Just as Ichinose sat there nervous and on edge, waiting for Yukio's answer—
"This is… half of my answer." After saying that, Yukio took out a candy box with packaging perfectly tailored to a girl's taste.
Ichinose's brows lifted in a small burst of joy; her cheeks brightened—candy! Candy!
It wasn't Halloween, and Ichinose wasn't a little kid. No matter how exquisite the sweets, she wouldn't be this happy.
But the key was that this was White Day candy. After decades of merchant-driven publicity, it had become a symbol for responding to a Valentine's Day honmei chocolate.
At this moment, the meaning of giving candy equaled Yukio responding to Ichinose's feelings—saying that he liked her too. A little burst of happiness was born and spread through Ichinose's heart.
Her heart bloomed, as if a quiet heart-lake suddenly turned into open fields, and a small wind blew across them.
From the sky fell countless pieces of candy, sinking into the field; the lake beneath supplied water, and the whole plain blossomed with crystal-clear, gorgeous flowers made of candy.
Only after she'd been happy for a while did Ichinose shoot Yukio a doubtful glance. "Half… an ans~wer?"
At such a critical moment, she made sure she hadn't misheard. What Yukio had said was half.
Yukio looked at her gently and gave a small nod to show he hadn't misspoken. Then, simply, he told Ichinose about himself and Shiina and Ibuki.
He didn't say much, not even touching the matter of Ichinose's homeroom teacher, Hoshinomiya. It had to be taken step by step. If even Shiina and Ibuki were hard for Ichinose to accept, saying more would just strike her heart needlessly hard.
It left Ichinose so shocked that her eyes went wide and her brows arched high, as if she'd heard some unbelievable tale that jarred her worldview.
Shiina and Ibuki from Yukio's Class—both? Both? Both had that kind of relationship with Yukio-kun? And the three of them could really get along like that?
Oh—Ichinose suddenly remembered how a classmate had once mentioned offhand that at Christmas, someone had seen Yukio-kun spending it with Shiina and Ibuki.
With that recalled, she found it easier to accept.
Even so, she was still a bit overwhelmed. She lowered her eyes, at a loss for a reply.
Seeing that, Yukio didn't push her. He took the initiative to explain to Ichinose that this was only half an answer.
The other half? He also liked Ichinose. That was why he'd said it was only half.
After hearing him say so, Ichinose looked up at Yukio again, eyes growing increasingly moist. She could feel clearly that while he cherished Shiina and Ibuki, he also cherished her.
These feelings that should have been mutually exclusive, in Yukio's hands seemed to find some strange harmony.
Because of that, Ichinose was swept into a huge dilemma. She had to admit the facts about Yukio, Shiina, and Ibuki—she couldn't deny them.
Now the only question left… was what she herself should do.
Compared to before, Ichinose's heart was much faster now; she knew very well that she liked Yukio-kun.
When she confessed on Valentine's Day, she'd already recognized that.
But to actually join Yukio, Shiina, and Ibuki—was that really okay?
To Ichinose, this was a completely new concept. She had never considered it.
"Do you not want to?" Yukio raised a hand and gently stroked her head, coaxing this too-good, too-naive girl, offering her a path through the tangle. "Don't worry too much—follow your heart. If you don't want to, don't force yourself. If you do, then be with me."
According to what he knew of Ichinose, she was definitely not the type to insert herself between him, Shiina, and Ibuki. Ichinose absolutely wasn't someone who would intrude on another's happiness.
Yukio was greedy by nature, so even if Ichinose meant to withdraw, he didn't want to let go. Just as he'd said to Hoshinomiya on Valentine's Day: if he couldn't hold sand, he'd wet it with water—then he'd be able to hold it for sure.
But now Ichinose said she didn't know? Yukio's hand paused mid–head pat. "You don't know? You mean you don't understand something I said? Or… you don't know how to judge it?"
"It's that I don't know how to judge." Ichinose reflexively lifted her hand and laid it back over his, forming a three-layered stack—Ichinose's palm, Yukio's palm, Ichinose's crown. "Because I don't understand."
"Everyone… usually it's a one-boy-one-girl kind of couple, right? But I can't, just because of that, say that you, Shiina-san, and Ibuki-san are in the wrong."
"After all, if the three of you are truly happy—truly content—then no one else has any right to say anything."
That was exactly where her confusion lay now: the clash between the social morals she'd always held and the concept of personal happiness.
But in her heart, Ichinose chose the latter without hesitation. That made Yukio smile; yes—this was the Ichinose he knew.
No matter what others say—if there's happiness, that's enough.
Thinking that much, Yukio leaned in, and Ichinose startled for an instant. She forgot to keep his hand pressed, drew her own hands back and clasped them at her chest, watching with mounting nerves as Yukio filled her pupils.
But Yukio closed his eyes, which made Ichinose all the more flustered. Eh? Yukio-kun—what is he going to do? Why—why is he closing his eyes?
In the end, Yukio pressed his forehead to hers, and Ichinose's heart settled slightly. So… so it was just a forehead touch… Somehow, she felt a tiny pang of disappointment.
Yukio hadn't expected Ichinose's inner play to run so deep; he kept to his own plan. "Then, Ichinose—what about your own happiness?"
Feeling the warmth at her brow—whether by instinct or the bewitching pull of this strangely intimate mood—Ichinose's long lashes slowly came together. Wordlessly, she closed her eyes to match him.
Sight lost, it felt as if, through the pressed foreheads, their hearts too, within that darkness, were slowly meeting as one.
When hearts were this attuned, any lie became powerless. In the past, Ichinose would certainly have sacrificed herself.
She would have said things like I wish you all happiness, or I don't really mind, but now—she couldn't say a single word against her heart. "M-my happiness? I… I want it too. I want to be with Yukio-kun as well…"
...
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