Asahina Nazuna stared blankly at Shikime Natsu, who was sitting in front of her.
The air in the room seemed to stop flowing in that instant. Only her own heartbeat—growing clearer, almost deafening—kept echoing inside her chest.
Asahina Nazuna could hardly believe it.
She even began to wonder whether, because she had been through so many emotional ups and downs today, her ears had started playing tricks on her and conjured up some kind of auditory hallucination.
Or was Shikime Natsu playing some kind of joke on her?
"Shiki-kun..."
Asahina Nazuna's mouth was slightly open, her voice carrying a faint, barely perceptible tremor.
She felt a little embarrassed, but forcing down the panic in her heart, she once again spoke up to confirm it with the boy before her.
"What... what did you just say?"
"Did I... did I mishear something?"
Watching the girl look just like a startled little rabbit, in that adorable way as she tried to confirm whether she was dreaming.
Shikime Natsu's pale golden eyes looked straight into Asahina Nazuna's, and there wasn't the slightest trace of joking in his gaze.
He leaned in just a little, his voice gentle, and once again repeated what he had said a moment ago.
"You didn't mishear, senpai."
Shikime Natsu looked at her, saying it clearly, one word at a time.
"I want Asahina-senpai to become my girlfriend."
When this words—blunt as blunt could be—fell clearly into Asahina Nazuna's ears for the second time.
Asahina Nazuna's whole body froze, as if a binding spell had been cast on her.
Then her small face, which had already been flushed, in that very moment turned an even deeper shade of red in an instant.
She really hadn't misheard after all.
This guy, Shikime Natsu—he wasn't joking. He genuinely wanted her to become his girlfriend.
But... she wasn't prepared at all. This kind of completely unforeshadowed, straight-ball confession from Shikime Natsu was really far too sly, wasn't it?
Asahina Nazuna felt as though her brain was about to stop working entirely. She unconsciously clenched the bedsheet beneath her, her gaze growing flustered and evasive.
"But... but."
Asahina Nazuna bit her lip and, hesitating, spoke up to find an excuse.
"Shiki-kun, don't you already have several girlfriends?"
"They're all very cute, and very impressive too..."
She lowered her head, her voice growing smaller and smaller.
"And besides."
"I... I'm a senpai who's a whole year above you, and my age is a little older than yours too..."
Listening to these somewhat incoherent—one could even say utterly illogical—words from Asahina Nazuna.
Shikime Natsu let out a soft chuckle.
He didn't launch into any long-winded rebuttal against these so-called "reasons."
He simply sat there, his gaze calmly resting on the somewhat flustered Asahina Nazuna. "Asahina-senpai."
Shikime Natsu spoke, a faint hint of a smile in his tone.
"Just now, before the game started, didn't you say it yourself, with your own lips?"
He raised an eyebrow slightly, reminding her.
"'As long as I win, whatever the condition, you'd agree to it.'"
Shikime Natsu looked at those somewhat flustered purple eyes of hers.
"What's wrong?"
"Now that it's come to this, is Asahina-senpai, as the senior, planning to go back on her word to a junior?"
Hearing this remark carrying a hint of provocation.
Asahina Nazuna's gaze landed once more on Shikime Natsu.
She looked at this composed, unruffled boy before her, and couldn't help but feel a murmur of complaint rise in her heart.
This guy, Shikime Natsu—when exactly had he become so skilled at courtship?
His every word and action, the way he controlled the rhythm—it was just like an experienced, seasoned hunter, unhurriedly tightening the net in his hands.
She was clearly the one who was a year above him, the senpai who always presented herself in a reliable manner.
So why was it that now, in front of this junior, she seemed so weak, so utterly defenseless? Cornered dead in her tracks by a single sentence from him, without even the confidence to retort.
But in truth, Asahina Nazuna understood it clearly in her heart as well.
Since Shikime Natsu had spoken to this extent, it was tantamount to directly poking through the once-hazy paper-thin barrier between them, laying everything out in the open.
Of course, the final right to choose still rested in her own hands. After all, as long as she added something like "any condition that doesn't include making senpai date you" into the mix, then it would be a refusal.
Asahina Nazuna sat there, her hands tightly wrung together, her heart already caught in considerable conflict.
After all, this confession from Shikime Natsu was simply far too abrupt.
For a girl in the midst of adolescence, full of fantasies about romance, this was just like a meteor falling from the sky, striking her without the slightest mental preparation.
