"...Should we try dating for real?"
"Eh?"
Imaizumi Keita's movements as he ate his bento paused, and he slowly swallowed the rice in his mouth.
He turned his head to look at Yanami's somewhat serious expression, a hint of surprise appearing on his face as he asked back:
"Aren't we already dating right now?"
"Eh?"
This response from Imaizumi, which seemed to be playing dumb, caused the emotions Yanami Anna had carefully built up to instantly stall halfway.
The solemn and serious expression on her face broke immediately, turning into a bashful crimson.
"T-That's different!"
Yanami Anna pressed on somewhat urgently, her body unconsciously leaning toward him, trying to emphasize her seriousness through this action.
"The... the dating I'm talking about isn't like this! It's not this strange relationship where we only pretend in front of certain people, but in private we're still more than friends but less than lovers!"
She took a deep breath, met Imaizumi's gaze, and spoke her true thoughts.
"I mean, I want everyone to know that Imaizumi Keita is my boyfriend. Not the kind of 'hooked up' that people gossip about behind our backs, but the kind of real dating where we can walk down the street holding hands openly."
"I don't want to hide anymore, and I don't need to find excuses like 'practice' anymore."
Yanami Anna's tone was full of humble pleading.
She wasn't forcing him; she was just sincerely telling Imaizumi her thoughts, and then waiting with anticipation for his reply.
Imaizumi Keita listened quietly.
He could clearly feel that the emotional energy radiating from the girl beside him was so pure and fervent.
He fell silent for a moment before patiently speaking in a very cautious, probing tone.
"Anna-chan, you still remember what I told you before about my views on love, right?"
This again.
That set of bastard theories he used to arm himself, full of a sense of detachment.
Yanami Anna picked up her chopsticks and shoveled a large mouthful of rice from her bento box to hide the irritation in her heart.
"Of course I remember," she answered indistinctly, not even looking up at him. "So many things happened during the Training Camp, how could I forget?"
Yanami Anna swallowed the rice, her voice becoming calm because of Imaizumi's reaction.
"You just think that there's no need to be exclusive in feelings, and that you can like several pretty girls at the same time, right? I know all that."
"Since you know..."
Imaizumi Keita looked at her, a trace of imperceptible helplessness finally entering his tone, "Then why do you still accept it so easily?"
"If it's really as you say, and we announce to the world that we're dating... at that time, the person who will truly feel troubled would probably be you, Anna-chan."
Although Yanami Anna hadn't been with Imaizumi Keita for long, she understood what he was saying.
Imaizumi was reminding her that he was a 'Scumbag,' a bastard who could be distracted by other pretty girls at any moment.
Making the relationship public would only plunge her, the 'official girlfriend,' into suspicion and pain.
It sounded like he was looking out for her, but Yanami Anna heard a hint of... escapism in it.
She put down her chopsticks and looked up, quietly watching his profile, which was sharply defined in the sunlight.
"Then tell me, Keita."
"From the moment we decided to 'cooperate,' besides that first time at the Family Restaurant, has there been anything I've done that made you unhappy or feel like I was a bother?"
Imaizumi Keita froze for a moment, subconsciously replaying the bits and pieces of their time together in his mind.
At the KTV, even though she was awkward, she still cooperated with his 'practice'.
In the Sports Equipment Room, even though she was jealous, she was still worried about him being dragged off to rest by the Infirmary teacher.
At the beach, even though she was always angry because of his interactions with other girls, in the end, she still mustered the courage to assert her territory in her own way.
It seemed... there really wasn't.
This woman, though sometimes foolish enough to give him a headache and always bristling over small things,
Yanami always seemed to seize opportunities to turn potentially troublesome situations into interactions that brought the two of them closer.
He shook his head and gave an honest answer.
"...No."
Having received this answer, Yanami Anna's heart suddenly felt full of confidence.
She pressed further, "Then what are you hesitating for?"
This time, Imaizumi Keita was completely speechless.
Looking at Imaizumi like this, seeing for the first time his slight fluster and loss for words.
An indescribable disappointment and irritation instantly surged into Yanami Anna's heart.
She suddenly felt a bit unhappy.
Very, very unhappy.
She silently turned her head, shifting her gaze away from Imaizumi, and picked up her chopsticks again, beginning to wordlessly deal with her bento, which had already gone a bit cold.
An indescribable disappointment, mixed with a bit of grievance, welled up in her heart.
"I'm saying, Keita."
Yanami didn't look at him, just spoke to herself, her voice so flat that no emotion could be heard.
"Being with you is indeed very happy. Whether it's bickering or being teased by you, I find it very interesting."
"And lately, you haven't been talking to me in that forceful, annoying tone you used when we first met."
She put the last bite of rice into her mouth, set the empty bento box aside, and then slowly raised her head.
In her beautiful eyes, there was now a sense of disappointed detachment.
"But, Keita, you really are too arrogant."
"You're always like this, using your own set of twisted logic and thinking everything should be under your control. You're just enjoying the process of teasing me and watching my heart flutter for you, but you completely refuse to consider what a girl is actually thinking or what she actually wants."
"You don't consider my feelings at all, you don't think about how much courage it took for me to say the words 'let's date'."
She finished speaking and said no more.
She simply finished the remaining food in her bento box at a much faster pace than usual.
After eating the last bite, she carefully packed up the bento box and wrapped it in a cloth.
Having done all this, she leaped down from the platform, brushed off the dust clinging to her uniform skirt, and then prepared to turn and leave.
"Hey, where are you going?"
Imaizumi Keita finally reacted, instinctively reaching out and grabbing her wrist.
Yanami Anna didn't look back. Ba⌒△◇i＋"li∨]↑⌒ Daily update novel. Group:
She merely turned her face, glanced at him from the corner of her eye, and then said, "I've decided."
"Until Keita, you figure out what you're hesitating about, I'm going to keep my distance from you for a while."
She paused, slowly withdrawing her hand from his grasp.
"This is also for your own good. Let Keita calm down by himself."
With those words, she walked towards the rooftop's iron door without looking back.
Leaving Imaizumi Keita alone, somewhat surprised and stunned in place.
The afternoon wind blew across the empty fire escape platform, bringing a hint of coolness.
This secret base, used by them only once, seemed unlikely to be visited by both of them simultaneously after today.
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