Two weeks have passed since the mission on Lake Shima, and the students of Suisei High School have entered their long holidays of Golden Week. They already have plans to spend their vacation. Some intend to travel out of town, while others enjoy quality time with their families.
In a modern-style room inside the Fuyushima Temple, Setsuka is lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling. Over the past few days, her mood had been so bad that she rarely spoke to Kaede and her little sister, Kohana. The cause was Tenku, who kept avoiding her at school. When they were alone, Tenku didn't even say a word to her, making her very sad.
After the incident at Lake Shima, Setsuka no longer looks for the student who saved Kohana because she is sure that person is Tenku, but she can't tell her sister. She had been lying to Kohana for the past few days that she didn't have time to look for the boy because she was busy with schoolwork and missions in the organization. Fortunately, her sister understood and wasn't angry with her. But Kohana still keeps asking about the matter every day.
Setsuka was worried that her sister would be sad and disappointed when she met Tenku, and the other party ignored her. First, she had to repair her relationship with him before telling Kohana.
She closed her eyes and recalled her chat with her father and mother after returning from the mission at Lake Shima. At that time, Setsuka asked about Realizers with multiple Phantasmal Objects, and her parents said that existences were extremely rare and they had only heard of legends about it.
When her father asked why Setsuka suddenly wanted to know about it, she could only answer that she was curious. She couldn't tell about Tenku's identity to anyone, including her parents. If she leaked it out, Setsuka was afraid that her relationship with Tenku would be destroyed, and they would become enemies.
Setsuka looks at her hands and remembers when Tenku saved her. The boy ignored the pain from the wound on his shoulder and continued to grip her hand tightly. When Setsuka thought that, her frozen heart melted and thumped wildly, and her body was slowly heating up for some unknown reason.
"Haa…" Setsuka sighed and tried to calm her heart down.
"He has stirred up my heart to this extent. Since then, I can't stop thinking about him. As a man, he should be responsible, right?" Setsuka said in a low voice and looked at Tenku's photo on her smartphone. She got it from the school database and secretly saved it.
Setsuka smiled and was deep in thought, but a knock on the door brought her back to reality.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
"Setsuka. May I come in?" A woman's voice sounded from outside Setsuka's room.
"Come in. I didn't lock the door." Setsuka answered and got up from her bed.
The door opened, and a middle-aged woman with long black hair wearing a kimono entered the room. Her face is gorgeous and similar to Setsuka, but the woman looks more mature. That woman is Koyuki Fuyushima, wife of the current head of the Fuyushima Temple and mother of Setsuka and Kohana.
"What's wrong, mother?" Setsuka looked at Koyuki in confusion. Usually, her mother would wait in the living room for Setsuka to come out if she wanted to talk to her about something. If it were an important matter, Koyuki would have someone call Setsuka.
"I should be the one asking you that question. You've been moody since returning from the Lake Shima mission. You've been quieter than usual and have been ignoring Kohana a lot these past few days. Did something happen to you?" Koyuki looked at Setsuka with concern.
"That is..." Setsuka lowered her head and felt sad when she heard Koyuki's question. She was silent and did not know how to answer.
"Is that something you can't say to your mother?" Koyuki said softly. She didn't want to force Setsuka to tell her problems because it was her privacy. But she couldn't bear to see her daughter's sad face.
"No... that's not what I meant. I don't know how to tell you." Setsuka remembers when Tenku purposely kept his distance from her, and tears flowed from her eyes.
Koyuki was worried when she saw Setsuka shed tears because her daughter had never cried since she was five years old. Setsuka has grown into a cold and strong girl in facing any problem until now. Thus, Koyuki was shocked when she saw her daughter suddenly cry and look like a weak girl.
"What has happened? Did you fight with Kaede?" Koyuki hugged Setsuka and rubbed her back to calm her down.
"This matter has nothing to do with Kaede." Setsuka shook her head.
"Then who made you like this? Tell me." Koyuki felt pity when she saw her daughter's condition.
"Mother..." Setsuka said in a low voice.
"Share your grief with me." Koyuki whispered.
"He is a bastard. He had engraved himself deeply in my heart but suddenly distanced himself from me. I want to say something to him. But I can't open my mouth in front of him. If I say something, if I say I know, I'm afraid he will go away from me. I couldn't say anything because I thought I'd never see him again if I did. I don't want that to happen. What should I do, mother?" Setsuka poured her heart out to her mother and burst into tears.
