According to my childhood friend, “Summer festivals and fireworks festivals are somehow fun even if you don’t buy anything,” apparently.

Well, that’s true. I don’t really remember her buying much from those kinds of food stalls. If anything, I feel like she was always busy taking photos of us walking around together.

So then, speaking of that childhood friend, Sakura Ayuri…

“Come on, let’s go, Kengo-kun!”

“H-hey, wait—”

Amid the bustle of the summer festival, Ayu was pulling Kengo’s hand and pushing straight through the crowd. To her, Kengo was a childhood friend she’d known since kindergarten.

Even so, something was off. According to the plan, Kengo was supposed to be the one leading her. Thanks to that, a tailing job that was already difficult had become even harder.

“Grrr…”

“Ohhh…”

Beside me, Hina was grinding her teeth, while Sumire-san watched Ayu and Kengo’s progress with clear interest.

We were all wearing festival masks bought from the stalls so we wouldn’t be noticed, but under Hina’s mask things were probably looking pretty intense.

By the way, Yuya, who we’d asked to cooperate together with Kengo, had said, “Trailing them with four people is too hard, and being the only guy makes it awkward, so I’ll just wander around until the final meetup,” and disappeared somewhere.

“Still, as a creator, this is nothing but joy! Legally tailing people’s da—”

“Sumire-san, stop!”

“Huh?”

“Ugh!”

“That word is forbidden. Say it and Hina’s heart might actually stop, like this.”

“Ehh…”

Yeah, honestly, I’m kind of put off too.

If she hated it that much, she could’ve guessed what this was about the moment she got called in for a consultation and just refused. But thinking that is probably missing the point.

“Come on, let’s go, you two. Even if we know the route, losing them would be a pain to search for.”

To add a note, Hotaru-senpai, who could be called the unsung hero of this whole plan in a way, wasn’t here either. Something about it being awkward for various reasons, so she decided to sit this one out.

I can’t help but think, she actually has a sense of awkwardness, huh.

* * *

The plan we came up with wasn’t anything strange.

First, tell Ayu that Kengo and Yuya had joined the plan to go to the fireworks festival.
On the day, match our stories casually and make the time going around the stalls just Ayu and Kengo alone.
Go around the stalls following a pre-decided route.
At the end, after the two of them watch the fireworks together for a while, everyone meets up.

That was the idea.

Thanks to Ayu, we deviated a bit from the original route, but as expected of Senpai and Hina. Based on the stall information we researched beforehand, they predicted what would catch Ayu’s interest, and so far it hadn’t gone far off that pattern.

‘It really is crowded…’

And so, the three of us tailed them from a distance, careful not to be noticed.

Maybe it was the summer heat getting to her, but Sumire-san was taking notes with unusual enthusiasm, while Hina kept leaning forward and getting closer to the two, making me nervous.

“Hina, you’re going too far ahead!”

“Uuugh… this is totally getting cuckolded…”

“Say that after you sleep! No, wait, you do sleep together?”

“Huh!? Hina-san and Ayuri-san have slept together!?”

“Sumire-san?”

What is this? I thought things would calm down a bit without the loudest idiot here, but somehow it’s even more hectic than when that idiot is around.

Every time those two over there do something, Hina laments, and for some reason Sumire-san gets all hyped up and reacts to everything, which makes them hard to handle.

In moments like this, I can’t help but wish Ayu were here, but since the whole reason we’re like this is because we’re watching Ayu, there’s nothing we can do. If it was going to be like this, I should’ve dragged Senpai along no matter what.

“Oh! Shinohara-san is handing Ayu-san a melon-flavored shaved ice! Not strawberry, huh. Commentator Ginoko-san, how is that?”

“Ayu likes most classic fruit flavors, so she’s usually fine with anything. But when it comes to shaved ice, she always goes for melon, so if I had to say, that’s the right choice.”

“I see~”

“…But really, all syrups taste the same anyway~ the real correct answer is buying that plus Blue Hawaii for yourself and sharing it~”

That’s way too high-level for Kengo, or rather there’s no way he’d know that. And before that, if he did that, Hina would definitely jump in.

