I play the wind instrument in Hokkaido.

Page 141

"Wow, this is the first time I've ever heard of something like this," Kuno Tachibana said incredulously. "So, between you and Yu, who's the older sister and who's the younger sister?"

Miya Nagasawa looked at the goldfish scooping stall not far away and said:

"I didn't care about those things. If we're really going by birth date, Yu is my older sister."

“I just don’t seem like the right person to be the older sister,” Goto Yu said, looking at the camera in her hand.

Kuno Tachibana said, "Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. Let's go play goldfish scooping."

If you caught it, would you keep it as a pet?

"Well, whether it survives or not depends entirely on its luck."

For some reason, the goldfish caught at the festival all had very short lifespans; they would turn belly up within a few days of being brought home.

We arrived at the goldfish scooping stall.

"Two hundred for a net!"

"Give."

Paying money one by one was too much trouble, so Kitahara Hakuba paid two thousand bar directly and took ten fishing nets.

Small amounts can be shared among friends, but larger amounts require splitting the bill.

Miya Nagasawa rolled up the sleeves of her yukata high, spotted a seemingly lively goldfish, and carefully placed the net into the water.

Startled, the goldfish tore through the thin paper and escaped.

"How lame," Kuno Tachibana laughed.

"Come on, if you don't get anything, you're starting to mock people."

"Go ahead and scoop it up! Watch carefully, the side where the paper is stuck on is the surface, it won't tear easily if you use this side. Then hold the bowl in your left hand and wait. Place the net at an angle into the water. When scooping, use the outer frame of the net, making sure only the goldfish's head is on the net, and then... scoop it up in one go!"

Her theory was sound, but the goldfish still broke through the net and swam freely in the water.

"Haha, you're the same," Nagasawa Miya said with a laugh.

Kuno Tachibana raised the net, his eyes wide, then glanced at the shopkeeper shouting and muttered under his breath:

"It's definitely a problem with the internet; those unscrupulous merchants deserve to die a horrible death."

"Ah...it's up here." Goto Yu suddenly said, picking up the camera to take pictures.

The two girls glanced to the side and noticed that there was already a red tamarind in Kitahara Hakuma's bowl, and they immediately showed a surprised expression.

"Teacher Kitahara, you're really good at this!"

"Wow, that's impressive. He hit the target with just one net. He's completely different from some people who only have theory."

Kitahara Hakuba handed the remaining net to Kuno Tachibana:

"I'm not really good at it. I only managed to fish it out by following Kuno-kun's instructions."

Upon hearing this, Kuno Tachibana proudly turned to Nagasawa Miyako and said:

"Look, I'm Kitahara-sensei's teacher now too."

Nagasawa Miyako asked, puzzled, "You want to take advantage of this too?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Shinomiya Haruka also caught a black dragon goldfish.

Kuno Tachibana held up the torn fishing net in her hand and said, "Is this what they mean by 'husband and wife working together'...?"

But she quickly shook off her dejected mood and began silently catching goldfish.

"What names should we give them?" Shinomiya Haruka asked.

Kitahara Hakuba looked at the goldfish in the two bowls and said with a smile, "Little Red and Little Black."

Shinomiya Haruka burst out laughing:

"Isn't that a bit too direct?"

"Because I know they won't survive; they'll die very quickly."

Kitahara Hakuba looked at the goldfish swimming in the water and said,

"If the name you choose is too meaningful, you will be the one who suffers."

The somber atmosphere had already been built up, but then Shinomiya Haruka suddenly pinched his cheek:

"Idiot, didn't I tell you before that the most important thing when chatting with girls is to be emotional!"

"I'm already very sentimental..."

"No, let's start over. What should we name these two goldfish?"

"Kitahara Hakuba and Shinomiya Haruka".

Shinomiya Haruka revealed a subtle, ambiguous expression and said very gently:

"Hey, but you just said that we shouldn't choose something too meaningful, or we'll be the ones who suffer. But this one is too meaningful, and now I'm starting to feel sad."

Kitahara Hakuba:

I'd like to ask you all, are all girls really like this?

When Shinomiya Haruka saw his expression, she immediately burst out laughing:

"Alright, I'll go with you, Little Red and Little Black."