Koyuki was surprised after hearing Setsuka's words. She didn't understand what her daughter meant, but she knew Setsuka became like that because of a man. Setsuka had fallen in love, and it felt so deep. As a woman, she could feel how much her daughter loved that person.
(Who are the bastards who dare to make my daughter sad!? If I find out, I will make him responsible for what he has done!!)
"Yes. That man is a bastard. He doesn't deserve your attention." Koyuki rubbed Setsuka's head to comfort her.
"No! He's not a bastard! I wouldn't be here with you if he were that kind of man." Setsuka quickly denied her mother's words and cried even louder. Her current behavior looked like that of a little girl.
"Yes, yes. He's not a bastard. Then it would be best if you stopped crying. How about you freshen up your mind before thinking about the matter again? Isn't there a festival nearby? You can take Kohana for a walk there. It looks like she's lonely since you haven't spoken to her much the last few days." Koyuki smiled helplessly and wiped the tears off Setsuka's face.
"Yes, mother. I also feel bad for Kohana about that." Setsuka nodded in response. Koyuki sighed after seeing her daughter get better after crying. But her eyes were cold when she thought about the man who had made Setsuka like that.
The long holiday of Golden Week has begun, and a festival is being held not far from Fuyushima Temple. Food and game stalls line the side of the road in an attractive decoration. People from the neighborhood come to the place to enjoy the festival.
Amidst the crowd, a pair of big and small girls walking hand in hand caught the attention of the people around them. The big one looks so pretty, and the small one looks cute. They wore beautiful kimonos and carried a tote bag in their hands. The two people were Setsuka and Kohana.
"Ah! Look there, big sister! There is a stall selling sweets! Over there is a game of catching goldfish! It's a crepe stall! Let's go there, big sister!" Kohana said excitedly while pointing at the various stalls along the roadside. She dragged Setsuka's hand through the crowd and intended to come at them one by one.
"You don't have to rush, Kohana. The stalls are not going anywhere. It would be dangerous if you separated from me and got lost in that crowd." Setsuka smiled when she saw her sister's enthusiasm. She slightly forgot her matters with Tenku.
"I understand, big sister! I won't let go of your hand!" Kohana grinned and held Setsuka's hand tighter.
"It's good that you understand. In that case, which stall do you want to go to first?" Setsuka didn't want to linger in the crowd because she felt uncomfortable with the men's stares at her. When she thought about that, she remembered Tenku's eyes that made her comfortable and made Setsuka miss him again.
"I want to go to the crepe stall first. After that, I want to visit all the stalls in this place!" Kohana pointed at all the stalls along the street.
"Alright. Let's go to the crepe stall first." Setsuka leads Kohana to a crepe stand. After that, she visited other stalls until her sister was exhausted.
Just as they were about to go to another stall, Setsuka suddenly stopped after hearing the ringing from her smartphone.
"Wait, Kohana. I have to answer the phone first. Stay by my side, and don't go anywhere." Setsuka warned her sister and then took out her smartphone from the tote bag.
The person who called her was Kaede. She contacted Setsuka to ask about her condition. Setsuka felt guilty for making her best friend worry. But she couldn't tell her about the matter because that would reveal Tenku's identity.
Kaede was relieved after hearing that Setsuka was walking around the festival with Kohana. After they chatted for a while, the call ended.
"Okay. Let's go to the next stall. Huh!! Kohana? Where are you?" Setsuka panicked when she saw that Kohana had disappeared. She looked around and shouted her sister's name.
Setsuka took her smartphone from her tote bag and intended to call Kohana but she remembered that her little sister didn't bring any communication device with her. She clicked her tongue and started looking for Kohana by shouting her name.
pαпdα Йᴏνê|,сòМ "Kohana!!"
***
"Where's big sister!?" Kohana looked around and said in a panic. She was carried away by the crowd when Setsuka answered the call and got separated from her older sister.
"Big sister! Big sister!" Kohana sped up her steps and shouted for Setsuka, but she didn't get any reply. The people in the place felt pity when they saw her. They wanted to help her, but Kohana avoided them. She was frightened in the crowd and cried.
Kohana walked around the festival and kept calling out to Setsuka until her voice was hoarse. But she suddenly stopped when she saw a stall with many people lined up in front of it. Kohana wiped the tears off her face and joined the queue. She was curious and forgot about her fear.
After a while, the queue in front of her was gone, and Kohana could finally see what kind of food was being sold in that place. The stall was selling crispy tofu, and the seller was a boy the same age as her older sister. When the boy turned his eyes to her, Kohana froze after seeing his face.
"Big brother?"
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