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It was Sunday.

Mika and I were appropriately dressed for going to the forest and had already placed a reservation at the place where we were planning to harvest grapes (the all-you-can-eat variant).

On another note, Shuu’s team got first place at the regional competition. Well, that wasn’t surprising. With him in the team, they were sure to make it to the national tournament.

But from what I heard, he had no chance at all to shine in the regional tournament. Apparently, the only first-year in their team who’d been entrusted with the role of vanguard had performed so well, he practically won the whole thing by himself. He only lost one or two fights, leaving those to the club member who fulfilled the role of second, but those two pretty much dominated the whole tournament. It was incredible.

The prefectural tournament would probably go the same way. I’d still come to watch as I’d promised. If I had the time, I’d also have come to the regional tournament.

“Hey, we definitely should take some grapes with us home, right?” Mika wondered.
“We should! Let’s bring everyone souvenirs.”
“That would be Sakura and Kanata, my parents and yours… then Shuu and Rir, and Shuu’s parents…”
“Q-Quite a few people.”

By that calculation, we’ll have to bring at least ten bushels back with us. Hm~, taking six bushels each on our way home will just barely work out.

“Sakura loves sweets, so we should bring another bushel for her, and then another for Shuu in celebration of their victory, which would make a total of 12. I suppose we do have our satchels, but it might be best to split them up to take six bushels each.”
“L-Let’s do that.”

I was left with no choice but to go along with Mika’s suggestion; we would split up our harvest as we brought it home. Grapes weren’t that heavy, but the bushels took a lot of space.

“We’re here.”
“We are.”

A short time later, we arrived at the place where we’d put in the reservation. For 1600 Yen, you could harvest as much as you wanted within two hours. They had a total of five different types, including Kyoho, Delaware, and Muscat grapes.
How in the world is that profitable for the farmer? I don’t get it.

I’d been here once with my family in the past, and the quality of the grapes wasn’t bad at all. Well, since it apparently worked out, Mika and I would simply enjoy ourselves.

“Alright, let’s go gather!”
“Let’s go, let’s go!”

We borrowed small baskets and then made our way to an area where many grapevines could be found. It looked like this place had Delaware grapes.

“Those look tasty! Ugh, can’t reach them…”

Even though a fair number of grapes grew at a height that Mika could easily reach with her around 160 centimeters, she deliberately stood on her tiptoes, trying to get some that grew higher up. She then shot me a glance.

I suppose I’ll meet her expectations.

“Here you go, Your Highness.”
“Thank you, My Lady!”
“…Ugh.”
“Eh-heh-heh, I’m joking. Thanks, you were very handsome.”

She smiled as she signaled with her hand that I’d done a good job.
Gah, way too cute. That’s how a date should feel.

We each put a bushel of Delaware grapes into our baskets and found a nearby place to sit, where we started to eat them.

“Mmh! So sweet!”
“You’re right… delicious…”
“Here you go, say ‘ah’.”
“Ah.”

She fed me some of her grapes. Thus, I did the same.

“Here, Mika, say ‘ah’.”
“Ah~.”

Most likely on purpose, she licked my fingers slightly as she ate the grapes from my hand. Today, she seemed a bit aggressive.

“Heh-heh, so sweet.”
“Should we set our sights on the huge, round ones, next?”
“Huge, round ones… hang on, don’t you dare look at me like that! My chest might be big, but… Oh, you were talking about Kyoho grapes¹. Sorry.”

I stared at Mika who’d suddenly started to spout this nonsense. Either way, we decided to look for Kyoho grapes next.

“This area is rather crowded, isn’t it?”
“You’re right.”

Now that she mentioned it, there were lots of families visiting this place. It was also Sunday. Including us, there were around 10 groups. But I couldn’t make out any people by themselves or groups solely consisting of men or women, so we could probably relax regarding that stalker affair.

While pondering these thoughts, we gathered Kyoho grapes before finding another nearby place to sit and eat a bushel each.

“Oh, so yummy. They’re sweet and super tasty.”
“We should take that sort back with us.”
“Yeah. Let’s add Muscat grapes for Sakura and Shuu.”

Afterwards, we first ate a bushel of the other three sorts and then made a quick round to get those we liked most. Gathering grapes by the two of us while flirting and making out took longer than expected. There was also the time we spent eating.

It was probably even slower if you brought your family. We weren’t able to harvest as much as we planned, maybe the farmer was aiming for that.

“Phew, I’m full!”
“Kanata said that he’d also come here with Sakura, soon.”
“At that point, you won’t be able to harvest grapes anymore.”
“Well, they might wait until spring and go pick strawberries.”

In the end, we had a surprisingly enjoyable time and were in high spirits as we boarded the bus back home.

“…What should we do once we’re back?”
“Let’s leave the grapes at home for now and then go have lunch outside. Afterwards, we could go to a nearby department store.”

Ending a date after only two hours from 10 am until noon would be a waste, after all. Even so, the grapes might get squished if we took them with us as we walked around.

“Alright! And afterwards?”
“Afterwards…?”
“D-Don’t you get my meaning?”

From her tone of voice, she’s trying to hint at something… Oh, I get it. I still have a long way to go, if it takes me that long.

“After dinner. As Shuu said, minors are officially not allowed in these places, so let’s make sure no one sees us.”
“Eh-heh-heh, woo-hoo!”

TL notes:
I have to apologize for retroactively changing my translation. Back in chapter 594, they jumped from “looking for mushrooms” to “looking for grapes”, which made it sound to me, as if they’d go to the forest and forage for wild grapes. Turns out they were planning to go to something like a vineyard where visitors can gather grapes themselves.

Also, there was an Author’s comment about grapes no longer being harvestable this late in November, but they (again) noticed too late and didn’t want to change everything.

1. In the original, she mishears his Kyohou (巨峰 -> Kyoho grape) for Kyonyuu (巨乳 -> huge breasts). This doesn’t really work in English.

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