Chapter 151 Their Cultural Festival is about to reach its climax

At eleven o'clock, the guests entered the school from the main gate and the cultural festival was officially opened.

It was probably lunchtime and the store had just opened for a short while when unexpectedly many students from other classes and some parents came in.

The preparation process of the dessert shop went smoothly without encountering any major obstacles or any incidents worth mentioning.

When the scheduled start time arrived, everyone looked at each other at the same time, as if confirming through telepathy, "Let's get started," and then everyone went their separate ways to prepare the food.

Seeing that there was no need to make desserts, Qingshui just took some time off.

If you must say, he actually has another job of recording chores.

The job content is basically to be responsible for photographing the cultural festival activities of each class, but to put it simply, it is just wandering around and taking a few photos to record them.

Amemiya Iori is the exact opposite of Shimizu Mi. She has already started her busy work with quick movements.

"Honey, Reina said she wanted to go to the cultural festival."

"This is her first time participating in a cultural festival."

"You must take good care of her."

Because of Amamiya Iori's few words, Shimizu Ken, who was originally planning to come out alone to shoot and record the work, ended up bringing Shimizu Reina along.

……

Some classes from first to third graders set up many stalls imitating the stalls at summer fireworks festivals.

To give some examples of games that require skills, there are shooting games, ring tossing, or games where you win prizes by hitting marbles.

Because the two schools are jointly run, there are now many students from Shin Kitada High School wearing stand-up collar uniforms setting up stalls everywhere in the school.

A large number of stalls are gathered together, and the scene in front of you looks like a small-scale festival venue.

To be honest, it was going quite well. It seems that the frequent meetings in the past few days and the efforts of the executive committee members were not in vain.

"I still have work to do, so I can't always hang out with you."

Walking side by side with Shimizu Reina, who had carefully informed Shimizumi in advance, she looked very happy, and her feet made a pleasant "click-click" sound as she walked.

Is she really listening carefully?

However, such opportunities don’t come often. In fact, even if we only look at the dessert shops, most people seem to be enjoying the cultural festival normally.

The crowd stretched all the way to the school gate.

There were countless stalls next to each other, and a considerable crowd of people gathered in front of each stall.

Many boys at the stalls seemed to be busy preparing, probably because they had practiced how to fry and grill food before the cultural festival began, and their movements seemed quite skillful.

When passing by a stall where one could experience the ring tossing game, Reina Shimizu couldn't help but stop.

It seems that according to the rules, as long as you hit five circles, you can get a colorful stuffed bear. It seems like a very cute prize for girls, but it is not very attractive to boys.

Shimizu took out his camera, simply took a few photos of the stall, and then continued on his way.

Behind her, Reina Shimizu looked at the teddy bear reluctantly, but she still shifted her gaze to Shimizu Ken and quickened her pace to catch up.

On the other hand, the shooting game stall next door seemed to offer snacks as prizes, and prizes could be obtained if the challenge was successful, which was a very thoughtful arrangement.

The prizes you can get are also very affordable, with the cheapest ones being worth about 100 yen and the most expensive ones only worth around 400 to 500 yen.

"Brother, do you want to give it a try?"

Perhaps because Shimizu Ken had been standing in front of this stall for too long, Shimizu Reina, sensing that he was interested, gently pulled him over to a table where five toy guns for shooting games were placed.

In fact, Shimizu Miyabi is indeed very interested in the so-called shooting games, so it might be a good idea to try to challenge it.

Each person can get five bullets per game.

This gun seems to be called a cork gun. It is a toy gun that has a cork inserted into the gun and then fires.

You can see that each gun placed side by side on the table is made thicker than expected.

However, the cork bullets were twisted and deformed, making it doubtful whether they could be used for precision shooting.

From the time he was born to today, Shimizu has never held a gun.

Although I have seen it in movies or games, the feeling is still quite different when I actually use it myself.

There happened to be no other students shooting nearby, so there was no way to watch other people demonstrate.

Qingshuijian had no choice but to rely on his imagination to grab the gun placed in the middle and try to raise the gun.

It stands to reason that you should normally aim for the most expensive prizes, but to get the most expensive snack packs, you'll have to take down large, heavy objects.

How powerful is this gun?

Anyway, let's give it a try first.

