Karuizawa Kei quickly found the remote in the cabinet. The next second, the quiet hospital room filled with the familiar announcer's voice from the evening news. You had no intention of listening; you had turned on the TV simply to add some background noise to an atmosphere so quiet it was making you sleepy again. Beside you, Karuizawa Kei listened to the news with interest. Somehow, she had produced an apple and was awkwardly peeling it with a fruit knife.
Amid the soft scraping, the uneven apple peel began to fall away in a spiraling strip. Just as the white flesh was about to be fully exposed, you heard hurried footsteps in the corridor. A moment later, the hospital-room door was flung open.
The girl's golden-pink hair, so often praised and admired, was now disheveled and messily plastered to her forehead. Her right shoulder was soaked through, and a conspicuous patch of her white shirt had turned ocher from the rain. Her pant legs below the knees had been roughly rolled up into a bundle. Her feet, still in sandals, looked as if they had been soaking in water for a long time; her once-plump, translucent toes were wrinkled, and a little rainwater clung to the arches of her feet.
You suddenly remembered a line Sakamoto Yuji had written in Quartet:
The first step in seduction: abandon your humanity.
Basically, there are three tricks:
Turn into a cat, turn into a tiger, or turn into a dog caught in the rain.
The large umbrella in her hand was still dripping. One drop, then another, and another rolled from its surface. The initials I&K were engraved on the handle—the first letters of your and Ichinose Honami's names in Roman letters. It was a gift you had given her. If she had still gotten soaked beneath an umbrella big enough for two, she must have run all the way here.
Ichinose Honami looked up.
The evening news continued to play on the television. The presenter smiled as they spoke:
"According to the latest weather forecasts, this year's Fireworks Festival may be held early, on the twenty-second of this month—in four days. We hope everyone will enjoy this annual celebration."
剧情 CG triggered: Fireworks Are Cold
Fireworks Are Cold: Fireworks fade, people part, and hearts are easily wounded.
Would you like to read this story CG? (It may help with your upcoming game progress.)
Chapter 17: Fireworks Are Cold (I)
You often thought back to that park in late autumn, where you and he had buried the cat named Hotaru. The fluffy white cat had spent eight years with you both. You and he had grown from children into adults, while its life had run from beginning to end.
As you dug the hole with a shovel, you realized you didn't feel like crying. You blinked, but your eyes were still dry—so dry it was hard to believe you'd just lost a pet you'd raised for eight years.
It was only when you saw him crying uncontrollably, his tears and snot blending together on his face, that your heart began to ache. You had never seen Kitagawa Ryo like that before. Up close, his dark eyes were filled with glistening tears.
It was as if his feelings were reflected through those tears and reached you all at once, clear as day.
"I rejected her because I have someone I like. Her name is Ichinose Honami."
"The person I like is Ichinose Honami."
Then he confessed to you.
You had already decided what your answer would be. And yet, in that moment, you seriously considered dating him. You thought about being lovers, even about a wedding dress and the flowers you'd carry in the future. You could almost see yourself walking down a long red carpet, with him waiting at the end in a suit.
But it lasted only a brief moment.
Everyone who knew you probably thought you were sure to end up together. Even the white cat, now embraced by the earth, had been closest to the two of you.
But your mother had told you long ago how things would end between you:
In the future, you would have to endure being separated from the boy standing before you, the one confessing to you now. You would have to endure the two of you gradually drifting apart. You would have to endure seeing photos of other women on his social media. Perhaps you would still like those photos, as long as he was doing well and found happiness.
Of course, you could be with him. You had already been together for a long time. You could become his girlfriend, but you were destined never to become his wife.
Following your mother's words, you imagined meeting the other girl he would bring to you someday—five or ten years from now. By then, you should have enough money to buy yourself an outfit that was becoming and pretty. Ideally, it would be a style he'd complimented before. It should be loose around the top; after entering adolescence, he'd become even more easily embarrassed than he'd been as a child. The waist could be snugger, to prove you hadn't gained weight during all those years apart. The skirt didn't need to be long, just a little past the knees. No lace trim; he liked a plain black hem best. You used to think that color made you look old-fashioned. Well, what could you expect from someone with no taste?
