Chapter 302: Watching the Fireworks Together
The fireballs, transformed into several afterimages, were like five or six small meteors falling from the sky simultaneously. They shifted positions irregularly; even the slightest error would have smashed a massive crater into the floor. Had they struck a human head, it is certain that in an instant—
At that moment, eyeballs, teeth, tongues, and blood-streaked saliva would have been splattered across the entire gymnasium.
Shirou, having rushed over, extended both hands straight out, barely managing to catch the fireballs. However, the crazily spinning spheres acted like a metal-grinding machine.
They were on the verge of chafing the skin right off the boy's hands; the air already seemed thick with the stench of scorched flesh. Soon, even the bones inside would be ground to powder, and the extreme temperature threatened to burn his entire arms into ashen black.
In that split second, Shirou activated his Mystic Eyes. A white light flashed within his pupils like a bolt of lightning streaking through the dark night. Instantly, the berserk fireballs underwent a structural reconfiguration, gradually losing their kinetic energy until they came to a halt.
Shirou flipped his palms over, instantaneously repairing the injuries on them. Then, spreading his five fingers, he steadily caught the falling volleyball in his hand.
The burning volleyball was now devoid of any damage or stains; it looked even cleaner than when it was first taken out, as white as a brand-new product just bought from a store.
In the eyes of ordinary people, it just looked like the volleyball had gone wild and nearly hit someone. However, even if they had seen a flash of light, the momentum and pressure generated under such extreme speed were impossible to hide.
"It's okay now. As long as I am here, I won't let any of you get hurt." Holding the volleyball, Shirou turned to the startled girls and offered a gentle smile, comforting them.
"Yes..." The girls took in the boy's kind, "boy-next-door" smile, and one by one, their faces couldn't help but flush crimson. Their expressions were intoxicated, bordering on a daze.
"Sorry for giving you a scare. I'll head over there now and give those two a piece of my mind." Shirou smiled at the girls, then turned his gaze sharply toward the two girls on the court.
Artoria and Jeanne met the boy's gaze, only to guiltily look away in unison.
Artoria pretended to be calm, but cold sweat broke out on her forehead. She prayed silently in her heart, 'Please don't say you're cooking for yourself tonight! Please don't say you're not making dinner tonight!'
On the other side, Jeanne wanted to avoid Shirou's eyes, as it was her fault for overdoing it again. Yet she couldn't control herself; she nervously squinted her eyes, trying to sneak a peek
at the boy's current expression, only to be caught red-handed, causing her to jerk her head away again.
Seeing the subtle expressions of the two girls, Shirou burst into laughter. His urge to lecture them faded. For now, he decided to lead them away from this scene of trouble.
What the boy didn't know was that after he left, the girls' gazes remained fixed on his back. That broad, sturdy back had provided them protection in their moment of fright. It felt incredibly reliable and reassuring, leaving their hearts feeling warm.
"Shirou-senpai..." "So cool..."
The girls murmured to themselves, blushing as they stared at his departing figure. Even though they were safe now, their heartbeats—which had spiked due to the sudden flying volleyball—hadn't stopped. Instead, they seemed to accelerate, and their bodies felt flushed. What exactly was this feeling?
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"Honestly... flirting around like that won't do..."
"I really have to punish him a little..."
"If I don't, will he ever stay faithfully by my side?"
"True... the only way is to burn him. Let's proceed as planned..."
On the spectator stands of the second floor of the gymnasium, several blurred shadows stood, staring at the boy and muttering to themselves.
The shadows in the corner upstairs were hit by the dim light coming through the window. Though their faces weren't clear, one could vaguely see they were wearing various styles of women's clothing. Aside from one long-haired woman, the others were not wearing the International High uniform; they appeared to be uninvited guests from the outside.
One shadow held a bouquet of flowers, performing a petal divination. Another held a phone with both hands, pressing it to her chest like an amulet, while her lips moved as if whispering some very ominous incantation. Another seemed to be fiddling with some kind of bladed tool in her hand...
Having just led the two girls out of the gym, the boy suddenly felt a wave of nausea and a chill on the back of his neck. He looked back, but there was no one there; all the students were still inside the gym.
Lately, he seemed to experience this illusion often. Ever since the girls enrolled, he felt like the number of gazes following him through the school was increasing. Sometimes they were burning stares, and other times they were chills like this one.
But he truly hadn't done anything to warrant being watched like this, right? It must be an illusion.
"What's wrong, Shirou?" Artoria and Jeanne asked in confusion.
"No, it's probably just my imagination. Let's go," Shirou replied, shaking his head.
"Honestly, Shirou, what's with you? Acting all jumpy? Haha! Pull yourself together." The scatterbrained Jeanne burst into laughter, resting a hand on the boy's shoulder. Her mood seemed to have improved significantly.
