The Heroines Want to Confess

Chapter 435 435: Miko’s Feelings

Fireworks, Should We See It from the Side or the Bottom?

Thinking about this problem doesn't seem to have any meaning.

Sakurai Saki and Iino Miko stood on the second-floor balcony of the villa—the place used for afternoon tea—waiting for the fireworks to begin.

"Senpai…"

Miko called out to him once, but noticed that Sakurai Saki seemed a bit absent-minded, as if he didn't hear her.

So she called him again—

"Sakurai-senpai."

"What's the matter?"

"Senpai, why are you spacing out like that?" In Miko's heart, there was a bit of disappointment. The two of them were watching fireworks together, yet senpai didn't seem interested at all. This made Iino Miko feel a little fear… Her confession wouldn't be rejected, right?

She had struggled so hard to regain her courage, prepared that this time she would confess directly!

But…

In this situation, how was she supposed to say it?

Just as Miko was thinking, the first burst of fireworks shot into the sky, blooming into a brilliant kaleidoscope-like scene overhead.

It seemed to be the type launched at a slow pace, so the fireworks didn't go off continuously, but once every nearly ten seconds. Iino Miko looked up, slightly turning her face to observe Sakurai Saki —— his attention was completely captured by the fireworks.

Her charm… even lost to fireworks…?

"The fireworks are beautiful. Looks like I didn't buy the wrong ones, huh?"

Facing his sudden remark, Iino Miko couldn't react in time.

Just now she had been staring at Sakurai Saki, so she barely watched the fireworks at all. Beautiful? Probably.

Thus, Miko echoed: "Umu, very beautiful."

Sakurai Saki teased with a smile: "Obviously, Miko-chan wasn't looking at them at all."

"…I—I did look." Iino Miko's face turned red, but because it was dark, it couldn't be seen clearly.

"I was spacing out earlier not because I found watching fireworks with you boring." Sakurai Saki clarified this first —

"I was just thinking about how I should reply to you."

Iino Miko's confession—he didn't want to drag it out, nor did he want to keep her hanging without giving an answer.

Doing that wouldn't make him a scumbag anymore; that would make him trash, and those two things are different.

"Umu." Iino Miko didn't say anything, only waited for his answer.

The fireworks in the distant sky continued to burst, and the light in Iino Miko's eyes kept shimmering.

"I'm not a good support, and before this, I always saw you as a kouhai… Your sudden confession really surprised me." Sakurai Saki's thoughts continued:

"This isn't the first time I've heard you say you like me… That time you hugged me and mumbled those words—your voice was very soft, but I actually heard it. I thought you were just joking… No, maybe I understood, but I didn't want to break the relationship between us."

He had wanted to maintain the senpai–kohai relationship he had with Iino Miko.

People are always content with the status quo—not because they hate change, but because they hate when things change for the worse.

"Actually, even if I get rejected, I'm still your kouhai…" Iino Miko used a voice that sounded like she was negotiating: "If senpai wants to reject me, then please don't distance yourself from me, keep things the way they are, okay?"

"Miko, once a relationship between people is damaged, it's not easy to fix." Sakurai Saki reached out and patted her head.

If it were before, Iino Miko would probably be happy to be patted, but based on her thoughts, what Sakurai Saki just said was basically him rejecting her already.

"I know." Iino Miko's voice carried some disappointment, but the fireworks nearby were loud, so it wasn't clear.

"What's wrong? I never said I'd reject you."

Sakurai Saki noticed her disappointment and understood her thoughts.

Iino Miko raised her head to look at him blankly, the light in her eyes gradually filled with sudden joy: "Senpai agreed?"

"Umu, but not right now."

Sakurai Saki gave a half-certain, half-uncertain answer.

Not right now, but ——

"If after you graduate from high school you still like me, I will accept your confession, how about that?"

The distance between different kinds of "like" is very thin: liking family, liking friends, liking someone of the opposite sex… so many kinds—can they really be clearly distinguished?

Receiving such an answer, Iino Miko immediately took out her handkerchief and very quickly began sniffling.

Seeing this, Sakurai Saki panicked: "What's wrong?"

"If you don't want that, then I can accept it right now too."

Don't cry.

Seeing the cute kouhai-chan he liked shed tears right in front of him, Sakurai Saki really couldn't handle it.

"No—uuu, no need. I can wait one year, wait until I become more mature, uwu, I'm sorry senpai, I couldn't hold it in." Iino Miko spoke while crying.

She was now so happy she couldn't take it.

Just earlier she thought she would be rejected, but she didn't expect the situation to reverse at the last moment.

"Being accepted by someone like you, a scumbag like you, isn't something worth crying over."

"But… I just like you."

Oh no, Miko-chan's sudden direct attack is too strong!

Sakurai Saki couldn't take it for a moment and even felt a bit like he was too terrible, unworthy of Miko's feelings.

"Senpai…" Miko wiped the tears at the corner of her eyes and called out.

"What is it?"

Iino Miko used a voice as soft as a mosquito:

"Lower your head."

...

Not far away.

At the place where the fireworks were being launched, Hayasaka Ai and Shinomiya Kaguya were watching the bursts shooting up from the ground into the sky.

"Iino Miko is probably confessing right now, isn't she?" Shinomiya Kaguya said in a very certain tone.

Sakurai Saki might accept?

The possibility wasn't small.

Hayasaka Ai didn't respond.

Kaguya asked curiously: "You got ambushed by Iino, but you're not jealous or angry at all?"

"…No, if it's Miko-chan, I can accept it."

Hayasaka Ai had very like toward Iino Miko, and her tolerance for the girl was extremely high.

"If you keep thinking like that, later Sakurai-san won't be able to 'thắng ga' anymore, you know?" Shinomiya Kaguya said worriedly.

Hayasaka Ai as the empress wasn't anxious, but Shinomiya Kaguya—the imperial consort—was the one panicking instead.

"He… how should I say it? Besides us, aren't there many other cute girls at school? Have you ever seen him take the initiative to approach any of them?"

Don't think opening the heart of my boyfriend is easy; it's not that simple, alright?

"He does have principles, but I don't think… there are that many." Shinomiya Kaguya replied calmly.

Hearing that, Hayasaka Ai suddenly lost confidence as well.

'At most just the ones in the student council, right? It can't be more than that!'

Her, Chika, Miko, Kaguya — that much was enough; if there were more, then…

Hayasaka Ai really couldn't handle it!

She could accept these girls because she had good relationships with them, but that didn't mean other female students could also join the "big family."

...

The colors of the fireworks grew more varied, and the speed at which they burst made one's eyes spin.

Iino Miko looked up, gently touching the corner of her lips, recalling the first kiss just now, her mood extremely good.

'In the future… there will surely be many more memories worth remembering, right?'

...