Chapter 221: Fireworks

"You... you..."

Yuuki Asuna’s pretty face flushed red as she whispered,

"Kotoko and Megumi are still here, so don’t say weird things. We can talk about it tonight..."

Asagiri looked at Yuuki Asuna, who was wearing a loose short sleeved shirt and hot pants, showing her fair neck and shoulders, her slender, well proportioned legs, and a pair of beach sandals that revealed her delicate, fair feet. He crouched down, leaned close to her ear, and said with a smile,

"It feels like I’m reaching my limit."

"Then... then what should we do...?"

Although Yuuki Asuna usually seemed strong willed and a little stubborn, she was actually soft by nature when it came to being his girlfriend. She might complain on the surface about Asagiri’s strange games, but in the end, she would always submit to him completely.

"Ahem."

While Iwanaga Kotoko and Kato Megumi were very deliberately "not paying attention," Yuuki Asuna quietly took Asagiri’s hand and led him into the villa.

"To the room?"

"No. We agreed to set off fireworks together, so we can’t be gone too long..."

Yuuki Asuna pursed her lips, then finally pulled Asagiri into the washroom on the first floor of the villa. Her cheeks were still red as she slowly crouched down in front of him. Her soft lips parted slightly, and in a voice as faint as a mosquito’s hum, she said,

"I... I’ll help you with that..."

...

Fifteen minutes later, inside the washroom.

"Honestly..."

Yuuki Asuna, now changed into a clean short sleeved shirt and freshly washed up, complained in a soft voice with a red face,

"That was too much... it got on my face and in my hair..." 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Hearing that, Asagiri pulled her into his arms, lowered his head to look at her flushed face, and said with a smile,

"Then next time, just swallow it..."

"No, what kind of thing are you saying?"

Yuuki Asuna lightly pushed against his chest and let out a small huff.

"If I just grant every request you make right away, wouldn’t that only make you get carried away? If you behave well later, then I’ll satisfy some special requests for you as a reward from me, your girlfriend."

"Then shouldn’t I reward you too?"

Yuuki Asuna’s ears were extremely sensitive. Even though Asagiri was only speaking close to them, the faint brush of his breath was enough to turn them red instantly. Her voice became slightly shaky, and a misty sheen appeared in her beautiful eyes.

"No... no, Kotoko and Megumi are still waiting for us. We’ll talk about it tonight."

...

By the time Yuuki Asuna and Asagiri came out of the villa and returned to the beach, they found Short-haired Mita waving a sparkler around, tracing all sorts of patterns through the air. She was clearly having a great time, completely unlike her usual slightly boyish demeanor.

The moment Short-haired Mita saw Asagiri come out, she froze for a second and immediately tried to hide the sparkler behind her back.

"There’s no need. Why are you acting like a kid who got caught doing something wrong?"

Asagiri walked up, raised a hand, and ruffled Short-haired Mita’s hair. Though her expression looked a little reluctant, as if she felt he was treating her like a little girl, her body was far more honest. Not only did she not dodge, she even leaned toward him slightly.

"If you’re here to relax, then relax properly."

Hearing Asagiri’s smiling words, Short-haired Mita finally nodded. A faint smile of happiness appeared on her face before she hesitantly said,

"Alright then... but I’ve already played enough. Shouldn’t it be their turn now?"

"No need to worry~"

Iwanaga Kotoko walked up to Short-haired Mita, patted her shoulder, and said with a smile,

"There are ten whole boxes of fireworks. You can set them off for as long as you like. There’s more than enough for all the Metas to have fun, so don’t worry~"

While Iwanaga Kotoko, Short-haired Mita, and Asagiri chatted casually, Kato Megumi walked over to Yuuki Asuna and said meaningfully in her calm tone,

"That ended faster than I expected."

Yuuki Asuna’s pretty face flushed red at once, and she stammered,

"I... I don’t know what you mean. We just went to..."

"You’re really bad at lying, Asuna."

Kato Megumi said it calmly, then handed a bundle of sparklers to Yuuki Asuna with a faint smile.

"Let’s go set off fireworks."

...

The personalities of Yuuki Asuna, Kato Megumi, and Iwanaga Kotoko were all completely different, so naturally, the way they played with fireworks was different too.

Kato Megumi held a single sparkler in one hand. After lighting it, she did not wave it around, but simply stood there quietly, watching it burn and scatter beautiful sparks.

Yuuki Asuna held a whole handful of sparklers. Once they were lit, she swung them gently, watching the arcs of light carve through the air. With the joyful smile on her face, she looked just like a little girl.

As for Iwanaga Kotoko...

She grabbed huge bundles of sparklers in both hands. The moment they were lit, she spun around wildly and occasionally let out strange little cries of excitement, as if it were not the fireworks burning, but herself.

