"Hanachirusato" - Hikaru ga Chikyuu ni Itakoro......(Volume 8)

Chapter 4: The Flowers Quietly Scatter

And till this point, she continued to maintain this lie.

Whereas Michiru actually conveyed her feelings to Honoka.

(It would have been fine if I said that I like Akagi back then, right?)

And while she continued to endure the ripping inside her heart, she continued to peek at Koremitsu and Michiru, the latter having recommended the former for the culture festival committee, the two of them working together to prepare the props during break or after school, and she reflected upon her actions.

Michiru was doing her best, trying to help Koremitsu; that should have been what Honoka should have been doing, yet even when Koremitsu came to talk to her, she would ignore him with a frozen face.

The expression Michiru showed Koremitsu was so honest, so full of vitality. When she saw Michiru present her homemade sweets to Koremitsu during the break, Koremitsu received them with a sour look, cautiously taking one bite after another. After he expressed his thanks in such a tentative manner, Michiru was beaming so brightly, so captivating; even a girl like Honoka felt this way, and surely to Koremitsu, she must have been very cute too. Koremitsu was beginning to realize Michiru's good points, and surely he would approach her. Thinking about this, she was a little peeved a Michiru, and more so at herself.

(And besides, the one Akagi has his eyes on—isn't Michiru...)

Her heart, and her entire body, was tense.

Aoi again lowered her head flusteredly.

Honoka heard of the awkward relationship between Aoi and the student council president Asai, hailed the Matriarch Asa. The talented woman, a close confidant of the Mikados, had been protecting over the pure, innocent girl called Her Highness Aoi. This was the relationship all the students in Heian Academy would know of, and yet there was some change in their relationship.

Both of them were invited to the fireworks event held by Tsuyako at the riverbank, but they deliberately shunned each other.

"Hey, Miss Aoi, is Mr. Akagi still at the student council office? I sent him a message asking me to come here for the timeslot allocation, but he has been completely ignoring me. Do you mind calling Mr. Akagi back here when you ask Miss Asai to stamp this document?"

Surely Tsuyako knew of some discongruence between Asai and Aoi, but she still tried getting Aoi to go to Asai, perhaps to mend the relationship between them. Tsuyako, looking so carefree, was probably a sentimental woman who cared for others.

Asai and Aoi both showed contempt at Tsuyako over the scandal involving Mikado Hikaru, and yet Tsuyako was trying her best to be the matchmaker. The same thing happened when she got Aoi to assist in the Japanese Dance Club exhibition, as she cheerfully spoke to Aoi, prudent in her choice of words, showing concern so as to not let the latter feel downhearted.

Surely it was Tsuyako's kind intentions to let Aoi handle Asai.

Aoi probably would understand this.

Surely however, it would be awkward for Aoi to head over. The sight of her lowering her head, sealing her lips tightly was really heartwrenching. Honoka herself did have an awkward conversation with Michiru, and the memory of it was inadvertently reflected on Aoi.

"Erm, can I go with you?"

Aoi widened her eyes at Honoka.

And Tsuyako giggled.

"Oh yes, I suppose it is better to have two people go drag Mr. Akagi from Miss Asa. Please do so, Miss Shikibu, Miss Aoi."

"Okay, let's get going, Your Highness Aoi."