Chapter 417: Kiss x2

Ishigami had always been a rather solitary person.

Aside from the student council members, he had very few friends. After the sports festival, his social circle expanded slightly to include those from the cheer squad, but even then, it was just enough to hold a conversation.

Even so, he still decided to attend the bonfire party this time.

Today, following Rinji's suggestion, he invited Tsubame Koyasu. He hadn't expected that the same Tsubame who had been avoiding him just yesterday would accept his invitation.

In the afternoon, because Tsubame's rhythmic gymnastics club had a performance, he went to watch it.

Their performance was a stage play that told the origin of Shuchiin's Hoshin Festival.

It was then that Ishigami understood—giving someone a heart-shaped item during the Hoshin Festival was equivalent to a confession. In other words...

He had unknowingly pulled off a bold move—confessing in public to one of the most popular girls in the school.

Though shocked, he also felt a bit shy, but he didn't take it too seriously.

After all, he didn't think anyone would be silly enough to treat giving a heart-shaped item as an actual confession.

Well, he was wrong.

Tsubame just happened to be someone who would treat that kind of act seriously. In fact, most people at this school would.

Near noon, Tsubame told Ishigami she would take some time to get to know him better before giving an answer.

Though her face was red as she said it, Ishigami didn't think too deeply about it.

In that sense, he was quite similar to Rinji.

Feeling pretty good, he arrived at the bonfire party.

But the moment he saw couples pairing up everywhere, his mood turned sour again.

"Tch, I really wish you guys feeding me all this PDA would just fall into the bonfire."

"It's a rare bonfire party. Cursing others like that isn't nice, you know."

"Hm?"

Hearing the voice, Ishigami quickly turned around, but there was no one there.

Looking down, he realized it was Iino looking up at him.

"It's you. Shouldn't you be patrolling with Rinji right now?"

"Rinji-kun said he could do it on his own and told me to enjoy the bonfire party."

"Yeah… that does sound like something he'd do," Ishigami said with a smile.

"Right… I really need to thank him properly when he gets back," Iino whispered.

They then watched Kaguya appear and light the bonfire with a bow and arrow.

After that came the sudden disappearance of Tamako from the rooftop, followed by the sky raining down with cards.

"Who the heck is this 'Arsène Lupin' and what kind of prank is this!?"

The chaos this prank caused lit a fire in Iino's justice-driven heart. She turned and left, determined to catch the culprit.

"Wait."

Just as Iino took a step, Ishigami grabbed her shoulder.

"What are you doing?"

"If you go handle this, Rinji's efforts will be wasted," Ishigami said. "Just enjoy the bonfire party. That was his intention."

"But…"

Then, heart-shaped balloons rose around the school building.

Both Iino and Ishigami were captivated by the dreamlike scene.

"…So beautiful."

---

"Shinomiya, this is how I feel."

Heart-shaped balloons floated up and surrounded Kaguya and Shirogane.

Holding one of the balloons that had drifted into his hands, Shirogane blushed and said those words to Kaguya.

Seeing his embarrassed face and the floating balloons around her, memories of everything they'd been through—student council work, their romantic mind games—flooded Kaguya's mind.

At last, there was resolution.

A smile appeared on her face—a truly happy one.

She accepted the balloon from Shirogane and gently cradled it in her arms.

Shirogane had prepared all of this long ago. With the help of Momo and Rinji, he managed to collect all the heart-shaped balloons from the school in a single night.

And thanks to the bonfire party's heat creating an updraft, releasing the balloons now gave them a brief moment to rise perfectly into view on the rooftop.

At the same time, seeing the balloons rise, Rinji knew Shirogane's plan had succeeded and began the final step.

Boom!

A burst of dazzling fireworks lit up the night sky, forming a heart shape.

The fireworks above and balloons all around created a moment of pure fantasy.

[What I want to do can't be expressed in words—it has to be shown in action.]

Shirogane took a deep breath and said, "I know this is sudden, but… this is the most important request of my life. Shinomiya, will you apply to Stanford with me? I want to go to America with you!"

I want to be with you forever.

Kaguya, immersed in the fantasy Shirogane had created, stared at him in a daze, face red, and softly said one word.

"Okay."

[Yes!]

Shirogane almost jumped with excitement, but managed to hold it in.

Still blushing, Kaguya slowly approached him and said, "President… earlier, you said there would be a reward if I caught you, right?"

"Uh… yeah."

"You said it yourself."

Kaguya stepped up to him, cupped his cheeks, and kissed him.

"President, this is how I feel."

---

"Looks like it went well."

Rinji smiled as he looked up at the fireworks in the sky.

Even without seeing the full scene, he could guess how it ended.

"Rinji, that just now..."

"After hearing the president's plan, I reached out to some local groups in the harbor district and got permission to launch fireworks above Shuchiin," Rinji explained with a grin. "According to the plan, if Shinomiya showed up on the rooftop, the president would release the balloons. Seeing them would signal me to launch the fireworks."

After speaking, Rinji leaned against the wall, took a cigarette from his pocket, and placed it in his mouth.

"This really turned out well. Neither the president nor Shinomiya chose to run away in the end."

"…Yeah."

Hayasaka lowered her head and muttered.

"We must never run away."

"Hm?"

Just as Rinji was about to light his cigarette, he saw Hayasaka slowly walk up to him.

She snatched the cigarette from his mouth and tossed it aside.

The light from the fireworks illuminated her face, allowing Rinji to see the smile on her lips.

"If you run away, you'll never get anything done."

With that, Hayasaka grabbed Rinji's collar, stood on her toes, and kissed him.

Beneath the fireworks, two pairs of young hearts came together in a kiss.