Chapter 152 What all boys of this age do
"Huh? Are you listening to me?"

Sakurai Shio gently moved her face closer, with her lips close to Shimizumi's ear, exuding a fresh fragrance.

The golden hair that was as shiny as Haruka Sakurai's was scratching his neck. Such close contact inevitably attracted the attention of many students around.

"I'm listening..."

Shimizu Mi perfunctorily put his hand on Sakurai Shio's shoulder and asked her to stand up and keep a distance.

"It's a reward, don't regret it~"

"Only if you do as I say."

“…I knew you would say that.”

Sakurai Shio pouted in dissatisfaction.

"How did you know……"

"Because my junior is always serious in strange places, you will know it naturally after watching for a long time."

"Have you been looking at me?"

When Shimizu said this, Sakurai Shio was startled and uttered an "Ah" sound, then waved her hands in front of her chest desperately to deny it.

"Ah, no! What I just said doesn't count. I didn't secretly look at you. I always go to bed early at night and didn't see anything!"

I don't know why, Sakurai Shio was explaining in a panic, but basically, Shimizu Mi didn't understand what she was saying at all.

"If you want to see it, I don't mind..."

Qing Shuijian sighed subconsciously.

The eyes are on her body, so if she wants to keep staring at Qingshui Jian, Qingshui Jian has no choice. Qingshui Jian is not so childish that he would feel embarrassed if someone stares at him.

"...Brother, what are you talking about?"

Reina Shimizu, who was standing by with a marshmallow in her hand, had no idea what they were talking about.

But it’s better this way. After all, the less you know, the better you sleep.

"But I never thought that my junior brother actually has a sister."

Sakurai Shio kept elbowing Shimizu Mi in the side.

Stop elbowing, stop elbowing, it really hurts...

"Let me tell you in advance, it's hard to guess what my sister is thinking~"

Sakurai Shio seemed to have something in his words.

But don't worry, not all relationships between sisters or brothers in the world are as complicated as yours.

"So, why are you here, Senior?"

"Huh? Me? Didn't I promise before that I would bring back my friends from my previous band to hold a concert performance?"

"But the school seems to have scheduled our performance at the party on the last day."

This means that the school arranged Sakurai Shio's performance as the finale of the cultural festival.

But anyway, it won't be Shimizu who will be performing on stage, all he has to do is his job as an executive committee member.

However, Shimizu originally thought that as long as he pointed the camera at a few places and pressed the shutter a few times, he would be done, but things were not going smoothly.

The reason is that every time he raised his camera, someone would come to stop him.

"Senior and Senior, would you like some takoyaki?"

Shimizu recorded the stall selling marshmallows on camera and was about to leave when a first-year student who was grilling takoyaki stopped them.

"Eight please!"

Sakurai Shio looked at the juicy and delicious sauce on the takoyaki, took out her wallet readily, and became the other party's first customer.

"Okay, Senior, do you want mayonnaise?"

“Try to add as much as you can!”

So, Sakurai Shio took the hot takoyaki from the other person.

She blew on it, being careful not to get burned, and put the takoyaki into her mouth, but it was still very hot and took some effort to eat.

“It’s hot… so hot!”

Sakurai Shio kept saying it was so hot while trying to turn the takoyaki in her mouth and eat it.

After a while, she finished eating all the takoyaki, then excitedly pulled Shimizu's arm, and the lens that had just focused was disturbed again.

"Ah, those candied apples over there look delicious! I want to buy some! I'll share half with my junior when the time comes!"

"unnecessary."

If Sakurai Shio could use a knife to cut the candied haws into perfect two equal parts, Shimizu would be happy to accept it.

Otherwise, I don’t think...

No matter what, as long as Sakurai Shio is entangled with her, it will feel endless, so Shimizu Mi prepares to take Shimizu Reina away from here first.

After leaving here, Shimizu Mitsu took Shimizu Reina to other stalls, but Sakurai Shio followed not far behind, looking left and right.

While Shimizu was wandering around and taking pictures of the cultural festival, he happened to pass by a treasure-fishing stall.

Different from other student stalls, this stall prepared the latest PS5 and many rich luxury prizes.

"Amazing……"

Just as Reina Shimizu was marveling at these luxurious prizes, Miki Shimizu noticed that although the stall had prepared many ropes for consumers to choose one to pull up, theoretically there was a certain chance of choosing a rope connected to the prize below, but this was only in theory.

