Bang.
The door gently closed.
"Give me your hand."
Natsuki looked at the silly young lady and extended his right hand.
Seeing this, Kaguya felt a momentary daze. The scene before her felt strangely familiar.
That's right.
Back in the Blizzard Mountain Lodge, this same boy had made the same gesture and said the same words.
"Mm."
Kaguya quietly exhaled, her expression cool and composed, as if she couldn't care less, and extended her right hand.
Stay calm.
Don't panic.
They'd already held hands during the game—more than once, even. There was absolutely no reason to be nervous!
The next moment.
"Mmh—"
Kaguya's eyes flew wide open.
The instant their fingertips touched, she felt a current spark between them, surging into her body and flooding through every nerve.
"Wha—what's happening?"
"It feels completely different from holding hands during the game!"
"Why is my heart suddenly racing?"
She was starting to panic. Her heartbeat quickened on its own, and her head grew faintly dizzy.
Why was this happening?
It wasn't even the first time. Just this afternoon before lunch, she'd held his hand right in front of Chika and Marin. She hadn't been nearly this nervous then.
Was it because they were alone?
Stay calm.
Hurry up and settle down, you idiot!
The room was so quiet. If her heartbeat kept getting faster, he might actually hear it. That would be mortifying beyond belief!
And getting too nervous would make her palms sweat...
Wait!
Kaguya's entire body went rigid.
"S-sweating?"
The moment the thought of sweating crossed her mind, her palms suddenly felt damp and clammy.
No no no...
Pretty girls don't sweat!
At least not from their palms—that was way too embarrassing!
Kaguya made an instant decision. She took a quiet breath and yanked her right hand free.
"What's wrong?"
Natsuki blinked, looking at her in confusion.
"Nothing." Kaguya hid her right hand behind her back, turned her face slightly away, and spoke in a carefully casual tone. "My back suddenly got itchy."
Natsuki said flatly:
"What about your other hand?"
It wasn't like both hands were being held. She could have scratched her back with the other one!
"The other hand can't reach." Kaguya turned her face away, changing the subject. "...What happens if you break contact during Copy-Paste?"
Natsuki opened his game panel. "The Fate Link breaks. You'd have to start over from the beginning."
"Good to know." Kaguya gave a slight nod.
"..."
After a brief rest.
Once she'd confirmed there was absolutely no sweat on her palms, Kaguya extended her right hand again, her expression perfectly composed.
"Ready. Let's continue."
Natsuki took hold of the silly young lady's delicate hand once more.
This time, there was no electric jolt. But the crisis wasn't over yet.
(His hands are so warm.)
(At this temperature, it'd be really easy to start sweating, right?)
(What do I do what do I do what do I do?)
Just as Kaguya was spiraling into another cycle of anxious overthinking, a cool breeze drifted in through the window, billowing the curtains and lifting the hem of her clothes and the tips of her hair. A refreshing chill swept through the room.
"Forgot to close the window."
Natsuki led Kaguya by the hand toward the window.
Before they knew it, evening had arrived.
The sky was overcast, threatening rain. Neither sunset nor horizon was visible.
"The wind's picked up."
Natsuki gazed out the window. The wind came from nowhere and went nowhere, rustling the branches and leaves of a nearby cherry blossom tree.
Kaguya pressed her pink lips together, looking out alongside him.
The cold wind carried a biting chill, but the warmth radiating from his hand felt exceptionally real and comforting. She quietly tightened her grip.
Children's Day was approaching. Carp streamers swayed on every house, dancing in the wind as though the fish had come alive, swimming through the air. It was a beautiful sight.
The tradition of hanging carp streamers dated back to the Edo period—several hundred years of history. The Japanese believed carp symbolized strength and courage, and hanging the streamers was meant to wish their children success in life... Unfortunately, with class mobility in modern Japan being what it was, trying to succeed through hard work alone was less realistic than hitting up a nightclub to find a sugar mama.
At the far end of the street, children ran around the park flying kites, clearly having the time of their lives.
A quiet fragrance, like orchids and musk, drifted in on the breeze. Natsuki turned to see the silly young lady gazing toward the distant kites, her hair and red ribbon fluttering together in the wind.
"Come to think of it, you've probably never flown a kite, have you?"
"No," Kaguya answered softly.
If anything, her childhood memories contained nothing but studying. Words like "games" and "fun" had never appeared.
"Come over tomorrow and fly one."
"Huh?"
Kaguya looked up at him involuntarily.
"It's about to rain, so today's a no-go." Natsuki watched the distant kites, his tone calm. "I've got a kite at home. You're coming over again tomorrow anyway—we can fly it then."
"I never said I wanted to fly a kite."
"You're not curious?"
"..."
Kaguya pressed her lips together and said nothing.
Her whole life, she'd only ever watched other people fly kites. She'd never experienced it herself. Of course she was curious.
Not that curiosity had ever made her want to try it before.
But now... experiencing what it felt like to fly a kite didn't sound so bad.
"Should I close the window?"
"Don't." Kaguya quickly shook her head. "Let the breeze blow a little longer. Close it when it rains."
If the window closed, what if she started sweating again?
A cold breeze was perfectly fine.
Less than a minute later, Kaguya regretted that decision.
"Mmh..."
She suddenly covered her eyes with her hand.
"What's wrong?" Natsuki turned to look.
"Something got blown into my eye." Kaguya's brows knit together, the irritation unbearable.
She rubbed at it twice, but it didn't help at all—if anything, it got worse.
"Stop rubbing." Natsuki suggested quickly. "Want me to blow it out?"
Kaguya bit her lip and agreed. "...Please."
The silly young lady's chest might not be much to speak of, but her height was respectable enough for an ordinary girl—still noticeably shorter than Natsuki, though.
"Look up." Natsuki said. "I can't reach."
"You could just bend down!"
Kaguya fired off the retort instinctively, then obediently tilted her face upward.
"Hold still."
Natsuki used his fingers to gently hold her eye open. Probably because of how uncomfortable it was, a soft mist had already gathered in her wine-red eyes.
Wasting no time, he leaned in close and blew gently into her eye.
A moment later.
"How's it now?"
"It feels..." Kaguya blinked softly. "...better."
"Then we're good."
"..."
Their eyes met.
The air went suddenly still.
The silly young lady stared blankly, her face flushing at visible speed until she looked like a ripe apple.
Natsuki realized it at the same moment.
So close.
Her porcelain skin, her long, delicately curled eyelashes, her cherry-blossom-pink lips glistening softly, her neat white teeth barely visible—all of it was right there, close enough to touch. He could even feel her warm, sweet breath brushing against him, radiating an air that tempted a man to commit crimes.
Natsuki suddenly realized... he wanted to commit a crime.