Chapter 125 Her and His Love Fate
After leaving the store, Shimizu Mi and Sakurai Haruka went back along the same path. The coldness of the outside world instantly surrounded them, which was particularly obvious compared to the warmth in the store just now.

However, even more depressing than the temperature outside was Sakurai Haruka's mood at the moment.

She lowered her head, her eyes fixed on the ground beneath her feet, and her steps were mechanical and heavy.

She has been in this state ever since she ran into Sakurai Shio and that man in the store.

Although I have never heard of any rumors that Sakurai Shio is dating a boy, considering that she is an artist, even if she really is in a relationship, she may choose not to make it public for various reasons.

But what does this have to do with Sakurai Haruka?
If it was in the first week, Shimizu might be able to use the system to read her mind or something, but at this moment, Shimizu really couldn't see through her thoughts.

While thinking about this meaningless and boring assumption, I walked along the quiet path of the provincial road at the same pace as Sakurai Haruka, passing by a brightly lit 24-hour supermarket.

The surrounding area is a quiet residential area with high-end buildings. As the night deepens, the number of pedestrians on the road becomes increasingly sparse, with only the occasional vehicle passing by.

The two of them walked all the way to the nearest train station to take them back to Sakurai Haruka's apartment.

It was already past eight o'clock in the evening and it was getting late, so Shimizu Mi prepared to send Sakurai Haruka home first.

Before the train arrived, Sakurai Haruka looked up at the night sky and let out a long white sigh, looking very tired.

Qing Shuijian also looked up at the dim sky, and the stars appeared.

The dust in the air after rain will be greatly reduced, and the transparency of the air will be greatly enhanced.

Therefore, you will see the stars more clearly.

Although Shimizu Michi's knowledge of astronomy was not very extensive, he was still able to recognize the brighter stars in the Summer Triangle - Vega in Lyra and Altair in Aquila.

As for the third star, Qingshuijian thought for a moment and remembered that it was Deneb in the Cygnus constellation.

At this time, the train arrived at the station, and Sakurai Haruka withdrew her gaze and looked at Shimizumi.

"See, can you accompany me somewhere one last time?"

……

Half an hour ago, because of what Sakurai Haruka said, Shimizu Mi accompanied her on a crowded tram, which swayed all the way until they arrived at a few stops in the opposite direction of the apartment.

Following the crowd out of the station through the ticket gate, and walking downhill for a while, you will see a worship trail that connects to the shrine.

Did you come all this way just to visit the shrine?

As the crowds moved forward, the ramp, which was lined with vendors on both sides of the way to the shrine, was decorated with colorful lanterns at night, which looked quite charming.

It seems that some special festival is being held here tonight, and from time to time I can hear couples around me praising it as "so beautiful".

Following the path that became narrower as they went up, Qingshui saw the two of them arrive at a huge red torii gate, and stone steps could be seen in the depths.

Afterwards, the 254 steps made people breathless, but Sakurai Haruka still walked with light steps.

When Shimizu met her in the first round, he once suspected that she had terrifying endless physical strength. If it weren't for her naturally sensitive physique, it would have been a bit too much for her to handle.

After climbing more than 200 layers of narrow stone steps, we entered the shrine. There were no stalls or shops here, only a shrine in front of us.

It was already past eight o'clock in the evening, but there was still a short line of visitors waiting to worship in front of the shrine.

There seemed to be more than a dozen people, and the line was about five or six meters long.

Shimizu Mi and Sakurai Haruka, who arrived late, were at the end of the line.

Actually, this shrine was built seven or eight years ago, but it was only recently that the number of people visiting here gradually increased.

It is said that there is a rumor on the Internet that this shrine is particularly effective in terms of love fortune.

Therefore, most of the people queuing here are high school and college students.

Some couples came hand in hand, apparently to fulfill a vow, while others were secretly in love with each other but had not yet confessed their feelings to each other.

However, Shimizu Mi and Sakurai Haruka at the end of the team do not belong to any of them.

"See, what do you want to wish for?"

"I just came to pay my respects, why do I have to make a wish..."

Generally speaking, visiting a shrine is not utilitarian and is not an occasion to make a wish and ask the gods to fulfill it.

