"This is the planetarium."
Sora parked his bike and looked at Angel-sama behind him:
"I came here once to play when I was a kid, and just remembered it was nearby... It's still open, let's hurry inside."
"Okay."
Shiina Mahiru slightly pursed her pink lips, softly agreeing. Her eyes were full of curiosity:
"Did we come to the planetarium to look at the stars using astronomical instruments?"
"Mahiru guessed wrong."
"Eh?"
"Let's go buy tickets first, Mahiru will know soon enough."
"..."
With her curiosity piqued, Angel-sama followed Sora into the planetarium.
After purchasing two visitor tickets, a female staff member quickly led the two towards the Cosmos Starry Sky Hall.
"Mahiru, don't blink."
Arriving at the door of the Starry Sky Hall, Sora stopped and looked at Angel-sama:
"You open the door."
"Okay."
Shiina Mahiru took a deep breath and reached out to push the door open.
With a single step inside, countless stars abruptly burst into view, as if she were instantly immersed in a boundless starry sky.
This was a circular dome building. There were no lights on inside, leaving it in dimness. A dazzling galaxy was projected onto the dome, making it feel as if one could pluck the stars just by reaching out.
"S-So beautiful!"
Shiina Mahiru widened her eyes, unable to resist letting out a soft cry.
It turned out they really came to look at the cosmos and starry sky, not to look at stars through an astronomical telescope.
Sora followed her inside and closed the door behind him:
"The tickets are super expensive, but they're expensive for a reason."
Although it was getting late, there were quite a few customers in the Starry Sky Hall. However, everyone was very quiet. Soothing, gentle music played in the vast Starry Sky Hall, and a faint incense scent lingered in the air.
"Let's find a place to sit first." Sora said softly.
"We can lie down to look at the starry sky."
"Okay..."
Shiina Mahiru's eyes sparkled. She walked forward along the corner and quickly spotted an empty beanbag sofa, just large enough for two people to lie down on.
"Sora-kun, let's sit here, okay?"
"Do you want to sit right in the middle?"
"No need, the corner is very quiet."
Shiina Mahiru held her skirt with her right hand and sat on the sofa with a blushing face.
"So soft..."
The oval sofa beneath her was as soft as cotton candy; her whole body seemed to sink into it.
After sitting down, Sora lay back directly:
"It's more comfortable to look at the starry sky lying down."
Shiina Mahiru's pretty face flushed slightly, her heartbeat quietly accelerating, as she shyly lay down beside Sora.
(We're so close...)
(It feels just like sleeping next to Sora-kun...)
Her gaze shifted to look at the dazzling galaxy above her head, and the girl's sense of shame quickly faded.
"Sora-kun, that's not a real starry sky, is it?"
Shiina Mahiru asked curiously.
"Of course not." Sora answered softly.
"The planetarium opens at 9:00 AM. You definitely can't see stars during the day. The truth is, it's a starry sky projected by a projector."
"That's still amazing. If it weren't for Sora-kun, I would have completely had no idea there was such an amazing place in Tokyo..."
Shiina Mahiru looked up at the starry sky, murmuring softly.
The starry sky on the circular dome was slowly rotating, giving one the illusion of being situated in the cosmos.
Besides the vastness of the magnificent and brilliant spectacle, a sigh lamenting one's own insignificance and the brevity of life quietly welled up in her heart.
Shiina Mahiru quietly watched the starry sky for a while, then pursed her beautiful lips and secretly turned her head to look at Sora's profile.
Life is only a short thirty thousand days, so one must be a bit braver, a bit bolder.
Moreover... moreover, in such a dim environment, whatever I do won't be discovered, right?
At this thought, Angel-sama's pretty face quickly grew hot, her heart racing. She quietly reached out her right hand, nervously yet firmly probing toward her side.
Before long, Angel-sama found her target and quietly grasped it.
A familiar sense of security instantly surged into her heart.
"Hmm?"
Sensing his right hand being quietly grasped by someone, Sora couldn't help but turn his head and look at Angel-sama beside him.
He saw Mahiru looking up at the starry sky, eyes looking straight ahead, as if nothing had happened. However, under the hazy starlight, the girl's crimson cheeks silently explained everything.
Sora withdrew his gaze and quietly tightened his grip on Angel-sama's right hand.
Everything was understood without words.
The soothing gentle music, the pleasant incense, the boundless cosmic starry sky, and the smooth, warm sensation transmitting from her palm—it made one involuntarily want to sink into it.
Unfortunately, happy times are always fleeting. Unknowingly, it was 9:20 PM.
As the lights turned on, the starry sky viewing quietly came to an end.
Shiina Mahiru quickly sat up, guiltily withdrawing her small hand in a flash:
"It's over so quickly?"
"It's been more than half an hour." Sora sat up.
"If Mahiru likes it, we can come back to look at the starry sky after the Sports Festival ends."
Angel-sama blinked her bright eyes, clearly somewhat moved:
"Come over a bit later... After the Sports Festival, I want to go to the beach to fish on the weekend. It's been a long time since we went fishing."
"No problem, we'll take advantage of Mahiru's beginner's luck protection period not being over yet, and catch a few more fish to bring back."
"..."
The two followed the other customers, walked out of the planetarium together, and prepared to head back.
The evening breeze was cool and refreshing.
The night was like water.
As they walked out of the Starry Sky Hall, two girls were talking near the fountain at the entrance. One of the girls had short gray hair and looked cute, though a bit silly, inexplicably bringing to mind a waddling penguin. The other girl had radiant blonde hair but wore a black baseball cap, looking somewhat mysterious.
Sora cast a curious glance, then withdrew his gaze, and the two parties brushed past each other.
"Going home, going home."
Arriving at the bicycle parking spot, Sora and Mahiru got on their bikes and started riding against the evening breeze.
Twenty minutes later.
The two had returned to the front of their houses.
"We're home."
Sora parked his bike, looked at Angel-sama beside him, and nodded:
"Mahiru, goodnight."
"Sora-kun, goodnight."
"See you tomorrow."
"..."
Watching Sora walk up the steps, Shiina Mahiru took a deep breath and suddenly called out softly:
"Sora-kun."
"Hmm?"
Sora stopped and turned to look at Angel-sama.
"Life lies in movement, a healthy body is very necessary..."
Shiina Mahiru parted her pink lips, originally intending to say the words she had been brewing in her heart for a long time.
But as the words reached her lips, Angel-sama suddenly changed her mind.
Facing Sora-kun, there's actually no need for so much preamble. I just need to state my feelings directly.
"After the Sports Festival ends... let's continue our night runs, okay?"
Shiina Mahiru's pretty face flushed slightly, her eyes clear and bright, staring unblinkingly at him.
The evening breeze was cold.
It blew the girl's skirt and hair.
Under the not-so-bright streetlights, Angel-sama's fluttering skirt and hair seemed to be sparkling.
Thump-thump, thump-thump.
Sora could clearly hear his heart beating faster:
"Exercising grants experience points... so of course we have to continue our night runs."
This was the truth.
Besides using versatile experience points to level up his character, exercising could also earn corresponding experience. Although the progress was slow, accumulating little by little was also quite substantial.
"It's a promise, Sora-kun cannot back out."
Shiina Mahiru raised her hand to tuck the stray hair by her ear, a gentle and sweet smile appearing on her pretty face:
"...Goodnight, see you tomorrow."
...
The translation finished on patreon at chapter 291. Go check if you're interested!