20. Romcom Physics

Thus, as if the twins were communicating through telepathy, they nodded in unison.

"Sure, we'll accept your challenge," Rin answered confidently, crossing her arms.

"Hmph. You say that as if I'd be afraid."

Beside her, Shiro lifted her chin slightly and tilted her head.

"Akira-kun."

"Kamiya-kun."

They spoke together as if they were deliberately spelling out my full name.

Can you both stop doing that? It gives me a weird sense of déjà vu.

And with that—

Wait, wait, wait!

Don't close—

...

One week later. Tanabata Festival.

W-where am I?

This is giving me serious Operation Valhalla vibes.

"Akira-kun~"

A whisper brushed against my ear like a sudden gust of wind.

"Are you daydreaming again?"

More importantly, why was I here?

(Due to violating the author's rules, the protagonist has been taken into custody for this chapter.)

Okay, hold on. I couldn't even see that black screen outside the scenario, but you did explain things to the readers, right?

Wait... was it because of the previous chapter? I told you that one sucked ass.

(Yes, exactly. And I'm still furious. You are the most imbecilic romcom protagonist I've ever seen, read, and written. Hmph!)

I still couldn't see that text box.

Probably for the best.

"Akira-kun?"

Rin waved a hand in front of my face, her blue yukata sleeves swaying softly.

"Are you daydreaming again?"

"...No."

I adjusted my glasses and looked around.

Children running through the festival.

Couples walking side by side.

Parents chatting near food stalls.

A goldfish scooping pool nearby.

Yeah. There was no mistaking it.

I had already been dragged into the Tanabata Festival.

By force.

Then my eyes landed on Rin.

A tama kanzashi rested delicately in her pink hair, tied neatly with a blue ornament. Her blue yukata wrapped elegantly around her figure, paired with a lighter obi.

Beautiful. Refined. The kind of perfection she carried effortlessly.

Meanwhile, I was still wearing my usual formal shirt.

Even a forced timeskip couldn't fix my outfit.

"Heheh, Akira-kun?"

She tilted her head again.

"Where's Shiro?" I asked.

"Oh? Didn't you say the first day would only be the two of us?"

Wait.

Did I?

"...Right. I did."

"Shiro's overseeing the date," Rin explained, smoothing her sleeve lightly. 

"But I also invited someone neutral."

"Oh?"

"Yo, Akira. Prez Rin."

No way.

Yuuta waved at us casually, ramune bottle in hand. The indigo yukata suited him annoyingly well.

Honestly... he looked ridiculously good.

The relaxed posture, loose sleeves, even the ramune bottle somehow completed the image perfectly.

Seriously, if I were a girl, I'd probably fall for him too.

...Or maybe I already did.

Wait, what did I just say?

(And this is why Akira x Yuuta is peak fiction.)

I STILL CAN'T SEE THOSE SUBTITLES!

"Oh, Yuuta-kun," Rin asked, "where's Shiro?"

"Hm? She went to the restroom for a bit." He lifted the ramune slightly. 

"Don't worry, though. Everything's already set."

Set?

That sounded suspiciously ominous.

"We'll be judging this dating contest properly, after all."

...We?

Before I could question him further, Yuuta already walked away with a lazy wave.

"Enjoy yourselves, you two."

He smiled.

A dangerously refreshing smile.

Seriously, what was with that guy?

Even nearby girls were glancing at him.

One almost walked into a goldfish stand.

"..."

Why was I analyzing another guy this much?

(Exactly.)

I STILL CAN'T SEE THE TEXT BOXES.

Beside me, Rin sighed softly.

"You've been staring at Yuuta-kun for a while now."

"...It's not what you think."

"I didn't even say anything yet."

A few minutes later, we stopped near a goldfish scooping stall.

Ah yes.

A game designed to emotionally destroy overconfident people.

"Heh. This looks easy."

And there she was.

Possibly the most overconfident person in this festival.

The worst possible choice indeed.

Rin crouched near the pool confidently, sleeves hanging loosely from her yukata as she lowered the paper scooper.

Three seconds later—

rip.

"...Pfft." 

I tried my best to hold it back.

"Don't laugh."

"I didn't."

"You absolutely did."

I tried not to.

Really.

But watching Hanase Rin lose to a goldfish in three seconds was genuinely pathetic.

"...Again."

She grabbed another scooper immediately.

