After the leisurely boat tour through the city's waterways concluded, we continued our walk, our hands linked once more. The day had slipped by through lunch, the play, the cafe visit, and finally the boat tour; by now, the light was beginning to shift toward evening.
With dinner planned as the final event of the day, the end of our date was finally coming into view.
"The sky is still blue, but evening is definitely approaching," Kaori said. "We probably don't have time for many more stops, so what’s next on the agenda?"
"We are heading to a park on the high ground," Olivia replied. "The tourism magazines recommend it for its panoramic view of the townscape bathed in the setting sun."
"Heh, that sounds lovely. With so many red brick buildings around here, the sunset should be quite a sight. By the way, Olivia-san... are you doing okay?"
"I cannot speak a falsehood to Miyama Kaito-sama, so I will be honest... my thoughts are scattered and airy. It seems the process of putting an arm around my shoulder was an act that far exceeded my current level of mastery."
Mastery of what? Romance, maybe? Regardless, while Olivia-san’s expression remained composed, her cheeks were a deep shade of red. She was clearly still reeling from the embarrassment of our recent proximity on the boat.
At least she hadn't devolved into her Overwhelming Praise Mode yet, which meant she wasn't completely panicked. Her mind had likely recovered some degree of calm.
Still, the way she clung to my hand in a lover’s hand-holding style despite her obvious bashfulness felt somewhat like a devoted puppy. It was actually quite endearing.
"I can certainly understand how Olivia-sama feels," Kaori added. "Experiencing it for yourself is worlds apart from seeing it in a play or reading about it in a romance novel."
"Mizuhara Kaori seems remarkably composed, doesn't she?" Olivia remarked.
"Not at all. Even now, the memory is incredibly embarrassing; I'm just deferring the reaction until later."
"Deferring it?"
"Exactly. Of course I’m embarrassed, but it’s such a rare opportunity—it would be a waste not to enjoy it. I’ve simply shelved my shame for the time being to savor the moment. Once I get home and I'm alone, I’ll let the memory hit me and writhe in agony then. So, it's fine!"
"Can you really call that 'fine'? And yet, I suppose there is a certain logic to that. There are points in your approach that I should probably emulate."
It seemed Kaori-san wasn't actually calm; she had just decided to deal with the shame later and was forcing herself to be bold for now. Still, that ability to switch gears like that showed just how mentally tough she was. Even I felt a lingering bashfulness from the boat ride, so Kaori-san might actually be the most composed one among us right now.
Provided I believed her, she’d be paying the price in private later tonight.
"Well, we can discuss our impressions later," I said. "For now, we should keep moving. We don't have much time if we want to catch the sunset."
"Quite. There is a rather long flight of stairs leading up to the park, so a bit of haste is warranted."
Stairs... Olivia-san had mentioned a park on the high ground with a view of the whole city. Looking around, I spotted a small hill in the distance. That was likely the spot.
The hill looked fairly steep. It made sense given the view she described, but those stairs to reach the top...
"Um, Olivia-san? You mentioned a long flight of stairs... are you sure you have the HP for it?"
"Thank you for your concern, Miyama Kaito-sama. I understand why you might feel uneasy about my unrefined physical state. However, please rest easy. It is lower than the Hero's Hill from before, and these are well-maintained stairs rather than a rough slope. No matter how meager my strength may be outside the Friendly City, I believe I will manage."
"Just... don't push yourself too hard."
I had a feeling, though—one born purely of intuition. Olivia-san was almost certainly going to run out of steam about halfway up.
Serious-senpai: "She’s so diligent with her research, yet Olivia always ends up self-destructing because her self-assessment is so optimistic..."