56 - The one day of the end, is heartrending (Patreon)

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The last day of the school trip. The schedule is to stop by a shrine on the way home and then just go home.

“We don’t have to force ourselves to go to the shrine, right?”
“It seems to have a blessing on one’s studies. We'll be taking entrance exams next year, so I think there's no harm in praying for it.”

I don't know the name of the shrine, but it seems to be good for one’s studies. So they decided we should all pray there.
Incidentally, we will also take a group photo there. For our school which doesn’t often take photos at events, this is unusual, but it will probably be placed in the graduation album.

“Are we going to take a photo first?”
“It’s not like we can go pray all at once after all.”

Click

I'm not very good at photos, I wonder if I’m smiling properly.

“Kazuki, smile more.”

It looks like I didn't. Photos are difficult.

“Well, Kazuki doesn’t often smile broadly, so I guess it can't be helped.”
“I don't really understand my facial expressions, but when do I usually smile?”
“Hmm... ah, you’re usually smiling when the princess is around.”

That’s obvious. I don't feel nervous or strained in front of Hiuri after all this time.

I pray at the shrine while giving some random interjection to Tadashi, who has begun to develop a mysterious theory about how photographs should be taken. I prayed for my relationship with Hiuri at Fushimi Inari Shrine, so I’ll pray for my next year's studies here.
It would be shameful if I'm the only one who can't go to university, so I hope that my studies will improve properly...

“Kyu─n!”
“Eh?”

I heard Muu's cry from my feet.

When I open my eyes, for some reason, Muu is at my feet.
And that white space is spread in front of me. Could it be that every time I pray at a shrine, I’d end up entering the divine realm there?

Muu is tugging on my pants. And there is a light ahead of us.

“Is that the exit?”
“Kyun!”

Somehow I feel like it just replied, “Yes!”

Apparently, Muu is getting me to go back.
Being brought to the divine realm like this every time I pray is terrible, and I guess Muu is like my guardian. Uka-san, thank you very much.

I go into the light and...

“Kazuki, you prayed for quite a long time there.”
“Ah, yeah. I don't want to fail university after all.”
“For me, I was just praying for my score to go up.”

Before I knew it, I was back to where I was. As expected, that light seemed to be the exit from the divine realm.
Looks like I'll have to treat Muu to an extra dessert tonight. It seems I'll have to ask Muu to help me every time I go to a shrine from now on.

“Won’t your wishes not come true if you say them out loud?”
“Eh, seriously? Mumu...”

Tadashi prays to the gods again. What does he really wish for this time?

After praying, we quickly return to the bus.
Some classes are still taking photos, but it looks like our class has no more to do and will leave by bus.

“Fuu, that was a fun school trip.”
“Yeah.”

And then, the return trip.
We go home. That'll mark the end of the school trip.

“We get off at the nearest bus stop when we go home, right?”
“Yeah. Unless you live in a special place, you can get off on the way.”

There is no dismissal ceremony or anything like that. It's probably tough for the teachers too.
The final destination of this bus is the school, but if there is a bus stop near our home along the way, we can get off there. This is for efficiency.

“Kazuki will get off before me, right?”
“Yeah.”

Tadashi lives closer to the school than I do, so I will get off the bus earlier.
And that’ll be the end of today, with me not meeting Hiuri. The mission that Hiuri had told me to do, to have as little interaction with Hiuri as possible, will be accomplished.

“Okay, I'm going to sleep, so wake me up later.” (Tadashi)
“I want to sleep too, though.”

The travel time is long. Even if Hiuri isn't there, there is Muu now, so I can kill time by playing in the dream world.
But, Tadashi ignores my words and closes his eyes.

“Ah, Nakano-kun. I’ll wake you up, so it’s fine if you sleep.”
“Sasa-kun, thank you.”

That's what Sasa-kun in the seat behind me said to me. As expected, Sasa-kun is the conscience of this group.

......

