He took a bite of creamy ice cream.
“…”
When he changed his phrasing, Machina must have somewhat understood because she stopped eating for a moment.
“Oh, this is really cold.”
Then he changed the subject. The ice cream was sherbet and it made his tongue tingle.
Machina had tea, but Mutsuki had juice. And the toast was covered in mayonnaise.
He looked around for something to warm his mouth.
“There are wafers over here.”
“Oh, I’ll take that.”
There was something good by Machina, so he reached out for it.
“Here.”
“Uuh…”
But the girl took the stick-like object and held it out towards his mouth.
Mutsuki briefly hesitated, but she was only being nice, so it would be weird to get too worked up over it.
“Th-thanks.”
He let her feed it to him.
It really did feel like no time since spring.
Back then, he could not even speak to his crush, but now she was feeding him sweets.
“Um.”
She returned to the parfait as if nothing had happened, but the boy was blushing.
He reached for the salty toast.
“I-if only things could stay like this.”
He returned to the previous topic.
“Ange and Lucia-kun are getting more and more used to life here. I hope nothing happens…”
The play and the band had nothing at all to do with their jobs as an angel and a demon, but the two of them were enjoying their everyday lives. Watching them had become one of Mutsuki’s favorite things to do lately.
He wished nothing ever had to change.
From the bottom of his heart.
“…”
“Ibekusa-san?”
But when he said that, something changed with Machina.
She stopped eating the parfait.
She stared at him with a troubled look on her usually expressionless face.
“…You would prefer that nothing happens?”
“Eh?”
“Sorry. But I must cause a change soon.”
She spoke quietly.
Mutsuki was confused. She usually agreed with anything he said, but now this.
He could tell this was no trivial matter.
“S-something happened, didn’t it? …You’ve been acting weird. Are you worried about something?”
He decided now was the time to ask about everything, including the kissing.
She must have been hesitant because she bit her lower lip.
“Um, is it about those people? Those Kurosaki people?”
That group opposed FeTUS and they had attacked before, so he assumed that would be what was worrying her. However…
“Negative. That hastens things, but they are not directly involved.”
“Then…what?”
“The problem is FeTUS’s…no, it is me.”
She spoke calmly.
Her tone was plain, but she was clearly not her usual self. She was usually businesslike and did not allow emotions into even the difficult things she had to say. But now she was hesitating.
This was not like her and she could not hide the emotion of hesitation.
“I must cause a change. To you and to me.”
“Wh-what?”
Puzzled by her unusual behavior, Mutsuki told her she could tell him anything.
“…”
But that kindness made her hesitate even more.
“I doubt you will refuse once you have heard everything. You will be unable to. So you should make your decision before you have heard everything. Or at the very
least, Miss A thinks so.”
Her voice was so quiet he had trouble making it out. And he was not sure what she was talking about.
“I agree with her.” Her voice was quiet and she did not sound at all confident. “But
I am afraid to ask.”
“…?”
“I have never felt this way before. It is a necessary thing, but I am afraid to do it.”
“…”
She said nothing more.
Mutsuki tilted his head and stared at her hanging head.
She was facing down and her expression was as stiff as a Noh mask.
Her long eyelashes would occasionally waver, so she may have been shaking.
“…Ibekusa-san.”
Fortunately, the past half a year had taught the boy what to do at times like this.
“Sorry, but I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He gently wrapped his hands around hers which had frozen with the spoon still in its grasp.
“But you can tell me anything. I’ll help you in any way I can.”
He was grateful for how close together the seats were. He could easily hold her hand on the heart-shaped table.
“If something is giving you trouble, I want to help you.”
“…Fujita-kun.”
She looked up.
She was back to her usual lack of expression, so he could not tell what she was thinking.
That was enough. Having her back to normal was enough.
“Oh, but does this have to do with the recent kissing?”
“A bit.”
“Then, um, I can’t say I’ll do anything, but I’ll do what I can.”
He did not sound all that reliable anymore, but he got it out there.
Machina thought on his boyish words and then nodded.
She did not seem afraid anymore. Her expressionless face really was back.
She could once more face him more directly than anyone.
“The wind sure is strong.”
“Yeah, I can’t hear what people are ordering.”
Saya held her hair down against the strengthening wind and returned her tray to the kitchen.
A break in the work had just arrived. She set down her bundle of sales slips and
took a break with the other Cupid-cosplaying waitresses.
More than just the foot traffic outside, there was apparently a helicopter flying nearby.
“Saya, the two you invited seem to have hit it off.”
“Hm? …Wow, you’re right.”
“They’re holding hands. What’s with that? I thought you said they weren’t a couple.”
“I didn’t think they were…but maybe they are.”
She had forgotten all about Mutsuki and Machina in the special seat.
They were holding hands and looking each other in the eye.
There was too much noise to hear what they were saying and she did not want to interrupt them by getting closer. Then again, it looked like they were only staring at each other without talking.
(Those two really do make a cute couple.)
The wind grew even stronger, so she narrowed her eyes as she thought.
She had noticed during their summer break camping trip that Mutsuki and Machina had a good atmosphere together.
After all, Mutsuki had always been looking at her since the spring.
(It’s a little too late for Ange-chan to join in. Although I personally would have preferred it if he hooked up with Lu-kun.)
She brushed her hair out of her face.
(Those two must already feel the same way about each other…)
“Saya! Run away!”
“Eh?”
Only then did she realize the wind was too strong. It was so strong it was about to blow her away.
And things were far too noisy. It was more than just people enjoying the festival.
The sound of a helicopter’s rotors was abnormally loud.
And both the wind and the noise were coming from directly overhead.
The helicopter seemed to be military. It was oddly angular and it was flying this way at only 5 meters up.
And the Gatling gun below the cockpit had its three muzzles aimed her way.
The helicopter’s rotors, the wind, and the screams were all drowned out by the roar of gunfire.
Chapter 7
That was a painful mistake. Machina regretted allowing the enemy to get so close.
The reason why was obvious: She had been holding hands with Fujita Mutsuki.
Her mind had gone blank and she had failed to keep tabs on her surroundings. She could not believe she had overlooked such a large enemy.
The attack was made by an AH-1Z Viper attack helicopter. There was no one in the cockpit, so it had been made into a Springloaded. She could tell that much, but…
“Eek…”
She had thought the Gatling gun was targeting Fujita Mutsuki, but it turned toward the surrounding customers and waitresses who were unrelated to any of this.