Moreover, Shimizu Mi didn't have any particular wish to make, but if he really had to say one, it would probably be to have a stable income in the future, for his family to live in peace and safety, and for him to be healthy.

Although they are all very ordinary, when you think about it, there are actually quite a few wishes.

However, it always feels a bit weird to make such a materialistic wish to God.

Material things can be obtained through one's own efforts, so people generally pray for things that they cannot get or are difficult to get.

The more important point is that if something can be obtained through a certain channel, it may also be taken away through a certain channel.

While thinking about this, Shimizu found that Sakurai Haruka was staring at the signed shipping box in front of him.

Looking closely, it says "Love Luck".

Judging from the name, this is a fortune box mainly focusing on love fortune.

It seems that Sakurai Haruka, like most people, came here for this reason.

"Want to try it?"

Shimizu took out two five-yen coins from his pocket that were just the change he got when he paid the bill in the store.

Donations like this are usually made using five-yen coins, as the pronunciation of the coin means "to establish a connection."

Of course, in some cases, if there are no 5 yen coins, using 50 yen coins is also acceptable.

Soon it was Qingshui's turn to meet the two men. They lined up and put the incense money into the competition box.

Qingshuijian specially threw in a five-yuan coin with his birth year printed on it.

Then the two of them rang the bell together, and when they were done, they bowed twice, clapped their hands twice, and finally bowed once more.

I looked up and found Sakurai Haruka next to me with her eyes closed, looking very focused, probably making a wish.

After finishing, Shimizu Mi and Sakurai Haruka went to the "Love Luck" lottery box in turn to draw lots.

"Yes! That's great!"

A high school girl in front of them happily made a victory fist gesture and looked like a very energetic girl.

The two girls walking next to her saw her signature and exclaimed.

"Wow! Peach Blossom is amazing!"

"I got lucky~"

Her companions all came over, clapped and congratulated her.

"No, what can I say? It's just a signature, don't take it too seriously~"

The girl named Taohua said calmly on the surface, but she still folded the lottery ticket carefully and put it in her wallet happily. She looked like a girl in love, so cute.

However, Shimizu Mi has a different opinion on this. In a sense, Daikichi is actually not that good.

Because there will be no better luck beyond that, so once you draw a very lucky number, your fortune will only go downhill.

At this time, Sakurai Haruka, who was watching from the side, showed a little envy. For a moment, Shimizu was surprised that she would be interested in fortune-telling like an ordinary girl, but after thinking about it carefully, although she was often more independent and stronger than most girls, she was actually just an ordinary girl who liked cute things.

“Huh? It’s Sueyoshi!”

"Ah~~ I'm Xiaoji..."

The girls in the front row drew lots one by one, and it seemed that their love fortunes were pretty good recently.

From my impression, girls seem to believe in fortune telling and such, especially high school girls of this age.

After those people left, it was Qingshui's turn to meet the two of them.

"...See, why don't you smoke first."

When it was Sakurai Haruka's turn, a hint of nervousness appeared on her face. After hesitating for a moment, she took a step back and signaled Shimizu to draw the lot first.

"On principle, I don't want to smoke."

Shimizu Mi admitted that he didn't particularly believe in gods and Buddhas, and he was just accompanying Sakurai Haruka to visit the shrine tonight.

Besides, his love fortune... just thinking about the two severe yanderes surrounding him, he could roughly guess it.

However, looking at Sakurai Haruka's expectant eyes, Shimizu finally decided to try to step forward and draw the lot.

After unrolling the paper tag folded into a strip, the word "凶" came into Qingshuijian's eyes, but he had no intention of reading the rest of the content.

It turns out that I shouldn't have drawn this thing. It's just like those cheating pools in mobile games.

"It's actually fierce. It sounds a bit subtle..."

Sakurai Haruka, who was standing by, leaned over and said this after seeing the fierce figure above.

Because Shimizu drew the fortune related to love, Sakurai Haruka probably thought that this had some subtle connection with her.

But think about it carefully, if you draw a bad number, then according to the logic just mentioned, doesn’t it mean that your luck will only get better in the future?
Although he never believed in these things, Qingshuijian still subconsciously comforted himself in his heart.

