Chapter 386: Candy Apples for Everyone
Meanwhile, on the other side, on the street lined with stalls.
"Utsunomiya-san, look! There's a goldfish scooping game over there!"
Although Yamauchi Sakura looked carefree, she was actually a very attentive and emotionally intelligent girl.
Naturally, she knew that Kato Megumi asking her to come with Asagiri to buy candied apples was not really just about buying candied apples. Rather, Megumi was taking the opportunity to let her and Asagiri spend some time alone.
"Goldfish scooping?"
"Yeah, come on, come on."
Yamauchi Sakura took the initiative to hold Asagiri's hand.
Although she was wearing a kimono, it could not hide her energetic and lively aura. She pulled Asagiri directly to the goldfish scooping stall, squatted down to watch the goldfish swimming in the pool, then looked at Asagiri with an eager expression.
"Let's have a competition to see who can scoop more. How about it?"
Asagiri knelt on one knee beside Yamauchi Sakura, stared at her with interest, and spoke slowly.
"Oh? Are you challenging me?"
"Hmph, hmph."
Yamauchi Sakura lifted her chin slightly, looking full of confidence.
"I'm very good at this, you know. Although I haven't been to a Fireworks Festival before, I often played this game when I went to temple fairs with my parents as a child. Facing this well honed skill, admitting defeat is the wise choice."
Asagiri smiled when he heard this.
"Yo ho, provoking me?"
"Did you notice?"
Yamauchi Sakura made a cute face, poking out her tongue, and smiled playfully.
"Then, Utsunomiya-san, do you dare accept my challenge?"
"Of course I accept. But just having a competition is a bit boring. We have to set a wager, right?"
"A wager, huh..."
Yamauchi Sakura thought for a moment, then smiled.
"How about this? If I win, you have to agree to one thing for me. Conversely, if you win, I have to agree to one thing for you. How's that?"
"That kind of condition?"
Seeing Asagiri's surprised expression, Yamauchi Sakura deliberately provoked him.
"What, scared? I didn't expect that the Utsunomiya Asagiri I know would ever feel scared. That's really surprising."
"Scared? You're overthinking it."
Asagiri waved his hand and spoke solemnly.
"If you knew what kind of images popped into my head the moment I heard this wager, you'd be the one feeling scared."
"Eh..."
Hearing Asagiri's abstract words, a blush could not help appearing on Yamauchi Sakura's face, and she said shyly,
"You wouldn't be thinking about things like groping oppai, would you..."
"Huh?"
Asagiri looked shocked, as if he had heard something extremely outrageous.
He looked at Yamauchi Sakura with a complicated expression and spoke slowly.
"The fact that you think I'm only thinking about that kind of thing proves that you are even more innocent than I imagined."
"I... I..."
Yamauchi Sakura, who was always carefree and had an extroverted, lively personality, was completely unable to withstand Asagiri's verbal offensive at this moment.
She could only pretend to be nonchalant and change the subject.
"Forget it! Anyway, you have to beat me first!"
"Alright, then let's decide the winner!"
The so-called goldfish scooping was actually a traditional entertainment activity where one used a paper net to scoop up goldfish swimming in a pool.
The paper net broke easily after getting wet, but that was exactly what made the game fun.
"Alright, then I'll go first..."
Yamauchi Sakura took the paper net and small bowl handed over by the stall owner.
After taking a deep breath, she fixed her eyes on the goldfish swimming in the pool and tried her best to keep her wrist steady.
She even held her breath as she reached the paper net into the pool.
Standing to the side, Asagiri saw the serious look on her face, as well as her fair, tender toes curling slightly from nervousness in her geta sandals.
A hint of a smile could not help appearing in his eyes.
However, he did not disturb her and instead silently enjoyed Yamauchi Sakura's performance.
"Plop."
"Oh my."
The sound of the paper net breaking and the goldfish falling back into the pool rang out, along with Yamauchi Sakura's voice of annoyance and regret.
"Really..."
Yamauchi Sakura puffed out her cheeks, pouting in an extremely cute way, and muttered softly,
"Just a little bit more. If I had just two more centimeters, I would have scooped it up..."
"Hmm..."
Asagiri looked at the empty bowl in Yamauchi Sakura's hand.
Not to mention a goldfish, there was not even a drop of water inside.
He spoke slowly.
"Is this the so-called well honed skill? Seriously, you almost made me laugh out loud."
"N-no... that's not it!"
Yamauchi Sakura's face flushed red as she desperately tried to argue.
"I was just having an off day!"
"Heh, only the weak make excuses."
Asagiri took the paper net and paper bowl handed over by the stall owner, looking inscrutable.
"Watch closely and learn what the true ultimate technique of goldfish scooping is!"
Under Yamauchi Sakura's tense gaze, Asagiri moved with lightning speed.
He plunged the paper net into the water tank and immediately scooped up a...
"Plop."
