For some reason, Kojou felt very sure of it as he spoke the words:
“But we will meet again.”
Without doubt, Yuuma would be investigated as a criminal suspect. However, he was sure they wouldn’t treat her too harshly. She was simply too valuable. The childhood friend of the Fourth Primogenitor had great value indeed.
Yuuma smiled as she raised both hands up.
“I’m sure we will. Probably in the not-too-distant future.”
It was for a double high five. It was a good luck pose he’d done with her over and over when they played basketball together. It was a far more suitable farewell gesture between Kojou and her than any handshake would have been. Sensible as always, Kojou thought, as he likewise raised both hands. He moved to firmly slap his palms against hers.
But Kojou got nothing but air. Yuuma had abruptly dodged his move.
As Kojou’s momentum sent him tumbling forward, she grabbed Kojou and pressed herself against his lips.
“Eh—?!”
Frozen stiff, Kojou couldn’t get a single word out. Instead, it was Yukina who gasped.
Because Yuuma continued to embrace Kojou, even as she sent a teasing smile Yukina’s way.
“I’m letting you borrow Kojou until then, Yukina. But the next round’s mine.”
Only once she said this did she release Kojou. Natsuki sighed, exasperated, and snapped her fingers; suddenly, she and Yuuma melted into thin air and vanished. Escape via teleport.
The only ones left on the cliff were Kojou and Yukina.
Even now, countless fireworks were dancing above their heads. They heard pops and booms without pause.
However, all that seemed to take place in a land far, far away.
Yukina called out with a quiet voice.
“Senpai…”
For some reason, she was scarier when her expression was neutral.
“Wait. There’s no way that was my fault. I was just a little careless.”
“I suppose so. However, you were full of openings, were you not, senpai? Did she not hijack your body just the other day?”
Yukina let her anger toward Kojou take over. Her fist barely tapped Kojou’s sternum, but he felt it reverberate deep inside his chest.
“I’m always so worried about you…! Just yesterday, I thought you might die! Do you have any idea how that made me feel?!”
“Y…yeah. Sorry.”
“If you really think so, then don’t do anything strange behind my back anymore! Be by my side and stay there!”
For Yukina, who rarely let her emotions show, this was no doubt very much how she really felt.
Kojou reflected somberly on what had happened. He might well have made Yukina worry entirely too much this time. No doubt it was better to behave and do as she said for a while.
Since he wasn’t sure how long he was gonna be in the doghouse for, he figured he’d better ask to make sure.
“By your side…you mean until the fireworks rally’s done?”
Yukina glared at Kojou with her eyes wide enough that it shocked him.
“And forever after that!!” she shouted.
Er, well, that’s a little… Kojou visibly faltered. However, he didn’t manage to get out a rebuttal—not when he sensed people stirring very close to them.
Their friends were standing right there in shock, gazing at Kojou and Yukina with astonishment. Kojou hadn’t heard their footsteps whatsoever because of all the fireworks going off above them.
“…Y-Yukina…?!” Sayaka demanded, her face pale. “‘Always by your side’…? Don’t tell me you’re propo—”
“Eh?!” replied Yukina in apparent bewilderment. Apparently, Sayaka had been listening starting from the midway point.
Even though Asagi, too, was rocking on her heels, she’d somehow begun to blaze with fighting spirit.
“T-to think you’d launch a frontal assault… Impressive…”
The look she regarded Yukina with was much like that of a sports player encountering an old rival.
Unsurprisingly, Yukina was thrown off quite fiercely when she realized just how her words were being taken.
“Ah, er—wait, please. What you heard was just me—”
However, her feelings being rather complicated to begin with, she had great difficulty explaining herself.
Yaze and Rin gazed at Yukina’s behavior with obvious amusement.
And standing behind the rest of them, Nagisa’s cheeks were red for some reason as she looked straight at Yukina.
“Yukina…that’s so bold.”
“I-it’s not…I mean, as senpai’s watcher… It’s not what you think!!!”
Yukina’s shout echoed through the night sky. Kojou felt detached from it all as he gazed above him.
Fresh explosions showered them all in twinkles of light.
Here, away from other prying eyes, the final curtain fell on the incident that had occurred during the boisterous festival.
Afterword
I vaguely remember writing something in the last afterword about increasing the publication pace, but before I knew it, we were at four months, same as usual. Sorry for the wait.
So, we’ve finally arrived at Strike the Blood, Vol. 5. With this, we’ve concluded the longer-than-I-expected Hollow Eve Festival Arc.
I had a bunch of final-day episodes that didn’t get published with this volume, but they seemed like something I wanted to tack on in a different format if I could. The gist was to do a story centered around Kojou and Yukina alone, but I felt that it was best to split that off from this volume.
This time around, I had a lot of fun writing the scenes with all the escapees. I rarely have an opportunity to toss in as many different kinds of villains as I like, so I played around with fleshing them out. Actually, the one I fleshed out was the guy who got the hook the moment after he took the stage, but hey, that’s life.
Now what really took some work were the clothes worn by the heroines. I couldn’t reuse the same outfits, but even if I wanted them to get a change in wardrobe, new clothes wouldn’t just fall into their laps, would they? So, my last resort was to have the girls get the nurse and yukata outfits as befit the progression of the story. The nurse and yukata outfits are absolutely not a reflection of the author’s bizarre fetishes… Though it must be said that he doesn’t exactly mind…
Actually, there’s a comic version of Strike the Blood that has begun serialization. We’ve put the comic version in TATE-sensei’s reliable hands. His drawings are detailed and poignant, and his story development has a good pace to it; it’s so good, I think it outdoes the original work with room to spare. It’s being serialized in Monthly Dengeki Daioh, and I’d love it if you checked it out.
And finally, I thank all of you readers of this book from the bottom of my heart. I truly hope to see you next volume.
Gakuto Mikumo
Fiesta for the Observers Page 23