You wouldn't need to pin up your hair or arrange it in some elaborate bun. You could just leave it down, letting the ends brush your shoulders and fall over your chest. Of course, you definitely wouldn't have dyed it. It would still be golden-pink, and it would still smell of green oranges. After all, once you'd used a shampoo, you were too lazy to switch.
All right, if you did that, the girl you hadn't even met yet would surely think you, his so-called childhood friend, had come to show her up. And ruining Ryo's relationship like that would go against what you actually wanted.
Fairy tales always ended with, "The prince and princess lived happily ever after." If your story with him ended here, if time and the world stood still, you could also write down, "You and he lived happily ever after," without a hint of shame. But real time wouldn't stop for two people. The pages would keep turning with the passing years, all the way to the end of life. You couldn't see that ending, of course, but you could be certain of one thing—
You couldn't say yes.
Your mother, your younger sister, his father, his mother. Love had never been a fairy tale for two people alone. Just as your mother had said, a child who chopped wood couldn't play with a child who herded cattle. When the day was over, his work would be done. What about your firewood?
What's more, your younger sister had feelings for him, too. You had always known how fragile the Ichinose Family was, like a clay giant that would collapse with the slightest push. The Ichinose Family couldn't afford to have him in its life right now. He would shatter the peace, even if it was only an illusion.
So you rejected him. Over the past year, you had already turned down many boys who confessed to you. At first, you would worry that your tone or choice of words might have been too harsh. Then you saw a boy who'd confessed to you just yesterday approach another girl the very next day. After that, you gradually learned to take it in stride, like a task on an assembly line.
Listen patiently, smile, shake your head, refuse, then bow slightly to thank him and apologize.
But this time, you couldn't manage even the first step. You tried to lift the corners of your mouth into your usual warm smile, but your vocal cords seemed unable to move. In the end, all you could give his confession was a simple answer: "I can't."
The next day, Kitagawa Ryo moved out of that apartment. His reason was... you couldn't remember.
Packing up the furniture and belongings took a whole day. By dusk, you were still helping him clear out the last room. For the first time, he was as silent as a wall in your presence. You didn't say a single unnecessary word to Kitagawa Ryo, either. You deliberately avoided his gaze, feeling like a prisoner who had captured herself and nailed herself to a cross to await judgment.
Your younger sister was still puzzled about why the Kitagawa brother next door had suddenly moved away, but your mother was unexpectedly happy. Perhaps she thought the only source of uncertainty in your life had finally left for good. You hadn't seen your mother look so relieved in a long time.
Of course, you hadn't hidden the fact that he had confessed to you. Your mother had always looked down on what people at your age called love. She would always comment in the voice of someone who had seen it all:
"Boys this age change every single day. Every moment brings a new idea or a new thing they like. They make grand promises without a second thought, as if they're baring their hearts in front of a girl. But they can't be trusted. Even if what he feels in the moment he confesses to you is real, it'll change later."
"Why does everything have to be about men and women? People don't live in this world just for love."
You had no way to argue with your mother. In a rare moment, she told you about your father, a man you had never met. She told you how passionately she had loved him when they were students. The man who claimed he was going abroad on a business trip just after they got married had never come back.
She, too, had once been strung along by his constant "darling" and "sweetheart." His sweet words were the most tempting bait. Only after swallowing them had she realized the sharp hook had already pierced her throat.
When the man first abandoned her, she called him day and night, imagining he really was too busy with work to find the time. She cared for two children while sending him long message after long message, as if she were pouring all her feelings—and even her flesh and blood—into those words. As though that could make him change his mind.
She kept up that self-torment for six whole months before she finally accepted that he wasn't coming back.
The man who had made her countless promises had disappeared without a word. For half a year, she had tried to scoop the moon from the water. In the end, all she held in her palm was the moonlight drifting away.
That was why she was happy you had escaped the same fate.
You were torn inside. Your mother's happiness was enough to make you happy, and you had even spent your whole life, deliberately or not, seeking her approval. You had followed the path she laid out for you, growing up with the most open and sincere personality you could. You liked seeing the furrow in her brow relax. You liked seeing her smile and praise you for doing well.
