CH. 96 - Last Day of the Last Summer

 Somewhere on the grassy fields next to the festival, Kitaro sits on the grass leaning on his hands as he looks up with a soft smile on his face. Hisana then leans her head on his shoulder, letting out a pleased sigh.

 “This is nice.. it’s been a while since it was just the two of us, huh?” Hisana asks. Kitaro hums in response with his soft smile. “I kind of miss those days. When no one else was around, we didn’t have to pretend. But now that we’re alone, no one has to find out about our little secret.”

Hisana says softly before turning his head towards her with one finger and leaning in for a kiss. Kitaro doesn’t look surprised as he leans in close too. Hisana begins to shake and blush as they slowly get closer to each other’s lips, only for Kitaro to place a finger on her lips, stopping her. 

 “What secret? We’re not dating.” Kitaro says with a smirk as he pulls away. Hisana pouts a bit.

 “You’re so mean… I thought you were actually gonna kiss me…” she pouts as Kitaro sticks his tongue out. Hisana suddenly perks up, thinking of something. “Oh yeah!” She jumps back and gets on one knee as the fireworks explode in the sky. “Kitaro, will you take my hand and join me in-”

 “Sure.”

 “O-” Hisana can hardly process his response, only being able to let out that noise before getting super excited. “Really??”

 “No.” Kitaro says coldly. Hisana deflates and lays her head on his lap in defeat.

 “Why not?..” she whines.

 “If I say no, then the next guy you ask will get to say yes. Why haven’t you asked anyone out while we’re here?” He asks, looking down at her in his lap. She gets a surprised look before looking away slightly pouty.

 “Because I don’t wanna…” she says quietly with ducky lips, still pouting. Kitaro stares at her for a moment before placing his hand on her head. This surprises Hisana, but once he starts stroking her hair and gently rubbing her head, her surprise turns to gentle pleasure.

 “That’s alright. I guess I don’t mind you being here with me.” He says while looking back at the sky. Hisana smiles warmly as she closes her eyes in bliss.

 Eventually, the night of the summer festival comes to an end, and the group makes their way back to the beach house. As the night grows thicker, the group all sigh with fatigue and tiredness, now changed into more normal clothes.

 “This vacation has been awesome, but damn, am I tired.” Lucy says with a huff.

 “Me too. Considering all the packing and cleaning we have left to do, we should probably go to bed.” Sugawara says.

 “Aw really? But it’s our last night in this awesome beach house!” Haru whines as Sugawara smiles and waves his hand gently to bring him closer. Haru bends down and leans in close as Sugawara places a hand over his mouth, then whispers something into Haru’s ear. Haru blushes before jumping back with a big smile on his face. “Deal!” He shouts before picking up Sugawara and throwing him over his shoulder.

 “Goodnight, guys!” Sugawara says with a big smile as Haru rushes off to their room. Kitaro turns on the tv and starts up his game.

 “Yeah, I’ll do all that tomorrow. I want to finish this game before we leave.” He leans back while playing his game as Hisana already snoozes on the other side of the couch next to him. 

 “Guess we should all turn in for the night.” Suiyoubi says with a smile as they all head to their rooms.

 In Shiori and Hikigaya’s room, Hikigaya sits down on the edge of the bed in his pajamas with a yawn before noticing Shiori tossing a shirt down on the bed. She begins to lift her sweater with her back facing him as Hikigaya blushes.

 “S-Shiori! What’re you doing??” he asks. Shiori stops taking her sweater off and looks at him over her shoulder.

 “I figured you would want to see me change? Unless.. you don’t want to…” Shiori says shyly. Hikigaya looks at her eagerly.

 “No! I mean, I do. I’d love to…” he says, waiting for her to continue. She smiles before pulling off her sweater, exposing her bare back to him. She slowly turns a little, keeping one hand over her chest, as she grabs her shirt and puts it on over her head. She then slowly lowers her shorts and slides them down her legs, bending over for Hikigaya before stepping out of them on the floor. Shiori turns around blushing as Hikigaya stares at her with wide eyes. She then notices something and blushes more, looking away with a flustered smile and a hand on her cheek.

 “Hikigaya… I know you can manipulate any part of your body, but you don’t have to try to impress me like that…” she says as Hikigaya notices and quickly crosses his legs and covers himself with a pillow.