Next, it was Sakurai Haruka's turn to draw the lot.

Shimizu Mi had once heard of an unscientific law of conservation, which meant that fortune was actually balanced.

In this world, if one person is lucky, there must be another person somewhere who is unlucky.

In other words, if someone is unlucky, someone else must be lucky.

So, since Shimizumi is unlucky, then Sakurai Haruka will definitely——

Sakurai Haruka opened the paper note with some trepidation, and the first thing she saw on it was a striking word "Big".

I have to say that it is really hard to draw a lucky number. I didn’t expect that besides the girl in front, two people in a row actually drew it.

"congratulations!"

Qingshuijian had already prepared such words of praise, but when he was about to open his mouth, no sound came out, and in the end he just maintained the shape of his mouth as if to open its mouth to speak.

That’s because the word “凶” appears right after the word “大”.

"Very bad"!
Even worse than what Shimizu drew.

I didn’t know how to comfort her for a moment.

Damn it, who are these two people who are so lucky?

"Forget it, forget it. It doesn't matter if my luck in love is bad. Jian and I are already together anyway. No matter what happens, we will definitely not separate in the future."

Sakurai Haruka pushed her hair back and acted as if she didn't care, but Shimizu Ken didn't miss the slightly sad smile on the corner of her mouth.

Does she really not care?

If that's the case, then why did she bring me to a place like this so late at night?
In Shimizu's eyes, Sakurai Haruka seemed to be forcing a smile. Although her attitude was extremely natural, her clever performance made her look rather clumsy in Shimizu's eyes, which made people feel inexplicably distressed.

It's like deliberately avoiding facing important things, deliberately not taking them to heart, trying hard to hide one's thoughts, burying them deep in one's heart, and thereby bearing everything alone.

This approach can be said to be completely wrong, but in her heart, Haruka Sakurai is trying to convince herself that it is the right thing to do.

When Qing Shuijian thought of this, a wave of emotion surged in his heart, causing him to blurt out almost reflexively:

"What is your relationship with the man in the store just now?"

"..."

Sakurai Haruka seemed to be struck by this question, she was stunned and said nothing. But Shimizu could feel her gaze, which was inexplicably shaken and uneasy.

……

"Bad luck" and "very bad luck".

Two fortune sticks like these made Shimizu wonder whether it was necessary to keep them.

If I lose it as soon as I hand it over, will it anger the gods?
Although Qing Shuijian didn't really believe these, he still had an inexplicable taboo in his heart.

Sakurai Haruka seemed to have the same concerns, but her approach was more radical.

Shimizu immediately reached out to stop Sakurai Haruka who was about to tear up the paper tag.

"It won't change anything even if you tear it up."

Qingshuijian took the paper from her and said lightly.

"See……"

Sakurai Haruka raised her head and looked at the young man in front of her, with a complex emotion flashing in her eyes.

Under the starry sky, she had such a lonely expression.

This was the first time that Shimizu Mi saw such an expression on Sakurai Haruka's face.

At first, he thought that it was Haruka Sakurai who learned about the school's decision to suspend her from school this Friday.

But there was a hint of farewell in her expression, as if she was saying goodbye to something important.

"Maybe this is the last time we go out together..."

Sakurai Haruka's expression is like that of a terminally ill patient who came here specifically to leave the last memories of his life. If it were made into a movie, it would definitely make the audience cry.

However, Sakurai Haruka's physical condition is even better than Shimizu Mi, and she has never had any serious illness in the first round, so there is no need to worry about this kind of stomach pain.

But... judging from Sakurai Haruka's expression at the moment, this is not the case.

Recalling all the unusual behaviors of Sakurai Haruka in the past, whether it was that she suddenly flirted with him, or that she was embarrassed to touch him at school during the previous sports meet, but tonight she took intimate photos with Shimizu Mi in the store without caring about other people's eyes.

I even set it as the lock screen wallpaper of my phone and told Qingshuijian not to change it in the future.

[Can you go somewhere with me one last time? ]

[Maybe this is the last time we go out together]

When Shimizu Mi connected all of Sakurai Haruka's words and actions tonight, he heard the girl in front of him slowly utter three words.

"fiancé."

(End of this chapter)