The evening glow had enveloped the world, but no one ever thought to go home. Instead, many people walked out of their houses with a smile, ready to face the most exciting event in the neighborhood.
The summer festival!
After they had finished their preparation, everyone in the Sunoharou went out together to visit the summer festival, which was held in a nearby shrine. They, without a doubt, were excited, especially after their hairs were managed by him.
Yuzu, Yuri, and Sumire still remembered the feeling of his hands touching and caressing their hair as if they were the most precious things in the world. They must admit that they almost fell for him somehow.
'Didn't you have already fallen for me?'
Shishio would say so if he knew what they were thinking.
While his words sounded quite cheeky and even borderline narcissistic, it was a fact.
It was hard to pretend that he didn't know anything, especially when one of them had confessed to him.
If they were high school students, their fate would have already been sealed by him.
Unfortunately, they were still middle school students.
While he was already in high school, the world of adults wasn't as simple as it seemed, and he didn't want to be troubled by a legal matter.
"Shishio-nii, how did you learn to care for hair like that?"
"Do you want to become a hairdresser in the future?"
Yuzu and Yuri looked at Shishio curiously.
Sumire was the same, but she wasn't a good talker, so she just stood by their sides while looking at him.
Unlike before, Shishio had changed his clothes, and he wore a jinbei.
If one was curious about a jinbei, it was a yukata with a pair of short trousers. It was usually worn during summer, especially during this type of occasion.
While he wanted to wear regular clothes, Nana had brought him his clothing from his apartment before they visited the Sunoharasou, so he could only wear them since she begged him to wear them.
His long legs were clearly seen in his pair of short trousers.
While the girls were captivated by him, Shishio also enjoyed the beautiful girls on his side.
Nana and Ayaka were obvious since they showed their necks which they usually hid under their hair.
Nana was in a ponytail, which made her appear to be so bright and beautiful.
On the other hand, while Ayaka was in the bun, she gave a similar aura to Nana, yet with a more mature charm, which was something that a girl around Nana's age didn't have. She appeared like a virtuous wife yet kept subtly trying to seduce her man.
In other words, she was a succubus.
The two sisters were simply destructive.
Yet even if the two sisters were amazing, the trio of middle school students didn't lose to their charm.
Yuri had her bangs braided, giving her a lovely and graceful charm. If someone saw her, they might mistake her for a lady from a wealthy family.
Yuzu had her hair parted in the middle and a lower bun, giving her an unexpectedly mature charm. She might be short and mistaken for an elementary school student, but when she had her hair like this, she seemed older, and no one would mistake her again.
When Shishio gave her this hairstyle, Yuzu even hummed happily and stared at the mirror for so long, showing how happy she was.
Lastly, the most unexpected one would be Sumire.
After her last confession, they still maintained a good relationship.
Shishio was happy about her confession, but he wanted her to be a high school student first. After all, while it wouldn't be trouble for them to date each other, considering he was a high school student. He was afraid that he might do something that one shouldn't do, especially when his style of dating was more of an adult type.
Sumire was still young, and it was better to maintain their current relationship.
However, even so, it didn't stop him from helping her to manage her hair.
Unlike her usual side ponytail, Sumire had a twin-tail bun hairstyle, which was cute and made her shy for some reason. Yet when everyone saw that she was cute and beautiful, she could only reluctantly agree with this hairstyle. However, they knew this girl was so happy.
Sumire's growth was better than most of the girls of her age. She was taller and bigger than them, but because of this, she felt she wasn't cute, and she wasn't suitable to wear something cute, yet she was the one who longed the most after a cute thing.
Shishio knew that and this was why he gave her this hairstyle, and he must admit he was proud of his work.
Still, he knew he had to answer their question.
"No, I don't have the interest in becoming a hairdresser."
While the location of the festival was quite close to Sunoharasou, they needed at least to walk for half an hour. It was quite a long trip, but even so, they felt it didn't take that long since they were having fun talking to each other.
The only thing that they were dissatisfied with was probably how they couldn't monopolize him since Nana and Ayaka had been holding hands. Yet what could they say?
They might be dissatisfied, but their reason made them speechless.
