Chapter 21 Chapter 21 Entanglement
The fireworks show is over.
The crowded crowd around gradually dispersed.
Momozawa Airi sat on a bench at the corner of the street and looked down at her phone.
It's getting late.
She thought for a moment, then gently reached out and tugged at Matsuda Jinpei's sleeve: "I want to go home."
Jinpei Matsuda, holding a lollipop that appeared from nowhere in his mouth, sat on the bench shoulder to shoulder with her.
A bag of goldfish away.
Feeling a slight tug on his cuffs, he responded vaguely.
"good."
"Where's the senior?"
Momozawa Airi pretended to be calm and looked at his profile.
She could feel that Matsuda Jinpei's mood seemed to have been sunny since a while ago.
Even the voice was inexplicably tainted with a hint of...the sweet smell of a lollipop.
"I'll take you home." Matsuda Jinpei turned his head away and replied matter-of-factly. "You're even asking that? You're so stupid."
The tone is light and airy.
As he tilted his head, the other half of his face was revealed.
The small red mark on Jinpei Matsuda's cheek seemed to be able to transmit heat.
Momozawa Airi only took one look and felt her cheeks starting to get hot.
"……oh."
She raised her hand to tidy her hair, trying to cover her red ears.
...If nothing else, this color is really beautiful and makes your skin look whiter.
Just like what the lipstick advertisement copy described -
To mislead people.
…
After turning his head, Matsuda Jinpei remembered that there were... red marks on his face.
Erasing it seems deliberate and hurtful.
But he couldn't act as if nothing had happened.
So Matsuda Jinpei could only turn his head away very stiffly and continue to look at the street scene with pretended calmness.
The air around the two of them seemed to suddenly fall into a subtle silence.
Momozawa Airi pursed her lips and gently tugged at his sleeve: "Senior, let's go."
“…Okay, let’s go.”
*
After walking some distance between the bustling stalls, Momozawa Airi suddenly stopped.
Staring at a stall surrounded by people, he said, "Senior, can you wait for me for a moment? I want to buy something."
Matsuda Jinpei glanced at her.
Although the view was blocked by the yukata, one could still notice that Momozawa Airi was standing in a somewhat awkward position.
...It seems to still be quite painful.
"Take your time, I'll buy it for you."
Matsuda Jinpei followed her line of sight and saw different snack stalls.
"What do you want? Taiyaki? Or takoyaki...?"
"I don't need your help, Senior. I can buy it myself."
Momozawa Airi shook her head stubbornly and stuffed the bag of goldfish in Matsuda Jinpei's hand.
"Don't run around. Take good care of our little goldfish here and wait for me to come back."
Momozawa Airi gave her instructions with great confidence, as if she was going on a long journey.
Matsuda Jinpei, who was forced to hold a bag of goldfish: "..."
Momozawa Airi walked away slowly and was soon lost in the crowd.
Jinpei Matsuda was holding Momozawa Airi's bunny-shaped bag in his left hand, Momozawa Airi's goldfish in his right hand, and he was staring at the nearby teppanyaki stall in a daze with a lollipop in his mouth.
Although he was just standing there, his outstanding appearance attracted a lot of attention.
There were girls around who were eager to approach him and strike up a conversation, but after catching a glimpse of the cute pink bunny bag in his hand, they finally left in hesitation.
"…It's my girlfriend's bag, right?"
"I think so too... Did you see the lipstick marks on his face?"
…
Jinpei Matsuda paid no attention to the increasingly distant discussions; his mind was completely consumed with what Airi Momozawa had just said.
——Our little goldfish.
Jinpei Matsuda raised the bag to eye level and squinted his eyes to examine it for a moment.
Well, he already has a name in mind.
…
Just when Jinpei Matsuda was struggling over whether to name the most lively little goldfish "Huahua" or "Nana", he felt someone patting his shoulder from behind.
He turned around and saw Momozawa Airi with an expression that said, "I have something good hidden behind me."
Momozawa Airi put her hands behind her back and raised her head slightly to look at him: "Senior, do you want some candy?"
Matsuda Jinpei still had a lemon-flavored lollipop in his mouth and subconsciously refused: "No, I haven't finished my lollipop yet."
Eating too much sugar will make you sick.
Including the one in his mouth, he has already finished two lollipops tonight.