Shimizu Miki tells the truth and tells Shimizu Reina the cruel reality that she will never win the prize.

"Huh? But the rope is clearly connected."

"It is connected, but God knows where the rope leads to."

The rope tied to the prize stretched upward, gathered at one place and then spread out in all directions, making it impossible to tell whether there was any tampering.

"Listen carefully. They put the best prizes in a conspicuous place, which is a trap in itself. It is common sense that something that seems to be beneficial to them at first glance must have ulterior motives."

In order to avoid being deceived, Shimizu Mi told Shimizu Reina all of this.

The person setting up the treasure-hunting stall seemed to be a student of Mahita High School. After hearing the conversation between Shimizu Mi and Shimizu Reina, he glared over here.

Regarding the students of Makitada High School, Shimizu had met several student council members from the other school when he attended the executive committee meeting before, but he always felt that they were a little different from his impression.

"I want to play! I want to play!"

Sakurai Shio, who had not been seen for a while, caught up again, and she looked very interested and wanted to go up and try it out.

Does she want to be a victim?
Qing Shuijian was about to go up to stop her, but an unexpected uninvited guest interrupted him.

"Sister Xi, you are here too."

Subaru Miura walked over here with his usual smile, holding a plastic bag in one hand, and waved his free hand gently to greet.

"Huh? It's Miura."

Sakurai Shio turned her head and saw Miura Subaru approaching.

"Hmm, what a coincidence, is Sister Xi also here to visit the cultural festival?"

"Yeah, I didn't expect you guys to do it so well. It's much more lively than the one I had when I was in school."

"No, this is all thanks to the cooperation with Haichuan Institute of Education."

After the two exchanged a few polite greetings, Subaru Miura looked around and greeted Shimizu Ken and Shimizu Reina who were standing next to him.

Then, he finally asked the question that he had probably wanted to ask since the very beginning.

"By the way, isn't Haruka here today?"

Subaru Miura probably approached with this purpose in mind, and Shimizu could vaguely sense it.

"Well, Haruka isn't feeling well today, so she's taking a day off. She's already asked for leave from school." Sakurai Shio said in her usual relaxed tone.

I got sick?
Shimizu couldn't help but frown slightly. He didn't expect that Sakurai Haruka would have a day when she was not feeling well.

Given her physical fitness and stamina, as long as there is no problem with her health management, this shouldn't be the case.

"Are you sick? What's wrong? Is it serious?"

The corners of Miura Subaru's previously smiling mouth twitched slightly, and his expression froze a little, looking very worried.

However, Sakurai Shio still looked calm and composed.

"Well, she's probably just pretending to be sick. How could she be sick with her body?"

Sakurai Shio raised a finger and continued:
"After all, idiots don't get sick." Qing Shuijian had heard that "idiots don't catch colds", but saying that they won't get sick is a bit...

No, Sakurai Shio seemed to be indirectly saying that someone is stupid?
After realizing this, Sakurai Shio stuck out her tongue at Shimizu Ken and took the opportunity to get away with it.

But I wonder if it will be a problem for Haruka Sakurai to live alone.

Miura Subaru seemed to have thought of the same thing and raised his head.

"...But she lives alone outside, so it would be better to visit her, in case she really gets sick..."

Sakurai Shio interrupted Miura Subaru and said, "I don't think Haruka wants to see anyone right now."

"why?"

"Because... that person also said he would come to this cultural festival."

Sakurai Shio seemed to be keeping the matter in suspense and deliberately paused here without giving any explanation.

But from her serious expression, Qingshui Jian could vaguely guess who that person was.

"I think Haruka didn't want to meet that person, so she deliberately claimed to be sick and didn't come."

"Sister Xi said..."

At this time, Subaru Miura also realized who Sakurai Shio was talking about and was stunned for a moment.

"I never thought that guy would actually plan to attend a boring cultural festival held by high school students. Even when I was there, he was busy with work."

As Sakurai Shio continued her narration, the scene fell into a brief and inexplicable silence. Only Shimizu Reina, who was unable to join in the conversation, was left chewing the marshmallow in her hand alone.

"I just bought some buttered toast, would you like to share?"

As if to open the topic again, Miura Subaru picked up the plastic bag in his hand, which contained a large loaf of buttered toast.

Judging from the appearance, this should be butter toast made by students from a nearby stall, which is why it is of such a high standard.