While listening to Reina Shimizu's encouragement, Shimizu Ken fired the first bullet.

Bang—the cork bullet was fired with a brisk sound, approaching the heavy object that Shimizu was aiming at.

But the bullet only passed a few centimeters to the left of the weight.

According to Shimizu's previous prediction, the bullet should have hit the target exactly, but it traced a completely different trajectory.

In that case──Shimizu then turned the muzzle of the gun a few centimeters to the right and fired the second bullet.

I thought this would perfectly correct the trajectory, but this time the bullet flew diagonally to the upper right and missed the target again.

As expected, it is much more difficult to play than imagined...

Just as Shimizu loaded the third bullet, other students began to join the game.

So Shimizu decided to observe the situations of other students and try to correct the track further.

However, the students who fired the bullets were just like Shimizu, and although they aimed at the target, they were in a difficult situation.

Only one of the students managed to hit the weight with his first shot, and even though the weight did not fall, it still managed to push it backwards.

Shimizu continued to observe to see if there was any trick, and then discovered that it was not a difference in technology, but that the guns that looked the same actually had different performances.

Millimeter-scale deviations in the manufacturing process, combined with the quality of the corked bullets themselves, can create an unexpected trajectory with every shot.

It's a very interesting design, and it also understands how difficult it is to shoot down a target.

As a result, Shimizu could only let his last bullet hit the target he was aiming at. Of course, it was not so easy to shoot down, and his first shooting game ended in a miserable defeat.

Next, I just need to predict the trajectory of the bullet when it is fired from the shape of the cork. If I try again──
Qing Shuijian originally thought so, but when he saw a notice on the stall saying "One person can only challenge once today", he gave up the idea.

"I failed."

When Shimizu heard this report, Reina Shimizu raised the corners of her mouth and seemed to be very happy.

"You look quite happy even though you didn't get the prize."

"Because I saw my brother's cute side."

“What’s the cute side?”

In Shimizumi's opinion, that was probably just a period of time when he did not show any of his strengths as a brother.

"Even at times like this, he could have gotten the prize with one shot - it didn't turn out like in the comics, which is very nice for me because it made me realize that my brother is not omnipotent."

That's only natural, right? It's impossible for most people to hit the target every time they play a shooting game for the first time. Could it be that this girl has always regarded her brother as an omnipotent god?
But thinking about it carefully, Shimizu Mi felt that Shimizu Reina probably wanted to emphasize a sense of "realism".

If this were a story in a girls' comic, the brother or boyfriend would usually win the prize smoothly.

But precisely because of the failure, she felt even more strongly that the boy in front of her was not a fantasy she had created, but a real person.

"Do you think it's cute? Generally speaking, you would want your brother to be more handsome, right?"

"I've seen a lot of my brother's handsome side."

As a result, instead of blaming him, Rena Shimizu felt a little happy because she didn't get the prize.

……

After leaving here, Shimizu continued to take her around and take photos for the cultural festival.

When she saw a stall selling cotton candy, Reina Shimizu's eyes lit up with excitement, and her mind was completely captured by those colorful clouds.

The cotton candy machine hums and emits a sweet aroma.

The students in charge of the stall gathered the fluffy white sugar threads in the machine onto bamboo sticks, then put them into bags and hung them on the stall.

The bags were printed with four animated girls in pink, blue, red and yellow, and seemed to be from an anime.

Qingshuijian has not read these, so he doesn't know where they come from.

However, when he saw the marshmallow, Qingshuijian couldn't help but recall that the last time he ate it was when he was a child.

Just as he was reminiscing, Reina Shimizu pulled his sleeve.

"Brother, can I buy one?"

Shimizu Reina looked exactly like Shimizu Mi when she was a child and asked her parents to buy her one. She was also immersed in nostalgia and looked at the marshmallows lovingly.

After Shimizu Ken nodded in agreement, Shimizu Reina began to worry about which one to buy.

Is she a Virgo?
"Which one should I buy?"

Shimizu Reina looked at Shimizu Ken for help, as if asking for advice.

"The contents are all the same anyway. Excuse me, please give me this one."

Shimizu picked out the marshmallow wrapped in a pink bag in front of her and paid 500 yen.

After the marshmallows, we also bought some marbles.

