"I..."
Shioyaki Lemon was momentarily speechless, the heat in her cheeks rising again, making her scratch her hair in frustration.
"Of course I want to know everything! You dummy Kin-chan!"
She looked a bit like she was lashing out from embarrassment, so she tried to use bravado to cover up her inner turmoil.
"Do I really have to spell it out so clearly as a girl?!"
"Yes, yes, my mistake."
Keita Imaizumi nodded readily, his face showing no hint of annoyance at being scolded.
Getting angry is good; it proves she cares about him...
"I can tell you. But, you're not allowed to cry after hearing it."
"Who—who's going to cry!"
Shioyaki Lemon retorted immediately, yet subconsciously avoided his gaze.
Keita Imaizumi stopped teasing her and directly told Shioyaki Lemon what she wanted to know.
"My relationship with Anna actually began right at the start of summer break."
He didn't describe the details, only giving a vague timeframe.
Shioyaki Lemon's sinking heart relaxed slightly.
So she hadn't fallen that far behind...
Holidays are always a good time to overtake on the curves...
"As for the night before last..."
Keita Imaizumi's voice paused. After thinking about it, he said helplessly, "From entering the room until leaving the next morning, probably... seven or eight times."
"..."
Shioyaki Lemon's mind went blank again.
Wait, wait, wait, wait...
Seven or eight times?!!!
How many were in a box of 'baby interceptors' again...
An entire night... if it was seven or eight times...
Anna Yanami could actually...
No, wait, the point is Kin-chan!
Isn't Kin-chan... incredibly energetic...
At the very beginning, she had indeed been listening with a sense of curiosity and a desire to evaluate Anna's strength.
But when that specific, impactful number hit her ears, all her previous competitiveness and resentment were swallowed by a massive sense of discouragement.
She could even imagine the scene.
How Anna Yanami had indulged herself in Kin-chan's arms, demanding more...
If she didn't like it or if it wasn't comfortable, could Anna have asked for it that many times...
The air seemed to grow thin all of a sudden, making Shioyaki Lemon feel a bit suffocated.
She instinctively looked down at herself.
Because of her long-term track and field training, her figure was well-proportioned and tight, full of healthy strength, but it didn't have much to do with the word 'curvy'.
Boys still prefer curvier girls, don't they...
Anime and games also tend to create characters with large breasts...
And Anna Yanami...
Even though she never went out of her way to show it off, her shapely figure was obvious at a glance.
The mature charm she radiated in a swimsuit was also something she currently couldn't compare to no matter what.
What's more, they had already... done that kind of thing seven or eight times in a single night.
Who knew how many times they'd done it on occasions he hadn't mentioned...
An indescribable bitterness and a sense of inferiority suddenly surged within her heart.
"Then..." her voice dropped, "Then Kin-chan... dating me, wouldn't it be very unattractive?"
Shioyaki Lemon looked up at him, her eyes slightly red, her voice full of dejection. "After all, Anna has such a good figure... and, and she did that kind of thing with you..."
Her words came in fits and starts, "I'm... completely outmatched, aren't I?"
The moment she said it, she regretted it.
It sounded too much like self-pity, not like her usual self at all.
But these words were indeed her most honest thoughts at this moment.
Seeing the look of dejection on Shioyaki Lemon's face, Keita Imaizumi suddenly felt like he shouldn't have been so blunt.
If this were an adult world, he should have just pushed Lemon down and let her feel his love for her.
But this was a normal world, and Keita Imaizumi wouldn't use hypnosis to alter the girls' minds, nor was his 'equipment' coated with addictive drugs.
So he could only try his best to make the girls accept the status quo and then advance his progress with them...
He couldn't stand seeing a girl look like this.
"Who said that?"
He immediately spoke up in rebuttal, his voice carrying an unquestionable seriousness.
He took a step forward, naturally grabbing Shioyaki Lemon's wrist and leading her off the track without a word, toward the bench rest area beside the playground.
"Stupid, what are you overthinking for?"
His tone sounded like a scolding, but his movements were very gentle.
Shioyaki Lemon followed behind him with stumbling steps, her mind still blank.
*Thump, clatter.*
A sound came from the nearby vending machine as a bottle of chilled sports drink rolled into the dispenser.
Keita Imaizumi took the drink out, twisted the cap open, and handed it to Shioyaki Lemon.
"Here, have something to drink and calm down."
The cold sensation from the chilled bottle helped Shioyaki Lemon's chaotic thoughts settle slightly.
She didn't drink it, just held the bottle in her hand.
Keita Imaizumi sat down beside her, and being so close to him made Shioyaki Lemon feel a little more at ease.