“…If you hate this so much, Hina, do you want to call Yuya and wait at the final spot? We’re meeting up there anyway.”

Yeah, maybe I should call Senpai too. If Hina’s wandering around alone, even Senpai would come despite the awkwardness.

That was meant as a considerate suggestion, but…

“Nooo… I won’t be able to relax unless I watch to make sure those two don’t do anything weird…”

“You should trust them a little more. They’ve known each other since kindergarten, right?”

“Kengo-kun, not so much…”

Well, it does look like their relationship is mostly held together by Ayu.

Still, the reason Hina hesitated but agreed to help was because she knows Kengo’s a good guy. Maybe that’s exactly why she doesn’t like it.

…As for me, I don’t really care. This is probably a one-time thing anyway.

* * *

The tailing continued.

We watched the two of them look at stalls, watched Ayu pay normally without noticing when Kengo tried to treat her, and watched the two line up for chilled cucumbers at Ayu’s lead.

…I knew it already, but isn’t Ayu showing zero interest? A high school girl lining up for chilled cucumbers has zero sex appeal, doesn’t it?

“Looks like we’re almost done with the stall area.”

munch munch

“Yeah~”

crunch crunch

“You’re both just enjoying yourselves normally.”

I’m hungry too, you know?

Somehow, one of them just lined up normally to buy fried chicken, and the other said, “I wanna eat the same thing as Ayu-chan~,” then secretly lined up behind Ayu and bought the same thing. They even bought some for me.

“Haah~ then I’ll go meet up with Yuya-kun first and head to the final spot~… I have to keep an eye on things so Kengo-kun doesn’t do anything weird to Ayu-chan…”

“See you.”

munch munch

“He won’t do anything… she’s gone.”

Like an exhausted office worker, Hina staggers away.

…Is she okay? At the end, is she going to snap from all that pent-up frustration and jump Kengo over nothing?

“Um, if I remember right… after checking the stalls to the end, we go back the way we came and walk to a slightly distant park, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

Alright, one last push.

Whether this plan succeeds or not, I’ll splurge on something later with the money I didn’t use at the festival.

* * *

“Kengo-san… do you think it’ll go well?”

“Hmm… I feel bad for him, but I think it’ll end in a miss.”

The fireworks festival grand strategy was reaching its climax. Somehow, without being found out, we made it to the park that served as the final location.

Sumire-san and I planned to wait around casually near the park entrance for a bit, then join everyone with innocent faces.

“This might be rude, but… I thought you’d go watch, Sumire-san.”

“Go watch… their time together?”

“Yeah.”

When we started tailing them, she said something like, “Legally tailing a real date is the height of a creator’s joy!” and she was taking tons of notes too.

“Ahaha… I won’t peek that far. I’ve barely talked to Kengo-san, but if Ginoko-san and Hina-san acknowledge him, then he must be a good person, and his feelings are probably serious.”

“…I see.”

Whether Hina is really acknowledging him is debatable, but even with that attitude, she didn’t interfere as long as we were watching, so her actions probably say it all.

“…Well, I do kind of want to peek…”

“…As long as you don’t act on it, it’s fine, right?”

Alright, it’s about time.

With a slightly deflating whistling sound—

Bang!!!

Flowers of light bloom in the sky. It’s time for the fireworks. We’ll let the two of them watch alone for a while, and then this unnecessarily exhausting day will be over.

“…It’s hard to see from here.”

“Well, we’re the only ones standing at the entrance.”

This spot is just the park entrance, and the trees make it hard to see the fireworks in the sky.

Of course, there are other people around too, but everyone moves inward, as if being drawn into the park.

“…There are quite a few people. If we blend in and go inside, wouldn’t Ayu notice us?”

As I watched the crowd for a while, those words slipped out.

Why do we have to hold back on fireworks just to accommodate Kengo anyway?

If there are more people around, any mood would be ruined, and if we blend in and peek at the two, we could tease them about it later. That kind of thought started to surface.

Before the ink on my words was even dry, Sumire-san, having heard me, said, “…You’re right. Let’s go in.”

And she smiled mischievously.