"It's his first time here. It's terrible if he gets lost, right?"
"Yeah, it's better to hold hands."
Sumire, Yuzu, and Yuri could only roll their eyes since they thought the Sunohara sisters were witty. However, they felt this wasn't enough, and somehow they wanted him to bring them somewhere again in the future, considering they wanted to go out with him alone.
Still, the time was long.
They were still in middle school, and he was in high school.
Their lives had just begun, and they had a long way to go in their lives, which is something to be anticipated about.
However, there was one person who didn't anticipate this trip.
Aki was happy on this trip, but he admitted he was quite helpless. When Shishio was there, he felt his sense of existence was absorbed, and he became a shadow. If Shishio and Ayaka didn't talk with him from time to time, the rest might have forgotten about him.
Aki looked at Shishio, whose hands were held by Nana and Ayaka enviously.
'If I'm in his place...'
What made him even depressed were the words that came out of Ayaka's mouth.
"It's his first time here. It's terrible if he gets lost, right?"
It was also his first time, and he was young and small.
Should it be him who was being taken care of instead of a big guy like Shishio?
Aki was silent, but while he was jealous, he didn't show it since he also anticipated this trip to the summer festival.
Yet why was his mood so bad?
Shishio didn't have a mind-reading ability, but it was possible to see what one was thinking through their expressions. Aki was young, and it was impossible for him to show a poker face.
'But how do I make him move?'
Shishio wondered what he should do. He knew that he couldn't use force. If possible, he wanted to use an indirect method, which was the most troublesome one since he didn't want to harm Aki unless it was necessary.
While he was thinking, they arrived at the festival.
As expected, the festival was already crowded.
However, he must admit the scenery was amazing.
The festival was held near the riverbank, and they could see the scenery of the river, bridge, and shrine near the hill.
Shishio subconsciously took his camera and recorded the scenery before him. Even though Yukinoshita told him they should stop their project to make a movie, he still wanted to make it. After all, it was her first time taking the initiative and showing what she wanted to do.
Yukinoshita had changed, no longer hiding and bottling up her emotion.
She was a beautiful flower that bloomed at its peak.
Yet the world might oppress her, telling her that she shouldn't do something out of her character.
If possible, he wanted to see Yukinoshita's mother.
However, his reason wasn't as impure as his reason for meeting Yui's mother.
He just wanted to see this iron woman who had caused Yukinoshita, who had always maintained her cool and calm nature, to lose her calm.
Yet he had to sigh that each family had its own situation.
Unlike his family, which was harmonious, the other's family might not be the case.
Shishio wasn't sure how the Yukinoshita family was, but similar to his family, her family was also noble during the Empire of Japan.
While his family was a Marquess, her family was a Baron.
"Before we enter the festival, can I take a video of that bridge?"
"What's wrong?"
They were curious about why he did this.
"Is there something special about this bridge?" Yuzu was confused since the bridge was the same as the others.
"No, I think this place might be useful for something."
"Useful?"
"I plan to make a movie." Shishio didn't hide anything.
"Movie!"
They were surprised.
"Hey, really? Why didn't you tell me?" Nana pouted, feeling unhappy.
"Because it was so sudden, and the initiator of this plan suddenly told that to stop the plan."
Shishio was also helpless since the initiator of the plan told him to stop the plan when they were eager to make one.
"So, Shishio-nii, what kind of scene are you going to take?" Yuri was more curious.
"It's a scene of the male actor dying because he saved children on the river."
"......" Everyone.
"Di-Died?!" Aki was dumbfounded.
"What kind of movie are you going to make, Shishio-kun?" Ayaka asked.
"Is it horror? Murder?" Yuzu was quite eager.
"........"
Shishio glanced at Yuzu speechlessly and said, "Romance."
"...Romance?"
His answer was unexpected.
However, they didn't question him again since his side profile, holding a camera, and trying to make a video of the scenery on the river were mesmerizing.
After he had taken the shot for a while, he wondered what Yukinoshita was doing now.
"Done?" Nana asked.
"Done." Shishio nodded with a smile and said, "How about we go to the festival now?"
"OOOOOHHH!!"
They were excited, and they were going to have a blast at this festival.