Epilogue
Shimizu-san and the After-Party
“They seem to be having fun dancing, don’t they?”
“Yeah, they do.”
The cultural festival had co to an end, and as promised, Shimizu-san and I were cleaning up in place of Ai-san and Yousuke-san.
Our assigned area to clean was the second floor of the gymnasium, which had a view of the first floor where the after-party was being held.
So, as we were taking down the decorations, we watched the two of them dance.
“I’m really tired.”
“We did go through a lot.”
I was a bit surprised at how normally I could talk to Shimizu-san even after realizing that I had feelings for her.
“We sold yakisoba, went into the haunted house, got entangled with that annoying fortune-teller, and just when I thought we could rest, we had to perform in the play. That’s not sothing you do in just one day.”
“Haha...”
Thinking about it, even considering it was a cultural festival, it was indeed a day packed with events.
Sothing had been on my mind, so I decided to ask.
“Did you enjoy the cultural festival today, Shimizu-san?”
Shimizu-san paused her cleaning for a mont, as if to think, before she spoke.
“...It wasn’t bad. The play was a success, too.”
Hearing her words made happy as well.
“That’s good to hear.”
“There’s sothing I want to ask you, too.”
“What is it?”
“At the end of the play, why did you hug so tightly?”
“Ah...”
The original script called for a light hug in that scene.
However, during practice, we both ended up giving awkward hugs, probably out of embarrassnt.
The reason I hugged her so tightly was that I couldn’t contain my feelings for Shimizu-san.
“And the lines... you added so ad-lib? Why did you suddenly change the lines?”
At that mont, I had just blurted out what I was feeling towards Shimizu-san.
“The reason I hugged you so tightly and changed the lines so suddenly was that I got too carried away with the role. I’m sorry!”
I bowed my head to Shimizu-san.
“I’m not blaming you. I was just curious, that’s all. Lift your head up.”
“Okay.”
I felt a little pain in my heart since I wasn’t used to hiding things from Shimizu-san.
“It turned out to be a success in the end, so it’s fine.”
“But you must have felt uncomfortable, right Shimizu-san?”
“Well, that’s...”
I doubted anyone would feel good about being hugged by soone they didn’t have feelings for.
“So I really am sorry, Shimizu-san.”
“...Hey, Hondō. Look at .”
“Ah, okay.”
As I turned my face towards Shimizu-san, she grasped my cheek with her hand.
“S-Shimizu-san?”
“Listen, if I really hated being hugged, I would have rejected it, even in the play. Don’t sweat the small stuff.”
After saying that, Shimizu-san let go of my cheek.
“Got it?”
“Yeah.”
“Good.”
Both Shimizu-san and I returned to our task of cleaning up the decorations.
“...Can I ask just one more thing?”
“Sure.”
“Did you enjoy the cultural festival?”
I wasn’t sure what Shimizu-san was thinking when she asked, but my answer was clear.
“I had a lot of fun this year because I was with you, Shimizu-san.”
“Wha?!”
I couldn’t see Shimizu-san’s expression since she was facing the wall, but it seed like her ears turned a little redder than before.
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