Having suddenly decided that I would go see fireworks with Illness-san on what can be called a date, we walked down the street at night, hand in hand, illuminated by the lights of the stalls.
As I felt the warmth of his hand being transmitted, I kept my stride as small as possible because of our height difference.
[Illness-san, am I walking too fast?]
[Noooo. Thank you for minding meeeee. Iām fiiiiiiiine.]
Looking at Illness-sanās face, who responded with a gentle smile, I realized that I was feeling strangely nervous. As expected, being in this situation where Iām walking hand in hand with Illness-san may be a big part of it.
Also, itās probably because Tre-san just had to strangely describe this as a date that Iām becoming aware of this as oneā¦ā¦
[Ahh, Illness-san. We donāt have much time before it starts, but would you like to buy something on the way to the place where we can see the fireworks?]
[Letās seeeeee, I havenāt really been to festivals befoooooore, so would you choose something for me, Kaito-samaaaaa?]
[Ah, yes. You can count on me.]
ā¦ā¦This is troubling. W- What should I do? What? I can choose for her? H- Howeverā¦ā¦ I donāt really know Illness-sanās taste.
N- No, wait. Letās calm down. Letās consider our current situation at the momentā¦ā¦ Illness-san and I are currently holding hands. Considering this situation and the fact that we are going through a crowded street, I suppose food that should be eaten with both hands is no good.
If possible, it should be something that can be eaten with one hand. For example, something like a skewer or an apple candy would be good.
My personal opinion is that I donāt think eating a skewer would really fit Illness-sanās image, so I guess what I should choose here would be an apple candyā¦ā¦ I suppose that would be called ripple candy here then?
However, despite the cute atmosphere apple candies have, apple candies have a considerable volume. Considering how Illness-san ate back when I was having dinner-time drinks with herā¦ā¦ I wonder if an apple candy would be too big for her?
As I had such thoughts in mind, I looked at the stalls along the roadā¦ā¦ and found one called āFruit Candyā. Ahh, I see, so there are also non-apple variants here huhā¦ā¦
[Illness-san, how about we have some of their fruit candy? It seems like they have a variety, so Iām sure you can choose one you would likeā¦ā¦]
[Yeeees. Well theeeeen, since weāre at it, letās buy some.]
[Yes. They seem to have a lot of options, so which one would you like, Illness-san?]
[Letās seeeeeeā¦ā¦ I guess Iāll have a strawberry candyyyyy.]
The one that Illness-san chose was a fruit candy that had about five strawberries on a skewer. Each piece isnāt very big, so itās certainly easy for her to eat.
As I was thinking that, Illness-san glanced at me and smiled.
[Itās juuuuuust this might be a little too much for meeeee. Kaito-samaaaa, if you donāt miiiiiind, could you please eat about half of iiiiiit?]
[Eh? Ah, yes. I understand. Well then, weāll just buy only one strawberry candy, and Illness-san can then eat as much as you can. Iāll eat the rest.]
[Yeeeees.]
Thank goodness. I was able to safely choose something that suited Illness-sanā¦ā¦ No, wait? The flow of the conversation was so natural that it went so smoothly, but thinking about it again, the two of us eating a single skewer of candy fruit together was quite embarrassingā¦ā¦
N- No, the one weāre getting is fortunately strawberries, and with it being something eaten one by one, it probably wonāt turn into something like an indirect kissā¦ā¦ but itās hard not to be conscious of it.
No, if I had been doing this with one of my lovers, I wouldnāt be so conscious of it, but Illness-san isnāt my lover, and on top of thatā¦ā¦ Errr, sheās kind and mature, a woman whose feelings I had were close to admiration, so thereās a part of me thatās feeling strangely conscious of her.
While feeling indescribably embarrassed, I bought a strawberry candy and handed it to Illness-san. We then started walking again, but my attention was strangely being drawn towards Illness-san as she ate her strawberry candy.
The figure of her eating a single piece of strawberry, which I could eat in one mouthful, in small portions several times somehow gives her a sense of elegance. No, how should I say thisā¦ā¦ Iāve been thinking about this for a long time, but perhaps because sheās a maid working for nobility for a long time, Illness-sanās way of eating is so elegant that Iām fascinated by it.
[Kaito-samaaaaa?]
[Eh? Ah, Iām sorry! I- It just looks deliciousā¦ā¦]
[Kuhihi, yeeees. It tastes very deliciouuuuuus.]
[I- Iām glad to hear that.]
When Illness-san noticed that I was looking at her, I reflexively tried to deceive her, and after happily smiling at me, Illness-san gently held out the strawberry candy skewer to me.
[Kaito-sama too, try it ouuuuuut.]
[Hoehh? Ah, errr, y- yesā¦ā¦ Iāll have one then.]
I had assumed that Illness-san would eat until she was satisfied and then I would eat the restā¦ā¦ but us alternately eating each piece of the candy wasnāt something I had expected.
Moreover, this situation where Iām being fed by Illness-sanā¦ā¦ Needless to say, it was more embarrassing than I had imagined.
However, I donāt know if I was just imagining it or notā¦ā¦ Itās just my hunchā¦ā¦ but it somehow seemed like Illness-san was enjoying herself more than usual.