Karuizawa Kei's words could be called quite blunt — she liked Shikime Natsu, and she wanted to become Shikime Natsu's girlfriend.
It was just that, compared to the kind of confession an ordinary high school girl would make, full of pink bubbles and the bashful innocence of first love—
the words that had just blurted out of Karuizawa Kei's mouth could be said to carry a bit too much weight.
Phrases like "sparing no effort" and the like.
That kind of vow brimming with self-abasement was, for a feeling that had only just begun to sprout, truly far too heavy.
The girl's heart was pounding violently right now, rising and falling so hard it almost seemed about to leap out of her throat.
She kept her head lowered, those originally bright eyes fixed dead on the patterns of the bedsheet, with absolutely no idea what sort of reaction Shikime Natsu would give after hearing these words, what he would say.
After all, this was the first time in the girl's life that she had ever, against all odds, confessed to a boy.
Because of how nervous she was, Karuizawa Kei wasn't even clear on whether she had actually said it well just now, or whether, in losing control of her emotions, she had accidentally let slip some words that would strike people as strange.
Her mind was a chaotic blur — she had even begun to forget what exactly she had just said in the heat of that impulse.
But all the Karuizawa Kei of this moment could do was pray humbly in her heart, hoping that she really hadn't said anything wrong, hadn't made him unhappy.
And during this interval of waiting for Shikime Natsu's reply, Karuizawa Kei unconsciously controlled her own breathing, not even daring to lift her head to look at Shikime Natsu, terrified that the moment she raised her head she would see an expression of awkwardness or distaste on Shikime Natsu's face.
After calming down a little, Karuizawa Kei was struck by another wave of regret — the timing she'd chosen for this confession was truly awful. After all, Shikime Natsu had only just helped her, and she went and confessed to him right away; this kind of behavior felt utterly shameless, as if she were using the favor someone had just bestowed on her to throw herself at him through a kind of moral blackmail.
Of course, even if the actual situation was that Karuizawa Kei had long since secretly given her heart to Shikime Natsu, and then because of this action of Shikime Natsu's — helping her shake free of the traces of her past — her feelings for Shikime Natsu had once again surged to a peak, which was why she'd made that irrational move just now.
Karuizawa Kei was quite full of regret — she'd resolutely just handed it over for free. Even if she was going to confess, she should have picked an appropriate moment; choosing a time like this was completely slapping a debuff on herself. To think that she had even rehearsed the scene of confessing to Shikime Natsu beforehand — and now, the path had veered completely off course.
Shikime Natsu's gaze settled on the girl who was so uneasy at this moment, a faint smile still hanging on his face, and then he spoke to Karuizawa Kei.
"Kei, you don't need to be like this."
Upon hearing this sentence from Shikime Natsu, Karuizawa Kei's body suddenly stiffened.
That heart of hers, which had still been dangling in midair, instantly plunged as if into an icy pit.
There was a "don't" in "you don't need to be like this," so did that mean he was rejecting her?
But… even though Karuizawa Kei felt quite awful at this moment,
she also instantly gave herself a reason. After all, her past could be called quite terrible, and on top of that, she hadn't been any help to Shikime Natsu at all — rather, it was she who had been relying on Shikime Natsu all along, causing him trouble, clinging like a parasite. If their positions were reversed, she would surely reject him too.
Especially since Shikime Natsu was, you could say, a truly dazzling existence — the most dazzling person in this entire school, and in her eyes, a remarkably outstanding person. Even if she threw herself at him, she still wouldn't be worthy.
Her past experiences were still a heavy burden for Karuizawa Kei. Of course, perhaps… starting from today, or from tomorrow, or from some day onward, she could free herself from this burden.
It was just that… for Karuizawa Kei, the first confession of her life, into which she had mustered all her courage, had been rejected so cleanly and decisively just like that — and that flavor could be called quite hard to swallow.
Her eyes instantly reddened, great big teardrops swirling around in them.
Karuizawa Kei forced down that almost-suffocating pain and, with difficulty, dragged out a smile that was even uglier than crying.
She lowered her head and spoke to Shikime Natsu in apology.
"I'm… I'm sorry, Natsu."
"Just now I said all those strange things… I-I caused you trouble."
Watching the girl looking like she was about to fall apart, Shikime Natsu reached out and, quite naturally, placed his hand on Karuizawa Kei's head and gave it a rub.