But you could also feel Kitagawa Ryo's anguish, as if you had reached into a freshly opened clam and traced its tender flesh all the way to the deepest part. That fleeting image you'd once seen on TV was now vivid in your mind.
By the time you left the apartment, the sky had darkened, and rain was falling. The late-autumn rain knocked more yellowing leaves from the trees beside the road. Soaked and softened, they sounded dull beneath your feet, unlike the crisp crunch of dry leaves.
You held the large umbrella and walked him to the car, telling him you'd see him tomorrow.
For the first time, you blamed the umbrella for being so enormous, large enough to cover two people and shut out every drop of rain. It meant you couldn't even lie to yourself and pretend the things blurring your vision were raindrops splashing against your face.
But you were also relieved. All you had to do was lower the edge of the umbrella a little, and it would hide your expression.
I&K. You ran your fingers over the engraving on the handle and watched the car drive away.
After Ichinose Maki's birthday party ended, Karuizawa Kei had a conversation with Ichinose Honami.
Karuizawa Kei looked up at the girl across from her, holding a cup of hot cocoa as steam curled above it.
"Karuizawa, did you want to talk to me about something?"
Ichinose Honami sat opposite her with a warm cup of cocoa in her hands, too. The way she sipped it in small mouthfuls made her look like an adorable hamster. Even as a girl herself, Karuizawa Kei had to admit Ichinose Honami's feminine appeal—from her looks and figure to the Affinity Karuizawa could never possess.
"Um... this is for you."
Karuizawa Kei took something out of her bag. It was a long, slender wooden slip, shoddily made from unimpressive material.
"A love fortune?"
Ichinose Honami took it, looking a little confused. Then she remembered what had happened two days earlier.
"From that shrine..."
"Yeah. It's the fortune you and senpai picked that day. I went back and got it afterward."
Karuizawa Kei lightly bit down on her straw and explained to Ichinose Honami:
"It wasn't until I got home that I looked up some information about the shrine on an online forum, including their custom love fortunes. You give them a message you've thought up in advance to engrave, then they rig things so the two people are guaranteed to draw that special fortune. That's why they don't interpret the fortunes there. Whether you like it or not, one of you has to write down your own words. Fate has already been decided—why bother interpreting it?"
"So this should be what senpai wanted to tell you."
Karuizawa Kei gazed into Ichinose Honami's eyes, trying to find some emotion welling up inside them. In the end, she saw nothing.
Ichinose Honami simply smiled with frank acceptance, as if she had heard a story that had nothing to do with her.
"Okay. I understand."
"Don't you want to read it?"
Ichinose Honami handed it back to Karuizawa Kei and lowered her head to sip her cocoa.
"There's no need. It's probably a confession."
It was the sort of word that should make a girl of their age's heart race, but coming from Ichinose Honami, it sounded so ordinary that Karuizawa Kei felt a little irritated.
Karuizawa Kei knew about all the preparations Kitagawa Ryo had made on that mountain. From the foot of the mountain to the summit, if Ichinose Honami and he had made it all the way up that day, she would have seen fireworks filling the sky, set off just for her. She would have seen hundreds of drones form a confession in the sky. It was the kind of romantic scene any girl could remember for the rest of her life.
"Tsk."
Karuizawa Kei suppressed the faint disgust welling up inside her. The role she was playing didn't allow her to show such feelings. She was the catalyst for the two of them to fall in love. Her job was to give Ichinose Honami a firm push from behind, just like the white cat named Hotaru.
That was who she was now.
"You clearly like senpai, but you won't accept his confession. You keep imagining that you can bind the two of you together forever with your childhood-friend relationship, and leave your fate entirely to an unknowable future. That can't be right."
Karuizawa Kei thought she was playing her part perfectly. If Kitagawa Ryo were beside her now, he would sincerely praise the jealousy woven into her words.
"Why does everything have to be about men and women? People don't live in this world just for love."
Looking at Ichinose Honami's unwavering smile, Karuizawa Kei suddenly thought of the words "old before her time." It was as if she wasn't facing a fifteen-year-old girl, but a thirty-five-year-old single mother, abandoned by her husband and struggling to raise two children.