"..." Momozawa Airi blinked and lowered her head with some regret, "Okay."
She took her hands out from behind her back.
Holding a round, red candy apple.
She just heard Jinpei Matsuda thinking this and thought he wanted to eat too.
"There's only one left, and I wanted to eat it with senior."
Momozawa Airi took a bite of the candy apple and nodded affirmatively: "It's delicious. Eating something sweet really makes you feel better."
Matsuda Jinpei: “…”
Matsuda Jinpei: “…………”
Momozawa Airi watched as Matsuda Jinpei suddenly finished the rest of the lollipop in one breath and threw the stick into the trash can.
"I'll eat."
He looked at Momozawa Airi very sincerely.
Momozawa Airi: "?"
Momozawa Airi: "But you just said you'd get sick of it."
Jinpei Matsuda didn't respond, but lowered his head and took a big bite of the candy apple.
…a very big mouthful.
Momozawa Airi: "..."
Momozawa Airi was caught off guard: "You ate the best and sweetest part!!"
"You can come and grab it."
Matsuda Jinpei answered vaguely.
He felt the sweetness in his mouth and thought it was indeed delicious.
...Well, eating something sweet really makes me feel better.
Matsuda Jinpei glanced at the angry Momozawa Airi calmly.
Having said that, she is quite amazing.
"Are you some kind of high school detective?"
He said something random and nonsense.
Momozawa Airi looked at the missing candy apples with anger and sorrow: "...Are you high on candy?"
Jinpei Matsuda paid no attention to her sarcasm, raised the corners of his lips, and gently pulled the end of her hair.
"I just think you have a strong reasoning ability and can often guess what I'm thinking."
“…”
Momozawa Airi paused, then lowered her head to eat the candy, trying to hide her true feelings.
"...No! Coincidence! You're mistaken!! There's nothing!! I don't know what you were thinking!"
Matsuda Jinpei, who had just mentioned it casually, said: "..."
He looked at Momozawa Airi, who was clearly showing signs of panic, and felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
Before he could think, Momozawa Airi grabbed the goldfish's bag and said, "Give it to me."
She stared at the happily swimming little goldfish and couldn't help but sigh, "Ah... I must teach Hung Hung a lesson when I get home. I can't let it catch fish—it's so lively."
"This one's called Huahua."
Jinpei Matsuda continued the conversation very naturally.
Momozawa Airi: "?"
She looked confused: "Huh?"
Matsuda Jinpei blinked and said, "I've chosen a name."
Momozawa Airi: "?"
Momozawa Airi: "Why did you name my little goldfish!"
Matsuda Jinpei: “?”
Matsuda Jinpei: "You just said it yourself—our little goldfish."
He deliberately drew out his voice.
Momozawa Airi remembered: "..."
Momozawa Airi felt that the name she blurted out seemed a little... ambiguous.
She subconsciously squeezed the handle of the bag and walked away.
Protesting while walking.
"...It's my little goldfish! You're not allowed to give it a name... Why is it Huahua? No!"
"Your cat is still meowing hungry."
"...No no no no no!! You stole my candy, I won't let you pick a name!"
"Hey—you made me eat it yourself."
“…”
*
When walking on the way to Momozawa Airi's house, Matsuda Jinpei deliberately chose to walk on the side where the marks on his face would not be revealed.
There were few people on the street and it was unusually quiet.
Momozawa Airi felt a burning pain in her calves and walked very slowly.
She was afraid that Matsuda Jinpei would walk too fast, so she reached out and grabbed his clothes.
He accidentally used a little force and pulled Matsuda Jinpei's collar down a long distance.
Large areas of skin are exposed.
Momozawa Airi: "..."
Matsuda Jinpei: “…”
Momozawa Airi froze: "I...I didn't mean to..."
Matsuda Jinpei nodded in understanding and pulled his collar back up in a casual manner. "Why are you being a hooligan again?"
Momozawa Airi: "..."
It seemed like she had really acted like a hooligan just now.
But...
When she thought of that red mark, Momozawa Airi felt her face flush.
She chose to play dead, lowering her head and nibbling the candy apple in small bites.
He finished it in no time.
She threw the bamboo stick into the trash can.
"cough."
Matsuda Jinpei cleared his throat deliberately.