"Damn."
"Pfft."
Seeing the torn paper net in Asagiri's hand and the equally empty paper bowl, Yamauchi Sakura could not help covering her mouth and chuckling.
"So this is the so-called ultimate technique of goldfish scooping? I didn't expect there to be something you weren't good at, Utsunomiya-san..."
Before Yamauchi Sakura could finish, she saw Asagiri reach out with the torn paper net again.
In less than two seconds, moving so fast that he left afterimages, he scooped up five goldfish and placed them into the paper bowl.
Then he chuckled.
"I was just teasing you. Why did you take it seriously?"
"Huh?"
Seeing the five goldfish in the paper bowl, Yamauchi Sakura could not help looking incredulous.
"How is this possible? Can you really scoop them up with a paper net that's already torn...?"
"As long as you're fast enough, it works."
Hearing Asagiri's words, Yamauchi Sakura finally realized, belatedly, that the opponent she was challenging was not just an ordinary high school boy.
He was an esper with monster level physical abilities.
There was no way she could win!
"I lost..."
Yamauchi Sakura deflated like a punctured ball.
"Make your request."
"I don't have any good ideas for now. Let's save it for later."
Asagiri patted Yamauchi Sakura on the shoulder. In a tone that offered her no comfort at all, he spoke words that sounded consoling but were actually bragging.
"It is only natural that you could not defeat the Great Demon King of Shuchiin Academy. It is nothing to be ashamed of. Encountering the Eroge Shooter at a goldfish scooping stall and being unable to win despite your best efforts, Yamauchi Sakura, you are the challenger."
"Alright, alright, I get it, I get it."
Yamauchi Sakura replied, feeling both annoyed and amused.
A look of determination shone in her eyes as she clenched her fists and said seriously,
"Next time! Next time we come to the Fireworks Festival, I will definitely win!"
Asagiri crossed his arms over his chest and spoke word by word.
"I look forward to your challenge."
The onlookers around them were stunned.
It was just goldfish scooping. Was it really necessary to make it so intense and heated?
A young man and woman who looked so good together had come to a Fireworks Festival stall to scoop goldfish, and the girl was even wearing a beautiful kimono.
It was supposed to be such a picturesque scene.
So why did it feel like a boxing match?
...
Ten minutes later, on the open meadow.
"I've bought the candied apples."
Hearing Asagiri's voice, Yuuki Asuna and the others, who had been chatting, turned around and saw a scene that left them momentarily speechless.
Asagiri did not have a single candied apple in his hands.
Instead, he was pushing a cart filled with them, returning fully loaded like a bandit who had just robbed a bank.
"You..."
Seeing the cart with at least thirty or forty candied apples stuck into the holes, Yuuki Asuna did not know whether to laugh or cry.
"Did you buy out the entire stall? There are so many candied apples. It'll be a waste if we can't finish them."
Asagiri explained solemnly,
"Look at what you're saying. We aren't just eating one each, and do you really think there are only nine people here just because you see nine people?"
"Huh?"
Yuuki Asuna was confused.
She subconsciously looked around with a dazed expression.
"Isn't it nine people?"
Asagiri retorted,
"What about Mita and the others? Alice? Walrider? Human Asura?"
Yuuki Asuna paused for a moment, then sighed.
"The first two eating candied apples is normal, but the last two... isn't that a bit absurd?"
"What do you mean? Are you discriminating against Human Asura and Walrider?"
"They don't even have mouths! How are they supposed to eat candied apples!?"
Yuuki Asuna was almost at a loss for words.
When Asagiri said that, she could not help imagining Human Asura, over two meters tall, burly, pitch black, with glowing reddish patterns covering its body, holding a candied apple and nibbling on it in small bites.
All she could say was...
It was abstract to the point of being art.
After Asagiri distributed the candied apples to everyone, Sakurakawa Rikka, who had been standing in the distance while leaning against a large tree and looking up at the sky, suddenly saw a flash of red enter her field of vision.
"Yours."
Sakurakawa Rikka came back to her senses and saw Asagiri handing her a bright red candied apple.
She was slightly stunned at first.
Then a soft smile appeared in her eyes, and the corners of her lips curled upward.
"I get one too? Eating candied apples at the Fireworks Festival is supposed to be a memory shared between lovers, right?"
"Is there such a custom?"
Asagiri nodded noncommittally, then made a move to take the candied apple back.
"Then never mind..."
"No."
Sakurakawa Rikka grabbed Asagiri's wrist.
She looked at the candied apple in his hand, then glanced at Asagiri's face.
Finally, she gently tucked her hair back with her other hand, leaned in, parted her lips slightly, and took a small bite of the bright red candied apple.
"Thank you. It tastes even better than I imagined."
Then, a smile curled on Sakurakawa Rikka's lips as she leaned close to Asagiri's face and whispered,
"No wonder they all like eating it. Perhaps I want to try it too."
.....
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