Chapter 238: The Taste of Yuigahama

“Huh?”

Himekoji still stood nearby, anxiously waiting for further details about the mission. Yet after waiting forever, he got nothing at all.

Is that it?

After the System briefly popped up, it immediately went silent…

Meaning, the whole mission only offered that single short sentence as a hint. Not a word about rewards, punishments, or even a deadline.

So, what exactly was the task?

“—Did I truly hear your wish, Hiratsuka-sensei?”

No, Himekoji clearly heard nothing!

Though if he considered the “Lover’s Sanctuary Rock” and Hiratsuka-sensei’s personality, he could guess a little bit.

It should be…

Marriage?

Was the System making him play matchmaker?

Never thought he, a mighty pervert, would fall this low—reduced to setting people up.

Himekoji felt conflicted.

Anyway, since the System didn’t mention punishments or a deadline, it must be some trivial side quest. Thinking that, Himekoji decided to worry about it later and pushed it to the back of his mind.

Made sense.

…

With the “Lover’s Sanctuary Rock” done, everyone started opening their fortune slips.

“Ah! I got it!”

The Miura Queen suddenly cried out in the crowd, striking a super boyish victory pose.

Hearing the noise, Yuigahama leaned over to peek at Miura’s fortune slip.

“Wow! You’re amazing, Yumiko!”

Yuigahama instantly gasped in awe.

“You drew ‘great luck’!”

Ebina came closer too, clapping her hands with a cheerful “pat pat pat”.

“Huh?”

Akiko glanced at others’ slips, then secretly tucked her own behind her back.

…

“Oh, really? But hey, it’s just a random draw, right? Maybe we shouldn’t take it too seriously?”

Though her words sounded calm and logical, her face beamed happily. She carefully folded the fortune slip and slipped it into her wallet. Yuigahama suddenly looked like a girl in love—weirdly adorable.

“Aren’t they supposed to say ‘great luck’ isn’t that good? After luck peaks, it only drops from there…”

A very Hikigaya-style remark.

“Hah?”

The moment those words left his mouth, Hikigaya got a fierce glare from Miura.

Obviously, the Queen remained the Queen. Her dignity allowed no challenge.

Luckily, Hikigaya reacted fast. He backtracked, muttering stuff like, “Ah, ‘great luck’ is pretty rare, huh?”—harmless words that let him get away with it.

“Hey Yui, let’s see yours?”

The Queen turned to her little buddy. Was this caring for her subjects?

Truly, a ruler who loved her people.

“Mmhm!”

Yuigahama nodded, eagerly unwrapping her fortune slip.

“Ah… Mine’s ‘misfortune’…”

Yuigahama’s excited voice suddenly turned sad.

You just realized you’ve got misfortunes?

Hearing Yuigahama, Himekoji couldn’t help silently snickering in his head.

“Eh?”

Akiko’s eyes lit up at that.

She wasn’t alone!

…

“Actually, no need to be sad. Since you drew ‘misfortune’, doesn’t that mean things can only get better?”

Hikigaya had learned his lesson. He flipped his earlier logic around to comfort Yuigahama.

“Eh? When you put it like that… Yeah, maybe!”

Yuigahama instantly believed him, switching to smiling in a blink.

So what’s the point of these slips? If you interpret them positively enough, aren’t they all ‘great luck’?

Himekoji curled his lip and carelessly stuffed his own “great misfortune” slip into his pocket.

He didn’t care about superstitious stuff.

Nope, not one bit!

Totally rigged, like those online game loot draws!

“Whoa, Hayama got ‘great luck’ too!”

“Hahaha! Tobe drew ‘great misfortune’! He’s the only one in class, right? Such an unlucky kid!”

…

Everyone stayed wrapped up in the fortune slip mood, but Himekoji felt zero interest. He wandered off alone toward the next spot.

Up ahead was the famously noisy Otowa Waterfall, reached by stone steps below the inner shrine.

The Otowa Waterfall split into three streams—representing longevity, health, and wisdom. Seen as magical, visitors always drank there, believing it prevented sickness and disaster.

