Part-1 Ch-06 Ep-02

Recently, Maki has been coming to my house often on holidays. Not only does she come over, but before I realize it, she is in the kitchen with my mother, making breakfast together.

My mother absolutely adores Maki and has been saying for ages, “Maki-chan is such a good girl. I wish she’d become part of our family.”

And that very same “Maki-chan” has lately been waking me up with a bright smile on weekend mornings. I drag myself to the sink, wash my face, brush my teeth, then open the living room door to find breakfast—prepared by those two—already neatly laid out on the table.

That is how my holidays begin.

After school one day, when I mentioned this to Kagami-kun, he asked, “…Doesn’t that feel insanely heavy? If it were me, it would be straight-up horror.”

I didn’t really understand, so I said, “I was surprised at first, but Maki’s my childhood friend, practically family. For some reason, it’s my parents who keep track of Maki’s whereabouts, not me. I’m used to it now, so it’s not that big a deal.”

“Isn’t that your outer moat being filled in?”

[T/N- The phrase “Isn’t that your outer moat being filled in?” is a metaphor drawn from the structure of traditional Japanese castles, which had several layers of defensive moats. If an enemy managed to fill in the outer moat, it meant they were already breaching the defenses and getting closer to conquering the castle.]

“Eh? What does that mean?”

While we were talking, Asahina-kun suddenly peeked into the classroom from the hallway and signaled to me with his eyes.

He blinked rapidly, apparently attempting a wink.

Since it was executed so poorly, it was honestly amusing, so I watched him for a while without responding.

“That wink is terrible.”

“Yeah, it’s kind of funny.”

“He definitely looks like he’s plotting something.”

“No doubt.”

He kept gesturing frantically for me to come over. It was clearly me he wanted, not Kagami-kun.

Even though it seemed suspicious, if someone calls out to me, I can’t just ignore them. As I stood up, a thought occurred to me, so I turned back to Kagami-kun.

Maki was currently in the staff room submitting the daily duty log.

By the way, Kagami-kun was also on duty today.

In the game, the two of them being on duty together is supposed to be a small event that boosts affection and intimacy points, but it didn’t seem to be going very well.

“Kagami-kun, if Maki comes back before me, please tell her I stepped out for a quick errand. If I’m late, go home without me.”

“Okaaay,” he replied casually. I waved goodbye and headed toward Asahina-kun.

“Yes, yes, what is it? Plotting something again?”

“Please! Just come with me for a bit! There’s someone I want you to meet.”

“Maki will be back soon, so only for a little while, okay?”

I warned him beforehand, and he replied, “It’s fine. It’s someone who doesn’t want to cause trouble for the two of you.”

Though a little puzzled by that phrasing, I followed him. The place he brought me to was behind the school building.

To an outside observer, it looked exactly like a confession scene.

Standing there was a girl I felt like I’d seen somewhere before.

She wore glasses and twin braids. She looked plain at first glance, but had a surprisingly good figure where it counted… although thinking about it like that felt like sexual harassment.

“Um, I’m really sorry for calling you out to a place like this! I’m Seishuku Kokoa. The truth is, this time I…”

She bowed properly and introduced herself as Seishuku Kokoa. That name also sounded familiar.

Kokoa… Kokoa… ah.

“Ah!! You’re that Seishuku Kokoa!?”

“Eh, u-um, ‘that’…?”

“The fortune-teller!”

“W-well, I am in the Spiritual Research Club… but how did you know that?”

Oops. I startled her. But I definitely remembered her. Seishuku Kokoa is a character from this game, 『Cherry Blossom Oath ―The Story of Us That You and I Weave―』―, the girl in charge of “Today’s Fortune.”

In the game, she appears when you tap “Today’s Fortune” on the side menu and tells you your lucky item or zodiac ranking for the day, but… I never imagined meeting her like this.

The game’s coercive force is terrifying.

Still, she belongs to the same category as me: someone who “supports Maki.”

For the sake of future cooperation, I absolutely want to get along with her.

“Ah, what was it again?”

Feeling bad for interrupting her earlier, I asked again. Kokoa-san cleared her throat, regained her composure, and continued speaking. Every gesture she made was small and timid, almost like a small animal—adorable, really.

“Ahem. I’m truly sorry for calling you all the way out here. The truth is… I’m a fan of Ichinose-san and Nagase-san.”

“What did you say?”

When I asked her to repeat herself, Asahina-kun, who had been listening cheerfully beside us, burst into a happy chuckle. In short, here is what happened. She—Seishuku Kokoa-san—and Asahina-kun are in the same class and recently started talking.

Kokoa-san already knew about Maki and me from before and had been quietly “cheering us on.”

When I tried to question that further, she quickly said in one breath, “Ah, Asahina-kun and I agree that Nagase-san probably hasn’t noticed Ichinose-san’s efforts, so I’d appreciate it if we could skip that part,” and the sudden pressure made me withdraw, so I let it go.

“Normally, I believe the proper thing to do is to watch over the two of you quietly so as not to cause trouble, but when I asked around for participants, there were unexpectedly many people who wanted to join… Um, to put it bluntly… May I please create a fan club to follow the ac

tivities of you two…?”

“…Yes?”

For a moment, it felt as though time itself had stopped.