"What I meant just now was that you don't need to pile so many burdens onto yourself. What I said before wasn't a rejection either — I only meant that there's no need for you to put yourself in such a lowly position."
"To like someone — as long as you have that pure feeling of liking someone, then that's already enough."
Hearing these utterly unexpected, gentle words from Shikime Natsu,
Karuizawa Kei once again abruptly fixed her gaze on Shikime Natsu.
In those blue eyes, washed clean by a mist of tears, there was now a trace of disbelief — clearly she hadn't imagined that Shikime Natsu would say such a thing.
Meeting her gaze, Shikime Natsu spoke to Karuizawa Kei candidly.
"That Kei could come to like me, and be willing to work up the courage to confess for my sake—"
"Honestly, it makes me very happy."
After hearing these words.
Karuizawa Kei couldn't help being stunned again. In that brain of hers, which was always reading all sorts of shoujo manga and romance novels, a classic trope instantly flashed by.
Wait a moment!
"I'm glad you could like me, but…"
Wasn't this exactly the first half of that typical line used specifically to hand someone the rejection card of "let's just be friends"?!
Karuizawa Kei had originally thought that those words just now had a hint of a turn for the better, but she hadn't expected so many twists and turns. Her heart climbed up into her throat once more — what came next… he was going to say "but," wasn't he?
Still, Karuizawa Kei had already gone through a round of inner struggle just now, so even if she heard Shikime Natsu speak words of rejection, she should feel a little better about it now — probably.
Catching sight of Karuizawa Kei's cautious, timid manner, Shikime Natsu couldn't help but smile, and then he spoke again.
"So."
He bent down slightly, looked into her eyes, and said with a smile.
"Of course it's fine."
"Kei, starting today, you're my girlfriend."
These words, if they had been spoken in another setting, from the mouth of one of those fickle, philandering boys who had several girlfriends—
then they would surely give people the impression of an utterly perfunctory, thoroughgoing scumbag.
Of course, in this case it was the man being confessed to; if it had been the woman doing the confessing and the man agreeing, that would also give people the impression of a scumbag — after all, he already had girlfriends.
But Shikime Natsu was different. After all, for Shikime Natsu to have multiple girlfriends was quite a reasonable thing, so after hearing these words from Shikime Natsu, Karuizawa Kei's heart was already brimming with joy.
Shikime Natsu had actually truly chosen to accept her. Now that she'd gotten the answer she wanted, Karuizawa Kei instead became somewhat incredulous, and looking at Shikime Natsu, her voice even cracked a little out of tune.
"R-really?!"
At this, Shikime Natsu smiled and nodded, confirming that Karuizawa Kei hadn't misheard just now. And after receiving this reply from Shikime Natsu, Karuizawa Kei could hardly restrain the joy that was about to overflow from within her heart.
Quite happily, Karuizawa Kei walked up in front of Shikime Natsu, spread her arms, and then forcefully embraced the Shikime Natsu standing before her, burying her face in his chest, feeling that warmth and scent on him that put her so utterly at ease.
She could hardly believe that all of this was real.
It was just like a dream! No — even the most beautiful dream she'd ever had hadn't felt as happy and unreal as this very moment!
After the romantic relationship between the two of them had been confirmed,
Karuizawa Kei's actions clearly became a great deal bolder than before.
She actually dared to hug Shikime Natsu so proactively, so utterly without reservation, and even nuzzled against him forcefully.
After quite a while.
Karuizawa Kei finally released her arms with great reluctance.
Then she stepped back half a pace, tilted her head up, and on that pretty little face hung a radiant smile she couldn't conceal, as she just gazed at Shikime Natsu with a goofy, blissful grin.
Her mood right now was truly quite wonderful.
Although before, back when she'd been spending time with Shikime Natsu, she had already exchanged forms of address with him, things were different now.
Now was the moment the two of them had made their relationship official.
Happily, Karuizawa Kei called out several times in a row.
"Natsu~"
"Natsu!"
With each call, the smile in her eyes deepened a little more.
The Karuizawa Kei of this moment was simply, purely feeling a bit happy and grateful for the courage she had just summoned up.
Thank goodness!
She had confessed to Shikime Natsu ahead of time; otherwise, if she had kept pressing this feeling down in her heart all along, then there was no telling how long she would have had to wait before she could make her relationship with Shikime Natsu official. Even though the two of them would spend three years in this school — but… what about after those three years?
If they couldn't make the relationship official within those three years, then once they left this school, perhaps the two of them's futures would become parallel lines that never met, wouldn't they?