To be honest, this is probably just dry bread, with no visible butter at all, but it's possible that the filling is hidden in the middle.

"Okay, I'm just thinking about where to buy some more food. I didn't even have breakfast today."

Sakurai Shio suddenly changed her previous heavy mood and happily took the plastic bag of butter toast.

"Delicious!"

She stuffed her mouth full, with a few creams on her face. She looked so intoxicated while eating, maybe she is a sweets lover?
"Come and try it, fellow student!"

As she spoke, Sakurai Shio cut the butter toast into several pieces.

She just used her hands... Never mind, though.

Because Sakurai Shio ignored Shimizu's refusal and directly stuffed the butter toast into his mouth, Shimizu had no choice but to take a bite -

The bread was so hard...and there was no buttery taste in the middle!
There was clearly not enough fresh cream, and halfway through the meal it became dry, tough, and extremely difficult to swallow.

Is this a punishment game?
But to be honest, choosing buttered toast for lunch is a big problem in itself.

It’s strange, then why is Sakurai Shio eating so happily...is there really something delicious in it?

No, could it be that she was deliberately pretending that the food was delicious in order to trick others into eating it?

Good and bad woman...

“The whipped cream is delicious!”

Sakurai Shio kept praising the butter toast even though it didn't have much butter in it.

Although there were countless things to complain about, seeing that she was eating with gusto, Qingshui Jian didn't say much.

In the end, he forced himself to swallow the bread along with the soda he had just bought, and finally finished it.

Reina Shimizu who was standing next to her was also fed a small piece of buttered toast by Shio Sakurai.

Because this butter toast is a whole big piece, even though there are three of them, the portion still seems quite large.

Since it is a whole loaf of bread, it should be quite expensive. After all, it is not as cheap as takoyaki.

"how much is it?"

As soon as Shimizu took out his wallet, Subaru Miura waved his hand to refuse.

"No, it's nothing."

He spoke as if they were very good friends and treating each other to a meal was a matter of course.

But obviously, Shimizu Mi and he did not have that kind of relationship.

"No, since you've eaten it, of course you have to pay."

"No need really."

Miura Subaru insisted on not accepting the money. If this continues, it will never end...

"Although I don't mind being kept, I don't accept charity."

Qing Shuijian did not deliberately raise his voice, and his normal voice even seemed a little quiet near the noisy stalls, but it was particularly firm.

"..."

Subaru Miura groaned in a low voice, and the smile on his face was replaced by an unusual "expressionless" look, as he just stared at Shimizu Mi.

As the two looked at each other in silence——

"Okay, don't worry about it. I'll pay for you."

Sakurai Shio interrupted them by taking out a 10,000 yen bill and gently waving it in front of their eyes.

So, is this what it feels like to be kept?

Although I don’t hate it, the feeling is... very subtle.

Qingshuijian briefly experienced the joy of being supported by a beautiful senior schoolmate, but in the end he felt that he didn't want to owe her anything, so he rummaged through his body for his wallet.

However, Sakurai Shio held down Shimizu's hands to stop him from searching, and at the same time put her lips to his ears again.

"If you want to thank me, just treat me to better cream next time... at your house."

Why does she like to come up and talk to people so much?
Although I've never seen her so close to other people.

Also, what is a better cream?
Shimizu Mi couldn't remember having such delicious cream at home.

"Why do you have to eat at my house?"

"Because I want to taste what my junior made..."

Sakurai Shio pursed her cherry pink lips and licked the cream off her lips.

Her lips were shining and dazzling in the sunlight, and Qingshuijian had to look away.

"……I can not do that."

"How could that be? All boys of this age would do that."

Even though Shimizu told her truthfully that she didn't know how to make cream bread, Sakurai Shio still insisted.

"Besides, I just want to eat what my junior brother made himself."

It seems that Sakurai Shio will definitely not accept Shimizu's money. In this case, he can only try to do it reluctantly.

However, the taste of the final product may not be guaranteed.

"I see……"

Hearing this, a faint smile appeared on Sakurai Shio's face.

That smile has an indescribable charm.

"So, when should we choose?"

“This time next year.”

"Are you serious, Junior?"

"Please give me some more time to think."

Under the attack of Sakurai Shio's smile, Shimizu Ken couldn't help but answer respectfully.

After hearing Shimizumi's answer, she sighed reluctantly instead of answering.

Today is the first day of the cultural festival.

However, the moment of ending will always come.

(End of this chapter)