Nearby children slowly backed away from the sudden competitive aura radiating from her.

Then—

rip.

Another failure.

"...One more."

Five attempts later, I started questioning reality itself.

Wasn't this the same girl who acted like she could dominate every situation perfectly?

At this point, even the goldfish looked more confident than her.

"...You're terrible at this."

"...Shut up."

Rin crouched again with a frustrated expression.

This time, though, I gently grabbed her wrist.

"Hm?"

"You're using too much force," I explained, adjusting her hand carefully. "The paper weakens immediately if the pressure isn't balanced."

The festival lights reflected softly across the water as I guided her movements.

"Don't push downward too hard. Let the water support the weight first."

The paper slipped beneath the surface smoothly.

The fish moved.

Rin reacted instinctively.

"Slowly."

And somehow—

without tearing—

the goldfish was caught.

"...I got it."

She stared at the fish quietly before looking toward me.

"...You're always like this."

"Hm?"

"You turn everything into physics."

"It's annoying."

Well.

That wasn't exactly wrong.

"It's easier that way," I admitted. 

"If something fails, there's usually a reason behind it."

The goldfish swam calmly inside the bowl beside her.

"People like perfection because it looks beautiful. Perfect scores. Perfect people. Perfect results."

I shrugged lightly.

"But things that work perfectly all the time usually aren't memorable."

Rin listened quietly.

"If you'd caught it immediately, you'd probably forget about it tomorrow."

The night breeze brushed against her tied hair.

"But struggling first?" I continued. "That part stays with you longer."

For once, Rin didn't tease me immediately.

Instead, a small laugh escaped her lips.

"...You really do say weird things naturally."

"I've heard that before."

"No, I mean genuinely."

She smiled faintly at the fish bowl in her hands.

"...Maybe that's why I don't hate talking to you."

Wait.

Why did that sound more dangerous than expected?

(Progress detected. Romcom Physics remains stable.)

I KNEW IT. STOP NARRATING MY LIFE LIKE A SCIENCE EXPERIMENT.

And then—

that feeling returned.

Like something was watching us.

I slowly turned around.

And there they were.

Shiro stood nearby carrying an absurd amount of festival food.

Takoyaki.

Taiyaki.

Chocolate bananas.

Yakisoba.

How was she balancing all of that? 

Meanwhile, Yuuta stood beside her carrying the remaining supplies like an exhausted employee dragged into unpaid labor.

His soul looked half-dead already.

The contrast between them was unbelievable.

Shiro noticed me immediately and grinned.

That gremlin smile.

The dangerous one.

"Ohhh~?"

Beside me, Rin straightened instantly.

Meanwhile, my survival instincts started screaming.

Yuuta weakly lifted the ramune bottle.

"...Help me."

That sounded genuine.

"Akira-kun!" Shiro rushed toward us somehow without dropping the food.

 "You guys looked suuuper close just now."

"We were literally catching goldfish."

"Ehehe~ Is that what people call it nowadays?"

"Nobody says that."

Shiro narrowed her eyes suspiciously between me and Rin.

Even Rin looked slightly uncomfortable.

Meanwhile, Yuuta sighed tiredly beside us.

"I think she bought food from every stall in the festival."

"I did not."

Who are you? That greedy character from anime about titans?

"...You made me carry six drinks."

"I was optimizing efficiency."

"That's involuntary labor."

Honestly, for the first time tonight—

I truly understood his suffering.

Eventually, we continued walking through the festival.

Well—

"walking together" wasn't accurate.

Rin and I were clearly being monitored from a distance.

Especially by Shiro.

I could practically feel her gaze attached to my back like a sniper scope.

Meanwhile, Yuuta had already accepted his fate.

"...Ah."

Rin suddenly stopped near a food stall.

Takoyaki.

The smell drifted softly through the air.

"...You want some?"

"...Maybe."

That pause alone already meant yes.

"Wait here."

I pointed toward a nearby bench beneath the lanterns.

Rin sat down quietly, smoothing her yukata before resting her hands on her lap.

Seriously.

Why did she look elegant doing something that simple?

Meanwhile, I walked toward the stall.

"Buying for your girlfriend?" the old man asked casually.

"...No."

Why was there always that one random NPC assigned specifically to emotionally damage a romcom protagonist? I mean, seriously... this trope genuinely made no sense to me at all.

