Asakura pushed open the door to the rooftop.
Just now, he had only asked casually, not expecting that while Gokou Ruri was looking for Gokou Hinata, she had actually seen Asagumo Chihaya heading towards the rooftop in the school building.
The rooftop door of Sobu High was usually locked, but today Asakura had just taken the members of Kessoku Band up there for a performance, and the lock he had broken at that time clearly hadn't been repaired in the current state of being shorthanded. There was only a "No Entry" sign placed outside.
Coming to the rooftop, Asakura immediately saw Asagumo Chihaya standing in front of the railing, looking at the sky.
"Takuma-kun?" Before he could speak, the girl turned her head first, looking at Asakura with a 45-degree angle that held a strange sense of beauty. The wind on the rooftop was much stronger than downstairs, and the girl lightly brushed her long hair that was fluttering wildly in the wind, saying with a faint smile: "I knew you would definitely come."
"Chihaya, what are you doing here?" Asakura asked.
"Just some small willful behavior. Like a prank a child would do to get their parents' attention." The girl said softly.
Asakura blinked, feeling that he couldn't quite understand her train of thought.
However, his experience of living two lives told him that sometimes one shouldn't try to use logical thinking to understand a girl's thoughts.
So he simply skipped that part and changed the subject.
"The bonfire party has already started. If we don't go down now, we'll miss the time for the folk dance." He said: "Didn't we agree to dance together?"
"Is Takuma-kun going to dance the folk dance with other girls too?" Asagumo Chihaya asked.
"Yes, Sen... Anon and Yui." Asakura answered honestly.
"I knew it."
Asagumo Chihaya showed a helpless smile: "Takuma-kun has always been like this, taking care of everyone equally."
"I'm not that great." Asakura shook his head: "I also have those I am close to and those I am distant from."
Saying this, he looked at Asagumo Chihaya. At this time, the girl had turned her gaze back toward the playground. Even from the top of the building, one could see the brilliant light of the bonfire over there.
"Though it's not self-praise..." the girl suddenly spoke: "But my life has actually been quite smooth. Probably because my mind is a bit more mature than others my age, in short, I've hardly encountered any setbacks in the past... no matter what happened, I could always find a way to solve it, and it stayed smooth sailing... until this year."
Her tone became a bit low: "Ever since school started, as long as it involves matters related to romance, it always ends in some inexplicable failure... I've clearly worked so hard, why can't there be a good result..."
Asakura seemed to realize something.
He suddenly spoke: "Chihaya... could it be because you lost to Yukinoshita again and didn't get the Chocolate Holy Grail, so you're throwing a tantrum?"
The girl's body stiffened for a moment, and then as if giving up on herself, she said: "Yeah, I know it's ugly to look at, but I just feel unsatisfied... laugh if you want, anyway, I'm just such a narrow-minded girl."
"Hahaha..." Then Asakura laughed loudly, looking at the girl's forehead which was covered in black lines.
You really are honest!
"Is it that funny...?" The girl muttered in a small voice.
"Not really." Asakura wiped away the tears from the corner of his eyes from laughing: "It's just how should I put it... because usually Chihaya, you are always too reliable and understanding, one could say too perfect, or perhaps suppressing your true nature too much... in short, a sudden tantrum like today finally gives me a sense of 'so Chihaya is also an ordinary girl'. "
"Has Takuma-kun's fantasy been shattered?" The girl asked: "The perfect Miss Asagumo doesn't exist."
"I'd rather say I feel closer." Asakura said: "The girl named Asagumo is right here."
Asagumo Chihaya finally turned around to face Asakura. She tucked her wind-disheveled hair behind her ear, appearing both happy and a bit dejected while her face was slightly red: "It's a pity it's already too late to go to the playground, the one playing now should be the last song... sorry, Takuma-kun, it seems there's no way to dance the folk dance with you."
After all, the school festival was just an activity organized by the school, not a festival in the true sense. It was impossible to keep it going particularly late and let the students return home under the stars and moon, so the process of the bonfire party was actually not very long.
But perhaps it was precisely because of this that this period of time seemed so precious to the students. One feared that by tomorrow, several more couples would appear in the school, making the teachers' blood pressure rise.
"Then let's just dance here." Asakura reached out his hand towards the girl.
Asagumo Chihaya was stunned for a moment, but then with a sweet smile, she placed her hand in Asakura's palm.
Asakura blinked at her.
Trust me.
Even though these words weren't spoken, Asagumo Chihaya still understood his meaning.
So under Asakura's guidance, the two of them holding hands took a few steps forward and stood on the railing, looking like a pair of lovers about to commit suicide for love.
The next moment, the two stepped forward together.
The expected feeling of weightlessness did not come.
Asagumo Chihaya discovered that they were actually standing steadily in the sky. The space under their feet, which should have been empty, was as solid as land.
"Quickly start dancing, this song isn't very long." Asakura said softly.
The indigo night wind lifted the two people's interlocking fingers. Asagumo Chihaya's skirt was filled with the night at this moment, and every step under their feet rippled with invisible waves. That was the magic "Scale" attached to the air, even if it couldn't exist for long, if it was just used as a foothold, it was enough to support the two people's romantic dance steps.
They jumped and danced, spinning gracefully in the air. The night sky, which originally appeared somewhat dim due to light pollution, began to gradually brighten along with the dance of the two. A brilliant galaxy enveloped the horizon, like the most incredible background, shining brightly.
The girl's eyes reflected the brilliant stars, but she could only see the other person's silhouette in her eyes.
Asakura's movements were also extremely gentle, as if he were afraid that using a little force would hurt the beautiful girl in front of him.
They coordinated with each other, and it seemed even their breathing began to intertwine.
The song played at the bonfire party had already ended, but the two did not stop their steps. Instead, they continued to dance their clumsy yet beautiful steps in the sky, wrapped in the magnificent stars.
Circle after circle, it was as if the silhouettes of the two were about to melt into this galaxy.
Like a dream.