Less than ten minutes before the fireworks began, the venue's layout—a squared structure with height differences between the inner grounds and the outer ring—meant you could still see the fireworks without entering, but the view would be much worse.
So at this point, anyone who wanted a good view was hurrying inside. Naturally, the outer steps were almost empty.
"Does it hurt?"
On the outer stone steps, Yuuki carefully touched the injured area.
Had she twisted it just now? Or had she hurt it earlier and simply failed to notice?
Yuuki blamed himself for not being careful. Fujino shook her head.
"It's fine."
"It's not fine… Even if you can't feel it, it still hurts."
"…"
Fujino lowered her head again, hiding her expression. It reminded Yuuki of the morning—when she took his hand with that trembling, near-tearful look.
Fujino had known about her condition since childhood, known she was different. When she was small, it made her sad.
But if she cried, her mother would cry too—so Fujino learned to hide her sadness.
Yuuki realized only now: perhaps Fujino had been hiding her sorrow all along simply to avoid burdening others.
"I'm sorry, brother… I'm causing trouble. Fujino will wait here. Brother, go watch with Miss Tama…"
"Don't say that. Fujino—you said you wanted to be selfish, didn't you? It's okay to be even more willful."
As he spoke, Yuuki acted faster than his words.
He tied the rabbit cage together with the inner fastening where the concealed short blade sat, making sure nothing would fall. Then he turned his back to Fujino, slipped one arm around her waist, lifted—and in one smooth motion, hoisted the very light Fujino onto his back.
"Brother—w-wait! Waaah—!"
"Fujino!"
"Y-yes! Fujino is here!"
"Hold on. Trust your brother. It's fine!"
Fujino's face flushed bright red, but she obediently wrapped both arms around him.
Thanks to Yuuki's recent training, beneath the wide kimono his body was unexpectedly solid. His shoulders felt even steadier than the father Fujino remembered from childhood—safe.
"Fujino! I'll buy you konpeitō again! Whatever else you want, I'll buy it too! It's fine to be more willful! If you want to see the fireworks, don't say lonely things like 'I'll wait here alone'! Your brother will get you a VIP seat!"
Yuuki ran as he spoke. Fortunately, people who wanted the best spots had already packed deeper inside, so the path wasn't too crowded.
With [Intuition] and a body that had grown more agile through training, weaving through people at speed wasn't difficult.
Boom—!
The first burst of red-gold fireworks tore the night open, blooming like chrysanthemum petals beneath a deep blue full moon.
Yuuki barely reached the edge of the venue. The crowd was too dense to push through. So he braced himself and lifted Fujino higher on his back—raising her upper body almost above his head.
"Not the best spot inside, but definitely the closest spot to the sky! How's that—VIP seat!"
"—"
Fujino looked up, but her answer vanished under the crowd's astonished voices—then the voices were swallowed by the next thunderous burst as the second firework spiraled upward—
…
The fireworks faded, and the scent of sulfur mingled with the sweet stickiness of candied apples in the air.
Yuuki carried Fujino on his back along the road out of the venue. Miss Tama had rejoined them not long ago, then dashed off alone to buy medicine at a pharmacy.
The black rabbit had been handed to Miss Tama too—Yuuki needed both hands to carry Fujino safely.
Even though he'd tied the cage firmly, it still shook too much when he ran. The rabbit seemed offended. When it was handed to Miss Tama, it wouldn't even look at Yuuki.
But right now, Yuuki cared far more about Fujino than a rabbit's opinion.
"So? VIP seat."
"…Mm. It was beautiful. And warm. Brother… can you not put me down yet?"
As she spoke, Yuuki felt the ends of her purple hair brush his cheek. Her breath near his neck tickled him faintly.
Fujino leaned gently against his back, relieved he couldn't see how embarrassed she was.
"Let me be selfish… just a little longer."
"It's fine. I said it already—Fujino can be even more willful."
…
"No… Fujino's selfishness ends here."
After a brief silence, Fujino gave her answer and shifted away from Yuuki's back. With Yuuki supporting her, she sat on a bench by the pedestrian street.
"Sorry, brother… I was the only one being selfish. You had to keep your head down carrying me—you didn't get to enjoy the fireworks properly."
"Ah, it's fine. I'm not really interested in noisy events like that anyway."
"Mm. I know. You were there for me. So Fujino has already had her share of foolishness. Now it's brother's turn."
Calling it foolishness… yes, in a way. Fujino could walk like a normal person, but she rarely ran through crowds pulling someone along the way she did today.
Because analgesia made it hard for her to understand her own limits, if she pushed too far she could easily injure herself—which she had.
But…
"Fujino… even if you say that, I…"
"Brother. You've been thinking about Miss Ryougi, haven't you?"
"…"
Even if it was just intuition, Fujino could always sense it: while getting ready at home, while she summoned courage to pull him around, while he occasionally stared blankly into the crowd… brother was thinking of something, remembering something, regretting something.
Fujino also knew that lately, every day her brother went out to see Miss Ryougi.
She didn't know what happened between them, but last night, when brother came home—though he acted normal—Fujino could feel it.
He looked like he was about to shatter.
As much as she didn't want to… as much as it hurt… Fujino still wanted to understand his feelings.
So she hid everything in her heart.
And she smiled.
"Brother… because you kept your head down, you didn't notice, did you? It's a full moon tonight."
Yuuki followed her gaze and looked up.
A deep blue full moon hung high in the sky.
"But… isn't it the end of the month?"
"It's a 'double full moon'—something that happens about once every three years on average. Two full moons in one month. And for it to look blue is even rarer. It's a special phase."
"…"
"Fujino already monopolized the fireworks. The full moon… should be left to Miss Ryougi."
Yes. Only when he carried her, only when they watched from the outer edge, did brother's heart stay fully here with Fujino.
That was enough.
"Brother… you can be selfish too," Fujino said softly. "You can be selfish… and a little self-centered."
....
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