"Kiyotaka, huh…"
Speaking of Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, Meari suddenly chuckled: "When chatting with others, Kiyotaka sometimes suddenly spaces out, and his attention wanders. As long as you notice whose eyes are drifting when observing, you'll know who Kiyotaka is."
"Seriously?" Kei Karuizawa was stunned.
She didn't expect Meari's way of distinguishing the two to be this.
"Of course, I'm joking…"
Meari shook her head and smiled confidently: "Unlike his brother, I can see many things in Kiyotaka's eyes. I'm confident that even if the two of them were dressed and styled identically, I could tell them apart with just one glance."
"What can you see in his eyes?" Kei Karuizawa's eyes lit up, waiting for Meari to speak.
Meari truly thought the phone was muted and earnestly told Kei Karuizawa her analysis of Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.
But in reality, Kei Karuizawa had only made a phantom tap in the air just now and had not actually muted it; the sound from the other side was still clearly audible to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and them.
Meari was truly kept in the dark, while Kei Karuizawa deliberately pretended to be unaware, wanting Meari to comment on the two boys—especially on Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.
This was a good opportunity!
Kei Karuizawa felt that Meari was a good girl after their brief interaction. She wanted to deepen the relationship between Meari and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, so she deliberately made this move, hoping Meari would open her heart and unconsciously confess.
Even Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's usually indifferent gaze now showed a helpless expression. His girlfriend was being a bit too meddlesome, and he didn't know whether he should stop her.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had a premonition that if Meari were allowed to speak, it might directly turn into a "confession."
In that case, he would have no choice but to confess his feelings to Meari in front of his older brother and decide whether to accept Meari.
Accepting her was definitely a must, but certainly not now.
This "confession" would be better postponed a bit.
"Cough cough…" Ayanokoji Kiyotaka awkwardly cleared his throat, interrupting Meari before she could speak: "Can you two please show us some respect?"
Hearing Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's sudden remark, Meari was dumbfounded.
"Eh? Can you hear us!?"
"No way, did I not mute the voice just now!?" Kei Karuizawa was a good actress; at this moment, she also showed a "surprised" expression and cried out.
But both Kiyotaka and Kiyotaka could see the smile on her lips; only Meari, who was sitting beside her, didn't notice it due to her panic.
"Yes, you didn't seem to turn off the mute just now." Ayanokoji Kiyotaka also didn't expose her.
He didn't expect his comments to be heard by the people involved…
Meari sat up straight with a red face, clasped her hands together, and bowed her head in embarrassment to apologize to the two people on the screen: "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been talking about you two behind your backs; what I said was too much!"
"It's alright, I'm used to being judged like this by others." Ayanokoji Kiyotaka didn't mind and instead comforted Meari: "What you said is also true, don't worry about it."
However, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was not prepared to let Meari off easily.
He deliberately pretended to be heartbroken and clutched his chest: "Meari, I'm truly heartbroken. I'm always so focused when I chat with you, yet you see me that way…"
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka indeed sometimes spaces out, and his attention shifts to other places, but that's because he often thinks about a lot of things. When his attention is focused on thinking, he sometimes forgets his surroundings and needs external sounds to call him back.
Other times, he spaces out because he needs to operate the "system" in his mind, multitasking, making it difficult to attend to all aspects.
However, even when he spaces out, he can react in a very short time. The reason Meari could notice this was also because she had been secretly observing Ayanokoji.
Meari felt very anxious and annoyed.
She had wanted to seize this opportunity to meet Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's "parents" gracefully and leave a good impression on them.
But Ayanokoji Kiyotaka stared at her expressionlessly, like a strict invigilator, causing Meari a lot of psychological pressure.
Meari also knew that Ayanokoji's words were just teasing, but she didn't want Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's "family" to misunderstand her, plus her "mistake" just now. In a moment of urgency, she blurted out her thoughts.
"Ayanokoji, I think you space out because you have too much psychological pressure and too many things to think about. I don't mean to mock you; I just want to help you share some of the pressure! I hope you can treat me as someone you can trust!"
Instantly, the space on both sides seemed to freeze, with only Meari's voice echoing.
…Is this a confession?
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was very happy that Meari would think of him this way, but he also got a headache, unsure whether he should respond now.
If he responded to Meari at this moment, his fishpond might be out of his reach.
But if he didn't respond, would Meari think he didn't have those feelings for her and become disheartened?
Ayanokoji thought for a moment and then got the answer—since Meari had expressed her feelings like this, it would be unmanly if he didn't respond.
Now that the "fish" had voluntarily jumped from the fishpond into the "net," it would be simply inexcusable not to catch them.
He would think about future matters later.
Ayanokoji's thoughts were straightforward, but just as he was about to respond, Kei Karuizawa on the other side suddenly smiled ambiguously, as if she had heard something interesting.
So that's what Meari was thinking…
Not bad, Meari had firmly denied being in a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship with Ayanokoji Kiyotaka when she was talking to her, but she didn't expect to "spill the beans" so quickly.
Seeing Meari's face getting redder and redder, Kei Karuizawa felt that if she didn't stop her, Meari might shyly rush out of the room.
She noticed Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's actions and knew he was about to respond, but—the response should wait until they meet in person. If it's a confession, the atmosphere now isn't good enough.
It's good enough to understand their feelings now; the confession doesn't need to be rushed. A girl's first confession should have a more suitable occasion, and the current one is simply terrible.
Kei Karuizawa took over the conversation with a smile: "Kiyotaka, I still have something I want to tell Meari privately. Let's hang up for now, and we'll chat later!"
Saying that, she waved at the two and proactively ended the video call.
"…" Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, who had just been about to stand up, slumped back down, sighing helplessly: "Brother, this is your girlfriend. Her personality seems a bit erratic."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka also didn't know whether this was fortunate or unfortunate.
He had finally built up the courage to confess, but the communication was directly cut off.
"She's not usually like this; maybe she saw a junior and wanted to tease them."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka explained, then his gaze shifted to him, and he asked calmly: "Kiyotaka, is this girl named Meari your girlfriend? Looking at her, she seems to like you quite a lot, but what's the deal with the young lady from the Miharu Taki Family you just mentioned? What's your relationship with her?"
Although Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's tone was very calm, it exerted a lot of pressure.
"...I like all of them."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka admitted frankly, shrugging: "Maybe it's because I'm more broad-minded, so I like more girls?"
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