Volume 3 - CH 28

About two weeks after Valentine’s Day, early morning…

“Good morning, Yuzuru-san.”

“Good morning, Arisa.”

Today, Arisa visited Yuzuru’s apartment again.

She handed Yuzuru his lunch box and he handed her his empty one.

Then Yuzuru expressed his thoughts on the food to Arisa, and she smiled happily.

Then…

“So… let’s get going, shall we?”

“Yes, let’s.”

Yuzuru and Arisa left the apartment together and headed to school.

“…it’s almost spring. Although it’s still cold.”

“Yes, it is. In the past few years, it feels like spring and autumn have disappeared and there is only summer and winter.”

“In that case, it’s not four seasons, but two seasons, isn’t it?”

They talked about such trivial things.　

Yuzuru and Arisa were walking side by side, getting along well.

Since a while ago, Yuzuru and Arisa had started to go to school together.

In the past, they avoided going to school together because they were afraid of being seen by students in the morning…

Since Valentine’s Day, things have changed a bit.

This is because Yuzuru and Arisa are now regarded as “lovers” in the school.

But that’s to be expected.

At the classroom, Arisa handed chocolates, which practically screamed genuine, to Yuzuru as if to say ‘I like you ‘. And then she ran away as if to say, ’I confessed my feelings, I’m so embarrassed!’.

With that, at least people around them will recognize that Arisa likes Yuzuru and that she has confessed.

And as a kind of foreshadowing, Yuzuru and Arisa have been showing the people around them that they are close friends by eating lunch together with Ayaka and the others and doing activities together.

So there was ample room for Yuzuru to accept Arisa’s feelings.

And the distance between Yuzuru and Arisa has never been explicitly wider than before after this happened.

At the very least, it seemed to people that Arisa Yukishiro had not been rejected by Yuzuru Takasegawa.

In other words, he had accepted her feelings.

The people around them naturally interpreted it like that.

In addition, several students had seen Yuzuru and Arisa together when they were leaving school, so there was a rumor that Yuzuru and Arisa were “dating”.

In other words, the “groundwork” had been laid for those around them to realize that Yuzuru and Arisa were lovers.

… However, this “groundwork” was created by Yuzuru and Arisa with the tacit agreement between them.

Now it is no longer a secret that Yuzuru and Arisa have a close relationship.

Therefore…

There was no need to hesitate to go to school together now.

They naturally decided to go home together as well.

“Really… It’s cold.”

While saying so, Arisa blew white breath on her pure white hands.

…if Yuzuru’s memory was correct, she should have had her own gloves.

But for some reason, she was not wearing gloves today.

With a slightly flushed face and a flicker of moist eyes, Arisa sent Yuzuru a look.

Yuzuru silently removed his glove from one hand.

“…Yuzuru-san?”

She looked at him.

It was as if she wanted to say, ‘What’s up with you taking off your gloves all of a sudden?’.

…Yuzuru wanted to be a little mean.

“I’ll lend you this one”

“…Thank you.”

That’s not what I wanted you to do…

Yuzuru-san is a blockhead…

Arisa took the gloves from Yuzuru, looking like she wanted to say something along those lines.

She put the gloves on the sidewalk side of her hand, the opposite side of Yuzuru’s hand without a glove.

Then she deliberately blew on her other hand as if to say, ‘It’s cold…’.

And then, deliberately, she trembled her body.

Fighting the urge to burst out laughing, Yuzuru held out his bare hand, managing to contain it with a wry smile.

“I’m cold too. Could you please bear with this for that hand?”

He opened his hand and showed it to Arisa.

Then Arisa’s jade green eyes widened.

She looked up at Yuzuru’s face and her face broke into a smile as if a flower had bloomed.

Then, without hesitation, she grabbed his hand as if she had been waiting for him.

The hand was cool and chilly.

Yuzuru squeezed her hand tightly.

Arisa’s face turned red up to her ears, and she turned her face down and said,

“T-thank you so much. Actually…, I forgot my gloves. I’m sorry for the inconvenience.”

She glanced at Yuzuru’s expression as she made her case quickly.

This gesture was like a dog or a cat that deliberately plays tricks or pretends to be sick to get its owner’s attention.

It was all very silly.

But perhaps the person believes she is doing a good job of “acting”.

That part of her was… 

“Really cute.”

“Fu~e? What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

Arisa shouted in a high-pitched voice.

Apparently, he had just said that out loud.

“Ah, sorry.”

“…Are you making fun of me?”

Geez!　You’re a terrible person!

And with that, Arisa turned away her puffy cheeks.

She was trying to show that she was angry.

However, it was obvious that she was acting… as she seemed to have no intention of removing her hand from Yuzuru’s hand.

(..We really don’t need any more “confessions.”)

Yuzuru and Arisa were already lovers.

Of course, neither of them explicitly told the other that they liked each other.

When he received the chocolate from Arisa, she never said “I like you” or “I love you” to Yuzuru.

So Yuzuru only told her what he thought of the taste of the chocolate, and never answered the intent behind the gesture.

Since he hadn’t been confessed to in the first place, there was no reason for him to answer.

But there was no need to tell, and no need to make a verbal declaration.

The warmth of their hands had already conveyed their fondness and affection for each other.

Yuzuru clearly thinks that Arisa is his lover.

Even though he doesn’t directly express this in words, he clearly shows this to her through his attitude and actions.

And even though she also doesn’t say it directly, she also clearly shows it with her attitude and actions.

Then there was no need for a confession.

In fact, it would be rather tactless.

Of course… It is important to clearly verbalize “I love you” or “I like you” to the other person.

At least, there was no need to tell each other “Let’s be lovers”.

But…

‘Proposal’ is a different case.

“……”

Since Yuzuru had gone silent, Arisa became uneasy.

She glanced over to check Yuzuru’s expression as if she had forgotten about acting angry.

She might have been thinking that she made him angry…

However, Yuzuru had seen through Arisa’s cute act from the beginning. He thought it was charming and wasn’t angry at all, so Arisa’s fears were unfounded.

When Yuzuru stopped walking, Arisa looked more and more worried.

“U-um, Yuzuru-san…”

“It’s almost White Day, isn’t it?”

Yuzuru said as if to interrupt Arisa’s words.

Then…

“Ye-yes!”

For some reason, Arisa straightened her back.

It seemed that she was nervous.

Although…Yuzuru’s expression remained calm, his heart was beating noisily.

“I’d like to repay for your Valentine’s Day chocolates, you see”

“Okay.”

“Do you want to go on a date after school? …There’s a restaurant that’s famous for its beautiful night view.”

When Yuzuru said that, Arisa gave a small nod.

“Yes, that’s fine… um, how much is the expense?”

“I’ll pay for it, so don’t worry about it.”

“Eh? No…but…”

“Just for that day.”

Yuzuru interrupted the stammering words of Arisa with a strong voice.

And gripped her hand tightly.

“Could you please let me show off a little?”

A moment of silence reigned between them.

Yuzuru’s heart was beating wildly.

“…yes.”

Arisa gave a small nod.