By the time Himekoji arrived, all three sections overflowed with people.

Twisting lines of tourists wrapped around several times—an intense sight.

Himekoji froze at the chaos, stunned at the disorderly scene.

Whack!

A karate chop smacked his head from behind.

“Don’t wander off from the group alone.”

Hiratsuka-sensei had appeared right beside him, scolding Himekoji in a prickly tone.

“Uh, I just walked a bit ahead? Not really wandering off…”

Himekoji rubbed his head and mumbled, glancing sideways at the Female Teacher.

He couldn’t help recalling the mission the System had triggered.

Hiratsuka-sensei’s wish…

Huh. Was it truly marriage?

The thought of Hiratsuka-sensei entering marriage with someone else made me feel strangely uncomfortable inside.

That’s probably why I felt so unmotivated about this task right now.

Just then, Yuigahama and the others finally caught up from behind—

“Oh! A flowing waterfall! And it splits into three streams!”

Such a typical Yuigahama thing to say. Totally thoughtless…

Anyone could easily see that much!

Yuigahama, giving such a plain explanation… really, good job there.

“That’s Otodome Falls.”

Akiko clearly had done more homework than Yuigahama. She instantly recognized it and shouted the name correctly.

Yuigahama could only frantically pull out her guidebook to add, “Huh? It says these three separate streams are supposed to help with studies, love, and a long life.”

There’s love involved?

That wasn’t what Himekoji had heard!

Didn’t it say they represented long life, health, and wisdom?

No wonder after Hiratsuka-sensei greeted him earlier, she hurried up the steps with an empty beer bottle to get in line.

If it were only long life, health, and wisdom, that Female Teacher definitely wouldn’t have been interested…

Wait… when she stopped him to lecture him earlier, could she have been trying to get ahead in line?

That would let her secure a better spot in the queue…

Truly, old ginger is spicier!

Even though he wasn’t personally interested in these kinds of mystical things, not wanting to spoil everyone’s mood, Himekoji still joined the back of the long line with the others.

After about fifteen minutes of waiting, it was finally their turn.

By the way, since Hiratsuka Teacher had filled her bottle with far too much “love stream” water, the staff had stepped in with a warning. Quite embarrassing…

…

Everyone picked up a long-handled dipper to scoop water.

Yuigahama, in front of Himekoji, aimed for the center waterfall and stretched her dipper out.

She filled it to the brim, only stopping when the water was almost overflowing. Only then did she look satisfied.

Yuigahama took a deep breath, swept her hair behind her ear with a serious air, and took small sips.

As she swallowed, the movement of her throat looked strangely alluring, so Himekoji quickly averted his gaze.

“Ah, wow! That’s amazing! So good…”

After finishing, Yuigahama breathed out a sigh and spoke.

Next up was Himekoji. He started to reach into the sterilizer box for a long-handled dipper, but—

“Here you go, Akito.”

Yuigahama stopped him, handing him her own used dipper.

“Huh? That…”

Wouldn’t using the same one mean an indirect kiss?

Was she doing this on purpose or was she just oblivious?

Because this dummy Yuigahama sometimes showed surprisingly calculating, girl-like planning, but other times she did simple, clueless things. Judging her intent was really tricky.

This time, though, she probably just meant it kindly. Wanted to lend him the dipper.

Seemingly realizing the implication of her gesture, Yuigahama’s face flushed instantly bright red.

“Ah… Um! It’s not like that! I didn’t mean it that way at all!”

“I know…”

Himekoji declined the offer politely. Instead, he took a clean dipper fresh from the sterilizer box.

He scooped water and drank it all in one go.

“You… You really didn’t need to overthink it like that…”

…But he would have minded.

Himekoji shook his head silently—

If he’d used that dipper, he probably wouldn’t have tasted the water at all.

Though…

If he’d focused, maybe he could have tasted a hint of Yuigahama?

[Ding!]

[Task Trigger!]

[…Taste of Yuigahama Collection!]

“Hah?”

…