Parameter Supremacy: The Man Who Seizes a Harem Through Sheer Effort. - Chapter 63.5.

Idle Talk – The Summer Festival of Days Gone By.

Today was the last summer festival of our middle school years.

I slipped into the jinbei my mother had prepared for me and stood in front of Moe’s house.

Ding-dong.

When I rang the doorbell, Midori-san—Moe’s mother—soon answered through the intercom.

“Yeees~ Oh, is that you, Minato-kun?”

“Good evening, Midori-san.”

“Good evening. You’re here for Moe, right? Just a moment. She’s almost done getting dressed.”

After those words, I waited quietly in front of the entrance. Before long, the sound of the door opening reached my ears, and my childhood friend—one color Moe—appeared.

Moe stood there wrapped in a cute yukata patterned with hydrangeas, her cheeks flushed as she looked up at me.

“Um… Minato-kun, how do I look?”

“Eh? Ah, yeah… It suits you.”

“Thank you~”

It was a short reply, but for middle-school Moe, those few words clearly resonated deeply in her heart.

“Alright, let’s go. Shiina and the others are waiting.”

“O-okay.”

The two of us began walking side by side. The distance between us was by no means that of lovers. Yet it was just one step closer than ordinary childhood friends—a special kind of distance that belonged only to us.

***

When we arrived at the middle school’s main gate, which we had chosen as our meeting spot, Shiina and Matsuri were squatting with their backs against the closed gate, chatting happily.

Both of them were in casual clothes.

Shiina wore a cute one-piece dress. For a healthy, sporty girl like her, the outfit carried a mysterious allure that felt strangely seductive.

Matsuri was in a short T-shirt paired with hot pants—exactly the flashy style she loved. Her body, having already finished its growth spurt in the third year of middle school, looked far too mature to still be called a child.

I found myself swallowing hard. Even though we had been childhood friends for years, I couldn’t hide my bewilderment at how suddenly adult-like the three of them had become in the past few years.

“You’re laaate!”

Matsuri stood with her hands on her hips, puffing her cheeks in mock anger.

“Sorry~ It took longer than I thought to get dressed…”

Moe apologized with teary eyes.

“Fufu, it can’t be helped. Let’s hurry and go.”

Shiina let out a resigned laugh, as if to say “good grief.”

My treasures—my beloved three childhood friends.

“Come on, Minato-kun, you too. Let’s go quickly.”

Shiina looked at my face and smiled. I smiled back.

“Yeah. Hey, you two, hurry up.”

“Waaait~! Minato-kun, wait for meee!”

“I can’t run in a yukata, Matsuri-chan!”

***

After thoroughly enjoying the summer festival, we began making our way home.

“Aaah~ I ate way too much. My stomach is so full~”

“Fufu, you never change, Matsuri-chan.”

“I did warn you properly, you know. Did you really need to eat both Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki and regular okonomiyaki?”

“But I wanted to know the difference~!”

“So, was there a difference?”

“Ahaha, I couldn’t tell at all~”

Even silly conversations like this could be so lively and fun—perhaps that was the privilege of being children. Summer vacation would end soon. Once the second semester began, serious exam preparations would start in earnest.

“We’ll be high schoolers soon…”

I murmured, feeling a wave of emotion.

“Nothiiing will change!”

Matsuri looked up at the night sky with a gentle expression.

“Yeah. We’re childhood friends, after all.”

Moe murmured softly as well.

“That’s right. Even after exams are over, we’re all aiming for the same high school, so next year we’ll still be together.”

Shiina smiled brightly.

A warm happiness filled my chest. As long as I didn’t change, they surely wouldn’t change either. We would remain close childhood friends forever.

“Hey, everyone,” I said to the three people I cherished most.

“Let’s go to the summer festival together again next year—all four of us.”

Hearing my words, the three of them exchanged glances and nodded with radiant smiles.