"Then reject his confession properly. Just like before, find some other boy and say you like him, that he's your boyfriend now. Go tell senpai that."
The anger in her chest burst through, shattering the lines she had prepared. But Karuizawa Kei still stared directly at her, like a bird of prey using its sharp beak to peck the girl apart layer by layer, until she could see the bloodied nerves beneath. She savored the sight, the corners of her mouth curving into a cruel smile. In a low voice, she added:
"He'll confess to you again at the Fireworks Festival."
"What are you talking about?"
Ichinose Honami's voice suddenly turned cold.
"What are you afraid of?"
"Reject him again. Hadn't you already decided to do that?"
Karuizawa Kei answered immediately. For the first time, she felt she had finally angered Ichinose Honami.
That day, Karuizawa Kei learned two things.
First, Ichinose Honami wasn't a kind, omnipotent angel. She could look at others with hatred, too. The realization thrilled Karuizawa Kei. She couldn't wait to see Ichinose Honami discard her carefully crafted façade and break down in heart-wrenching sobs.
Second, she understood why Kitagawa Ryo had instinctively ordered her a hot cocoa when he first took her to meet Ichinose Maki on that mountain.
Even after Ichinose Honami had left, Karuizawa Kei stayed there for a long time. Before leaving, she murmured to herself and dropped the wooden slip straight into the café's trash can. She thought she could finally open the rose-shaped perfume without feeling guilty.
"After all, you were the one who didn't want it."
Chapter 18: Fireworks Are Cold (II)
"Honami?"
Kitagawa Ryo's mind cleared in an instant. He nearly pulled the needle from the back of his right hand, swung both legs over the side of the bed, and hurriedly searched for his shoes. He didn't even notice when Karuizawa Kei, who had been sitting by the bed, stood up. She helpfully steadied the IV tubing and stand for you, then stayed by your side.
"Ryo, lie back down. Come on, lie back down."
Ichinose Honami wiped her wet hands on the hem of her shirt, leaving two faint handprints there. She looked a little bedraggled, but her spirits seemed good, and her voice was as lively as ever. Turning to Karuizawa Kei, she said:
"I'm a little tied up right now. Could you help Ryo back to bed?"
"Sure."
Kitagawa Ryo saw the stubborn look on Ichinose Honami's face and stopped resisting. He obediently let Karuizawa Kei help him back into bed. Once the thick blanket was over his legs, Mr. Izaki had already handed Ichinose Honami a warm towel. He took the umbrella, still dripping water, and left the room.
For a while, the only sound in the room was Ichinose Honami rubbing the towel over her arms, face, and calves. She wasn't very wet, and she hadn't gotten wet enough for anything to show. Apart from the obvious damp patch on her right shoulder and her hands and feet, most of her clothes were only slightly moist.
"Phew."
After wiping her face with the warm towel, Ichinose Honami turned toward them, her cheeks flushed. Her snow-white skin was tinged pink. Moisture still clung to her waist-length hair, and rippling light filled her blue eyes. Her damp lips gleamed, too. Perhaps a word like "sensual" wasn't suitable for a girl her age, but somehow her appearance felt a little provocative.
"I'm starting to warm up."
Ichinose Honami naturally sat on the edge of Kitagawa Ryo's bed. Perhaps she was mindful of her damp clothes, because she sat even more carefully than Karuizawa Kei had, balancing herself in an awkward pose with only a tiny point of support. She sat there and cupped Kitagawa Ryo's left hand between both of hers.
Kitagawa Ryo had beautiful hands, just like his handsome face. Every part of him left a deep impression on the girls he met.
His pale, nimble fingers and neatly trimmed, rounded nails glowed softly beneath the fluorescent lights. It was a long, beautiful hand, the kind that made you think he might be a famous pianist or magician.
Now, she gently enfolded that hand in her own. Ichinose's left palm pressed against Kitagawa Ryo's palm, while her right palm rested against the back of his hand. It was like how she cupped her hands and blew warm air into them on a snowy winter day. Kitagawa Ryo could feel her warm, moist breath against his fingertips. Ichinose Honami was closer than he had expected.
"You're freezing."
"Are you still feeling unwell?"
Before you continue