/
There was a fairly famous shrine about a ten-minute walk from Saito’s house, and we decided to go there.
After some idle conversation, we arrived at the shrine. It was still crowded with visitors, and people were coming and going without interruption.
[It’s pretty crowded]
[There’s so many people, even at night]
She looked around in amazement.
She had seen it on TV before, but it was different when seeing it in person. She looked at the crowd with great interest.
Her voice was both jumpy and bright, as she was excited about her first experience with hatsumode at night. Her expression wasn’t blank, but relaxed and dazzling.
[It’s fine to be stoked, but try not to get separated, okay?]
[I’m not stoked! I’m just a bit excited
 But I’ll try not to get separated]
Isn’t that what you call getting stoked? I swallowed that comment in my mind.
She seemed to regain her composure after I warned her, and her expression stiffened.
I couldn’t help but smile at her warmly, as if she was a small child.
[
What is it?]
She squinted her eyes and glared at me. The way she puffed her cheeks and glared at me was adorable.
[It’s nothing. Let’s go]
I was afraid that if I said anything to tease her, she would sulk, so I held myself back and moved on.
She didn’t look convinced, but she reluctantly followed me.
As I walked into the crowd, the visibility became much worse and it was much more crowded than it seemed to be from the outside. I walked slower than usual, almost bumping into people from time to time.
We decided to go to the hand-watering house first, but on the way, we noticed that she was attracting a lot of attention.
It’s not that she was wearing anything conspicuous, in fact, some people were wearing kimonos, so those people would normally stand out more.
The reason she was attracting so much attention was probably because she had a great figure.
And then there was the makeup and clothes that brought out the best parts of her appearance, so it was no wonder why she was getting so much attention.
[
What’s wrong?]
[No, nothing]
At the same time I had the impression that she was popular after all, I was uninterested by it.
I felt irritated that she didn’t do anything and she still gathered this much attention, but I didn’t want to say anything about it, and left the watering hole after that.
She tilted her head curiously, but tried to follow me.
It was crowded, so I walked in front of Saito, but she wasn’t used to being in a crowded place and let out a small squeal when she bumped someone.
I hurriedly turned around to see her standing a little further away, looking troubled. She lowered her eyebrows and her mouth was shut tight until our eyes met.
[Sorry, I walked too fast. Are you okay?]
[I’m sorry
]
I hurried over and called out to her, and she apologized.
I was the one who should apologize, but now wasn’t the time for that.
[We’re almost there. Here, give me your hand]
[Huh!?]
If I want to apologize, I can do it later. It’s more troublesome to stand here now. Besides, it’s dangerous because we might bump into someone again.
We were almost out of the crowd, so I pulled her hand and started walking.
When I held her hand, I heard something like a shriek coming from behind me, but I didn’t mind it and just kept walking until we got out of the crowd and managed to get in line for worship.
[I should’ve been more careful. Sorry
]
[No, no, that’s not it
]
When we got in line and took a breath, I apologized to her. I was prepared to be blamed, but she didn’t do that.
She just looked at her hand with her eyes downcast and her cheeks slightly red.
Relieved that she wasn’t upset that I sort of left her there while being careless, I tilted my head to see what was troubling her. “What’s wrong?” I wondered, then I realized.
[Oh, sorry. I was in a hurry and didn’t notice]
I realized that I was still holding hands with her and hurriedly tried to let go.
But her grip tightened and wouldn’t let me go.
[!? W-What’s wrong
?]
I looked at her, surprised that she didn’t let go, but she turned her head away and I couldn’t see her face. The only thing I could see was that her ears were red.
[
It’s to make sure that I don’t get lost. There’s a lot of people here] (TN: Tsun Saito, don’t see that often OwO)
[O-Oh]
She said it in a tsundere tone, and she tightened her grip even more.
I could feel her soft, squishy hands on me, and my face heated up. I felt very embarrassed and gently squeezed her hand back without looking at her.