“Leaving aside Chiharu-chan and Tenka-chan, it’s a shame about Hijirin~”

Ayaka said with an expression that did not look too disappointed as she began to walk along.

Chiharu and Tenka’s parents lived in the Kansai region, so naturally, they could not come to the Hatsumode together – Chiharu, whose parents’ home is a shrine, to begin with, was busy helping out at her parents’ house.

On the other hand, Hijiri lived relatively close to Yuzuru and his family, so they invited him to Hatsumode.

“…He seems to be busy with a lot of things”

Soichiro said with a wry smile.

He was busy with something to do at his parents’ house during the year-end and New Year’s holidays – people he regularly associates with would be visiting, and he needed to make preparations to welcome them.

So he couldn’t come to Hatsumode.

And that was the way it was supposed to be.

“His house is close by, so I don’t think it would take too long to pay a little visit…”

Ayaka tilted her head curiously.

Naturally, the Tachibana family also does preparations for welcoming guests… but Ayaka seldom considers doing these things by herself.

The only thing she would need to do is give instructions and make final checks, and let the servants do the rest.

And that idea was not necessarily wrong.

The Ryozenji family also was not run solely by the Ryozenji family members, so there should not be any major obstacles caused by Hijiri’s slight absence.

So his “busy” was half true and half an excuse.

(…don’t want to go along on a double date, huh?)

Yuzuru recalled Hijiri’s words and chuckled involuntarily.

In short, he was being considerate.

Of course, he probably felt awkward about it.

“Wow… there are so many stalls! It’s like a festival!”

As they reached the front of the shrine, Arisa clapped her hands and beamed happily.

Both sides of the road were lined with food stalls targeting people who had come to pay their first visit to the shrine.

She scurried about and looked around, curious to see what kind of things they were selling.

“…for now, let’s wait until after the visit to the temple, shall we?”

Yuzuru tugged on Arisa, who was almost caught by the delicious smells wafting from the stall.

Then, Arisa’s expression turned into one of surprise.

“Y-yeah… that’s right. Of course.”

And then she put on a cool expression.

The four of them went straight to the shrine and paid their respects.

“…What did you wish for this year?”

Yuzuru asked, and Arisa gave him a mischievous look.

“Same as last year. What about you, Yuzuru-san?”

“I also did the same as last year.”

Yuzuru and Arisa looked at each other and laughed.

Ayaka poked her head into the conversation with a curious look on her face.

“What’s that? Same as last year?”

“It’s a secret”

“It’s a secret”

Yuzuru and Arisa answered with a smile, and Ayaka looked dissatisfied.

She felt excluded by the fact that Yuzuru and Arisa had their own “secret”.

“Ehh, I’m even more curious if you say it’s a secret…”

“Well, it’s probably something about wanting to flirt next year as well, anyway.”

Soichiro said as if to appease Ayaka.

Both Yuzuru and Arisa wanted to comment on the way he said it, but could not say anything because it was almost right.

“Since we’re here, why don’t we put up an ema?”  (TN: explanation at the end of the chapter)

Soichiro, who had rebuked Ayaka, turned to Yuzuru and Arisa and said so.

He pointed in the direction where, indeed, ema was being sold.

“Sure, why not?”

“Yeah”

Despite being dimly aware of Soichiro’s aim, both Yuzuru and Arisa nodded their heads.

They bought an ema and drew their wishes on it with a magic marker they borrowed on the spot.

–I hope that I can spend the next year with my fiancée.

–May I be with my fiancée again next year.

Yuzuru and Arisa each wrote their wishes and dedicated them to a special place.

Ayaka looked at them, then turned to Soichiro and smiled.

“As expected of you, Soichiro-kun. You hit the jackpot.”

“Right?”

“”…””

Ayaka and Soichiro laughed at them, and both Yuzuru and Arisa frowned at them.

To get back at them, they checked the ema the other two had dedicated.

–May my uncle find a good partner.

–May my brother’s love bear fruit.

“”…””

The contents of the writings were very honorable, praying for the well-being of others, not themselves.

This made it difficult to nitpick on them.

However, it was not entirely free of points of retort.

“Your younger brother’s love…that’s my sister…”

“Well, I hope it will be of help to him.”

Soichiro patted Yuzuru on the shoulder in a good mood.

After that, the four of them drew fortunes.

Yuzuru and Arisa did not have a good result on the school trip, but this time it was a great fortune.

The two were relieved to get off to a good start.

…Although there was a suspicion that most of the fortunes here were only ‘Great luck’ since both Soichiro and Ayaka had ‘great luck’.

“Huh, Arisa? …are you buying a Hamaya?” (TN: explanation at the end of the chapter)

“Yes. I was thinking of putting it in my room… Is it strange?”

“No, I don’t think it’s strange…”

Unlike amulets, which cost only a few hundred yen, a hamaya costs several thousand yen.

It was a bit expensive for a high school girl to purchase for herself.

“I have some money to spare. I thought it would be better to buy something that would be very effective.”

“I see…?”

Yuzuru was not quite convinced, but…

Arisa was looking at the arrow happily, so he decided to let it be.

Perhaps it was more like buying a wooden sword on a school trip.

“At any rate, our affairs here are finished…”

When Soichiro and Ayaka had selected and finished buying the amulets, Arisa fidgeted and reservedly broached the subject.

Yuzuru nodded with a smile.

“Shall we go check out the stalls?”

“Yes!”

Arisa nodded happily.

Yuzuru exchanged looks with Soichiro and Ayaka, ‘We’re going, right?’ 

They nodded with a wry smile.