In the souvenir section, which had yet to close, various Hokkaido souvenirs were on display.
"On that note, Nanase said something about chocolate-coated fries."
I tried to find out what exactly they were, but I couldn't find any, as the ryokan didn't carry them.
It seems I'll have to look for them while visiting tomorrow's designated locations or during my free time on the last day of the trip.
I'll check my cell phone to see if there are any stores that carry them.
"Oops...."
I powered my cell phone on and checked it, and immediately saw a large number of messages and incoming call logs.
Of course, they were from Kei.
[Where are you?]
[I haven't seen you at all yesterday or today.]
[Are you in the middle of something?]
[I miss you.]
[I miss you so much!]
I opened the app and read all the messages sent to me every few seconds.
Immediately after, the phone rang.
[Touwa!]
It sounded like a cat's growl, which was an apt description.
[Are you mad at me?]
"No, I'm not mad."
I see, it seemed that she was very, very angry with me.
[Why don't you at least give me a little attention?]
"Sorry. We're on a school trip, but I have a lot of things to do."
[I don't know if that's a good thing!]
"I've already confirmed that you're doing a good job of getting information about the eleventh group from Kushida, so I was relieved on my own."
[Hmmm? You seem to be having a lot of fun with her?! You're so rude! Cheater!]
"We're in the same group. Besides, you know what kind of person she is."
[It doesn't matter. And she's got big boobs! I'm not a... Ah mou!]
"Okay, okay. I'll make some time now, so let's meet up somewhere."
[Really? Then let's go have fun!]
Being very attention-hungry, she soon came back to sounding cheerful.
"I don't think we should do that. I have Ryūen in my room."
[Oh... I see.]
"Where are you now?"
[I'm in my room, but I think the three girls are still in the bathtub. I was with them a while ago, but I came back first to call you.]
Kei was extremely self-conscious about the scars on her body, but it seemed like she had completely gotten over it.
"I'm going to get the key to my room, so I'm going back to my room immediately. I'll call you after that, so wait for me."
[Yes!]
I waited for less than five minutes for Sudō in the souvenir corner. When there was no sign of his return, I became curious and decided to check the corridor leading to the backyard.
I found Sudō standing alone in the same position as when he confessed his feelings. Since I couldn't see Horikita, she must've already left.
"Sudō?"
Since Kei was also waiting for me, I felt bad but approached him from here and called out to him.
"Oh, shit!"
It was possible that he had an irritated look on his face judging from his voice, but...
"I knew I couldn't do it...!"
Sudō's face, when he turned around, had a look of frustration on it, but he also looked radiant.
"No, my bad. I was in a daze because I couldn't forget the feeling of Suzune's hand."
"So that's what you meant."
"Did you see that? It was a stunningly disastrous defeat."
"Well, if so, you should be proud of yourself."
I was shown an amazing confession, done in a very masculine, full-throated way.
"Even if she rejected my confession, I wasn't going to give up. I even thought about showing a better version of myself next year and confessing again. But that's no good. I realized that at the very least, I can't reach her."
Sudō seemed to sense something that I, who was watching from a distance, couldn't.
"It's not a matter of giving up or not giving up. I still like her, but I feel like she's like a flower that I long for, one I can't reach."
He couldn't seem to put it all together, but he laughed a little when he said that.
"What are you going to do about Onodera?"
"How should I know? You didn't ask her what she really thinks, did you?"
"Yes, I have."
"Well, whatever will be, will be. Onodera is a nice girl, and we share the same interests. I'm not full of bitterness regarding Suzune, and I feel like I can hang out with her in a fair way."
Whether it developed into love or not was secondary, I guess.
"I'm telling you; I'm going to study hard in the future. Up until now, it's been for someone else, but from today on, I'm going to give it my all for myself. My immediate goal is to get to Hirata's level."
"That's a pretty big goal again."
If he could get over that wall, he would finally be facing the upper echelon of the school year, Horikita and Keisei.
It seems that he was able to focus on greater goals instead of continuing to be discouraged by the rejection.