Of course, the most striking one was still Asagiri.

He was sitting on a small stool with lit sparklers stuck into the sand all around him. Surrounded by brilliant sprays of light, he sat there silently. At a glance, it looked less like someone enjoying fireworks and more like some evil god in the middle of a strange summoning ritual.

"What exactly are you doing?"

Hearing Yuuki Asuna’s curious question, Asagiri, who was encircled by sparks, slowly spoke in a profound tone.

"Don’t rush. Wait until I bring out this item..."

The next second, Asagiri took a kazoo out of his pocket. Before Yuuki Asuna even had time to complain, he had already started playing.

"Toot toot toot toot~"

Even though the melody itself was fairly pleasant, the problem was simple. No matter what song you played on a kazoo, it would still sound ridiculous.

"At a time like this, a guitar would fit much better, wouldn’t it...?"

"What?"

Hearing the word "guitar" in Yuuki Asuna’s complaint, Hat Mita, who had been setting off fireworks nearby, silently appeared at her side, pink guitar already in hand.

"Did someone just say guitar? Right?"

"What kind of concept god are you now...?"

Watching Asagiri playing the kazoo while Hat Mita suddenly joined in on guitar, Yuuki Asuna shook her head helplessly.

"Why does this feel like a band...?"

Standing beside her, Kato Megumi said softly,

"But gathering together like this, without thinking about the game at all, just relaxing... isn’t that nice too?"

"That’s true."

Yuuki Asuna sat down in a nearby chair, tossed the burnt out sparklers into the trash bin, rested her face on her hands, and watched Hat Mita on guitar, Asagiri on kazoo, and Iwanaga Kotoko still spinning around with armfuls of sparklers. A gentle smile appeared on her face.

"This kind of relaxing time really is nice."

A few minutes later, Iwanaga Kotoko, Asagiri, and Hat Mita finally came over to join Yuuki Asuna and Kato Megumi.

"Alright, we’ve used up most of the small fireworks~"

Iwanaga Kotoko carried a large firework over from one of the boxes, placed it around ten meters away, then quickly ran back and looked at Asagiri beside her with a smile.

"My dear boyfriend, I leave the task of lighting the big one to you~"

"You three..."

Asagiri glanced at Yuuki Asuna, Kato Megumi, and Iwanaga Kotoko. Their faces were full of anticipation, mixed with a little nervousness.

"Don’t tell me... none of you dares light it?"

"Well... that kind of thing is scary."

Yuuki Asuna spoke in a low, slightly embarrassed voice.

"And I’ve never watched fireworks this close before, so it’s only natural that I’d be nervous, right?"

"Have none of you ever gone to a fireworks festival?"

Yuuki Asuna shook her head, and a trace of sadness appeared in her eyes.

"Back in junior high, I focused entirely on studying. I was always preparing to get into Private Shuchiin High School. Something like going to a fireworks festival... would have taken too much time."

"I haven’t either."

Kato Megumi also spoke softly.

"Yeah. Same here."

Yuuki Asuna looked over at Asagiri curiously.

"What about you? Have you ever gone to a fireworks festival?"

Asagiri shook his head.

"No. Outside of school, I was busy either participating in sports competitions or fighting delinquents."

Hearing that, Yuuki Asuna could not help asking,

"Didn’t you only fight delinquents outside school once?"

"Who told you that?"

Asagiri shrugged and answered with a light chuckle,

"It’s just that the one time on record happened because I failed to control my strength and hit them too hard. On top of that, we’d chosen a very secluded place to fight. If I hadn’t called the ambulance myself, they probably would have died there. That’s why there’s only one official record."

After saying that, Asagiri walked over to the large firework on the sand, flicked his lighter, and lowered the flame to the fuse.

"Whoosh!"

Accompanied by the sharp sound of something cutting through the air, a bright streak shot high into the night sky, then burst open into a brilliant explosion of colors.

Yuuki Asuna, Kato Megumi, and Iwanaga Kotoko all raised their heads together. Their eyes grew brighter as they stared up at the blooming fireworks, and they could not help murmuring,

"So beautiful..."

Only after the fireworks faded little by little did they come back to themselves. When they lowered their heads again, they discovered that Asagiri had never looked up at the sky even once. He had simply been standing there in front of them the whole time.

"Huh? Did you even watch the fireworks just now? They were really beautiful."

"I’m not that interested in fireworks."

Asagiri shook his head, then said with a smile. His blunt words made Iwanaga Kotoko, Kato Megumi, and Yuuki Asuna all flush red.

"You can watch fireworks anytime. But the sight of the three of you seeing fireworks bloom up close for the first time... that’s something I would never want to miss."

.....

[If you don’t want to wait for the next update, read 10–50 Chapters ahead on P@treon.]

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