If the girl had been able to know in advance that he was going to confess today, then it would have been fine—she could at least have practiced her expressions in front of the mirror beforehand, or prepared some demure lines in her heart.
But Asahina Nazuna had absolutely no idea today.
She had originally only wanted to use the excuse of treating him to a meal to spend a little more time with him, to close the distance between them just a little.
Of course, although she had no mental preparation, this kind of sudden expression of feelings was, for Asahina Nazuna, also tantamount to a kind of enormous, pleasant surprise.
That affection that had always been hidden deep in her heart—the one even she herself hadn't quite dared to face head-on—had, in this moment, received the most direct, most ardent response.
As she thought and thought.
A thin layer of misty moisture slowly welled up, unbidden, in Asahina Nazuna's beautiful purple eyes.
It was the shimmering light woven together from too much excitement, and that indescribable joy.
She looked at Shikime Natsu, gazing at those pale golden eyes that reflected her own figure.
At last, Asahina Nazuna no longer kept agonizing over it, nor did she keep fretting over all those jumbled things.
She gave a gentle nod toward Shikime Natsu.
"I... I accept."
Asahina Nazuna's voice was soft, carrying an undisguisable trace of shyness.
"I accept your condition, Shiki-kun."
After saying these words.
As if she had set down some heavy burden, Asahina Nazuna let out a long sigh of relief.
Then she lifted her head, looking at Shikime Natsu with a gaze that carried a hint of warning, yet was even more like coquettish sweetness.
"But, I'm telling you upfront, okay."
Asahina Nazuna said to Shikime Natsu, her tone carrying the naive charm of a young girl.
"Since I've agreed to be your girlfriend."
"Then from now on, you absolutely mustn't bully me, and you're not allowed to do anything bad to me or anything that makes me sad."
She bit her lip and added, her cheeks slightly red.
"I... this is the first time I've ever properly dated a boy."
"If... if there's anything I don't do well, or any problems with how I am as a girlfriend."
Asahina Nazuna looked at him, her voice growing even softer.
"You... you have to patiently teach me."
Listening to this girl's confession-response, carrying a bit of clumsiness and utterly unreserved trust.
A flicker of tenderness passed through the depths of Shikime Natsu's eyes.
He didn't speak any flowery, sweet-talking vows; he simply looked at her, solemnly nodded, and agreed.
"Alright, I promise you."
Having received Shikime Natsu's promise.
The great weight on Asahina Nazuna's heart finally settled.
However, a girl's thoughts are always as unpredictable and ever-changing as summer weather.
No sooner had they just established the relationship than Asahina Nazuna's mind quickly shifted, and a question popped up.
She tilted her head, looked at Shikime Natsu, and spoke up to ask.
"Come to think of it."
"Shiki-kun, when you confessed just now, your attitude was so firm."
"If... I mean, just hypothetically."
Asahina Nazuna blinked.
"If I had just steeled myself and refused your condition, refused to become your girlfriend—then what would have happened?"
Faced with this hypothetical question from Asahina Nazuna.
Upon hearing it, Shikime Natsu merely gave a casual smile.
"There wouldn't have been any such 'if.'"
Shikime Natsu looked at her.
"Senpai definitely wouldn't have refused me."
Hearing such a confident answer from him.
Asahina Nazuna couldn't help but puff up her cheeks slightly, pretending to be a little indignant.
"Hmph."
Asahina Nazuna said to Shikime Natsu.
"How would you know? You're that confident I'd definitely agree to you?"
Watching the girl's charmingly petulant manner.
Shikime Natsu chuckled softly and shook his head.
"This has nothing to do with confidence."
Shikime Natsu spoke to Asahina Nazuna, his tone growing a little more serious.
"I wouldn't go and confess to a girl as cute as Asahina-senpai without being absolutely certain."
"After all, a confession has never been the bugle call that sounds the start of a charge."
"Rather, it's the triumphant anthem that finally declares victory."
Hearing this theory from Shikime Natsu.
Asahina Nazuna was stunned for a moment.
Then, she carefully savored the meaning of these words in her heart, and couldn't help but nod in agreement.
She felt that what Shikime Natsu had said was indeed quite reasonable.
Come to think of it carefully, it was true.
If it were a boy who normally had no connection with her, who had built up no emotional foundation whatsoever, suddenly running over and confessing to her right off the bat.
Then she would definitely have found it utterly baffling, and refused him outright without a second thought.
In that kind of situation, she wouldn't even have had the most basic reactions of feeling shy or her heart racing—she would only have found the other person presumptuous.
