As soon as they got on the bus, Honoka received a call from her mother on her smartphone. When Honoka switched to silent mode without answering, a message arrived instead.

“Where are you going!? Come home right now!”

“Sorry, Mom. I’ll explain everything properly when I get home, so please go back home for now. I’m an adult, so don’t worry about me.”

After sending that message, Honoka turned off her phone.

“Hey, is that okay? Your mom’s going to worry, you know?”

“Yeah, it’s fine. My mom sometimes gets emotional like that. But if I talk to her after she calms down, it’ll be okay. I’m sure she’ll understand.”

“You think so?”

“No, I’ll MAKE her understand!”

“Huh?”

“Huh?”

Oh, that slipped out.

Honoka realized her true feelings had leaked out, and she reminded herself to be careful. Rintaro looked at her curiously, surprised by her forceful tone. The two of them stared at each other with puzzled expressions, then found it funny and burst out laughing.

“But I hope your mother gives up on that arranged marriage plan for you.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s right.”

Honoka stared at Rinta sitting next to her.

Hmm… he really was handsome. Why did Hirarin look so cool to her now?

Honoka suddenly remembered what Reika-shochou had said during the girls’ gathering the day before Rinta’s arrival.

“Above all, once you fall for someone, they start looking cool to you.”

At that time, she had only thought “That’s ridiculous.” Whether you liked someone or not, a handsome guy was a handsome guy. And those who weren’t, simply weren’t. She had thought, “What nonsense is Reika-shochou talking about?” But now Honoka was experiencing firsthand that it was true.

—As expected of Reika-shochou. She was really experienced in life.

Though there wasn’t much of an age difference between her and Reika, Honoka found herself agreeing in strange ways.

“Is there something on my face?”

Rinta asked confusedly.

“Huh? Oh, no… nothing…”

Honoka realized she had been staring at Rinta. Noticing that her “like” for him was showing, she felt embarrassed. Her face felt hot, it must be bright red. Not wanting Rinta to see her like that, Honoka turned her face toward the backrest of the seat in front of her.

Soon the bus stopped at a bus stop along the coast. After getting off, Honoka and Rinta crossed the national highway they had been traveling on. In front of them was a waist-high concrete seawall that stretched endlessly along the highway. There was a gap in part of the concrete wall, where they could see stairs leading down to the beach.

“Looks like we can go down to the sea from there.”

“Yeah. Shall we go?”

“Yeah, let’s do that~!”

Coming to the ocean with Rinta… Just that simple fact made Honoka very excited.

When they went down the stairs together, they found themselves on a not-very-large sandy beach. It was already autumn, and there was no one else beside them. The waves washing up on the shore seemed a bit lonely. However, the horizon stretched out beautifully, contrasting with the clear autumn sky.

“Ah, it’s beautiful…”

“Yeah. It feels good to see the ocean once in a while.”

“Mmm.”

For a while, the two of them silently gazed at the ocean spread out before them. Honoka pleasantly felt the sea breeze cooling her warm face. Then, as if she had just thought of something, she spoke up.

“By the way, Hirarin. Why did you decide to join our company?”

Partly to hide her embarrassment, but also because she genuinely wanted to know more about Rinta, Honoka couldn’t help asking.

“Well…”

After hearing Rinta’s reason for choosing Rikuado Co., Honoka also shared her own motivations for joining. Then they talked about what kind of children they were in elementary school. Although their conversation meandered, Honoka felt a sense of satisfaction filling her heart as she got to know a little more about Rinta.

A brief moment in the midst of everyday life. Having Rinta beside her in such a simple scene made Honoka feel incredibly content.

She had dated several men before, but she had never felt this emotion. Perhaps what she had thought was “love” until now wasn’t really love, and this might be what true love actually felt like. Honoka found herself contemplating such things.

And what was necessary to maintain this happy feeling from now on? That would be getting Rinta to like her back and becoming a proper couple. For that—

She needed to be more honest with her feelings…

Though she thought that way, Honoka wasn’t entirely confident that she could actually be honest, but she knew she had to try.

As they gazed at the ocean and talked about various things without any particular focus, time passed quickly. Nearly an hour had passed since they arrived. The sky, which had been clear, was now clouding over, and the darkening sky also made them aware of the passage of time.

“Honoka. Let’s head back soon. The return bus will be here shortly.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. There’s only one bus per hour here, so if we miss this one, we’ll have to wait another hour.”

“Hirarin, you know a lot. Have you been here by bus before?”

Could it be that he came here with some other woman?

Suddenly, an unsettled feeling spread through Honoka’s chest.