 “Ah! Ha ha, eh sorry… I was just… you know.” He says awkwardly. Shiori giggles before putting some blankets and pillows on the ground in front of him. Hikigaya sits on the bed looking at her confused. “What are you doing?” He asks. Shiori looks at him with a blush on her cheeks.

 “I lost the bet, remember?” She asks. Hikigaya thinks for a moment before blushing and looking down a bit, thinking about the bet.

 “The one at the pool..” he says softly. She nods before laying down on some blankets and under a couple others. Her back faces the bed as she snuggles a bit.

 “Goodnight, Hiki..” she says softly. She lays there for a moment before getting a slightly annoyed look. “I said, goodnight.” She says more firmly. Still with no response, she looks upset when she’s suddenly surprised as she feels something move behind her. She looks down and sees Hikigaya’s arm wrapped around her, stretching from the bed before he suddenly yanks her up and onto the bed.

 “Woah! Oof!” she voices as she’s suddenly placed under him on the soft bed.

 “If you think for a moment I’m not going to enjoy our first night together as a couple, you might be dumber than me.” He says with a smile and sharp eyes. Shiori blushes as she smiles back defiantly.

 “O-Oh yeah? How so?” She taunts. He smirks before tackling her and giving her kisses and love all over. Shiori screams and laughs as she tries to fend him off under the blankets. “Ah! No, hahaha! Hikigaya~!” She shouts with joy as the new couple enjoys their first night together.

 Come the next morning, the group gathers their belongings and cleans up the few messes they made before grouping together on the front porch of the large home. 

 “I’m sure gonna miss this place.” Kitaro says with a sigh.

 “All you did was play games here..” Alice says with a droop.

 “So what? I can still miss it.” Kitaro says back. They argue a bit as the others turn towards each other.

 “Can you believe we’re gonna be fourth years when we get back?” Chizuru asks excitedly.

 “Honestly, I didn’t think Hikigaya would make it this far.” Lucy teases. She elbows him as he rolls his eyes.

 “Har har, that joke was so funny. Hilarious, even.” Hikigaya says back. They laugh a bit as Haru calls out to them from up the trail towards the bus stop.

 “Hey guys! I think we got a problem!” Haru shouts. The group, with their belongings, go up towards the bus stop only to see a notice sheet plastered on the stop’s wall.

 “‘Starting July 31st, this bus stop will no longer be in use. Sorry for the inconvenience.’ Hey, what day is it?” Haru asks after reading the sheet.

 “July 31st.” Ryuji responds with a sweat.

 “Oh no. We’re stranded here!” Haru shouts, with his hands grabbing his head in a panic. 

 “Calm down. It’s still a little early from when it’s scheduled to arrive. Maybe it’s still running today?” Shiori says.

 “Right! Surely they wouldn’t leave us out here knowing we’re still here.” Chizuru says as they hear the sputtering of a motor scooter down the way. They turn to see a slightly cleaner Frankle wearing a helmet and riding a beaten up old scooter their way.

 “Yuehehehe! I hope you kids ain’t waitin’ for that there bus to come! Cause that thing came earlier this mornin’ to pick up the last of the folk around here! Didn’t you get the message? Yuehehehehe!” He laughs hysterically before riding on as his scooter sputters and misfires. They all stare at him in a mix of disbelief and frustration. 

 “Wasn’t he supposed to be in District 14?..” Touma asks quietly with a sweat drop before Haru and Alice start freaking out.

 “What are we gonna do?!” Haru shouts.

 “We’re stranded!” Alice screams. They start running around in circles, panicking as the others try to formulate a plan. 

 “I hate to admit it, but they’re right. We’re kinda out of options here.” Hikigaya says.

 “We could just walk.” Hisana says genuinely as Lucy droops.

 “Yeah, I don’t know about that…” Lucy says.

 “Well, we have to think of something.” Sugawara says, putting his hand on his chin. Kitaro looks at Suiyoubi for a moment before approaching her. 

 “Hey, could you make us like a teleportation spell or something?” Kitaro asks. Suiyoubi sweats a bit.