Still, while waiting, my eyes drifted back toward Rin beneath the lantern lights.

Blue yukata.

Pink hair.

Quiet posture.

She stood out naturally from the crowd.

Like a painting placed accidentally into reality.

And somehow—

that was when I got an idea.

Possibly brilliant.

Possibly terrible.

The difference between those concepts had become increasingly unclear lately.

"...Akira-kun?"

Without answering, I glanced behind us.

Shiro and Yuuta were still watching from afar.

Good.

Perfect.

That made this better.

"Come with me for a second."

"Hm?"

Before she could ask further, I gently grabbed her wrist and led her through the crowd.

Festival lanterns glowed overhead while voices blended beneath the summer night sky.

Eventually, I stopped.

"...Ah."

Rin recognized the place immediately.

The staircase.

That exact staircase.

The same place where Shiro and I were supposed to—

Yeah.

That.

"...Why are we here?" Rin asked softly.

Honestly, I wasn't fully sure myself.

Maybe curiosity.

Maybe stubbornness.

Or maybe I just wanted to confirm something.

"I wanted to try something."

"...Try what?"

I adjusted my glasses slightly.

"The conditions are perfect tonight."

"...Akira-kun."

"The lighting. The timing. No unnecessary interruptions."

Rin crossed her arms slowly.

"...You sound like you're conducting an experiment."

(He absolutely is.)

That censored, black texbox appeared out of nowhere again. Yet I couldn't help but ignore it.

"Don't you remember, Rin?"

For a moment, her expression froze slightly.

The breeze brushed softly against her hair.

"...Shiro told me."

Of course she did.

That little gremlin leaked classified information immediately.

"I didn't believe her at first," Rin admitted quietly. 

"But... she wouldn't make up something like that."

That was fair.

After all, Shiro was chaotic.

Not delusional, and she understood it clearly.

"...So?" Rin looked at me calmly. 

"Why bring me here?"

That question lingered quietly between us.

And somehow—

this no longer felt like a joke anymore.

The festival noise below the hill gradually faded into the background.

Lantern lights flickered softly around us.

And Rin—

was waiting.

Why was she waiting?

Wasn't this supposed to be my line?

More importantly—

why was my heartbeat this loud?

I adjusted my glasses instinctively.

A mistake.

"...You're nervous."

"...No, I'm not."

"Your hand moved to your glasses."

"...Circumstantial evidence."

A quiet laugh escaped her lips.

Gentle.

Soft.

Dangerous.

"...You're overthinking again."

Unfortunately, she was correct.

Again.

"...I just thought it would be unfair."

"Unfair?"

"The previous situation."

I glanced away briefly.

"Shiro experienced it. So if you heard about it afterward..." I paused awkwardly.

 "...then recreating the same conditions seemed logical."

Silence.

Why did that sound less romantic and more like a laboratory report?

Rin stared at me for several seconds before smiling faintly.

"...You really are hopeless sometimes."

"...That's rude."

"No," she answered softly. 

"I mean it genuinely."

And then—

the first firework exploded across the night sky.

Blue.

Gold.

Pink.

The colors reflected across Rin's eyes as she looked upward.

For a brief moment—

she looked unreal.

Before I could overthink it again, my body moved first.

I stepped closer.

Rin's eyes widened slightly.

"...Akira—"

Then I kissed her.

Softly.

Warmly.

For a second, everything disappeared.

The festival.

The noise.

Even my thoughts stopped functioning.

Only the fireworks continued exploding above us.

And Rin slowly grabbed the front of my shirt, holding onto it gently.

When we finally separated, my brain still hadn't restarted properly.

Meanwhile, Rin looked equally stunned.

Which somehow made me feel relieved.

At least I wasn't suffering alone.

Another firework burst overhead, crimson light reflecting across her flushed face.

"...So?" she asked quietly.

"...So what?"

"...Was your experiment successful?"

Oh.

Right.

That.

I adjusted my glasses slowly.

"...Further testing may be required."

Rin stared blankly for two seconds before hitting my shoulder.

"Idiot."

Honestly?

Fair enough.

(ROMCOM PHYSICS: OBSERVATION COMPLETE. RESULTS EXCEEDED EXPECTATIONS.)

Yet another text box. Never mind.

Anyway—

I couldn't deny it anymore, as much as I was never mistaken.

Because, indeed... my romcom is as ridiculous as quantum physics.