He didn't rush to speak, giving her enough time to compose herself.
After a good while, Keita Imaizumi slowly asked, "Why would you think that? Since when did Lemon-chan become so insecure in front of me?"
"Isn't it normal to feel inferior when dating a boy like you, Kin-chan!"
Shioyaki Lemon's mood was somewhat resentful as she shot him a glare. "You're always surrounded by so many girls..."
"Where are there many?" Keita Imaizumi interrupted her, his tone full of innocence and confusion. "Beside me, aren't there only Anna and you?"
"I don't believe you!" Shioyaki Lemon immediately retorted, looking him up and down with a suspicious gaze. "You look like the type of playboy who's very good at making girls like him!"
She finished speaking and then, like a deflated balloon, her voice dropped.
"To be honest, Kin-chan... even knowing that you and Anna have reached that stage, I still... find it hard to make up my mind to completely let go."
She gripped the drink bottle tightly. "You're just a bad person."
"Being reserved is originally a good thing."
Keita Imaizumi spoke, answering something else entirely.
Karen Himiya's face suddenly flashed through his mind; he always felt that someone as simple-minded as her would probably be taken advantage of without even realizing it.
In comparison, he still preferred his own girlfriend, who only showed her defenseless side to him.
Speaking of which, Karen Himiya and Kusagari Hakamata first met through the kind of erotic accidental encounter often seen in romance anime...
As a stranger, Karen Himiya's personality was quite likable, but as a girlfriend, it would be a bit of a headache...
"...Eh?"
Shioyaki Lemon was stunned for a moment, unable to follow his train of thought.
"I'm saying,"
"I still hope that my girlfriend is only willing to give 'fan service' to me alone."
"Fan service?"
Shioyaki Lemon didn't quite understand why he suddenly said this, but she instinctively followed his lead and asked.
"Kin-chan... do you want fan service?"
She blinked, and a glint of mischief flashed in her eyes, which had regained their spirit.
"I want to give Kin-chan fan service too. The kind that's only for you."
A young girl's directness is always so sudden and full of irresistible temptation.
Keita Imaizumi didn't directly respond to her provocative question, instead changing the subject as he recalled something from before.
"Speaking of which, Lemon, do you remember?"
"...Eh? Remember what?"
"A long time ago, that time you locked me in the sports equipment shed to create a chance to be alone with Ayano."
The sudden mention of the past made Shioyaki Lemon's expression stiffen, and her face became somewhat unnatural.
"Why... suddenly bring up Mitsuki?"
Her tone was a bit aggrieved. "He already has a girlfriend. And now... my boyfriend is you, Kin-chan."
She didn't like hearing the name of her former crush while talking to her current boyfriend.
It gave her the illusion that she was being half-hearted.
Besides, nothing had actually happened between her and Mitsuki.
"I know. That's not what I wanted to talk about."
Imaizumi Keita's expression remained calm, with no intention of using the opportunity to tease Lemon.
"I wanted to ask you about that day you fainted from the heat. How much do you remember of what happened?"
"That time in the warehouse... fainting from the heat..."
Shioyaki Lemon relaxed and tried to recall carefully.
The images in her memory were a bit blurry, leaving only the sweltering air, mountains of sports equipment, and... Kin-chan's face leaning in very close.
Wait, why would Kin-chan's face be so close? That must have been a hallucination...
But the warehouse that day really was terrifyingly stifling. She definitely fainted from the heat. Later... how did she leave?
When she woke up later, she was told by Kobatsu Sayo-sensei that Kin-chan and Anna had brought her to the Infirmary...
"Um... I don't remember very clearly."
Shioyaki Lemon gave a relaxed smile and waved her hand dismissively. "But, Kin-chan, you didn't do anything bad to me, right? When I woke up, wasn't I lying safely in the Infirmary?"
She finished with a lighthearted smile, her tone full of trust in him.
After all, in her view, while Imaizumi Keita was good at taking care of people back then, they were still just ordinary friends. It was impossible for him to have done anything out of line.
However, the relaxed smile on her face began to slowly freeze after seeing Imaizumi Keita's unusually serious expression.
Imaizumi Keita didn't smile, nor did he follow up with a joke in his usual tone.
He just looked at her quietly and seriously.
The atmosphere in the air became subtle at that moment.
A sense of unease suddenly surfaced in Shioyaki Lemon's heart.
Eh?!
What exactly happened back then...
The smile on her face vanished bit by bit, replaced by a hint of wariness and doubt.
"...Kin-chan?"
"You... didn't do anything bad to me... right?"
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