The silver-haired girl looked at the boy, feeling an inexplicable surge of closeness at that moment.
Right, so Shirou has his clumsy, foolish moments too, she thought. It wasn't just her. Even if she was a "village girl" who hadn't seen the world, and even though she had tried her best since enrolling in this world, her math was still terrible.
She had even messed up her best subject, P.E., by accidentally hitting people with the ball. As a high school girl, she seemed to be quite a failure. But as they say, nobody's perfect—didn't she still have the dazed Shirou as her partner?
The silver-haired girl looked at the troubled boy and grinned again. Her heart felt warm; she and Shirou were truly good partners.
'It seems I'm being treated as one of her kind...' Shirou thought to himself, giving a helpless smile. He then said, "Forget it, let's go. We can't continue P.E. anyway. Let's find somewhere to kill some time."
"Yeah, let's go, let's go," Jeanne agreed with a smile.
"..." Behind them, Artoria stopped in her tracks. She looked back up at the high windows of the gym. Because they were backlit, she couldn't see anything through the glass, but she had just felt a bad premonition.
That feeling was very similar to the ill omen she felt in her previous life when she was targeted by a certain woman who had gone mad. However, since the target wasn't her, her perception wasn't as sensitive.
Still, Artoria decided to mention it to the boy seriously.
"Shirou, I think it would be best if you were a bit more careful."
"Yeah, I know. I'll keep an eye out." Since Artoria had said so, Shirou had to take it seriously; her "Instinct" was extremely accurate.
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The following days were unexpectedly peaceful. Aside from Valentine's Day—where the amount of chocolate he received was somehow several times more than in previous years, nearly causing public outrage—nothing happened.
Since peaceful daily life was a rarity, Shirou invited everyone to attend the Spring Festival festival together.
On the way there, Yukinoshita began educating everyone on the origins of the Spring Festival. Everyone was nodding off, but when they reached their destination, they all broke into excited smiles.
It was a grand feast of celebration: red lanterns, street parades with dragon dances, and lion dances.
Speaking of watching fireworks with the girls, the last time was at the summer fireworks festival. Back then, they were harassed by magical beasts, and by the time they finished clearing the alternate space, the fireworks were over.
Now, thanks to everyone's hard work, the entire Tokyo area had been cleared, and there were no longer any hidden threats from alternate spaces. This time, they could finally watch the fireworks in peace.
Before the fireworks started, everyone browsed the stalls together. Yuigahama and Artoria agreed to split up to buy snacks; Yuigahama then pulled Yukinoshita and Asuna to buy from the other end.
To prevent herself from accidentally eating everything, Artoria brought Jeanne along. She would eat one portion and give the other to the silver-haired girl to hold.
Meanwhile, Komachi and BB-chan started playing games. They arrived at a shooting gallery stall.
Komachi had her eye on a small bear on the shelf. Being very good at games, Komachi decisively bought five pellets, aimed, and fired.
The pellet struck right above the bear's nose, in the center of its face. It was a perfect shot. Shirou knew that to master this technique, she had spent a considerable amount of money here.
Unfortunately, the plastic pellet hit the bear's fur and bounced right off without making it wobble even slightly.
"Wait! Mister! This thing isn't moving at all! I hit it right in the middle of the face, and it didn't budge!"
"No, no, no, little miss, you just have bad luck. It'll definitely fall. Why don't you try again?" the stall owner said with a laugh.
"Komachi, let me try," BB-chan volunteered at that moment.
BB-chan raised the rifle, closed her right eye, aimed, and fired!
"Waaaagh!?" the stall owner cried out in pain.
Eh!? Huh?
"I'm so sorry! I was so busy looking at your face, Boss, that I missed. I really shouldn't have..." BB-chan said, cradling her face and acting cute.
The owner, who had been struck right between the eyes by the plastic pellet—leaving a bright red, indented mark—instantly changed his expression. He let out a slightly lecherous smile and said:
"Ahaha, well, that's quite embarrassing. Since you put it that way, miss, I can't just do nothing. If you don't mind, I'll give these small accessories to you two. You're both so cute; they'll definitely look good on you." His vanity greatly satisfied, the man said with a laugh.
"Thank you~!" BB-chan said, triumphantly taking the accessories.
"As expected of BB-chan! To have such a tactic and still get a prize," Komachi said, hugging the purple-haired girl.
"But I still really want that bear," Komachi said, looking at the bear on the shelf with great conflict. Then, she turned back to the boy.
"Brother, your turn! There are three shots left!"
"Eh, I know, I know," Shirou agreed helplessly as he was pushed forward.
