---

“We’ll be on our way now.”

“Then have fun! See you later at dinner.”

As we had discussed previously, Yuli and Selian left, each with their own personal commitments.

It was a bit disappointing that we couldn’t go together, but since the Celestial Festival was not a one-day affair, I smiled as I sent the two off.

“Well, they’ve left… should we start moving as well?”

“Uh, yeah!”

In Anne’s case, she had some issues with participating in the competition starting tomorrow, making it a bit inconvenient for us to stick together.

Of course, she wouldn’t be busy all day with the competition, but with other events happening, she was running short on time.

“Speaking of which, I still haven’t heard what our class decided on?”

The classmates had been considerate of me being busy preparing for the opening and closing ceremonies, allowing me to miss out on preparing class activities.

While I was grateful for their consideration, it also meant that I had no idea what our class was planning.

“Well… how about we check it out later when Selian and Yuli are back in the classroom? We had said the secret was only until the Celestial Festival started.”

It seemed they weren’t planning to tell me until we went to see it ourselves.

Well… how grand could it possibly be at a classroom level? However, visiting without any prior knowledge could be fun too.

“Then where should we go first?”

Grrr

Just as I asked Anne, the sound of a rumbling belly echoed.

Even though I had only shared a single sandwich with Mariel, I shouldn’t have been hungry enough for my stomach to growl.

So, who was the source of this noise?

Taking a quick peek at Anne’s face, I noticed her cheeks were bright red as she looked down.

She was probably feeling hungrier than usual since the opening ceremony started so early, and she’d been fasting for a while now.

The sandwich Yuli had prepared was made hastily, just enough for me to eat one.

With her hair and aura color, red had become Anne’s trademark, and it was just adorably cute to see her face get flushed like that.

It would be fun to tease Anne and see her reaction, but somehow it felt silly to poke fun at a girl after turning into a man.

“Hmm… one sandwich isn’t enough, how about we go to a nearby café for brunch?”

I said to Anne, acting as if nothing was wrong.

Though it was considerate of me, it wasn’t a lie either.

If I thought about it, I felt hungry but didn’t really want to sit down for a full meal, so it was a reasonable suggestion.

Anne, still keeping her head down, nodded slightly, agreeing with my idea.

She likely understood that I was trying to be considerate and casually brought it up.

I took her hand while she couldn’t lift her head and led her to my favorite brunch café.

*

“I think pancakes would be enough for me, what do you want, Anne?”

Fortunately, by the time we reached the café, Anne seemed to have calmed down a bit, and was fiercely staring at the menu.

“Then I’ll have pancakes… not, I want waffles!”

After a long moment of contemplation without responding, Anne finally made her choice.

“What do you want to drink?”

“Chocolate shake!”

Well, that was expected. Anne, who was obsessed with sweets, would choose something like that.

Honestly, anything with a decent amount of chocolate would suit her, and she would typically drink it without complaints.

I got up from the table and placed our orders, returning to our seats with the drinks.

I ordered a vanilla latte, while Anne had the chocolate shake.

As we placed the drinks in front of us and took our straws, the sweet vanilla scent flooded my senses.

With the opening ceremony and all the chaos of escaping the crowd and the events with Selian, I felt quite exhausted.

Taking in the sugar was reviving my tired body, and it felt remarkably refreshing.

“Ah, I feel alive now.”

Without anyone trying to steal it away, Anne was sucking on her chocolate shake with both her hands.

Seeing her so blissful while drinking it made me want to have a taste of the chocolate shake too.

“Hey, Anne?”

“Yeah?”

Anne answered immediately, still not letting go of her chocolate shake. That was so typical of her.

“Can I have just one sip? I’ll give you a sip of my vanilla latte in return.”

“Uh, huh?! Uhm, that’s….”

Anne didn’t dislike vanilla latte, but my proposal didn’t hold much value for her, as she was crazy about chocolate.

“No, if you don’t want to, you can just say no. I’m not that desperate to drink yours, it’s not like I want to steal it from you.”

“N-no! It’s not that I don’t like it!”

Despite her internal resistance, she didn’t seem upset, so I studied her face closely. She didn’t appear to hate the idea at all.

I might be mistaken, but she seemed to have a hint of anticipation.

Eventually, Anne extended her chocolate shake towards me, holding it with both hands.

“Then I’ll just take a little sip.”

I retrieved my straw from my vanilla latte and inserted it into her chocolate shake.

“What?”

“Huh? What’s wrong?”

As soon as I stuck the straw in, Anne sounded flustered. I couldn’t help but question what was going on.

“I mean, you could just drink it with my straw….”

“What’s with that?”

I wondered if she’d suddenly changed her mind about sharing her chocolate shake. But really, it was nothing serious.

Before she could change her mind, I took a sip from the straw.

The vanilla aroma from my latte wafted up, soon followed by the sweet chocolate filling my mouth.

A flavor explosion of sweetness that made my eyes widen.

Ding-dong

While I was enjoying the taste, I heard the bell signaling that our pancakes and Anne’s waffles had arrived.

“Oh, I’ll get it. Wait here for a moment.”

I set the chocolate shake down while still sipping and stood up to head to the counter.

Leaving an unresponsive Anne behind, I approached the counter.

“Here are your pancakes and waffles. Enjoy!”

After receiving a bright smile from the friendly waitress, I returned to our table with the tray.

I placed the pancakes and waffle in front of us and took my seat.

“It definitely feels like a brunch café. Even though it’s just pancakes and waffles, the quality looks pretty good. Let’s give it a try. First, a sip of my vanilla latte….”

Looking at my latte with the straw still in it, it seemed that Anne didn’t want to lose to me and had returned the straw to its place.

I cut the pancake into pretty slices with the fork and knife provided, and before diving in, I first coated my mouth with the vanilla latte.

Having just tasted Anne’s chocolate shake, I caught a quick hint of chocolate flavor before the vanilla took over.

“Yum.”

The fluffy texture and the sweet taste of the pancake enveloped my mouth.

Unable to stop myself, I started eating the pancakes, finishing one pancake in just a few fork and knife cuts.

I cut the remaining pancake into suitable pieces to share with Anne and placed it on her plate.

But for some reason, Anne’s plate remained unchanged since I originally brought it.

Puzzled, I looked up at Anne and found no signs that she had touched her waffle. She was still deeply immersed in her chocolate shake, straw in mouth.

With a dazed expression, she was mumbling as she sucked on the straw.

Yet, oddly enough, the level of her chocolate shake seemed to be unchanged.

“Anne? Aren’t you hungry? Or did you suddenly not feel like eating your waffle?”

That couldn’t be the case, but I wondered if she was full just from sipping the chocolate shake.

Shaking her head

But inexplicably, Anne just shook her head, still with the straw in her mouth, refusing to respond to my question.

“Well… sure. Sometimes you just want to take your time eating. We’ve got plenty of time today, so let’s take it easy. Shall I take a piece of your waffle too?”

When you come to places like this, sharing is the norm.

In response to my suggestion, which she conveyed by silently nodding with the straw still in her mouth, I sliced off a piece of her waffle and added it to my plate.

Nevertheless, even after eating the piece of waffle I took from Anne and finishing the remaining pancake, Anne was still at the table without pulling her mouth away from the straw.

At this rate, it seemed it would take a while before Anne would finish the chocolate shake and waffle.

I couldn’t help but chuckle as I watched the slowly decreasing level of Anne’s chocolate shake, then turned my attention to the well-decorated café’s garden.

Right. What does the Celestial Festival even matter?

Spending this relaxing time with a good friend was more than enough.

 

---