 “Are you kidding? I don’t even know if such a spell exists, let alone the intense logistics that go along with it. Especially not for a group of this size..” Suiyoubi says, looking at the others. Kitaro shrugs.

 “Worth a shot. I thought it’d be cool if you could.” He says. The group speaks about their situation for a moment before Shiori gets an idea.

 “Hey, Hikigaya. What about this?” She whispers her idea to him for a moment before he looks at her with an unsure look.

 “Are you sure? That may not be a good idea..” he says softly.

 “Eh, it should be fine. They all know anyway, and who would believe anyone who said they saw 12 flying highschoolers in the sky?” Shiori asks with a smile. Hikigaya smiles a bit at her.

 “Alright, sounds like a plan.” Hikigaya says. He turns towards the group. “Hey guys!” They all stop and look at him except Alice and Haru, who continue to run around until they slam into each other, causing them both to collapse on the ground. Hikigaya smirks at them. “We got a plan.”

 Suddenly, the group flies through the air at high speed. Shiori smiles with her wings spread out wide as she holds onto Hikigaya. Hikigaya then extends his arms out long, wrapping around Chizuru, Kitaro and Suiyoubi with his left arm and wrapping around Haru, Lucy, and Sugawara with his left arm. He also has two extra arms holding onto Ryuji and Hisana just below them. With his hands, he holds onto a large tarp with their belongs and Touma in it. Some of them are excited and enjoy the flight, while others are more anxiety stricken, screaming in fear.

 “How fast are we even going?? I’m just wondering how much longer I’m gonna have to stop myself from passing out!” Lucy shouts with fear on her face as Haru screams beside her.

 “It shouldn’t be too much longer! But don’t worry, I’ll never let you fall!” Hikigaya shouts back with a smile as Chizuru laughs and extends her hands out through the air. Shiori smiles as she looks down between her legs and at her tail she formed.

 “How’s it going down there?!” she shouts as Alice cheers and smiles gleefully as Shiori’s tail wraps around her waist, allowing Alice to feel as if she’s flying on her own.

 “This is awesome!” Alice shouts with a joyful look on her face. Shiori smiles warmly before looking back ahead.

 “Home, here we come!” Shiori shouts as they fly home.

 They made it about ¾ of the way home before they were stopped by Chief on reports of highschoolers flying through the air. Shiori and Hikigaya hang their heads low as Chief scolds them and the others wait behind them. Eventually, and without any other complications, they make it home. Shiori drops each of them off one at a time, swiftly, each waving goodbye one last time, until eventually she makes her way back home with Hikigaya hanging by her hands like they would do as Fullsky and Watchdog. As they slow down to land, Hikigaya trips on something, causing him to topple over, taking Shiori down with him. They tumble a bit until Shiori is laying on her back with her wings spread out and Hikigaya over her. He holds himself up with his elbow and hand as they giggle.

 “I’d say that’s a pretty average landing for us.” Hikigaya says with a smile.

 “Hehe, you’re such a dummy.” Shiori giggles out as they press their heads together for a moment before kissing each other softly. Suddenly, the front door opens, causing them to quickly stumble to their feet, Shiori swiftly putting her wings and tail away. 

 “There you guys are. We were starting to think you got lost. Oh?” Asami leans against one of the porch posts before noticing their faces and awkward demeanor. Asami smirks a bit. “I knew that beach house was a good idea.” She says as Shiori and Hikigaya walk past Asami and into the house, trying their best not to be embarrassed. “That’s where your dad and I made you.” Asami says as Hikigaya gets embarrassed.

 “Mom!” he shouts as Asami chuckles and they all head inside, closing the door behind them.

With that, marks the end of their summer vacation and the end of the final summer of their highschool career. A summer filled with romance, adventure, magic and love, a summer following a year filled with so much more. From horrifying field trips to making up for past mistakes. Competitions and hospital visits. This group of teenagers could not have expected a more eventful year. Despite the drama and despite the chaos, they wouldn't have it any other way.

The group, now openly expressing their love for each other, save for one pair, finds themselves at the end of another year and at the start of a brand new one. With the third year over, that leaves only one more year to face, but this time, they'll be sure to face it together no matter what. Bring on whatever chaos comes, they're done hoping for a normal life because now, they're confident that they have friends who love them for who they are. And soon, the new and final year begins.