The Delinquent Shimizu-san Sitting Next to Me Has Dyed Her Hair Black-Chapter 7Volume 3 .4 - Shimizu-san and the Summer Festival

Shimizu-san and the Summer Festival 4

“Here, Shimizu-san.”

I crouched down with my back to her.

“What?”

“Get on my back, I’ll carry you to the park.”

“Wha!? N-no, I don’t want that!”

“Would you prefer to be carried in my arms?”

“That’s not what I mean!”

“What then?”

I wondered if there were other ways to carry her without either holding her in arms or piggybacking?

Letting her sit my shoulders would be difficult, even for someone of my size.

“We’re about the same height, so there’s no way you can carry me!”

She had a point, but Shimizu-san was forgetting something important.

“It’s true that I’m not much taller than you, but Shimizu-san, I’m a guy. I can carry you on my back.”

I might not exercise much outside of PE class, but I didn’t think I was so weak that I couldn’t carry Shimizu-san.

“Come on, it’ll be fine.”

I urged her again to get on my back.

“…If you say I’m heavy, I’ll smack you.”

With those words, Shimizu-san’s hands reached around my neck from behind, and I felt her weight on my back.

I secured her legs with my arms and slowly stood up.

“Shimizu-san, are you okay?”

“Yeah.”

“Then, let’s go.”

I started walking towards the park with Shimizu-san on my back.

The park wasn’t very far according to what I’d checked on my smartphone, but carrying Shimizu-san seemed to make the journey slower.

“…If it gets too bothersome, just let me down.”

“I wouldn’t think of it as bothersome.”

“You weirdo…”

I couldn’t see Shimizu-san’s expression while carrying her, but from past experiences, her tone didn’t seem too displeased.

We walked slowly towards the park, with only the streetlights illuminating us.

“Shimizu-san, can I ask you something?”

“…what is it?”

“Did you enjoy the training camp?”

“…There was a lot going on, but yeah, I guess it was pretty good.”

“Then I’m glad.”

I had invited Shimizu-san to join the training camp, so I was genuinely happy to hear she enjoyed it.

The sourc𝗲 of this content is frёeωebɳovel.com.

“How about you?”

“Me?”

I hadn’t expected the question to be turned back on me.

I start to recall the training camp from the beginning.

“Including the process, I had fun.”

“The process?”

“Yeah, like working part-time jobs with you, Shimizu-san, planning the camp with the entire Astronomy Club, and choosing yukatas together with you and the others. I really think all of that made up to today was fun.”

“…I see.”

I felt Shimizu-san’s grip on me tighten just a bit.

“Hey, Hondō,”

“What is it, Shimizu-san?”

“How do you think we look to others who don’t know us?”

I wasn’t sure what she meant by the question, but I thought about it.

We don’t look alike, so we probably don’t appear to be siblings.

We might seem a bit closer than just classmates or club members.

As I ponder, one particular relationship comes to mind.

“To people who don’t know us, we might look like a couple.”

Thinking about it, during this camp, there were several times Shimizu-san and I might have been mistaken for a couple.

Like when we entered a best couple contest or when I interrupted a conversation Shimizu-san was having with a man who mistook her for someone else.

As I trace back through the memories of the camp, I realize Shimizu-san hasn’t responded.

“Shimizu-san?”

“…Wouldn’t you hate it?”

“Hate what?”

“That’s what I’m saying! Wouldn’t you hate doing things that make us look like a couple?”

Shimizu-san was actually worried about that?

My answer is clear without even thinking about it.

“I wouldn’t hate it. I don’t know about you, Shimizu-san, but I wouldn’t mind being mistaken for your boyfriend.”

“…You really are kind to everyone.”

For some reason, Shimizu-san seems to think I’m kind to everyone.

“I’d say it’s a bother when something a bother. I think that’s better for both of us. The reason I don’t mind being mistaken for being Shimizu-san’s boyfriend is…”

——I can’t continue.

Again, the reason why I think of Shimizu-san as special was something I couldn’t quite put into words.

“Anyway, even if others misunderstand our relationship, I wouldn’t be bothered by it.”

Shimizu-san’s grip on me tightens again.

“It’s because you’re like this that I…”

I couldn’t hear the rest of her words.

I think she didn’t say them out loud.

“Shimizu-san?”

“It’s nothing. Just keep looking straight ahead.”

“Okay.”

After that, Shimizu-san and I walked to the park in silence.

There were several benches in the park, and Shimizu-san and I sat down on one of them, leaving a little space between us.

“I just messaged Ai-san. I told her we got a bit tired from walking around the festival and came to rest at a nearby park.”

That would explain why we were here. The others would probably come here eventually too.

As I was thinking this, the night sky suddenly lit up with the sound of fireworks.

It seemed that the fireworks had started without us noticing.

One after another, the colorful fireworks blossomed in the sky and then faded away.

“It’s beautiful.”

“That’s true.”

I glance over at Shimizu-san.

As the fireworks illuminate her face, she has a gentle smile just like before.

“…It really is beautiful.”

“Yeah.”

Shimizu-san must have thought I was talking about the fireworks.

It’s a good thing she wasn’t looking at me. If she had been, she would have immediately noticed my face turning red.

As I was thinking this, I felt something touch my hand.

Looking down, I saw it was Shimizu-san’s fingers.

It seemed she was trying to hold my hand.

“Hey, Hondō,”

“What is it, Shimizu-san?”

“Let’s watch the fireworks together here again next year.”

“Okay.”

I intertwine my hand with Shimizu-san’s.

Will Shimizu-san still be by my side next year?

More than I could easily express in words, the thought of Shimizu-san still being by my side next year filled me with happiness.

『To me, falling in love means wanting to be by that person’s side forever』

『I want to be by your side forever!』

Ai-san and Yousuke-san’s words echo in my head.

I still don’t fully understand what it means to like or love someone, but——

If wanting to be by someone’s side means liking them, then perhaps my feelings for Shimizu-san are also a form of love.

That’s what I thought, but there’s no one here to give me an answer.

“Hondō, is something wrong?”

Shimizu-san must be worried about me since I’ve stopped talking.

“It’s nothing.”

I wonder if I am smiling as I always do right now.

I still haven’t found the answer.

Yet, I felt that I had come a little closer to finding one than before the training camp.