───● The Basketball Club Middle School Girl Gets Frisky ●○●

When you hear “summer,” I think the answer you get varies quite a bit from person to person.

It might be places like the sea or the river, or food like watermelon or ice cream.

While this season certainly has many appealing things, my personal favorite is the “Summer Festival”.

The first time I was taken to a festival near my home—since I didn’t have parents and knew nothing about them—.

It was dark out, but the light from the food stalls and paper lanterns illuminated the entire area.

I witnessed a space where everyone was smiling, enjoying themselves, and intoxicated by the very air of the “festival”.

I remember how excited I felt, even as a child.

Since then, even though I’m a guy, I prepared a yukata and would go to festivals with a few of my close friends quite often.

Now, why was I thinking about all that?

Because Yuka had invited me to my favorite “Summer Festival”.

“There’s a big summer festival coming up…”

I wasn’t enough of an adult to refuse Yuka’s invitation.

By the way, Shiori-chan later invited me to the same summer festival, saying, “Wanna go to a festival!” but when I told her I already had plans, she cried. She cried, but then she seemed happy. Scary.

I waited for Yuka at the station plaza, the meeting spot, distractedly playing on my smartphone.

Since she messaged me a moment ago, she should be arriving soon.

I placed a hand on my chest.

“…Why am I nervous?”

I was exasperated with myself.

The other person is still a first-year middle school student. I’m already a university student, so by general social standards, this is definitely a crime.

If Koumi or Mizuho found out, I would undoubtedly be labeled a lolicon. Well, I have introduced her to Koumi, though.

Even I hadn’t thought of her that way until recently.

To me, Yuka was like a cute little sister. The image that came to mind was Yuka constantly challenging me to a match, losing, and then working hard at practice with a frustrated look on her face.

I thought she was a very cool basketball player, and at the same time, I found her endearing.

She’ll probably get even better and become an amazing player, much better than me, I thought.

It really was just that, nothing more.

Until that day.

Everything turned upside down.

“I don’t want to be your little sister”

The face she made when she said that looked like she was about to cry.

All I could do was let it happen.

And then—

“—Can we do more?”

“…Tch!”

My face felt hot just remembering it.

No, no, no! That’s bad! That’s improper!

…Why am I acting like a girl…? Wait, maybe that’s correct? In a way…

I fanned my face with my hand.

When we play basketball, she’s the same as before, which is fine, but when we’re not playing, Yuka aggressively comes onto me, which makes things difficult.

Seriously… what should I do?

Her feelings make me happy. Of course they do. It’s pure affection, and it’s coming from someone I already feel positively about; there’s no way it wouldn’t make me happy.

But… there’s still the wall of age.

Yuka is going to meet many more people from now on, and this time with me should really just be a small childhood memory.

“Hey, hey, mister!”

“…?”

As I was thinking that, two girls who looked like gyaru called out to me.

Wow. Modern gyaru even know how to wear yukata.

“If you’re free, wanna hang out with us~? We’ll pay.”

“Or maybe you were waiting to get hit on?”

G-girls hitting on a guy!

Wait, is this just regular hitting on a guy in this world?

“Ah, um… sorry. I’m meeting someone.”

“Oh, a guy? Then he can hang out with us too~”

…They’re surprisingly persistent. Is this what girls in my old world had to deal with when guys hit on them?

That’s tough (said with the feeling of a third party).

I thought I should try to refuse more firmly, since I wanted them to give up.

At that moment.

“Excuse me!”

It was an unusually loud voice.

The two girls flinched and turned around.

There stood Yuka, dressed in a vividly blue yukata.

“That person is my… my… my older brother, so could you please leave him alone?”

“Oh, you’re his little sister?”

“Aww, he was waiting for his little sister, what a sweet big brother~”

That pause after “my…” felt really long. Was she alright?

“Oh, well, little sister, could you just give us your brother’s contact info? We can come back another time~”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re on a date with your brother today, right? Our bad, we’ll try again another time~”

Ah, they definitely think she’s my real sister.

Yuka quickly positioned herself in front of me, now trembling.

“Um… Yuka?”

When I spoke to her in a low voice, Yuka took a deep breath, as if making up her mind, raised her face, and shouted.

“Actually, my brother is my boyfriend, so please give up and go home!”

““Wait, actually?!””

In the end, the gyaru who hit on me gave up and left.

Yuka got all red when they said something like “Good luck” to her at the end. I wonder what they wanted her to “be good” at.

Now, the two of us were walking toward the festival grounds.

“Um… I’m sorry. I suddenly raised my voice…”

“No, no. You helped me out. I was trying to figure out how to get them to leave.”

I looked at Yuka walking beside me.

Her yukata was a pale blue with a modest floral pattern, making her look bashful. The deep-red obi (sash) was a nice accent that made the whole outfit pop.

Yuka usually wears a hairpin, but today she had an ornamental hairpin. It served its role well in giving her a more mature impression.

“Um… how is it?”