After all, feelings don't come together overnight. A confession with no groundwork is simply too baffling.
Of course, in Asahina Nazuna's mind, the figure of another person unconsciously surfaced.
Nagumo Miyabi.
If it were Nagumo Miyabi who came to confess to her.
Then, Asahina Nazuna silently confirmed it once more in her heart.
She would definitely refuse him without the slightest hesitation.
After all, in Asahina Nazuna's heart, her feelings toward Nagumo Miyabi had always remained at the level of that "childhood friend she'd known since they were little" identity.
And moreover.
The most important point was that Nagumo Miyabi, when it came to matters of the heart, was a thoroughly through-and-through scumbag.
Asahina Nazuna knew all about his romantic escapades at school crystal clear.
However, when Asahina Nazuna used the word "scumbag" to evaluate Nagumo Miyabi in her heart.
Her train of thought couldn't help but pause slightly.
If she really were to talk about scumbags.
Then, this boyfriend right before her eyes, with whom she had just established a relationship—Shikime Natsu—
The number of girlfriends he was currently dating at the same time was, in fact, far, far more than all those girls around Nagumo Miyabi combined.
Yet, strangely enough.
When Asahina Nazuna faced Shikime Natsu, she simply didn't feel that Shikime Natsu was a scumbag who toyed with people's feelings.
What on earth was going on?
Asahina Nazuna reflected on it a little in her heart, and figured that this was probably also that somewhat double-standard way of thinking that arose in her, as a girl, when facing the person she liked.
For someone she didn't like, being a playboy made him an unforgivable scumbag.
For someone she liked, even if there were many girls around him, she would unconsciously make excuses for him, even feeling that it was a manifestation of his charm.
Of course, aside from Asahina Nazuna's own emotional leanings.
Within this process, there was actually a deeper reason hidden that even she herself couldn't perceive.
And that was the "Harem Permit (CG 58 Reward)" that Shikime Natsu possessed.
Under the influence of this concept.
No matter how many girlfriends Shikime Natsu had, as long as he still treated each one of them sincerely, then this kind of behavior was normal behavior that could be understood and tolerated.
In the subconscious of Asahina Nazuna and the others.
Shikime Natsu running a harem was a perfectly natural matter.
It was just that, if it were any other boy at school who had this many girlfriends, then it would be regarded as abnormal and despicable conduct.
Just as Asahina Nazuna sat on the bed, her mind still wandering off in all directions, thinking of this and that, sorting through these jumbled thoughts.
Shikime Natsu, sitting across from her, watched her somewhat absent-minded appearance and timely added another remark.
"So."
Shikime Natsu looked at her, a touch of tenderness in his voice.
"The reason I dared to put forward this condition."
"Is because I'd long since felt that Asahina-senpai, in your heart, you like me."
Hearing these sudden words from Shikime Natsu.
Asahina Nazuna's train of thought was instantly pulled back to reality.
Her cheeks, which had only just cooled down a tiny bit, couldn't help but flush a violent red again.
After all, to have this boy she admired, right before her eyes, state the fact that "you like me" so affirmatively, with such certainty.
And even to so casually lay bare, right to her face, the feelings she had hidden and concealed deep in her heart.
This feeling, as if all her cards had been seen through, how could the girl—who had always carried herself as a senpai—not feel bashful and embarrassed?
"You... you stop talking nonsense."
Asahina Nazuna retorted with a bit of a stammer, but her evasive gaze and the bright red tips of her ears had already betrayed the true thoughts in her heart.
After a brief moment of bashfulness.
Asahina Nazuna's gaze turned back toward Shikime Natsu once more.
Since the other party had already laid everything bare, she didn't intend to keep being coy any longer either.
She looked at those pale golden eyes of his, took a deep breath, and then once again spoke up, looking toward Shikime Natsu.
"Then..."
Asahina Nazuna bit her lip and asked Shikime Natsu in a small voice.
"Shiki-kun, what about you?"
"Do you... do you like me?"
Hearing this question from Asahina Nazuna, carrying a hint of anticipation and unease.
Shikime Natsu couldn't help but break into a smile, an extremely clean smile.
He didn't deliberately tease her, nor did he dodge around the question.
"Senpai."
Shikime Natsu looked into Asahina Nazuna's eyes and spoke up earnestly.
"If I didn't like Asahina-senpai, would I have put forward that condition just now, would I have confessed to you?"
He gave a slight shake of his head.
"I'm not the sort of casual person who, just because someone happens to like me, would go and confess to them irresponsibly and tie them to my side."
