It's June of the second year. The out-of-season transfer student, Guest, is a super hot-blooded ikemen (Shuzo-style) with a dazzling smile and off-the-charts intensity! As he gets closer to Ichinose Nagi, who sits next to him (mostly through Guest's one-sided passionate speeches), Nagi's childhood friend Minato appears, acting cool and claiming, "I'm the only one who truly understands Nagi." However, that groundless confidence is incinerated without a trace by Guest's unreasonable soul-scream: "You! Get more fired up!!" A stiflingly hot Spartan rom-com to turn Minato into a "True Man" worthy of Nagi.

Hoshinomiya, The Embers of the Promise

Ten-odd years ago, in Hoshinomiya City. The observatory on the edge of town, which hadn't been developed yet, was a secret base for children where the sky would turn a molten crimson at dusk.

"...Minato, don't cry."

Nagi, who had been mature even back then, peered into young Minato's face. Minato, who had tripped and scraped his knee, had his large eyes filled with tears, desperately holding back the dam that was about to burst.

"But... it hurts, and my clothes got dirty..." "It's okay. I'll cast a spell on it. Pain, pain, go away!" As Nagi gently rubbed his knee, Minato sniffled and looked up at her with watery eyes. In that moment, what was etched into Minato's young heart was the image of Nagi, smiling like a saint with the sunset behind her.

"...Hey, Nagi. When I grow up, I'll be a 'Knight' who protects you." "A knight? You, Minato?" "Yeah. So, when we're adults... will you be my bride?"

A child's characteristic, groundless, pure vow. Nagi opened her eyes wide for a moment, then smiled mischievously yet somehow gently, and held out her finger. "Okay. Then, pinky swear." "If I lie, I have to swallow a thousand needles, right?"

Intertwined pinkies. The orange of the sunset melted their silhouettes into a single shadow. It was undoubtedly the original landscape of the "faint, beautiful romance" that Hoshinomiya City had nurtured.

—And now.

"...So that's what happened, Guest."

By the classroom window, Nagi stared at the dust-swirling schoolyard with distant eyes. There, Minato—the former "Knight candidate"—was being dragged around by Guest and forced into vocal training, screaming from the bottom of his lungs: "P-PLEASE BE MY BRIIIIIDE!!"

Guest: "Too quiet! Use your memories as fuel! Burn until you're nothing but ash, Minato!!" Minato: "Aaaaargh! Nagiiiiii!! I love youuuuu (voice cracking)!!"

Nagi quietly closed her eyes, remembering the sensation of the pinky swear that day. ...Back then, Hoshinomiya City was quieter, cooler. It wasn't supposed to be such a sweat-drenched "promise."

"...I think I'd rather swallow the thousand needles myself."

Only Nagi's dry retort vanished into the heat-distorted sky.

(End)

[Next Episode Preview] Hot-Blooded Boomerang

"You're both too soft! This isn't self-study, this is 'Time for Two'! There are things more important than classes!"

Guest grabbed both their shoulders firmly. Silencing Nagi and Minato, who were worried about the test, with the absurd logic that "It's more manly to fail and have Nagi teach you!", he vanished toward the stairs to buy yakisoba bread. Leaving behind the words, "Don't run away."

The silent rooftop. An awkward silence. With a trembling voice, Minato finally cast off his "narcissist mask." "Being trained by him made me realize. I've just been coasting on your kindness... That promise... being 'my bride' when we were kids. I still remember it."

Nagi's eyes welled up. "That's unfair, saying that all of a sudden..." "Nagi. I—I love you. Then and now."

Meanwhile, at the stair landing, Guest was munching on yakisoba bread while pressing his ear to the gap in the door. Ignoring the sauce dripping down his chin, he clenched his fist with hot tears in his eyes. (Well done, Minato!) Just then, he got a LINE message from a female student trying to enter the rooftop. Guest's reply was light-speed. 'Don't enter. History is being made right now.' He sat down heavily in front of the door, crossing his arms like a guardian.

Ten minutes later. The door opened. There stood Minato, face flushed but with the clear expression of a "Man." "I bought the bread. The bathroom was a bit crowded. —Minato." Guest gave a thumbs up, and Minato nodded. It was a sufficient conversation between men.

