Chapter 24 Fireworks Festival

Chapter 24: Fireworks Festival

Two days ago, at Morinoko High.

After the extra practice in the third gym ended, Tsukishima Kei finally had time to stop and sort out his thoughts about everything that had happened that day.

First, he drove off Hoshino, who had come specifically to watch their match, with an incredibly thoughtless remark. Then, uncharacteristically, Yamaguchi grabbed him by the shirt and scolded him. After that, he heard a fiery owl speech from Bokuto-senpai, and finally, he was dragged into the fray for several rounds of 3v3 by both Bokuto and Kuroo-senpai.

…

What a night, indeed, Tsukishima thought.

He had already heard several different versions of the answer to the question of why one should put in effort. If Hoshino was driven by passion, Yamaguchi by self-respect, and Bokuto-senpai by "that moment"…

Then what about him? What was his own answer?

Tsukishima knew this wasn't a question that could be answered easily. But at least now, he was no longer as resistant to thinking about it, and he was willing to try some things he had never tried before to find that answer.

But right now, there was something more pressing than this problem that couldn't be solved right away…

Tsukishima recalled the words he had blurted out to Hoshino hours earlier, with his mind in turmoil.

…

Damn.

This was bad. It really seemed bad now.

***

"What? You say Hoshino-san came by earlier?!"

Yamaguchi looked genuinely shocked when he heard this from Tsukishima.

But more than that, he was surprised by the expression on Tsukishima's face at that moment.

"…Did you two have a fight?" he asked cautiously.

Tsukishima shook his head very slowly.

"If only that were the case," he said.

If that were the case, at least he'd know what Hoshino was thinking.

But no—after hearing his words, Hoshino had only stood frozen for a few seconds, then turned and walked away without looking back, without a single word. He didn't know how she would view him now, but judging from the look of shock he'd never seen before on her face before she left, the outcome might be even worse than he had imagined.

"Hey, Tsukki."

After much hesitation, Yamaguchi finally asked the question—

"I'm not really sure what happened between you two, but don't you think you've been way too pessimistic about how Hoshino-san feels about you?" he said.

He'd heard Tsukishima say more than once that Hoshino's attention toward him was only for manga research.

"Think carefully about how you two have been spending time together lately. If Hoshino-san really was only doing this for her manga, would she really have gone to such lengths?"

Just coming to watch practice every day is already amazing!

"If it were someone else, I might agree with you," Tsukishima said. "But she's Hoshino."

He had seen firsthand how far this girl would go to perfect her manga. What would seem impossible to others was just business as usual for her.

"Okay… but I still think you two should find a chance to talk it out properly," Yamaguchi suggested. "In the end, you can't be sure of these things until you ask her directly, right?"

"Easier said than done…"

Tsukishima's head ached again.

But given their current relationship, would Hoshino even give him the chance?

"Oh, I heard there's a huge fireworks festival in Tokyo the day after tomorrow. I'd love to go see it…"

After dropping this vague hint, Yamaguchi quietly walked away.

Tsukishima: …

A fireworks festival, huh…

This is a classic scene in shoujo manga; even for research purposes, Hoshino wouldn't miss it, right?

If that was the case…

Tsukishima had silently made up his mind.

Having always been the one passively receiving Hoshino's kindness, maybe it was time for him to take the initiative and do something.

***

At the fireworks festival venue, Tsukishima quickly spotted Hoshino.

But the second their eyes met, she turned around without a second glance and started walking in the opposite direction.

"…Hoshino!"

He called out, then quickly followed after her.

When she heard his voice behind her, Hoshino's pace noticeably quickened. However, in this chase, Tsukishima—tall, long-legged, and from a sports club—had an overwhelming advantage. He soon caught up to her and blocked her path.

"What do you want?" Hoshino was forced to look up at him.

…Her tone didn't sound too friendly.

"I…"

The person he wanted to see was right in front of him, yet Tsukishima didn't know what to say. Hoshino didn't want to waste time with him here. She was on the verge of leaving again, but Tsukishima stopped her once more.

Hoshino: …

What exactly did this guy want?!

Realizing she couldn't escape anyway, Hoshino stopped trying to avoid him. She crossed her arms and looked at him calmly. "By the way, how did you end up here? Isn't your training camp in Saitama?"

"I came to find you," Tsukishima answered without missing a beat.

Seemingly not expecting such a straightforward answer, Hoshino's eyes widened slightly.

—But then her eyes quickly dimmed.

"…Well, you're pretty good at finding people, huh," she muttered.

In a place as crowded as a fireworks festival, this guy had managed to find her so easily.

"You stand out in that Karasuno uniform," Tsukishima answered honestly.

...

At these words, Tsukishima could clearly see Hoshino's expression darken even more. But thinking it over, he couldn't find anything wrong with what he had said, so he had to say something before she got even more upset——

"Um," he said, "I'm here to apologize about the other night."

...

When Hoshino didn't react, Tsukishima continued, "At that time, I was struggling with some issues that had been bothering me for a long time, and my mind was all over the place... I said some harsh things to you. I'm really sorry."

Meeting Tsukishima's serious gaze, Hoshino felt strangely uncomfortable and had to quickly look away.

"...Oh," she murmured.

"No matter what the reason, I shouldn't have said those things to you. If possible, I hope you don't let what happened that night bother you."

"...Oh."

"The promotional manga for the volleyball club... it's still going to continue, right? Under the current circumstances, if you decide to find someone else to model the male lead after, that's totally fine. But until you find a suitable person, I'll keep working with you to finish it."

"...Oh."

"I know it's too late to say this, but I did promise you and didn't see this project through with you. That's my fault. Is there anything else I can do to help? As long as it's something I can do, just ask."

"Oh... Huh?"

Hoshino's tone finally changed a little.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Anything," Tsukishima explained. "As long as I can do it, it's a deal."

Hoshino: Huh!

Is that for real?!

Hoshino's eyes darted around before finally locking onto Tsukishima.

"Tsukishima," she raised an eyebrow and smiled. "You said so yourself."

Tsukishima: ?

Wait, why do I have a very bad feeling about this?

-TBC-

*

Author's note:

Classic case of digging your own grave (evil grin)