Finally gathered the courage to make a proactive move...
Only for reality to hit me with a brutal wake-up call...
"Sigh..." Resting his chin in his hands, elbows on his knees, Miyahito let out a heavy sigh, his eyes helplessly fixed on the clear blue sky and white clouds above.
He had considered throwing the matches over the next few days, deliberately "accidentally" losing.
But in the end, he abandoned that tempting idea.
He didn't believe he could naturally fake a loss in front of Tooru and the others, who played with him regularly.
Even if he miraculously pulled off an Oscar-worthy performance and "lost," the weekend aquarium trip wouldn't necessarily happen anyway.
He'd explicitly told Utaha, "I'll invite Tooru, Yuki, and the others." And he remembered how pumped the boys were during homeroom when the tournament was announced.
If they lost, Tooru and the crew would be in no mood for an aquarium trip.
So, his only option was...
"I'll just have to apologize properly to Kasumigaoka later... sigh..."
"Ara? Why would you need to apologize to me?"
Hearing Utaha's slightly playful voice, Miyahito's expression froze.
"Hmm?" Leaning forward slightly, hands behind her back, Utaha blinked her beautiful wine-red eyes, her lips curving upward. "Did Aragaki-kun do something wrong, perhaps?"
Her face was mere inches away. Miyahito seemed to lose the ability to speak, stammering out a reply while instinctively averting his blushing gaze.
"N-no."
"Hmm~~? Really?"
Seeing Miyahito this uncharacteristically flustered for the first time, Utaha's own cheeks flushed slightly. She bit her lower lip lightly, as if making a difficult decision.
Her slightly parted, pink lips carefully leaned toward his ear, her breath warm against him.
"Re·al·ly·no·thing·Aragaki-kun?"
Like a couple sharing an intimate moment, she spoke each word slowly, her tone laced with lazy, teasing charm.
The next second, her wine-red eyes clearly reflected Miyahito's rapidly reddening profile and his earlobes, which were turning a deep, blood-like red.
So... so cute, Aragaki-kun. Hehe.
Despite her internally calm and experienced-sounding thought, her own flawless, fair face was completely flushed.
What's this called? A flawless 1-for-1 trade.
As long as I can't see my own expression, I'll pretend I'm cool as a cucumber.
For a moment, the air around them seemed to fill with syrupy pink bubbles.
"Ahem."
Realizing his heart was beating too fast, and fearing he might actually pop a blood vessel, Miyahito coughed to shatter the romantic atmosphere. He stiffly bent down, picked up the bag at his feet, and stammered,
"Um, yeah, alright! Let's eat lunch first, Kasumigaoka."
"Ah, yeah."
Similarly aware of her own suffocatingly fast heartbeat, Utaha nodded dazedly.
She quickly sat down in the empty spot next to him.
However, the moment her bottom touched the slightly cool bench, she realized she was... sitting a bit too close.
Close enough that without moving her thighs, she could clearly feel the firm muscle of Miyahito's leg—a guy who worked out regularly.
It was hard, and tense, as if he was nervous.
...Yeah, Utaha herself was incredibly nervous too.
What do I do? Should I scoot over?
After agonizing over it until her eyes felt like spirals, she finally shifted her hips slightly.
She didn't want to move away... but if she didn't, she was afraid her heart would literally jump out of her throat.
For a moment, both of them fell into a flustered silence.
One busied himself unpacking the bento he'd spent hours preparing that morning.
The other kept her head down, letting her smooth, free-flowing black hair hide her burning cheeks.
Honestly, it shouldn't be that hard to take two bento boxes out of a bag.
After fumbling for a minute or two, Miyahito finally got them out.
Noticing the small gap between them, he instinctively scooted over to make space and placed the bento on the bench.
At that moment, Utaha, who had been looking down and seemingly unaware of his movement, suddenly spoke up.
"Um, Aragaki-kun."
"What's the 'surprise' you mentioned on LINE this morning?"
Hearing this, Miyahito looked up, letting out a blank "Ah?"
Seeing him act like he hadn't heard, Utaha pouted slightly in displeasure.
Snapping out of it, Miyahito quickly said,
"Actually, it's this..." He opened the lid of the largest, triple-layered insulated bento box, a hint of worry in his eyes.
"I woke up a bit early this morning, and I was thinking about yesterday..."
While softly explaining, avoiding her gaze, he carefully lifted each layer of the bento onto the bench.
"You mentioned on LINE that you really wanted your mom's hamburger steak and teriyaki chicken... so I thought I'd try making them. Of course, it's just how I usually make it, so it definitely won't be as good as your mom's..."
Listening to his quiet words, her eyes reflecting the full spread of dishes, rice, and hot soup, Utaha suddenly felt a blur of tears welling up in her vision.
Yesterday, she'd just casually complained on LINE, "I really want to eat my mom's cooking..."
The next day—no, barely a dozen hours later.
Miyahito appeared before her with exactly the food she'd mentioned.
And even after hours had passed, she could still feel the faint, warm aroma rising from the bento.
Noticing her zoning out, and mistakenly thinking she didn't like the food, Miyahito asked dejectedly,
"Sorry, Kasumigaoka. I'll try harder next time..."
"Mhm." Utaha tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, smiling gently at his bewildered expression. "Thank you, Mi... Miyahito."
Thank you for caring about me so much.
100 Power Stone = 1 Bonus Chapter
1 Review = 1 Bonus Chapter