Originally they thought that they could continue the cultural festival work well like this, but before they had walked far, Shimizu Rena stopped and pulled Shimizu Ken's sleeve again.

Shimizu was about to ask what was wrong, but she handed him a pink marshmallow that was bigger than her face.

"Brother... do you want to eat?"

Earlier in the cooking class, Shimizu Mi had already tried quite a few cookies made by Amamiya Iori and Shimizu Reina, and the words to refuse were already on the tip of his tongue... However, he couldn't refuse that look.

Forget it, just show your appreciation.

Thinking of this, Shimizu Mitsuki took the marshmallow from Shimizu Reina and just as he opened his mouth to taste it, he noticed something strange.

Because Reina Shimizu had taken a small bite of the marshmallow, it had melted a little due to the temperature of her mouth.

"..."

Shimizu Ken was slightly stunned. Although it was not a big deal for him, what would Shimizu Reina think?
If he took a bite of it, how would she feel? Would she be disgusted? Would she throw the marshmallow away?

No, that shouldn’t be the case. After all, she was the one who handed it to me.

Somehow, Shimizu found that he seemed to have become a little sentimental recently.

Looking over, he found that Shimizu Reina was still looking at him with expectant eyes.

It’s really hard to guess what a young girl of this age is thinking…

Just in case, Qingshuijian chose to be conservative and turned the marshmallow slightly to the other side, then tore off a piece with his hands and put it in his mouth, then returned it to her.

Hiss, it seemed like I heard a sigh of regret?

"Well……"

Shimizu Reina did not take the marshmallow immediately, but kept staring at Shimizu Mi's mouth as if she was very concerned.

Come to think of it, the corners of my mouth seemed a little sticky, probably because I accidentally got some marshmallows on them when I was eating just now.

"Sorry, wait for me for a moment."

Shimizu was searching for a tissue in his pocket, so Shimizu Reina reached out her hand to his mouth and pretended to wipe it.

"Hey, junior! So you are here!"

Shimizu was suddenly hit from behind and staggered, almost bumping into Shimizu Reina by accident.

"Senior, you're so heavy..."

Sakurai Shio, who had jumped onto Shimizu's back without permission, heard this and immediately showed an unhappy expression and wrapped her arms around his neck without any hesitation.

"What did you just say? How rude! I was looking for you everywhere, and you dared to complain that I was too heavy..."

Sakurai Shio retaliated by poking Shimizu's cheek with her index finger, but felt a sticky touch instead.

"Eh? What is this..."

Then, without thinking, she put her finger in her mouth and sucked it...

"Ah, it's cotton candy! So sweet! So delicious!"

Could you please stop putting your fingers in your mouth before you come to a conclusion about what it is?
Shimizu let out a sigh that contained this meaning.

On the other side, for some reason, Shimizu Reina kept looking at the hand that had just been halfway extended and then retracted.

"Eh? Where is this elementary school girl from? She's so small and cute~"

Sakurai Shio looked at Shimizu Reina, who looked like a little hamster in front of her, with great interest.

Sakurai Shio's figure is similar to Sakurai Haruka's, both of them are over 1.7 meters tall, so compared to her, Shimizu Reina, who is barely 1.6 meters tall, or maybe even one or two centimeters short, is really small.

"I'll introduce you, so can you come down first?"

After repeated urging from Shimizumi, Sakurai Shio finally got off his back.

Although Shimizu Reina had met Sakurai Haruka at Shimizumi's house some time ago, this was the first time she met Sakurai Shio.

After Shimizu introduced the two people who met for the first time to each other, Sakurai Shio greeted Shimizu Reina with a smile, and then suddenly leaned close to Shimizu's ear.

Amidst the noisy booths, Sakurai Shio said in a voice that only the two of them could hear:
"I have done what you said. Don't forget to reward me well later~"

Previously in Kanagawa, Shimizu Mi had told Amemiya Iori about the Sakurai sisters' engagement in a tactful way, and later learned from her a solution.

After listening to this, Shimizu Mi felt that perhaps only Amamiya Iori could come up with such a bold idea.

If it were someone else, Shimizu might have thought it was a fantasy, but perhaps out of trust in Amamiya Iori, Shimizu chose to believe it and took the gamble.

And, this plan is also being carried out step by step...

(End of this chapter)