Flower Viewing (3)
“Yeah. No choice. See you next time.”
“Neh.”
If things had gone normally, the four of us should have gathered at the library.
Sion and Bail, who had said they had something to do first, still hadn’t shown up even after a while.
That was why Cecil had tried calling them.
“What?”
“Something urgent came up, so we probably won’t be able to come. It says just the two of us should go.”
“…Really?”
That was the answer that came back.
In fact, it was something I hadn’t expected either.
I had made the appointment with Cecil when there was still a distance between us.
It was embarrassing, and I hadn’t been able to bring myself to suggest meeting just the two of us, so this had been the planned number of people.
But now that we had decided to approach each other, things had changed a little.
“Hmph. Looks like Bail and Sion are getting along just fine too.”
“…Yeah.”
Of course, that didn’t mean I wasn’t embarrassed.
It was a flower picnic, after all.
I hadn’t been to one before, and Cecil probably hadn’t either.
That didn’t mean we didn’t understand what flower picnics were.
When we say flower picnic, we mean couples going to see the fully bloomed cherry blossoms together, taking a few photos of memories between the scattered petals, and capturing the young lovers’ silhouette against the colorful background.
Isn’t that such a sweet event?
Of course, neither I nor Cecil were from a big city or anything, so there was no exaggerated part in that sense.
Flower picnics didn’t have to be just for couples.
Well, maybe they did.
That wouldn’t be wrong either.
That was why I was secretly grateful that Sion and Bail had disappeared, even as I felt a bit more embarrassed.
“Should we head out? We’re running late.”
“Yeah, yeah…”
If I just kept my face all red like this, I’d end up taking up every good spot.
So we decided to head toward the park first.
On the way there, I glanced sideways and saw Cecil with a similar blush on her face.
Cecil thought the same as me.
That feeling made my heart lighter.
Yeah. We weren’t doing anything wrong.
It was just a very ordinary picnic.
I had heard that when you read romance novels, the guy is supposed to take the lead.
So… basically, holding hands.
I lowered my gaze a little and looked at Cecil’s hand.
It was a white, dainty hand that looked like it had never faced any hardship.
But in reality, it was a hand that had been hardened from pushing through rough back alleys.
The long, slender fingers would have been able to play instruments and everything even if they hadn’t been trained, and yet this hand had come out completely spotless.
Could I even take a hand like that?
Me?
I looked down at my own hand.
This was a hand that had become rough from repeated high-intensity training. The calloused palm didn’t look soft even to me.
…Could I really hold Cecil’s hand with this hand? Dare I?
That thought made me twitch my hand a few times before stopping.
……What am I doing?
I felt a little pathetic about myself.
Yesterday I hugged her and even ate well after that, and now I can’t even hold one hand?
Anyway… yeah. Let’s pull myself together.
I couldn’t keep acting like this the whole time of the flower picnic.
It wouldn’t be good for Cecil either.
It was a rare flower picnic. I had to give it my all.
Just as I was thinking that.
“……”
Without saying a word, Cecil had been walking silently.
“……Huh?”
“……”
She wrapped her hand around mine with a soft slide.
She was holding my hand.
“……”
“……”
For a moment, I couldn’t say anything.
Because of what happened yesterday, the ordinary thing that would have happened in my past felt too big.
When I turned my head, I saw Cecil looking at the opposite side, not toward me.
Yeah. You’re thinking the same as me too.
It was embarrassing and awkward, but you had gathered your courage instead of fidgeting like me.
That thought made me feel better.
“?!”
“……”
I loosened my grip on the hand I was holding with Cecil, then changed it to interlace our fingers.
“……”
“……”
It was so soft.
It was so smooth that I wondered if it was even a real human hand.
It made me feel sorry for holding it with my rough hand.
My breathing grew a little faster.
My face flushed.
My heart pounded.
Now I knew, but even so, the indescribable feeling spread through my whole body.
Was it the same for Cecil too?
The steps that had stopped for a moment started moving forward again.
I walked straight ahead without knowing if this direction was correct.
Maybe it didn’t matter anyway.
***
The park was more crowded than I thought, but not so crowded that we couldn’t find a place.
We spread out the blanket we had brought in advance, and then put the picnic basket on top of it to relax.
The basket was filled with lunch boxes and wet wipes.
Suddenly, as I looked up at the flowers stuck to Cecil’s face.
“……Wow……”
“Oh…”
The pale pink sky was tinted white.
The cherry blossoms had already reached their peak and covered the sky for a long time, and the drifting petals gave a feeling detached from reality.
And the sight of Cecil getting hit by a cherry blossom inside it.
It was a little cutesy, but looking at it, it felt like seeing a princess from a fairy tale.
Maybe I thought she might suddenly jump into the fairy tale.
“……Huh? What’s wrong?”
