The Fish Looks So Silly

At the end of the forest path, with the shadows of trees dancing beneath them, a schoolgirl came running with a bag in her hand and a look of surprise on her face.

As she got closer, the girl patted her chest, lifted her face, and looked at Haruto, with a strange light flickering in her eyes.

"Kuromori-kun, good afternoon."

"Mm, good afternoon."

Haruto's gaze focused on Shoko's face. After not seeing her for a few days, this girl seemed to have lost quite a bit of weight.

In other words, was everything Yuzuru said true?

But when they chatted on the phone, Haruto hadn't noticed anything unusual about Shoko!

Seeing him stare, Shoko's face turned a bit red. She glanced down shyly and said, "Kuromori-kun, is something wrong?"

Now, with just a simple conversation, Shoko had no trouble at all.

"Nothing."

Haruto looked at Yuzuru, raised an eyebrow, and said, "Yuzuru, didn't you say there was something else?"

Yuzuru: "😐"

'This guy is too much! I went out of my way to bring him here, and he doesn't even thank me, just dismisses me?'

Yuzuru glared and said, "Onee-chan, I have something else to do, so I'll head back first."

"Mm."

Shoko responded softly.

As Yuzuru left, Shoko looked down at her toes. For a moment, she suddenly became so nervous that she didn't know what to say.

Before meeting, her heart had been filled with hope and longing, but when they finally met, she felt nervous, embarrassed, and confused.

This was the true picture of Shoko.

Haruto thought for a moment and reached out his hand. "Shoko, give me your school bag."

Yuzuru had always said he was not proactive enough and worried about the two of them.

Today, Haruto would show whether he could take the initiative or not!

"Eh?" Shoko was surprised, then quickly waved her hand. "No, no need, I can carry it myself."

'Oh no! What am I doing! I should just give him my bag right now! Stupid!'

Shoko hesitated for a moment, then blushed and placed her bag in his hand.

Even though it went against her words, in the end, she had no choice but to let him take the initiative.

And Yuzuru had mentioned that there were other pretty girls around Haruto, and they seemed to be quintuplets.

Before Haruto made a decision, she still had a chance, right?

"Um… Kuromori-kun, would you like to feed the fish?"

Seeing Shoko's hopeful gaze, Haruto didn't understand what was so appealing about feeding fish, but he didn't refuse.

Anyway, when on a date with a girl, just go to the place she wants to go.

It was still that same small bridge.

When they arrived, Shoko took out a prepared baguette from her bag, tore off half, and handed it to Haruto. "Kuromori-kun, this is for you."

"Mm."

Haruto leaned on the railing, but instead of feeding the fish, he turned and looked at Shoko feeding the fish.

The first time they met was on this bridge.

Back then, she had also been feeding the fish, and there was a peaceful and gentle smile on her face that made it clear she was a gentle girl.

And indeed, she was.

Shoko's character was extremely gentle, perhaps even overly so. If she ever had a conflict with someone, whether she was right or wrong, her first instinct was always to apologize.

So gentle that it almost felt oppressive.

In Haruto's eyes, Nishimiya Shoko was someone soft-hearted and, yes, a little foolish.

But it was precisely because of such "foolish" people that, in this increasingly cold world, a different kind of brilliance could shine.

And now, she was still that gentle fool who wouldn't complain, only trying to help the other side explain.

But something had changed.

That is, there was clearly a different light in her eyes now.

What was it?

It must have been hope and longing for the future.

Shoko only realized Haruto had been watching her when she had eaten half of the bread in her hand.

"What is it, Kuromori-kun?"

Shoko turned, blinking, and a soft, shy smile appeared on her face.

"This is for you too."

"Eh, aren't you feeding the fish, Kuromori-kun?"

Haruto replied, "The fish look so silly with their big eyes. Instead of feeding them, I'd rather watch you feed the fish."

The sight of Shoko feeding the fish was soft and serene, giving the impression that the warmth of sunlight had erased the chill of darkness.

It felt really nice.

However, upon hearing this, Shoko's eyes widened.

"L-Like?"

Shoko's eyes went wide as she stared at him. The moment they made eye contact, she dashed off like a startled rabbit.

Haruto could even clearly hear her heartbeat pounding away.

"Fool, what are they even doing, feeding those fish again? What good does it do to feed those silly fish?"

Yuzuru crouched behind a tree, sighing, then raised a camera and pointed it at them.

*CLIK*

The scene froze, and Yuzuru looked at the photo he'd taken, surprised.

The sun was setting in the west, and the warm light of the sunset touched the horizon.

Underneath the sunset, the shy and serious girl fed the fish, while the boy looked at her beside him. The photo had captured a truly beautiful moment.

Yuzuru turned away. "Looks like it's good enough, this time I won't give them any advice."

With that, he stood up, slipped his hands into his pockets, took one last look at the two of them, and walked away.

After feeding the fish, Shoko ran to a nearby flower bed to wash her hands.

Halfway through, her body suddenly froze. Haruto noticed and couldn't help but turn to see.

And then he saw a bee, for some reason, landing on Shoko's bangs.

Had the bee mistaken Shoko's hair for a flower? She felt uncomfortable all over.

Shoko didn't dare move because she had once seen someone stung by a bee as a child—their cheek was swollen, and it looked terrifying.

So, she absolutely didn't want to get stung.

One wrong move and she could easily be stung.

What was she supposed to do?

In her panic, Shoko suddenly remembered something, then took a deep breath, puffed out her cheeks, and prepared to blow the bee away.