"Oh, so it's the little miss's brother's turn now? You'd better be careful, big brother. Even if you shoot me, I won't give you a prize."
"I don't need that," Shirou retorted.
Shirou activated his Mystic Eyes slightly and looked at the bear.
Sure enough, behind the base of the shelf, there was a groove made of a small bamboo strip. The strip was coated in glue and fixed to the shelf, with a bamboo hook holding the item in place. If force was applied from the front, it basically wouldn't fall. Knocking it down from the front was an almost impossible task.
So, Shirou fired three consecutive shots. One hit the side of the bear to make it wobble, the second tilted the wobbling bear, and then he adjusted the barrel to lock onto the center of gravity most likely to fall. The third pellet flew out like the last straw that broke the camel's back; the bear crushed the bamboo strip and fell off the shelf together with it.
And so, Komachi got the brown furry bear. She held it high and laughed joyfully.
"Shirou-senpai, how crafty! I want one too!" BB-chan, standing by the side, raised both hands in protest.
"Didn't you just get a gift by relying on your own charm?" Shirou said, looking at the purple-haired girl.
"That is that, and this is this! I want a gift from Senior too!" BB ran to the boy, grabbed his arm, and began to act spoiled, tugging at his collar and sleeve with force.
"I know, I know! Stop pulling, the yukata is going to get pulled off." Shirou retracted his arm, trying to shake off the purple-haired girl, but she only hugged tighter, and the force on his collar grew stronger. He had no choice but to agree.
"Heehee, thank you~! I knew you were the best, Senior!" Having secured the promise, BB-chan laughed with satisfaction and stepped back two paces with her hands behind her back.
"Brother! Not just BB-chan—you have to do your best to get one for everyone~!" The clever Komachi raised her hand as a reminder. Since she hadn't decided which one would be her future sister-in-law, it was essential to maintain fairness for now.
"Yes, yes. Anyway, let's do twenty more shots!" Shirou finally managed to get the purple-haired girl to settle down. Hearing his sister's suggestion, he took out his wallet, pulled out several thousand-yen bills, and handed them to the owner.
"Hmph, haha! Young man, aren't you going to buy more? No matter how good your technique is, you can't hit it every time." The stall owner laughed. Although he hadn't used nails to fix things to the shelf like other crooked businessmen, he had set up various tricks.
It was all designed to make the game look simple when it was actually very difficult. Without seeing the layout tricks firsthand, knowing the secrets, and practicing extensively, it was impossible to hit them down—unless it was a miracle blessed by heaven.
Even the angles of the bamboo shelves were different. The owner didn't believe the boy before him could continue the miracle as he had before.
"Let's try it first. I have a bit of confidence in shooting-type games," Shirou replied casually.
"Is that so? Then I'll wait and see how many prizes you can take from me." The owner took the money, stuffed it into his waist pouch, and stepped aside to make room for Shirou to shoot.
Though he stepped aside, he wasn't far away. His arm remained within the boy's field of vision, and the man himself stood there with arms crossed, staring directly at Shirou. It created an invisible pressure.
Whether this was a strategy the owner had developed from running such stalls or just a way to show off, Shirou didn't care. He picked up the gun and loaded the plastic ammunition.
"Senior, please pick a plushie for BB-chan that fits my noble status."
Hearing this, Shirou searched carefully through the remaining items on the shelf.
Hmm... a lion? Artoria would probably like that. A cat, a dog... those would suit the other girls' preferences. However, BB-chan's request was a bit difficult. Would there be a pig or a fox?
Shirou locked onto his target and pulled the trigger...
Again, he fired three consecutive pellets. This time, Shirou knocked down a panda.
"Here, this is for you." Shirou handed the panda plushie to the silver-haired girl who had been watching eagerly from the side; he felt it suited her well.
"Eh? For me? Thank you~!" Jeanne showed a brilliant smile, but then she realized herself and put on an indifferent front. "Actually, I didn't really want this. I only accepted it because you said you wanted to give it to me, Shirou."
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After that...
Every girl present was holding a plushie in her arms.
Artoria held snacks in both hands—she hadn't stopped eating since they started. Now, as she ate, she looked at the lion plushie tucked under her arm with great satisfaction.
"Don't come back!!" the stall owner roared in anger. Although he had heard the boy say his goal was to get a plushie for each of his female companions, wasn't the number of girls he brought along a bit too much!?
Later, Shirou regrouped with the girls who were browsing nearby stalls. Yuigahama ran over carrying two large plastic bags of snacks. Behind her were a helpless-looking Yukinoshita and a smiling Asuna. Shirou helped Yuigahama place the snacks on a roadside bench and then handed over the gifts he had for them.
Once everyone was gathered, they found an open space to sit together and watched the fireworks that began to launch on time, filling the sky.
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