"In the end, isn't it still Plan A?"

"It's a helpless situation to have to choose back and forth." She smiled mischievously.

The interaction between the two made the three girls around them somewhat envious, especially Kuno Tachibana. It would be a lie to say that she didn't want to be in a relationship.

Unfortunately, her figure is too thin; who could possibly discard her decaying body and know her loveliness from the depths of their soul?

"Sigh..." She couldn't help but sigh when she thought of this.

I was about to chat with the two girls next to me when I noticed they were huddled together looking at photos taken by a camera. The girls' bodies were pressed together through their yukatas, making for a particularly eye-catching sight.

It's one thing to have couples around you, but why are there "girly girls sticking together"?

1

"How can I understand what you're thinking if you don't tell me? And what about what you said earlier about using me?"

"It has nothing to do with the moonlit night anymore. You said that before, didn't you? Even if you lose someone, you have to look forward. What are you doing now?"

"But how can I just sit idly by and do nothing about you in this state!"

Nagase Tsukiyo strode forward, grasping Saito Haruka's wrist. Her words, tinged with soft breaths, reached deep into her ear.

"Didn't Qingniao tell me when we were little that we'd be friends for life?"

Saito Haruka gripped her shoulder bag tightly with one hand.

In the past, every time she was with Yueye, the emptiness in her heart would be filled.

At that time, she thought it would be such a sweet thing to be friends with someone like that.

But now, this emptiness is spreading because of Nagase Tsukiyo. She feels that all the strength in her body has been drained, leaving her completely exhausted.

“I don’t want it anymore…” Saito Harutori took a deep breath, as if she had made up her mind.

Nagase Tsukiyo felt a chill run down her spine:

"What do you mean?"

Saito Harutori turned her head expressionlessly and said in a stern tone:

"I don't want to be friends with Tsukiyo for the rest of my life."

A look of surprise appeared in the hazy girl's eyes:

"Sunny Bird...?"

While she was still in a daze, the first firework of the Hong Kong Festival finally rose into the night sky.

With a loud bang, a giant golden chrysanthemum bloomed in the dark sky.

Immediately afterwards, magnificent fireworks bloomed in the night sky, releasing dreamlike yet fleeting bursts of light.

Nagase Tsukiyo's fingers twitched slightly, as if searching for Saito Harukori, who had stubbornly begged her not to leave back then.

Were those fireworks in the sky just now jellyfish?

"Why do I feel like I'm looking at a fish?"

"I didn't expect to be able to see so clearly here!"

The clamor around him rose and fell, but Nagase Tsukiyo automatically blocked it all out, staring at the girl in front of him with a somewhat puzzled look in his eyes.

"Why are you saying this? Just because I didn't notice you'd taken a liking to the tutti?"

"Ugh!"

Saito Harutori's brows furrowed tightly, a sharp pain piercing her heart. She gritted her teeth, lowered her head deeply, and her gaze flickered violently.

"What do you think I've worked so hard for all this time? Besides the brass band and the euphonium, I have nothing left!"

Nagase Tsukiyo gasped. The phrase "having nothing" was too heavy for her to bear, and she really didn't want to think about it too much.

"Sunny Bird...: ...Can you just tell me what's wrong? You're scaring me a little."

These words seemed to be a request to Saito Harukori, leaving her speechless for a moment, with only the fireworks blooming in the sky occasionally illuminating her cheeks.

"Only under the moonlit night will your path be unobstructed, with a mother who understands you, and Kitahara who cares for you..."

Saito Harukori stopped mid-sentence, forcefully withdrawing her hand and saying...

"I'm going back. Don't contact me again. Good health."

For some reason, the word "Gui An" that she used sounded particularly jarring to Nagase Tsukiyo.

Watching Saito Harutori gradually leave, Nagase Tsukiyo felt a surge of restlessness in her heart. She could now somewhat understand how Harutori had felt back then.

She simply wanted to prevent the other person from gradually becoming a stranger, someone untouchable.

But unlike Saito Haruka, she didn't have the courage to say, "I'm willing to do anything."

>

Fireworks continued to light up Hakodate Bay, and under the brilliant night sky, Saito Harutori walked home alone.