───● The Literature Girl Makes a Wish ●○●
January 1st. The day we welcome the start of a new year.
Last year turned out to be an incredibly good year. Mostly thanks to Masato-san.
I look forward to your continued patronage this year (meaningfully).
“Okay, is this good?”
“Whoa! Thank you! Heck yeah!”
Looking in the mirror in front of me, I saw myself wearing the furisode my mother had helped me dress in.
Nod nod. Not bad at all, right?
With this, even Masato-san should compliment me!
“Did you end up giving Masato-san an answer?”
“Ah… Yeah.”
Come to think of it, I hadn’t told my mom about that yet. Since she was the one who gave me advice, it might be fine to at least tell her how I feel.
“I really do love Masato-san. Sure, my admiration for him isn’t exactly zero, but I’ve properly realized that I just love the Masato-san who treats me like a normal person.”
Maybe it was because I was talking to my mother.
But I was able to put my feelings into words a lot more naturally than I expected.
“Right. Then you should go all out.”
“I know, I know~”
Having finished her job, my mom headed back to the kitchen. I followed right after her.
“Still, good for you. I’m sure a boy like him gets asked out left and right, so it’s a miracle he agreed to go on a hatsumoude shrine visit with you, Shiori.”
“Shut up, it’s fine!”
“Ah, I get it. His university friends probably went back to their hometowns. Otherwise your turn never would have come around, right?”
“Is it fun bullying your own flesh and blood???”
What a rude thing for a mother to say… Well, the fact that it’s highly likely to be true is what really pisses me off, though.
Since someone else beat me to the punch for a summer festival date, I’m glad I invited him to hatsumoude early this time.
If I do say so myself, I’m pretty confident when it comes to wearing traditional Japanese clothes. I don’t have to worry about not having a good figure!
“Well, I’m not expecting much, but it would be nice if you could make some memories with Masato-kun.”
Hearing her say that reminded me. I told her the conclusion I came to earlier, but I hadn’t told her what actually happened between Masato-san and me.
My first kiss was a failure, but… he kissed me, and then…
“Heheheh.”
“Ew, gross.”
Even I ended up getting excited just remembering it. Please forgive my severe lack of manners.
“Oof, my bad, my bad. Man, you never know what life’s gonna throw at you. Ah, right, right. I’m grateful you called Masato-sama over, Mother. I’ll keep the boy’s bar a secret for you.”
I heard in some video that the world looks different once you finally do the deed, but maybe they weren’t entirely wrong?
Yep, yep, I really want to tell my past self from last year that reality isn’t as bad as it seems.
“Well then, Mother, I shall be off.”
“Right. Have a good time?”
Leaving my mother behind with a puzzled look on her face, I gracefully exited the house.
Looks like today is going to be a very good New Year’s Day!
Our meeting spot was the station near the largest shrine in the area.
Masato-san wasn’t at the ticket gates yet. We were still early, so that was a given.
Opening my smartphone, I saw no messages from Masato-san. But instead, I had a notification from my mom.
‘I took a picture for you. Have fun.‘
It seemed she had taken a picture of me in my furisode.
The picture showed me in my furisode with my arms spread wide.
Hmm, I don’t look half bad, if I do say so myself. Come to think of it, I haven’t really contacted my friends since the new year started, so maybe I should send this to them.
【Holy Maiden Gathering】
Shinomiya Shiori: Sent an image
Shinomiya Shiori: ‘Yo, yo, Happy New Year, ladies. First thing this year, I’m going on a hatsumoude date with Masato-sama. Jealous much?’
And that should do it.
Looking back at the crowd in front of the ticket gates, I saw a few other people wearing furisode just like me.
Ah, there’s a guy in a kimono. Nice.
I bet Masato-san would look great in a kimono too. He’s tall and has a good figure.
As I was lost in my delusions, I got a notification.
【Holy Maiden Gathering】
Miaki:’You’re annoying straight out the gate this year.’
Mana:’We don’t care about your solo pic, send us a picture of Masato-san.’
Hatsumi:’Leave her alone, she’s probably capping anyway. She just wanted to flex.’
Mana:’Oh, true… Sorry about that…’
“What a bunch of rude jerks…”
I wonder sometimes, why am I even friends with them?
“Ah—did I do something wrong?”
“Hyai?!”
Someone suddenly called out to me, and when I turned around, Masato-san was standing there!
Hasn’t this happened before?!
“G-G-Good morning! I mean, you haven’t done anything rude at all!!”
“You’re really energetic today.”
Those guys are the rude ones, and honestly, even trying to explain it to Masato-san feels kind of disrespectful.
And as always, Masato-san looks absolutely divine today……Which simultaneously reminded me of what happened between us last time.
Crap, I’m starting to get excited.
“A-Ah, Happy New Year.”
“Right, Happy New Year. Should we get going?”
“Yes!”
To think I’d completely forget to even say my New Year’s greetings.
I need to reset…
“That furisode really suits you. I thought you’d look good in traditional clothing, but it’s exactly as I imagined.”
Masato-san gave me a warm smile.
Nnn──── One million points!
Ranked number one in the ‘Men I Want to Date’ tier list for 10 consecutive years!
Ah─── I wanna skip the shrine and just head straight to a hotel────.
“Masato-san, wanna ditch the shrine and hit up a hotel?”
