Volume 4 - CH 12

It was the end of April.

On that Sunday, Yuzuru and Arisa were playing a game together.

“I won again.”

“Mumu…”

And as usual, Yuzuru was defeated in the game.

Yuzuru was not very good at fighting games, while Arisa had a talent for them.

Although Yuzuru should have had more exposure to games…

Once a week.

Every time they played against each other, Arisa improved, and these days Yuzuru barely wins.

(…Well, she seems to be having fun, so that’s good.)

Seeing the happy smile on Arisa’s face, Yuzuru couldn’t help but raise the corner of his mouth.

Fortunately, Yuzuru was able to honestly enjoy the game as a game, even if he was defeated.

In addition to that, if his fiancée was enjoying it, he had no complaints.

In the first place, fighting games are not the only type of game.

Yuzuru is quite good at strategy simulation games, and he has beaten Arisa many times.

In addition, in games like cooperative play, the unique combination of fiancée… is not very useful, but it is fun to play together.

“What’s wrong?”

And then, as Yuzuru was looking at Arisa’s face…

She tilted her head curiously.

Her beautiful flaxen hair swayed slightly, and her jade green eyes stared at him.

Yuzuru was smitten with her beauty as always.

“Nah… just thinking that you’re as cute as ever.”

“Thank you very much.”

“…You’re not going to deny it ?”

“Is it not true?”

Then Arisa closed the distance between her and Yuzuru.

She brought her face close to him… and unconsciously Yuzuru looked away.

“N-no …It is true.”

“That’s good to know.”

Arisa smiled at him.

It had been about a year since he had known Arisa, and Yuzuru was amazed at how much people change.

“…So, what were you really thinking?”

“No, I just felt a little bad about making you play games all the time.”

It is true that he thought Arisa was cute, but that was not the only thing.

Yuzuru was a little worried about the fact that even though they were engaged to be married, he hadn’t been able to take her out on a date since the cherry blossom viewing.

Of course, Yuzuru wanted to take her to an amusement park, a movie theater, or some other place that would make her feel like a lover.

However…

“I’m having fun, so don’t worry about it… You are short on money too, right? “

Yes, Yuzuru was out of money.

The reason was obvious.

He had spent all his money on Christmas and White Day.

In addition, it is not possible to increase the hours of work unnecessarily, considering the time spent with Arisa.

If he wants to go on a date with Arisa, he would have to spend less time with her.

“Well, that is the case, but…”

However, it was a little humiliating for Yuzuru as a man to have his fiancée’s attention focused on that.

However, what he didn’t have, he didn’t have.

…If he could appeal to his parents, they might be able to give him some extra emergency funds, but his pride wouldn’t let him do that.

“To be honest, it’s a little more apologetic on my part, I think.”

On the other hand, Arisa touched her hand with a slightly thoughtful expression.

The engagement ring that Yuzuru gave to Arisa before was shining there.

” I wonder if I’ve done enough for Yuzuru-san to be worthy of this ring…”

“…”

Of course, Yuzuru gave her the ring because he thought she deserved it.

I will make you happy, and I want you to be my wife. 

He intended to give a form to these feelings in this way.

And Yuzuru was about to say such words of encouragement, but…

“Yuzuru-san!”

“Ye-yes Ma’am. What is it!?”

“…Why are you suddenly speaking with honorifics?”

“No, it’s because you suddenly spoke so loudly…”

When Yuzuru replied, Arisa gave a small cough as if to cover it up.

“I would like to become a woman worthy of you, Yuzuru-san.”

“I-is… that so?”

Yuzuru had assumed that she was stuck in her usual negative thought process, but she seemed to be feeling positive.

Of course, as far as Yuzuru was concerned, Arisa had been a great support to him, and she has been taking care of him by making his lunch, so he doesn’t think that she owes him anything.

So he wanted to tell her not to get too worked up about it…

However, the positive feelings that she was feeling could not be forcibly discouraged.

“So, what do you think about …the future career path?　Are there any qualifications that would be helpful for you?”

“Hmm… no, that’s something you should consider based on what you want to do…”

“Honestly, I don’t have a particular career I want to pursue. I’d like to help Yugen-san anyway. That way, I can study better.”

Not many high school sophomores have even decided on their future dreams or career path.

Some of them change after they enter college.

“Let’s see… Actually, I’ve asked something similar to my dad.”

As the next head of the Takasegawa family, which department is the right one for him?　Yuzuru also asked such a question to his father.

And the answer was…

“‘I’ll teach you everything you need to know, and you can study whatever you want at university.‘ That’s what he told me.”

“…Don’t you think qualifications as a lawyer or something like that would be useful?”

“I said something similar to my father… And he asked ‘You can just hire one, right?’. “

“Ah… that’s true too.”

Yuzuru’s father and grandfather have hired very good lawyers.

It is not necessary for Yuzuru or Arisa to become a lawyer at all, nor will they be of any use.

“He said, ‘If anything, I’d be happy if you got into a prestigious university because it would give you a nice profile’…”

“Profile..?”

“Yeah, It’s better to have a good profile. It doesn’t matter if I don’t though… That’s how it is.”

However, this is with the proviso that it is ‘concerning Yuzuru’s life’.

So whether it applies to Arisa or anyone else is a completely different story.

“Well then…I’ll just go for a higher education for now.”

Arisa said with a slightly defeated expression.

Apparently, it did not meet her expectations.

“But… to be helpful, huh?”

Yuzuru had never thought about the helpfulness of his relationship with Arisa.

If he had to describe it, he would say that just being with her, playing with her, touching her, and eating her food is helpful.

Yes, He just needed her to be together with him.

“Yuzuru-san?”

“…You know, it’s almost Golden Week, right?”

“Yes. That’s the first anniversary of our engagement in the general sense.”

“…Let’s talk later about what date should be defined as the anniversary of your engagement to me.”

While correcting a slight digression.

Yuzuru got to the point.

“This is only if you don’t mind.”

“Yes.”

“How about having a sleepover here…?”

If it’s during the holidays, there’s no need to bring her uniform.

It is possible to stay up late and play… something they could not do normally.

“What do you think?　…Arisa?”

For some reason, Yuzuru looked at Arisa’s face, who had fallen silent.

She had a somewhat distracted expression on her face, and her white skin was blushing slightly.

As Yuzuru called out to her, Arisa shifted her gaze left and right and held her body with one hand.

Yuzuru hurriedly made up his mind to make an excuse.

“N-no.. um, of course… The beds will be different. Don’t worry.”

Arisa’s face grew redder at Yuzuru’s words.

“Th-that’s obvious!　What are you thinking about!”

Whack!

said Arisa, lightly hitting Yuzuru’s body with one hand.

Yuzuru asked Arisa again.

“…So, what do you think?”

“…”

Arisa averted her gaze slightly.

Then she gave a small nod.

“…Sure.”