บท 204: Night on the Other Side

　　May 6, 10:25 AM.

　　Nakano's living room.

　　Shinichi was sitting on the main seat of the sofa, eating the hot breakfast that Nino had cooked, checking her phone for unread messages.

　　The quintuplets sat in other positions, each doing their own thing.

　　The sunlight lit up the room through the large glass walls, and a peaceful atmosphere clung to their faces with the warmth of late spring.

　　It is a very harmonious morning.

　　Shinichi feels a little uncomfortable, as he is an outsider, and mixes in at the "morning meeting" of the quintuplets of the Nakano family. No one raised any objections to its existence.

　　And Shinichi didn't know if it was intentional or unintentional, Nino put breakfast on the main seat, and pushed Itsuki to sit on the second chair, with her laptop on its legs folded, and she worked seriously.

　　In such an atmosphere, Shinichi had an inexplicable feeling that he had become the head of the family, especially when Yotsuba went to the door to get a newspaper and Itsuki brought him a cup of coffee, this feeling grew stronger.

　　But caring about such things at this point would make it hard for him to calm down, so he chose to ignore the outside environment and concentrate on doing his own thing.

　　The headache from lack of sleep hadn't subsided yet, but for him who was already going through various hardships, trivial things like this weren't enough to change his expression, except what happened last night made him avoid Ichika and Miku's gaze.

　　Shinichi lowered his head and clicked on the photo someone sent him last night.

　　...

　　On May 5, in the evening, it rained.

　　Heavy rain hit the window pane. Hayasaka Ai stood by the window, watching the scene.

　　"Kaguya-sama, how long are you going to laugh there?"

　　Lying on the luxurious big bed, Shinomiya Kaguya was staring at the cellphone screen, shaking her legs while smiling ridiculously with a blushing face.

　　"W-What's that got to do with it? This is a rare photo with the president under the fireworks. No matter how long I look at it, I won't get bored."

　　Hayasaka wanted to hit her miss who had fallen into stupid mode.

　　Unexpectedly, Kaguya smiled happily.

　　"Oh, Hayasaka, you don't understand~ Although it's a shame I didn't enjoy the fireworks festival, it's also because of this that I was able to get these happy memories... Whether it's going to the festival with everyone, or hiding under the roof with the president watching the fireworks the fire exploded slowly, for me, this is unforgettable."

　　"Really..." Hayasaka sighed, "The most important thing is not what you experience, but who you experience it with..."

　　She puffed out her mouth, her expression showing displeasure.

　　"Ah, so delicious~"

　　Kaguya blinked: "Eh? Hayasaka, are you angry?"

　　"No, I won't be offended by a 'little thing' like getting caught in the rain to take a photo of you stupid couple, since I followed the wayward Ojou-sama from start to finish and ended up not enjoying the festival." Hayasaka left Kaguya's room sullenly.

　　"I came out to do something, please don't worry, Kaguya-sama, I really am not angry… Huh."

　　"This is clearly angry..." Kaguya watched her close the door.

　　Hayasaka stood outside the door, her tense face slowly relaxed, and took a deep breath.

　　"...Yeah, I'm not angry."

　　She walked to a corner of Shinomiya's house, the corridor was deserted, and rainwater was overflowing outside the corridor. Occasionally, drops of water splashed onto the wooden floor, making the coolness melt away the dullness of this house.

　　There were no guards around, and Hayasaka looked left and right, and when she confirmed that no one had seen her, she took out fireworks from the skirt.

　　It has a "Tank Fireworks" label on it.

　　"Ojou-sama and the president can play fireworks together, but I can only play here alone… How can I express my envy?" Hayasaka stared at the dark and rainy night.

　　"That stupid guy needs to go home..."

　　Thinking of Shinichi, the words he said, as well as the embarrassing reaction of her crouching on the ground, came to mind.

　　A blush appeared on her face, Hayasaka shook her head, and took out a lighter from under the skirt.

　　She set off fireworks. The next moment, fireworks lit up a corner of the mansion.

　　Hayasaka stared blankly at the small but incomparably beautiful brilliance.

　　"It was so beautiful..."

　　She was stunned for a moment, then suddenly regained her senses, quickly taking out her cell phone from under her skirt.

　　After thinking about it, she took a photo with the dim fireworks. A brilliant light shone on the side of her face.

　　After shooting, the fireworks just went out, and were bit and stepped on by Hayasaka's feet.

　　She glanced at the former fireworks.

Completely indifferent to her littering behavior, Hayasaka threw fireworks into the rainy night, then walked to her room.

　　At the same time, she tapped her phone very quickly.

　　"Kamen Rider... Also prettier than you... Next time... Treat me to a crepe... In return..."

　　Pressing the send button, she pressed the phone to her chest and breathed a sigh of relief.

　　A blush appeared on her face.

　　"Ojou-sama, maybe one day… I can make you envy me."

　　Like a teenage girl, she smiled expectantly.

　　...

　　Shinichi looked at Hayasaka, who was holding the fireworks that flashed into her face in the photo.

　　"She really isn't afraid of getting burned…"

　　Glancing at the text message at the bottom, he replied with the message "Wait until your smile is prettier than fireworks", as for crepes, Shinichi wasn't interested in sweets, so he pretended not to see it.

　　The next is...