“Yeah, obviously not.”
Tehepero.
If I push my luck too much he might cut ties with me, so I’ll hold back.
…Ah, by ties, I didn’t mean anything weird, okay? (Who am I even talking to?)
We walked toward the shrine for our hatsumoude.
As expected, since it was the largest shrine in the area and the first of the New Year’s three holidays, there was a massive line of people.
I chatted with Masato-san while waiting in the line to pray.
“So that’s what happened… Don’t you think they’re super rude?”
“Ahaha… The friends you hang out with are all pretty interesting, Shiori-chan.”
Masato-san is a good listener.
Being a good listener obviously makes me want to talk more, but I’m also happy that he shares things about himself in moderation too.
After all, if I’m the only one talking, I’d feel bad.
Well, in terms of volume, it’s about a 7:3 ratio with me talking more, though.
“Alright, it’s almost our turn, Shiori-chan. You know the etiquette, right?”
“Of course. As a former pure and innocent girl, this much is common sense.”
“You really call yourself a ‘former’ one… Well, I guess it’s fine?”
Two bows, two claps, one bow.
That much is obvious.
The problem is what to wish for.
Health, that’s important too.
This year is my exam year, so maybe academic success? I’d be ecstatic if I could get into the university Masato-san goes to.
──But, still.
Our turn came.
I tossed a five-yen coin into the offering box and bowed twice.
Matching Masato-san’s timing, I clapped my hands twice.
Keeping my hands together… I made my wish.
I closed my eyes.
Please let me stay with Masato-san forever.
On the day I confessed my feelings to Masato-san, I thought about it.
If I ever had to give up on Masato-san in the future, would I ever be able to fall in love with someone else again?
I thought it was impossible.
I know it sounds gross coming from me, but I really don’t think I could ever meet someone as wonderful as him again.
After experiencing such a great guy, there’s absolutely no way I could just move on to the next one.
That’s why.
Please let us stay together forever.
I’ve realized that I love him, but even now, I don’t necessarily think I absolutely have to be his number one. Rather than that, I don’t care if I’m not his number one. I just want to be someone who’s allowed to stay by his side. That’s how I feel.
I slowly opened my eyes.
Looking over, I saw that Masato-san had already finished his wish and was looking at me.
The two of us bowed one last time together.
After that, we decided to draw fortunes along the route before leaving the shrine.
“Is it true that ‘Good Luck’ is a higher tier than ‘Middle Luck’?”
“Putting aside whether ‘tier’ is the right word to use here, yeah, ‘Good Luck’ is apparently the second best after ‘Excellent Luck.'”
“Hearing that makes it sound pretty good! Second place!”
I drew ‘Good Luck.’ I’d heard recently that this one was pretty viable. Yep, yep, not bad at all.
I glanced at the Person You Are Waiting For section, and it said, ‘You have already met them.’ Hmph, not bad, fortune slip.
“Still, you were praying really intensely, Shiori-chan. What did you wish for?”
“U-Um, well.”
Hmm. Obviously telling Masato-san straight up, “I wished that I could stay with you forever” would be way too heavy, right?
What’s a good wish to play it off with…
While thinking that, I suddenly remembered what Masato-san had said.
‘I’ll give you my answer in March, so I want you to wait until then.’
After I confessed my feelings to him, before the year ended, Masato-san told me that over the phone.
Which means, there’s a high chance he’s going to reject me in March.
High chance doesn’t even begin to cover it. Realistically speaking, with people like Igarashi-senpai around, the chances of me being chosen are lower than a water flea’s.
…But what should I do to raise those sub-water-flea odds, even just a little bit?
I took a small breath of the slightly cold New Year’s air.
“…I wished that I could stay with you forever, Masato-san.”
“…!”
…Because I want to be someone he thinks he wants to stay with, even if only a little.
──I need to stop being embarrassed about telling him how I feel.
To Masato-san, whose eyes were wide with surprise, I gave a bright smile.
[ Case: Shinomiya Shiori ]
[19:45] Masato:
Shiori-chan, do you think we could do a quick call or something?
[19:50] Shiori:
Yes! That is totally fine!
[20:32] (Incoming Voice Call: 18 minutes, 21 seconds)
[20:35] Masato:
Sorry to bother you when you’re busy. But since we won’t be able to see each other until the new year…
[20:35] Masato:
I wanted to tell you beforehand.
[20:41] Shiori:
Thank you very much. It makes me really happy that you were so thoughtful.
[20:41] Shiori:
Ah, but there’s one thing I forgot to say…
[20:41] Shiori:
Even if I’m not the one you choose… I would still be… really happy if you’d keep being my tutor.
[21:01] Masato:
Of course! If you’re okay with it, Shiori-chan, I’d absolutely love to keep tutoring you.
[21:01] Masato:
I’d be in trouble if we stopped too, honestly lol
[21:04] Shiori:
Yes! Please do!
[21:05] Shiori:
But just so you know, I haven’t given up on being chosen as your girlfriend yet.
[21:07] Shiori:
I’m surprisingly greedy, after all.
[21:09] Shiori:
I want to be with you forever, Masato-san.
[21:10] Shiori:
Just kidding! Wow, I’m totally pushing my luck, aren’t I?! Ahaha
[21:12] Shiori:
But, those really are my true feelings!!