Momozawa Airi heard the noise and looked up at him blankly.
“…Don’t pull my clothes.”
Jinpei Matsuda's eyes were a little wandering.
He slowly stretched out his hand.
Palms facing up.
The meaning is self-evident.
Momozawa Airi swallowed stealthily and gently placed her hand on the hand extended by Matsuda Jinpei.
Almost at the moment their palms touched, Matsuda Jinpei bent his fingers and wrapped her hand tightly.
Momozawa Airi quietly looked at the two people's intertwined hands, and suddenly felt that Matsuda Jinpei seemed to be much bigger than her.
Healthy skin tone.
There are still thin calluses on my hands.
...are very powerful hands.
Momozawa Airi had only held a girl's hand in this way before.
When I shake hands with boys, it’s mostly when we’re playing games at school, holding hands and forming a circle.
This is the first time I've shaken hands with a boy in such a... somewhat intimate way.
She couldn't help but wonder what Jinpei Matsuda was thinking.
So soft.
【It's small.】
[The fingertips are also soft.]
[The wound from last time seems to have almost healed.]
She felt Matsuda Jinpei gently pinching her fingertips.
There was an electric shock-like feeling.
Momozawa Airi loosened her hand a little in a daze and pinched it back.
As a result, Jinpei Matsuda began to gently pinch the palm of her hand.
Momozawa Airi learned on the spot and began to pinch his palm.
She even taught herself how to do it, using her fingertips to gently stroke and poke the palm of Matsuda Jinpei's hand.
Just when she was having more and more fun, suddenly her whole hand was firmly restrained by Matsuda Jinpei.
The other person's rough fingertips moved slowly on her soft hand.
Their skin touched and finally froze in one position.
Fingers interlocked.
The fingers of Momozawa Airi that were just causing trouble could only grasp the air at this moment.
Finally, she placed it weakly on the back of his hand.
"Let's go."
Jinpei Matsuda looked straight ahead with a calm tone.
"I'll take you to your doorstep."
…
They walked in silence for a while, and the awkward atmosphere that suddenly appeared made Matsuda Jinpei feel a little weird.
He paused, choosing to make small talk: "What are you going to do when you get home?"
Momozawa Airi honestly said, "Go back and study. Today's task is not yet completed."
She thought for a moment, handed the goldfish bag to Matsuda Jinpei, and took out her phone to check her schedule: "It's not far from the start of school. I guess the seniors will start school soon too."
"The last time I took a class with you, I noticed that you were always talking to me—like suddenly telling me about college topics."
"Senior, you have to study hard too. University studies are not easy."
When it comes to studying, Momozawa Airi instantly forgot her shyness and embarrassment. Her waist and legs no longer felt sore, and she felt refreshed. She looked up into Matsuda Jinpei's eyes and began to encourage him to study very seriously.
She even broke away from Matsuda Jinpei's hand, typed away on her phone, and began to seriously plan her exam sprint plan for the next semester.
"Senior, you have to work hard and listen carefully in class. If my future official boyfriend is an idiot, I will be very distressed."
Matsuda Jinpei, who was carrying both the goldfish bag and the rabbit bag, responded: "..."
He took Momozawa Airi's hand and continued to walk slowly forward: "Go home, go home, it's late."
The first time is unfamiliar, the second time is familiar. This time, Matsuda Jinpei was extremely familiar with her and directly intertwined his fingertips with hers.
Momozawa Airi: "..."
She put away her phone and looked up at Jinpei Matsuda.
Without noticing, she actually walked on the side of the other person's face where there was a mark.
Momozawa Airi stared blankly for a while at the faint red mark on Matsuda Jinpei's face.
The kiss marks she had smeared on with her fingers.
After a while, Momozawa Airi lowered her head, looked at the ground, and whispered:
"Would it be really okay to give Senior one in the future?"
Two fighting dogs ran by the side of the road, howling.
Matsuda Jinpei's attention was briefly drawn for a few seconds, and he didn't hear clearly what Momozawa Airi said.
He tilted his head and raised his eyebrows: "Huh? What did you say?"
“…I don’t understand.”
Momozawa Airi paused, then suddenly laughed out loud.
"I don't know if you'll regret it later, Matsuda-senpai."
Matsuda Jinpei: “?”
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