“I beg your pardon, but I told you as much,” he said. There was no trace of the unhinged boy that squealed with delight upon being stepped on. Like a gentle breeze blowing over the surface of a lake, he pulled out a handkerchief and handed it to Mirei.
“My lady, you are best as you are,” he told her. “You are the most beautiful when you live as you are—as you believe fit. The words of the masses have no place among your ear. That has been clearly proven today. Let us reap this lesson as our harvest for this occasion.”
Muttering something with a silent voice, Mirei once again began to whale on him.
Kinoyama watched over her with a tender gaze until, suddenly, he turned toward Kai. It wasn’t as if he’d been hiding or peeping—it was a matter of course that he’d been found. After a moment, Mirei noticed Kinoyama’s change in demeanor and lifted her face up from his shirt to face Kai.
“Shiraseki Kai...!” she spat.
“Oh, uh... Um, here,” he said, offering her the fan.
Mirei glared at him with a puffy face, absolutely dripping with tears. But her appearance changed in an instant when Kinoyama pulled out another handkerchief and wiped her down. Of course, that didn’t magically get rid of her bloodshot eyes or the traces of the tears that had previously streaked down her cheeks.
Tap tap tap. Mirei’s footsteps rang out as she walked over and said, “...My gratitude,” while accepting the fan.
I’m sure, Kai thought, that I’m not supposed to say anything here. There were no words that could be given from the victor to the loser. That was a lesson that popped up in many of the games he’d played. And true enough, he couldn’t think of anything to say. He was drawing up a perfect blank.
And yet, by the time he was aware of his actions, he had extended his arm out.
“...What is the meaning of this?” Mirei demanded.
“...Thank you very much,” Kai said simply.
Meikun High School had won. That made Kai happy, and moreover, it was the truth. But it was no mere flattery to say that Kongouin’s app had been incredible. Among all the apps today—and even those that had been previously released—theirs had been polished to be a cut above the rest. The moment he’d laid eyes on it, their app had overwhelmed him and grasped at his heart. That was his honest opinion, regardless of the final results.
But Kai knew that saying so now wouldn’t have been the right decision. He knew, and yet he couldn’t allow himself to let his story with the Kongouin team end on a one-off note like this. Their work had been too good for that: it would be a colossal waste.
Mirei stared at his hand. After a short while, she exhaled deeply and stepped forward with her own right hand extended out. It stopped just shy of shaking Kai’s.
“You would do well to remember this, Shiraseki Kai.” Slap! A refreshingly sharp sound echoed in the hall. With a magnificent smile, she’d twisted her hips to slap Kai’s hand away with her whole body. “Today, that boorish judge simply had no taste! When we next meet, I swear to you that I will beautifully blow away that nonchalant attitude of yours! With that, I bid you adieu!”
Kongouin Mirei let her hair flutter elegantly as she walked away with all the dignity of a victor, leaving Kai with the feeling of passion stinging in his hand. And at long last, Summit—the event that had caused his summer days to feel both long and short—came to a close.