I squeezed the hand I was holding with Cecil again.
“It’s nothing.”
Cecil was definitely here.
She wouldn’t disappear.
Thinking that, I felt relieved.
If I thought about the time I used to wander around alone, it had looked a little dangerous.
I had to hold her hand and make sure she didn’t go anywhere.
“Should we start with taking some photos?”
“Yeah.”
Following Cecil’s words, we decided to take photos first.
The surroundings were just right for it, quiet.
As long as we were doing it, we wanted no other people in the background.
“Then stand over there.”
“Huh?”
“Me first?”
“Yeah.”
Eh, no.
Usually the guy takes the photo, right?
“This is my phone. I’ll do it however I want.”
“Puhu. Okay.”
Following the oddly cute words from Cecil, we went to the indicated spot and posed.
Of course I didn’t have a phone, but.
There was one thing I overlooked.
“Smile a little.”
“Like this?”
“Naturally… yeah. That’s good now.”
“Slightly pull your chin back. No, a little.”
“……”
“The pose is a little lacking… Is there no V? …Where did you learn hand-heart? You look like an uncle. Don’t do a thumbs-up.”
“Eek……”
It seemed Cecil was quite serious about the photos.
“Uh, that’s good now. Don’t move.”
It took a few moments.
Finally, it was to Cecil’s satisfaction.
Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click!
A somewhat noisy series of photo sounds rang out.
But it was over now.
Now it was my turn to take Cecil’s photo…
“Ah… Want to stand again? This time, put your hand on your waist.”
…It wasn’t over yet.
***
30 minutes later.
I had finally escaped the camera’s demon.
“Is this better? This one?”
“……I don’t know.”
There was a process of deciding which of the awkwardly taken photos of me was better, but I just answered roughly and moved on.
Because in my eyes, they all looked the same.
The me in the photos would think the same too.
“Now I’ll take your photos.”
Really?
After picking some random one, the camera was finally handed to me.
“Then… yeah. Over there looks good.”
The place I pointed to was under a cherry tree.
It was a tree the perfect size for Cecil that hadn’t grown fully yet.
“Want to try some poses?”
“Yeah!”
Cecil started taking various poses with the answer.
Looking at the cherry tree instead of the camera.
Receiving falling petals with both hands.
Leaning against the cherry tree and keeping a neutral expression, a somewhat cold pose.
There were several more poses after that, and dozens of photos were taken, but.
Unsurprisingly, something didn’t feel right.
Because the subject was good, the photos came out well no matter how I shot them, but the more I tried, the more I thought I could do even better.
“Instead of that, how about doing it this way?”
“Like this?”
“No, turn your head just a little more… yeah. Like that.”
That thought made me naturally start giving instructions to Cecil.
“One more time at the very end!”
“……”
“Real last one. Just one more.”
Even Cecil looked quite tired as the time dragged on.
No. It wasn’t about how well the photos were taken.
I wasn’t particularly good at taking photos, but if I just did a little more, they would come out really well.
“Like this?”
“Yeah, yeah. Like that.”
In the end, Cecil took the final pose.
Matching the exact angle.
And the timing when the wind blew and cherry blossoms flew… now!
Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click!
Just like before, the continuous photo sounds rang out as soon as I pressed the shutter.
The Cecil in that photo.
Eh. Um.
Hmm…
I don’t know.
It was okay. No, it was actually one of the really good ones.
It was a little disappointing.
It wasn’t that Cecil was lacking or anything, I just thought I could have done it a little better.
Her hair swaying, the cherry blossoms blowing in.
Unknowingly, one hand was clutching her skirt, the other grabbing her hair.
Even her slightly furrowed expression was cute.
But, it was a little disappointing.
“How was it? Good?”
“……Yeah. It’s nice.”
Of course, no matter what, I couldn’t ask her to take one more photo when she was approaching with a tired expression.
Hadn’t I already drawn the line saying it was the last one?
“Haah, good. Let me check.”
But.
As I watched Cecil, who had placed her hand on her side because her waist hurt, leaning her body as she approached.
“……Wait a second.”
“Huh?”
“Look directly at me.”
“Eh? Why—”
Only the thought of “now” flashed in my head.
Before Cecil’s words even finished.
Click.
Only the different shutter sound from before rang out.
The photo that was taken.
“Ah.”
It was much more to my liking than countless attempts.
It wasn’t a cold expression or posing without looking at the camera.
Her face flushed, looking directly at this side with no shame.
At least it was the closest thing to the Cecil I knew.
“Eh. It’s too close.”
“It’s just cute.”
“Eh, ah. Uh, yeah…”
There was a small accident where Cecil fell over, but.
It was always something that happened.
…Um.
Click.
Let’s leave this one too.
_________________________
Come here, Cecil
Coming Soon: Cecil
[Rarity / Grade]
[Effects / Properties]