Noticing my gaze, Yuka stretched out her arms a little to show off her full appearance.

Yep… this is absolutely devastating.

“It suits you so well. You look more grown-up than usual. You’re beautiful.”

“A-ah, thank you…”

W-why am I so embarrassed?!

I know the reason, though.

“Masato-san… you look cool. The yukata really suits you.”

“…Heh-heh, thanks.”

‘Heh-heh?’ What’s with the ‘heh-heh?’ That sounds so creepy.

Yuka, who was glued right next to me, had a red face. I was probably a little red too. My face felt hot.

But… but come on! She’s a middle schooler! A first-year! I know how cute she is and I think it’s criminal, but actually dating her or anything like that is just too wrong!! She was just a kid a little while ago!!

“Ah, um… Masato-san.”

“Hmm? What is it?”

Before I knew it, we had arrived at the entrance of the shrine where the festival was being held.

The direction of the shrine was brightly lit by the food stalls and lanterns.

The area was packed with families, couples, and children, truly making it feel like a festival.

In the middle of all that, Yuka looked up at me.

“…Can we hold hands?”

“…Yeah. Let’s hold hands.”

If there’s a human being who can refuse that, I’d like to meet them.

I’ll punch them.

“Wow, that’s amazing! I got so many!”

“I’m surprisingly good at stuff like this.”

After that, Yuka and I enjoyed the festival for a while.

We ate food from the stalls and tried the shooting game.

Now, we were scooping superballs.

Whether the game itself is that interesting is debatable, but I liked the feeling of doing it in the special atmosphere of the festival.

I was initially a bit embarrassed, but going around the festival with Yuka was so much fun that I think I forgot my shyness.

Seeing Yuka smile, I decided that maybe it would be better to just enjoy this moment together rather than overthinking things right now.

I know I’m just postponing the problem, though.

“Um, sorry, but you can only take ten with you…”

“Oh, is that the rule?”

“In return, you can take a prize from this selection,” the stall owner said.

He pointed to the consolation prizes lined up from the shooting game.

I didn’t really see anything I wanted.

“…That’s a very specific lineup…”

“Oh, can I choose one?”

“Oh, you want something?”

“Yes. I’d like that mask.”

Yuka chose a cute fox mask.

We left the superball scooping stall with a cheerful Yuka.

“Yuka, do you like foxes?”

“Not particularly, but… here you go, Masato-san.”

“Huh, I have to wear it?!”

Yuka handed me the fox mask with a smile.

Defeated by her smile, I reluctantly put on the fox mask.

Wait, this….

“Yuka, I can’t see anything with this mask on!”

“It’s okay! I’m holding your hand!”

“Is that the point?!”

While we were messing around like that, an announcement echoed from the speakers installed throughout the shrine.

“We will shortly begin the fireworks display that concludes the festival”.

Oh, it’s that time already.

“Yuka, let’s move somewhere to watch the fireworks.”

“Okay.”

But I really couldn’t see a thing like this.

I should take off the fox mask.

I thought about it, but.

“…Wait, Yuka. This mask won’t come off.”

“Eh?!”

Yuka was surprised, but she was also laughing.

Hey, I’m surprised! It’s really snug on my head and won’t budge!

“I’ll take it off. Masato-san, can you crouch down?”

“Oh, sure, sorry…”

We stepped onto a side path so as not to block the main road. When I crouched down, Yuka reached behind my head to untie the strings that held the mask securely.

…Maybe it’s because she’s doing it from the front, but her face is close, and even though I can’t see anything, I feel a little nervous.

Maybe it’s because it feels similar to that time.

After a moment, the mask came off.

I went to thank Yuka and—

Again, Yuka’s face was right in front of mine.

A familiar sight.

A familiar— sensation.

“…Tch.”

She slowly backed away.

I instinctively stumbled backward and fell into the thicket.

“Hey, Yuka, what the hell…”

“Fufu-fu… You can’t let your guard down, Masato-san… wait,”

Yuka peered down at my face with a mischievous look… but then her movements stopped abruptly.

Her gaze was fixed on my body.

Huh?

I hadn’t noticed, but my yukata had snagged on a small branch growing out of the ground, exposing my left shoulder.

There was nothing underneath, of course.

I didn’t realize how bad that was.

When I finally thought, This is bad, it was too late.

Yuka, whose eyes were utterly crazy, lunged at me.

She then started dragging me further into the thicket.

The festival-goers were all heading toward the shrine grounds to get a better view of the fireworks, and no one was paying attention to the thicket on the side path where we were.

The noise was distant. Here, it was just Yuka and me.

At least, that’s what I thought.

“H-hold on, Yuka…! You can’t do this…!”

“It’s Masato-san’s fault. For provoking me by showing me such an erotic sight…!”

After that every inch of my body was ravaged by Yuka’s delicate hands and mouth.

I lost count of how many times she had kissed me.

The sound of fireworks faded into the distance.

All I could see was Yuka’s flushed, utterly aroused face.