🎶春日の響きと記憶の音 — Chapter 176

🌸✨ In this alternate universe, Mio and みお are twin sisters, set in a unified world where the virtual singers of Crypton Future Media, Team TWINDRILL, INTERNET Co., Ltd., and the characters of Project SEKAI: Colorful Stage! feat. Hatsune Miku coexist. 🌙🎶 💜💗💜💗💜 Story 💗💜💗💜💗 The Chocolate Banana Dilemma The lively sounds from the hallway quickly washed away much of the awkwardness that had lingered in the classroom just moments ago. After the rain, sunlight spilled down through the strings of festival flags, and the campus grew bright once more. From farther away came the voices of students calling out to visitors, along with the quiet laughter of guests. The air was mixed with the scents of desserts, grilled food, and chocolate. Everyone chatted as they followed the flow of people forward. Rin walked at the very front, as if she had already completely thrown what happened earlier to the back of her mind. “School festivals are definitely all about getting food first!” Teto immediately nodded along. “I agree! And after laughing so much earlier, I really need to replenish my energy!” When Luka heard the words “earlier,” her steps paused slightly. Gakupo stood beside her, his expression still calm, yet he naturally moved a little closer, as if shielding her from the passing crowd nearby. Luka noticed his movement, and her cheeks quietly warmed again. She said nothing, merely shifting her gaze forward. Just then, Mio, who was walking ahead, suddenly stopped. “Ah, over there.” Mio also lifted her head. Not far away, a food stall cart was decorated especially eye-catchingly. Its yellow canopy looked warm and bright beneath the sunlight. A cute banana illustration was drawn on the sign, with decorative chocolate sauce dripping down beside it. Inside the stall, rows of chocolate bananas were neatly displayed. Some were coated in thick chocolate, some sprinkled with colorful sugar bits, while others were covered with cookie crumbs, almond slices, and lines of white chocolate. A large flavor board also stood in front of the stall. It was filled with drawings of different styles of chocolate bananas. Classic chocolate, white chocolate, dark chocolate, strawberry chocolate, matcha chocolate, caramel chocolate, cookie crumbs, crushed almonds, colorful sprinkles, coconut flakes, and even double-layered chocolate and strawberry-dotted styles. Miku’s eyes lit up at once. “So many flavors!” KAITO also looked toward the display rack and said with a smile, “They all look very sweet.” MEIKO glanced at him. “With that expression, you don’t look like you’re worried about sweetness at all.” Len added calmly, “He’s calculating how many he should buy.” KAITO simply smiled without saying anything. Rin had already excitedly run up to the flavor board. “I want to see! There are way too many choices!” Teto followed her over, crossing her arms as if she were making an extremely important decision. “Mm… For chocolate bananas at a school festival, you definitely have to choose the most extravagant one.” Mio stood beside the board, looking at the entire row of flavors, and could not help smiling. “There are so many that it actually makes it harder to choose.” Mio stood beside her, her gaze quietly moving across the board. She looked at it very seriously, her purple eyes reflecting the lights on the stall cart, as if she were carefully comparing every flavor. After a while, she suddenly raised her hand and pointed at one of the chocolate bananas on the board. “This one… is pretty too.” Mio followed the direction of her finger. It was a matcha chocolate banana. The outer coating was a soft green, with a little white chocolate drizzled over it and fine cookie crumbs sprinkled on top. It looked refined without seeming too sweet. Mio blinked. “Are you interested in matcha, Mio?” Mio nodded lightly, then looked somewhat hesitantly toward the other flavors beside it. “Mm… But the white chocolate is pretty too, and the dark chocolate also seems nice.” “True.” Mio looked at the board and began hesitating along with her. “The strawberry one is cute, the caramel almond one looks delicious, and the cookie crumb one looks really crunchy.” Mio’s hand was still pointing at the board, but her gaze had slowly shifted to another flavor. “There are so many…” Her voice was very soft, yet it carried obvious distress. Mio looked at how seriously she was hesitating and could not help laughing. “It’s rare to see you hesitate