Shikime Natsu's voice was gentle and unhurried, yet it carried a kind of reassuring strength.
"Feelings, in the end, are a two-way thing."
"If it weren't for mutual attraction, then why would I be sitting here?"
After hearing this candid answer from Shikime Natsu.
An indescribable sweetness welled up in Asahina Nazuna's heart.
She nodded in satisfaction.
This answer from Shikime Natsu could be said to perfectly match the expectations in her heart, and didn't bring her any disappointment at all.
In fact, it was even more heart-fluttering than she had imagined.
After confirming each other's feelings and untangling those little knots deep in her heart.
Asahina Nazuna's mood became completely relaxed, and that liveliness and playfulness belonging to a girl her age returned to her once again.
She adjusted her sitting posture, propped both hands on the bed behind her, tilted her head up slightly, and looked at Shikime Natsu.
"In that case."
Asahina Nazuna spoke up again, a glint of cunning sparkling in her eyes.
"Since the two of us have now officially become boyfriend and girlfriend."
"Then, how about we change the way we address each other along with it?"
She looked at Shikime Natsu and put forward her idea.
"Always calling each other senpai and kouhai sounds way too distant—it doesn't seem at all like we're dating."
"So..."
Asahina Nazuna leaned in a little closer, a smug little expression on her face.
"From now on, you're not allowed to call me senpai anymore."
"You have to call me 'Nazuna-neesan.'"
She pointed at herself, then pointed at Shikime Natsu.
"And then, to make it equal, from now on I'll call you Natsu-chan."
"How about it? This suggestion's pretty good, isn't it?"
She paused, then gave her reasoning with complete justification.
"After all, no matter what you say, I'm still a little older than you, so I'm at least a big sister, you know."
Asahina Nazuna said these words in a tone that was just about as good as coquettish wheedling, all soft and sweet.
After she finished speaking, she fixed those bright, sparkling, anticipation-filled eyes on Shikime Natsu without blinking for even a moment.
From the looks of it, it seemed she absolutely had to force Shikime Natsu to call her "Nazuna-neesan" with his own mouth today.
And as she watched, she also muttered softly under her breath.
"Natsu-chan, Natsu-chan..."
Calling Shikime Natsu "Natsu-chan" with every breath, as if getting a head start on growing accustomed to this new name brimming with possessiveness and intimacy.
Watching this adorable girl before him, who had only just established the relationship and was already trying to reclaim some of her dignity as the "elder one" through forms of address.
Shikime Natsu felt a wave of helplessness in his heart.
Still, he didn't go and spoil her fun.
Faced with that gaze of hers, carrying a bit of wheedling and anticipation.
Shikime Natsu could only obediently let out a sigh, then nod and agree to this small request of hers.
He looked at Asahina Nazuna and called out gently, "Nazuna-neesan."
When these words came out of Shikime Natsu's mouth and reached Asahina Nazuna's ears.
Asahina Nazuna's whole body jolted as if she'd been electrified, her eyes instantly lighting up to an astonishing degree.
She was so happy—happy enough that she wanted to roll around on the bed.
That vanity of being a big sister and that sweetness of being a girlfriend were, in this moment, immensely satisfied.
She could no longer suppress the excitement in her heart.
Asahina Nazuna leaned her body straight forward, stretched out both hands, and asked whether she could touch Shikime Natsu's face. After receiving Shikime Natsu's permission, she cupped that handsome face of his between her two hands, one on each side.
Her distance from him was very close, their breaths mingling.
"Natsu-chan is such a good boy."
Asahina Nazuna looked into his eyes, her own eyes full of delight, not concealing in the least her admiration for him.
"You know what, Natsu-chan."
She spoke to Shikime Natsu, her tone carrying a hint of wistful emotion.
She gently caressed his cheek with her thumb.
"Back then, I already thought that this first-year junior was really, really good-looking."
Not only good-looking, but also so smart, so gentle.
And now, this good-looking junior had finally become her very own "Natsu-chan."
Just at this moment.
"Bzzt—bzzt—"
An abrupt buzzing of a phone suddenly rang out in the quiet room, breaking this rare tranquility.
It was the sound coming from the phone Asahina Nazuna had casually tossed onto the nightstand.
Someone was calling.
Asahina Nazuna frowned slightly and, somewhat reluctantly, released the hands that had been cupping Shikime Natsu's cheeks.
She turned around, picked up the buzzing phone, and glanced at the caller ID on the screen.
The caller was Nagumo Miyabi.
____
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