"Minato! Nagi! Congratulations!!! Now, let's show them what Hoshinomiya City is really made of!" To the stunned pair, Guest made a grand declaration. "It's a date! Lover's Cape, Sunset Hill, Milky Way Street—we're hitting them all! I'll set the plan!" "Don't decide on your own!!"

Minato screamed, but he hadn't noticed Nagi smiling slightly beside him yet. However, Guest's rampage wouldn't stop. "The principal and the old lady from the shopping district were worried too! I live-streamed the updates to the shopping district group chat!"

"...Huh? The principal? The shopping district? Why would you go that far—"

Minato's face twitched on the rooftop. In front of him, Guest puffed out his chest with ultimate pride.

"Doing the rounds on the first day of transfer is basic! I talked to them about all sorts of things, including love advice!" "...It hasn't even been a month since you transferred, right?"

Guest crushed Nagi's speechlessness with the absurd logic: "Passion is enough!" In fact, Guest's proactivity was abnormal. By the second day of transfer, he had conquered the shopping district, made the butcher cry, and won over the florist lady. He had even booked surprise fireworks at Lover's Cape for Saturday.

"Wait a minute. Then my confession this morning—" "Live-streamed to the shopping district group chat!" "Don't do that!!" "I can't walk through Hoshinomiya anymore..." As the two fell to their knees, Guest thrust his fist into the air. "Don't worry! The pyrotechnician has surprise fireworks ready at Lover's Cape on Saturday—" "The scale is all wrong!!"

"Listen, Minato. This isn't a joke. The people of this city wish for your happiness. ...So, do it for real."

At that serious gaze, Minato bowed deeply without a word. As a boy who was clumsy and a crybaby, but could still stand up.

"Gahaha! I'm looking forward to the walk home through the shopping district! Oh, and everyone's reaction when we get back to the classroom!" "...The classroom?"

As the two turned their faces toward a bad premonition, Guest held up his smartphone. "Yeah! I sent the success report for 'Operation: Alone on the Rooftop' to the class group chat!" On the screen, messages like 'Minato-kun confessed!?' and 'Congrats, Nagi-chan!' flowed by at high speed. "We're getting a public execution five minutes after we started dating..." Nagi and Minato laughed weakly, following the back of Guest as he walked proudly like a triumphant general.

"Fuhahaha!! Hot-blooded guidance, complete!!"

—But the story doesn't end here.

As the three stepped into the hallway after descending the stairs, a classmate ran up. "Guest-kun! It's bad! There's a total beauty at the school gate, and she says she came to see Guest-kun!"

"...Huh?" Nagi and Minato stopped in their tracks. Standing at the school gate was a girl who looked like a model, with long silver hair and purple eyes—Serena Shiraishi. As Guest approached, she blushed and timidly held out a letter sealed with a pink heart sticker. "I've been watching you the whole time! I love your 'sweat.' I love your 'heat'!"

"Oh!? For me!? Is this what they call a love letter!!? We did it, Minato! Nagi!!"

Minato, unable to stop grinning: "Heh. Spring has come for Guest too, huh. Man, I was wondering what would happen to you after you spent all that time producing other people's romances."

Nagi, with cold eyes: "Hey, Guest. Weren't you just saying 'A man should confess for himself' a moment ago?"

Turning back to Serena: "Wow, thank you! I'm happy! So, can I read the contents!?"

Nodding firmly, her face turning red to her ears: "Y-Yes... please, read it."

Guest tore the seal and opened the stationery.

It read as follows: 'To Master Guest. The first time I saw you was a week ago at the tennis courts in front of the station. The sight of you hitting against the wall alone was so dazzling I forgot to breathe. Since then, I've been going to watch your practice every day. I don't care if I'm called a stalker. I love your sweat. I love your heat. —Serena Shiraishi.'*

Guest froze after reading the letter.

Peeking from the side: "Dude, you're being stalked every day." Nagi, covering her mouth to hold back laughter.

Looking straight up at Guest: "You don't have to answer now! ...But I won't give up! I'll become a woman worthy of you!!"

Those purple eyes were filled with pure enthusiasm. It was a light seen somewhere before. Yes—the same kind of stupidly straightforward passion as Guest.

Minato muttered: "...They're two of a kind."

A massive romantic boomerang strikes the Cupid of love. Facing a girl with the same stupidly straightforward passion as himself, Guest's hot-blooded path now enters a stiflingly intense new chapter.

(To be continued)

characters miniature version here... wait, schema says translate all strings. Done.

characters