Nagisa POV

After finishing the uninhabited island where all sorts of things happened, we each spent the last day of summer vacation in our own way. As for me, I’m eating lunch at a conveyor-belt sushi place with Dad.

“Are things going well with your mom? She’s got a strict personality, so it must be tough, it feels bad… like I’m the only one who ran away…”

“...It’s fine, as long as you don’t ruin her mood, she’s not that strict.”

“...I see.”

“More importantly.”

Unable to bear the slightly heavy atmosphere, I tried to change the subject and talk to Dad, but behind me stood Korosensei holding a placard that said ‘Summer Festival.’

“What’s wrong? You suddenly went quiet…”

At least on the last day of summer vacation, let’s just play without thinking about anything!!

After getting that across, Korosensei ate some sea urchin and left. It’s because he does things like this that he’s hard to kill.

“T-thank you for the meal, Dad.”

“Hey, you’re done already?”

“I’ve got something to do all of a sudden, it’s fine now.”

“Nagisa, you’ve gotten brighter…”

“Have I? Maybe it’s thanks to my teacher at school, anyway Dad, take care of yourself too.”

Leaving that behind, I hurried home to get ready for the summer festival.

* * *

Ayanokōji POV

Spending the last day of summer vacation lazing around, I came to my first summer festival at Korosensei’s invitation. There are more people than I expected and everyone’s enjoying the festival in their own way, guess I’ll look around too...

“What’s wrong, Chiba, Rinka?”

I saw the two of them looking down in front of the shooting stall and called out.

“I got banned from the shooting game…”

“It was too easy, so I got cocky.”

“Then I’ll try the shooting game too.”

When I brought Chiba and Rinka back to the shooting stall, the owner was scolding them, but when I told him I’d be the one doing it, he reluctantly handed over the gun.

* * *

Of course, a few shots later, I got banned too.

After getting banned, I wandered around looking for something interesting and goldfish scooping caught my eye. I tried it once and the paper tore after I scooped only a few fish, but I got the hang of it on the first try, so as I went to try again, a familiar voice called out from behind.

“Yo, Ayanokōji. You goldfish scooping too?”

“Maehara and Isogai... it was my first time so I tried once, but it didn’t go well, got any tips?”

“Oh ho, if that’s what you want, I, Maehara-sama, will show you an example! You’ll do it too, right, Isogai?”

“Yeah, I don’t know if it’ll help, but I’m actually pretty good at goldfish scooping!”

He said that and started, but Maehara’s paper tore almost immediately even after all that big talk. What’s surprising is Isogai, he’s scooping up a bunch of goldfish with just one sheet of paper.

“Hah, you’re still good at everything without trying.”

“It’s all about the trick. It’s pretty close to the feeling of cutting with a knife.”

I see, the feeling of cutting with a knife...

I immediately went for my second attempt of the day and managed to scoop an amount of goldfish that couldn’t even be compared to before.

“This is for you. Enjoy it with your brothers.”

“You sure it’s okay to give me this many?”

“Yeah, just think of it as thanks for teaching me the trick.”

“Thanks! My family’s poor, so saving two meals for 100 yen is a lifesaver.”

“I see.”

‘Wait, you’re going to eat them?’

* * *

Even after parting with Isogai and Maehara, I enjoyed first-time experiences like water-balloon yo-yo fishing and takoyaki and by chance I ran into Yukiko, so we decided to walk around together.

“Is there anything you want to eat, Kiyotaka-kun?”

“I already ate most stuff like takoyaki… next I want something cold to drink.”

“Then I’ve got a recommendation♪”

Saying that, Yukiko led me to a stall with ‘Ramune’ written on it.

“Uncle, two ramune please.”

“Nurufufufu, you two are awfully sweet to each other, aren’t you?”

The owner who handed us the ramune was Korosensei and looking around carefully, Korosensei was running most of the stalls using clones. Looks like we unknowingly ended up helping him earn pocket money. Ignoring Korosensei teasing us, we sat down on a nearby bench.

““Cheers.””

“It’s fizzy.”

“...Yeah.”

The conversation ended and silence came between us, but strangely, it didn’t feel uncomfortable. Come to think of it, the person I’ve spent the most time with in Class E might be Yukiko. Does that mean little by little, I’ve started to feel something toward her beyond just usefulness... I still don’t know.

I suddenly felt curious about her and looked over, our eyes met and after making up her mind, Yukiko opened her mouth.

“Hey, Kiyotaka-kun. I-I… about you…”

Boom

Right then, a huge firework burst and swallowed her voice.

“Something wrong?”

“No. It’s nothing… Hey Kiyotaka-kun, the fireworks are beautiful.”

“Yeah.”

The last summer vacation of my life, the fireworks I saw for the first time were somehow fleeting, so beautiful it felt like they might vanish at any moment.

But back then, we didn’t know. The Grim Reaper’s scythe was already closing in right before us...

And now, the turbulent second semester begins.