Chapter 2103: Expectations

Chapter 2103: Expectations



"Ruki-kun, come over here..."

After a minute of silence where my stay in this room hung in the balance, those became the words that came out of Kazuha-nee's mouth. It was an invitation to come closer to her. The tone she used was also pleadingly inviting.

I just said she should follow the agreement I made with Ogawa and yet, this became her response?

If I wasn't someone who tends to overthink things, I'd probably be jumping to her side already without fully understanding the meaning behind it.

When I glanced back in her direction, I saw her looking at me with the same complicated look on her face.

It's a face that mirrored her current internal dilemma.

Is she against the idea of cutting off contact with me?

I honestly don't know. And I don't like to assume things here.

And so, I have to think of a response...

Having met her gaze again, I could feel her eyes sticking on me as though she was trying to dissect my head and read my mind.

I guess that's fair. It might be too baffling for her to hear me say she should just follow Ogawa's warning when I already showed her my shameless side.

"Kazuha-nee, if I come over... are you not afraid that I will act shamelessly again?"

In all seriousness, that's all I can think about. If she gives me a reason to get close to her, I probably won't be able to hold myself back.

I already recognized my interest in her, after all. She became the reason why I kind of mellowed down on my pettiness towards Ogawa. If not for her, the delusional guy would've suffered a fate no less different than Taku.

But well... even my interest in Kazuha-nee wouldn't save him if he annoyed me again. Good thing he's behaving properly this week.

As my head once again wandered somewhere else, Kazuha-nee replied to my question.

"I don't care... Just come here. Next to me."

This time, she even tapped the space beside her and moved slightly to the side as though opening up a space for my feet to slide inside the kotatsu if I did come over.

"Alright. Don't say later that I didn't warn you."

Upon saying that, I dramatically stood up as though I was reluctant to move.

With both of my arms pressing on the table, I lowered my head and sluggishly straightened my back.

Kazuha-nee watched me carefully without even blinking.

She's right. It was quite shallow if I thought about it. However, that's also how my interest in my girls started. They all started with a small interest and eventually bloomed to love.

But in retrospect, it's not really hard to label me as a playboy who cannot stop falling for girls. "Little brother, huh? Like I said, we're too different from each other, Kazuha-nee. Tell me, what are your expectations from me?"

"... I don't know exactly."

It took her a while to answer that as well but in the end, that's all she could come up with.

"That's quite a vague answer. If what I'm showing feels shallow for you then you must be expecting something unconventional from me. I'm sure you're not looking for a gentleman...

Then, it must be that, huh?"

"That what?"

"Someone just like you, Kazuha-nee."

Everyone has their own tastes. Mine was diverse though. But this woman must be like that. She's looking for someone who can match everything about herself. All the negatives and the

positives.

"I don't understand." Kazuha-nee frowned.

Looking at her expression, she's trying her hardest to understand it. She fell into an

introspection.

"That's normal. We often don't understand ourselves completely even if we claim we do.

That's why our partners fill in the blanks for that. Take me and my girls, they understand me

better than myself."

Well, there's no better example at hand. Only myself.

Kazuha-nee remained silent. She heard me but she's also still looking inside herself.

A while later, she pulled on my collar, bringing my face closer to her. "Yes. You may be right, Ruki-kun. My expectation for you is to match me. No. On second

thought, it's the way around. Last time, I fell into the temptation you and Hina-chan cast on

me... I want to match that, Ruki-kun. Can you try resisting me?"

This... It sounded alright but at the same time, I couldn't help but feel that something went wrong with her thought process.

How did she arrive at having her own expectation for herself to match me? Besides, aren't we talking about my agreement with Ogawa? Just how did we arrive here?