this much, Mio.” Mio turned to look at her. “Because each one is different.” “Then do you want to keep looking for a bit?” Mio said with a smile. “We haven’t decided yet anyway.” Mio nodded lightly. “Mm.” Hearing their conversation, Rin immediately leaned over. “You two haven’t chosen yet either?” Mio nodded. “Not yet. Mio pointed at matcha just now, but she still seems unsure.” Rin immediately looked toward the board, her expression becoming serious as well. “I get it. Because the strawberry one looks cute, but the caramel one looks tasty, and chocolate is a classic. It really is hard to choose at a time like this!” Teto nodded firmly. “Exactly! And the most extravagant one is usually really tempting, but halfway through, you might feel like it’s too sweet.” Len glanced at her calmly. “I’m surprised you’re actually considering that.” Teto immediately puffed out her chest. “Of course! This is an important dessert strategy!” Miku stood in front of the board, already completely trapped in indecision. “The white chocolate is so pretty… but strawberry is cute too… and matcha looks so gentle…” KAITO smiled warmly. “Looks like no one can decide yet.” MEIKO looked at the group gathered around the board and sighed, both exasperated and amused. “It’s just chocolate bananas. Why does everyone look like they’re choosing the final battle of the school festival?” Rin immediately turned her head. “Because the first dessert is important!” Teto chimed in right after her. “Exactly! The first dessert decides the momentum of today’s food tour!” Len said expressionlessly, “That sounds exaggerated.” KAITO smiled. “Though I can’t say I don’t understand it at all.” MEIKO looked at him. “You just want an excuse to look at more flavors, don’t you?” KAITO smiled without answering. Luka stood a little farther back, watching everyone seriously hesitate in front of the stall. The discomfort she had still been feeling slowly relaxed within the liveliness around them. Gakupo lowered his gaze toward her. “Is there a flavor you’re particularly interested in?” Luka raised her eyes to the flavor board and thought for a moment. “The dark chocolate looks good. But matcha also seems like it wouldn’t be too sweet.” After saying that, she looked toward the white chocolate option beside it. “But white chocolate with coconut flakes is pretty too.” Gakupo quietly looked at the board. “They each do have their own appeal.” Hearing him answer that way, Luka could not help glancing at him. “What about you?” Gakupo lowered his eyes slightly, as if he were genuinely thinking it over. “If I were choosing by flavor alone, I would pick dark chocolate. If choosing by appearance, matcha or white chocolate would both be good.” Luka froze slightly, then let out a soft laugh. “You’re hesitating too.” Gakupo looked at her. “It seems so.” His tone was steady, but because that hesitation was rather rare for him, Luka’s smile deepened a little. Rin happened to turn back and see that moment, and her eyes instantly lit up again. However, before she could say anything, MEIKO’s gaze swept over first. Rin immediately shut her mouth. “I didn’t say anything.” MEIKO raised an eyebrow. “You’d better not.” Teto stood beside them, holding back laughter so hard that her shoulders trembled. In front of the stall, the student staff enthusiastically introduced the different flavors. The chocolate bananas on the display rack gleamed beautifully under the sunlight, pink, green, white, and dark brown overlapping together like a whole row of sweet little surprises inside the school festival. Mio’s hand slowly rose again. This time, she pointed at the strawberry-dotted one. “This one is cute too.” Mio followed the direction of her finger, and her eyes brightened as well. “It really is. But the cookie crumb one beside it looks tasty too.” “Mm…” Mio fell into quiet hesitation once more. Mio looked at her and smiled, leaning a little closer. “Then let’s think about it together a little longer.” Mio nodded lightly. “Mm.” The crowd around them remained lively, and the sweet scent of chocolate drifted beside the food stall cart. Everyone gathered in front of the flavor board, and although no one had truly chosen yet, that very hesitation only made them more excited. The sunlight after the rain fell on the board and the display rack, and also on the fingertip Mio used to point at the flavors. And this school festival food tour they would enjoy together had only just begun.