Kirisu Mafuyu Embarrassed

"Why did you bring me here?"

In front of the light gray stone pavilion, Mafuyu stood bewildered for a moment, then turned and looked at the two of them with a complicated expression.

This time, she didn't reject Itsuki's request and was escorted by them to Shuchi'in Academy, the center of the labyrinth garden.

Not because she changed her mind or wanted to give her life advice, but because...

Thinking about this, Mafuyu glared at Shinichi.

Insulting! This man, knowing she wouldn't accept threats, actually said, "There's a winning strategy for the racing game now. As long as you know it, you'll definitely win." He used this method to make her unable to refuse.

It's despicable!

Shinichi looked innocent: "If Sensei wasn't so competitive, I wouldn't be able to charm you."

Mafuyu snorted: "I'm not competitive, I just think it's unreasonable if I lose. Now it seems like you're really cheating!"

"I'm not cheating, I just know how to play."

"Don't you know the term fair play?"

"I'm just using information reasonably..."

Seeing both of them inclined to start a fierce argument here, Itsuki quickly stepped forward to smooth things over.

"You two are no longer children, why bother just playing around..."

In the midst of her persuasion, she felt strange; this scene felt like it happened not long ago, but with different people.

"Enough."

Mafuyu sighed, turned her face away, and looked around.

"Is this place called Sakura Pavilion by you... It was indeed very beautiful when it bloomed in April, but now it seems somewhat wrong."

After a little emotion, she directed her gaze towards the two of them and spoke calmly.

"So, what's your plan for bringing me here?"

Mafuyu didn't know what the two of them were planning, but she could vaguely sense that Itsuki's words spoken at Shinichi's house, and Shinichi's strategic expression, as if he had planned all of this for a long time. Everything was the same, whether it was skating or "that incident", it was all related.

Shinichi and Itsuki exchanged glances, and this time Shinichi stepped forward.

"Sensei, I want to know if you have an impression of this."

He handed her the bag in his hand, which seemed to contain a square object.

Mafuyu frowned slightly. Before they left, Shinichi asked them both to stay in front of the door and take out this bag themselves. She didn't know what he was hiding.

She didn't see what was inside, and although she was curious, she didn't ask again.

"This..."

As he pulled his hand out of the bag, an old cookie box appeared.

With a confused expression on her face, Mafuyu inspected two palm-sized tin boxes, her eyebrows furrowing deeper.

The patterns and labels on them were blurred. It looked like an ordinary old biscuit box, but for some reason, she felt familiar, and she couldn't remember where she had seen it.

Shinichi looked at her puzzled expression, and he spoke softly:

"This is a precious memory wanted to be kept by a confused girl."

Mafuyu stared at him and bit her lip while thinking, "Confused girl...?"

Before she could remember, Shinichi took back the cookie box and opened its lid, his tone returning to his usual casual tone.

"Oh, this thing has been buried for a few years. It took a lot of effort to open it back then. In the end, its contents weren't too much, so I always felt a little underestimated."

"Buried for a few years..."

Ignoring his joking attitude, the more Mafuyu pondered, the more she felt like she was getting clues, and the mystery in front of her gradually became clearer, and her eyes widened.

Could this box be buried here?

"That's right!"

Shinichi smiled and pointed to the largest cherry blossom tree next to him.

"I buried things there before, and I wondered if someone might bury some kind of memorial there... I didn't expect there actually was one."

In April, to encourage the "two brave girls" to defeat the "Demon King", Shinichi buried the "Treasure of Village A" near the Sakura Pavilion, so that they both would be more confident in facing the ordeal.

Half a year later, he didn't come here to be a hero anymore, but for the Demon King who would remember something before him.

Mafuyu looked back at the old biscuit box. Although the surface of the box had been cleaned very cleanly, traces of time were still visible on the rusty metal sheets.

Maybe about six or seven years?

Six or seven years...

Memories that had long passed flashed through Mafuyu's mind, slightly parting her red lips, and her face suddenly turned pale.

She remembered!

At this moment, the smile on Shinichi's face became even brighter, and he happily added this sentence:

"It's all because of Kirisu-sensei that I spent a lot of time loosening the soil and digging holes here. It took about three hours... I was really tired."

Fortunately, he gained the most critical advantage from it.

Shinichi took out a letter from the biscuit box.

"Of course, that one!"

Mafuyu exclaimed, and she, who rarely lost her composure, immediately rushed to grab it, but a plump figure appeared in front of her.

"Kirisu-sensei, please don't get too excited!"

Itsuki hugged Mafuyu tightly, except for her face that blushed at first, her expression remained firm, and she spoke earnestly.

"There's a lot we want to say to you, can you let us finish first? Please!"

"But, but, that..."

Mafuyu gritted her teeth. Her face had changed from white to red, and even her ears quickly felt hot. Her hands and feet were restless, and she wanted to break free from Itsuki. She tried to stop her and take the letter from Shinichi's hand.

But everything was on a larger scale.

Although she was still underage, Itsuki's strength was superior to hers, even though her body was as soft as a marshmallow, she felt as if a mountain stood in front of her and couldn't be broken.

Was her third wish to become a sumo wrestler?

"Mhm..."

Seeing Mafuyu anxiously trying to avoid it and staring at the letter, Itsuki was also a little confused.

This was the first time she was so close to a respected teacher. Wherever she went, they stuck close to each other. She was surrounded by softness and elasticity. The scent of adulthood sneaked into her nose slyly. The warmth of their bodies shifted to each other, burning in this winter season, and strange sparks appeared – but that's not the point!

At this moment, Itsuki's conscience was cursed harshly.

Even so, she didn't forget what she wanted to do.

Taking a deep breath, Itsuki spoke again:

"Moreover, although the letter was snatched from Asada-kun's hands, we've already read its contents! Asada-kun even made a backup on his computer. It's useless for you to take it now!"

"..."

Mafuyu immediately stopped moving and froze in place like a fossil.

Those beautiful eyes stared straight at Shinichi, her lips open in surprise, then she uttered words that were hard to believe:

"You even have a backup... Asada-kun, where is your humanity?"

"Hah."

Rarely hated by Mafuyu, Shinichi twitched the corners of his mouth.

"...The backup was for me to tease Itsuki. I haven't gotten bored of it yet."

Hearing this, Mafuyu sighed in relief, and her tense body relaxed as if releasing.

This time, Itsuki looked at Shinichi incredulously: "Why are you trying to tease me!"

"Because you're cute." Shinichi praised casually, like the type of guy who's used to using sweet words to face innocent girls.

He ignored Itsuki's blushing face and began to explain the origin of the issue.

He knew Mafuyu must have many things she wanted to ask.

"I won't tell you the source of the information. Sensei, please don't waste your energy asking."

Mafuyu took several deep breaths, her expression calming down again, and she looked directly at him with a hint of seriousness.

Shinichi began by telling the story.