When I Brought The Lost Little Girl To Her House, The One Who Came Out Of The Front Door Was The Most Beautiful Girl In The Grade. - Chapter 57

While wandering around the cultural festival with Ayano, I was thinking about what she might ask of me.

“How about a photo? You can add an option for a cultural festival memory!”

The person calling out to passersby was likely part of the cultural festival organizing committee.

A photo, huh? Come to think of it, there aren’t many photos of Ayano and me together…

I glanced down at Ayano. She was staring at people, seemingly ready to take pictures.

“Ayano-sann, since we’re here, how about taking a photo?”

“Huh? Oh, sure!”

“Alright, let’s do it then…”

I said that and gently tugged Ayano’s small hand.

“Um, could we get a photo taken?”

“Of course! Leave it to us!”

Saying that, we stood in front of a picture with a large heart drawn on it.

For some reason, I began to feel oddly nervous. I was worried about whether I could put on a good smile.

“Alright, please smile! Say cheese!”

The shutter clicked. Wondering if Ayano was feeling nervous, I looked at her, and our eyes met.

Since I had been caught looking at her for so long, I thought I might be teased about it. But Ayano just smiled slightly and said,

“I think I couldn’t smile properly… I hope it’s okay…”

“Even you feel that way, Ayano-san… I always thought you were completely immune to nerves.”

“What do you think of me? I get nervous too, especially when I’m taking a picture with someone I like…”

At that moment, unfortunately, the noise of some enthusiastic first-year students passing by drowned out the last part of Ayano’s sentence.

“Huh? What did you say?”

“I, I won’t say it again! Alright? Let’s just end this topic!”

“Huh, alright…”

When I asked again, it seemed she didn’t want to talk about it anymore, and she cut the conversation short.

“I’m the only one who ended up embarrassed.”

Ayano mumbled something, but I decided not to press further since I didn’t think she would explain it in detail.

However, her cheeks had turned slightly red since earlier.

Not just her cheeks, even her ears had turned red.

“Why is your face all red?”

“N, n, nothing at all!”

Though Ayano’s reaction made it seem like nothing was going on, I couldn’t help but feel that there was more to it.

“Would you like another picture taken? We also have options you can add, how about it?”

“What kind of options are available?”

“Well, things like angel wings, flowers… oh! The most popular one is cat ears!”

“Cat ears…”

Ayano got excited about the cat ears. Could it be that Ayano wants to wear cat ears?

“Um, with the option, I’d like to have cat ears!”

“Sure thing! Cat ears it is!”

“Ayano-san, you’ll look great with cat ears.”

“Thank you!”

With excitement, I assumed Ayano would put on cat ears.

“But I never said I’d put them on myself.”

“Huh? What do you mean…”

Ayano had been looking at me with a grin all along.

Realizing her expression, it finally hit me that Ayano had been trying to get me to wear cat ears and asked for the option.

If I didn’t refuse, the place where we were taking the photo right now would become quite conspicuous.

“Uh, Ayano-san? I really don’t want to wear cat ears.”

“But you made a wish earlier, right?”

“Well, yeah, but…”

“There you go, right?”

“…Yes.”

I succumbed to Ayano’s pressure. I didn’t feel annoyed exactly, but I felt a bit sulky.

“With this, I’ll spare you the embarrassment from earlier.”

I had no idea what she was talking about, though.

“C-Cute…”

Ayano, with the cat ears on me, chuckled softly and patted my head. It was incredibly embarrassing, and I thought my heart wouldn’t be able to take it if she did anything more.

“Okay, let’s take the picture.”

“Y-Yeah, go ahead…”

“Alright.”

Thank goodness. My heart had been pounding loudly the whole time.

“Hehe, we got a great picture!”

“Well, it’s a really nice memory.”

“Yeah!”

Ayano looked at the picture we had just taken with a beaming smile.

“We are currently preparing for the campfire. Students and guests participating in the campfire, please gather on the school grounds.”

The school announcement echoed, and checking the time, it was already past 5 PM.

“Shall we head to the campfire soon?”

“Yeah, sounds good.”

Holding hands with Ayano, I walked towards the school grounds.

I realized that this cultural festival was coming to an end soon.

I didn’t want it to end. I fervently wished for something impossible.

The warmth that had ignited during the cultural festival still hadn’t cooled down.