“Nakano-kun, wake up.”
“Nn... good morning.”
“Nakano-kun, you're so easy to wake up.”

I open my eyes when Sasa-kun wakes me up. We have already reached the place where the surrounding area looks familiar.

In the dream, I gave Muu some snacks and played ball with him. When I threw the ball and Muu caught it in his mouth, it was so cute that I threw it over and over again.

“Nnaa?”
“Morning, Tadashi.”
“He─y...”

When I wake up, Tadashi also ends up waking up. Even if, in the worst case, Tadashi goes until the school, he can go home right away, so it wasn't a problem for him to stay asleep.

“Is Kazuki going to get off soon?”
“Yeah, see you next week.”

Today is Friday. After the school trip ends, it'll be the weekend right after. What a magnificent schedule it has become. If we exclude one day of going back, it’s like we've been playing for the past four days, so it feels like a six consecutive holiday.

“Anyone getting off here?”
“Ah, I am. See you, Tadashi.”

I grab my luggage and get off the bus.
I shouldn’t have any acquaintances around my house, so I'm the only one who gets off at this bus stop.

“Then, let’s go home.”

As I started walking, another bus stopped at the bus stop. It's a different class’ bus.

And, for some reason, the inside of the bus suddenly became noisy. When I was wondering if something had happened... a single person got off the bus.
And then the bus departs.

“Kazuki-kun.”
“Hi-Hiuri?”

The one who got off the bus was Hiuri. But the nearest bus stop to Hiuri's house is a completely different place.
Hiuri dashed towards me with her luggage. There is no one who will perform Hiuri Defense here, and there is no way I can ignore her.

“Kazuki-kun.”
“What?”
“Kazuki-kun!”
“Hiuri?”

Somehow, her state is strange.
Now that I think about it, I recall it's been five days since I spoke to Hiuri in real life. Even so, it’s still strange...

At that moment, my smartphone rings. When I look at my smartphone, I see a message notification.

[Sorry, boyfriend-kun! Hiu-chan can't stand it anymore!]

It was a message from Hayashi-san. What can’t she stand?... Hiuri in the dream also said it, but I don't really get it.

“Kazuki-kun, please guide me to your house!”
“Eh!?”
“We’re standing out here, right? Come on, come on."

Suddenly, Hiuri pulls my arm.
I'm sure I haven't told Hiuri in real life its location, but even without me guiding her, Hiuri kept pushing her way towards my house.

“Hiuri, what's wrong?!”
“Whatever is fine, right? Come on!”

She pulls me along without my say. There's nothing I can do about it, so I give up and guide Hiuri to my house.

After walking for a while, we arrived at my house. No one should be home at this time.

“Isn’t it better if you go home?”
“Please let me in quickly.”

There is a mysterious pressure in Hiuri today. I have no choice but to give in to that pressure.

I obediently unlock the door.
As expected, there is no one in the house.

“Kazuki-kun!”
“Like I said, what is it, Hiuri.”

She's been calling my name for a while now, and I don't understand the meaning of her actions. Hiuri in my dream, please give me an explanation.

“Nn─!”
“Uwaa!”

Suddenly, Hiuri hugged me and we fell down. I could handle it in the dream, but I hate my body that has no core strength in real life.

“Wait a minute, what’s wrong!?”

Hiuri in the dream has hugged me many times, and lately I've been hugging her too, so I'm used to this kind of skinship.
However, Hiuri in real life never used this kind of approach toward me, so I'm very surprised.

“I couldn’t stand it.”
“Stand what?”
“To be spoiled by you!”

Hiuri looked up and said that with a calm face.
Huh? In real life, we're not lovers yet, right? So why is this happening?

“Nn─”

And after hugging me for a while...

“Well then, let’s meet again next week.”

Apparently satisfied, she grabs her luggage and leaves.

She passed like a storm... as expected, I’ll have to ask Hiuri about this in the dream.

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