a close, he found that the couple was really noisy, troublesome, and annoying, and they were always trying to connect everything to love.

Even so, Asahi thought of them as great guys, and that was why he was with them.

“I thought you guys could be friends with Fuyuka.”

“Wow. I don’t know the details, but I think you’re on the right track.”

“Look,” Chiaki said, pointing straight ahead at a large torii gate.

“Hey, you two, you guys are late!”

Next to Hinami was Fuyuka who waved her hand in a carefree manner with a wry smile on her face.

“Maybe they were looking for us.”

“Eh, really? You should have told me earlier. Now I just look like a thoughtless girl…”

“I thought it was insensitive to do… since Aiba-san seemed to be enjoying herself.”

“Fuyu-chan!”

“Wait, don’t hug me out of the blue!”

“But Fuyu-chan is so cute and kind!”

Apparently, the distance between the two of them had shortened considerably in such a short time.

It may be that Hinami was approaching her one-sidedly, but Fuyuka also seemed to be accepting it with confusion.

It was a very charming sight to see the two of them getting along so well.

“I think we can call them friends now, don’t you think?”

“…Yeah.”

 

It was more vigorous than he had expected, but Hinami seemed to be getting along with Fuyuka, just as Asahi had hoped.

In fact, there was a definite change in Fuyuka’s expression as she played with Hinami.

“I’ve never seen Himuro-san’s face like that before.”

A gentle, soft smile hiding behind the ice.

Fuyuka’s smile, adorable as an angel, drew the gaze of many people, including Chiaki.