Karuizawa Kei stood obediently off to the side, and then with those delighted eyes she looked at Shikime Natsu utterly without restraint. In the past, Karuizawa Kei would occasionally steal secret glances at Shikime Natsu, but she had never looked at Shikime Natsu so directly before.
Now that she and Shikime Natsu were going out, then… properly committing her boyfriend to memory was quite a necessary thing to do.
Shikime Natsu looked at the girl before him, a smile at the corner of his mouth, and spoke up with a suggestion.
"Since things have pretty much been sorted out now."
He glanced at the time and said.
"In a little while, why don't the two of us go on a date?"
Hearing this proactive date invitation from Shikime Natsu.
Stars instantly lit up in those blue eyes of Karuizawa Kei's. Naturally, without the slightest hesitation, she happily nodded hard in agreement.
The two of them rested for a bit in this little room.
Once Karuizawa Kei had calmed her excited mood and carefully straightened her clothes and hair, only then did she open the door and walk out of the room, returning once again to the cruise ship's spacious, brightly-lit corridor.
This outing.
Was completely different from when they'd run into each other earlier in the hall, because back then the two of them weren't in any sort of boyfriend-girlfriend relationship, and Karuizawa Kei had been quite worried about running into one of Shikime Natsu's girlfriends while the two of them were dating on the sly.
But now, things were different — she and Shikime Natsu were a true boyfriend-and-girlfriend pair. The moment she thought of this, a touch of sweetness welled up once more within Karuizawa Kei's heart, and she very naturally looped her arm through Shikime Natsu's, and the two of them advanced together.
The entire afternoon that followed.
The two of them dated on this luxuriously-appointed cruise ship.
Together they went to the ship's luxurious theater and watched an opera performance. Although Karuizawa Kei couldn't understand it, it didn't matter — as long as the mood was right, that was enough. While watching the opera, Karuizawa Kei would also secretly take Shikime Natsu's hand, feeling the warmth of his palm, and her heart couldn't help but flutter with secret delight again.
And after the performance was over, Karuizawa Kei then invited Shikime Natsu to try a little teppanyaki shop that she thought was quite good. Watching Shikime Natsu eat so happily, Karuizawa Kei was quite happy too — though of course, this teppanyaki still wasn't as good as the dishes Shikime Natsu cooked. Karuizawa Kei told Shikime Natsu that after they got back, she wanted Shikime Natsu to let her try his cooking skills too.
Shikime Natsu naturally agreed.
Next… Shikime Natsu and Karuizawa Kei wandered through some gift shops, and Shikime Natsu bought Karuizawa Kei some cute little presents, which Karuizawa Kei adored and couldn't put down.
Throughout the entire date, they both had a thoroughly wonderful time.
Because she had set down the burden in her heart and the shadow of her past, and on top of that had established their relationship—
Karuizawa Kei behaved more openly in front of Shikime Natsu than she ever had before. It was a kind of youthful vitality and charming sweetness that belonged to a maiden.
Before they knew it, the lingering glow of the setting sun had already spilled across the surface of the sea, and the sky gradually darkened.
Once the time was about right and the cruise ship's broadcast began reminding the students that dinnertime had arrived,
Shikime Natsu and Karuizawa Kei only then brought this date to an end, still not having had their fill of it.
At a corner of the corridor, Karuizawa Kei came to a stop.
Holding the little toy in her arms, she lifted her head, and that pretty little face looked somewhat flushed pink under the corridor's soft lighting.
"Natsu, today…"
She looked at him, her voice soft and gentle.
"I really, really had a wonderful time."
Then, she said her reluctant goodbye to Shikime Natsu.
Just as Shikime Natsu was about to turn and leave.
Karuizawa Kei took a step forward, boldly drawing close to Shikime Natsu.
Under Shikime Natsu's somewhat surprised gaze,
the girl's flushed little face suddenly loomed large.
Karuizawa Kei awkwardly rose up onto the tips of her toes.
Then she closed her eyes, and on Shikime Natsu's lips, like a dragonfly skimming the water's surface, she kissed him. After succeeding in her sneak attack, Karuizawa Kei flashed Shikime Natsu a smile of triumph, looking very cute.
"That was my first kiss — please accept it well, Natsu, and then… next time… let's go on another date."
Karuizawa Kei's exquisite little face was flushed pink, the smile at the corner of her mouth impossible to suppress.
"Mm."
____
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