/
Seiji, who was just about to respond, was interrupted by the sudden sneeze.
His mind went blank at this unexpected surprise for a moment, but that helped him regain his calmness.
‘What was I just about to say?’
He noticed that he had almost impulsively agreed to be her boyfriend and was astonished at himself.
‘I was actually moved to such a degree!?’
Well, it was the first time that he had ever received a confession. And she… really did such a good job by confessing wholeheartedly.
‘Should I simply say yes to her?’ No, that was no good! There would be various problems with this.
“I… am really happy to hear this,” Seiji said slowly, turning his gaze to Yukari; “this is my first time ever receiving a confession, and honestly, I’m quite moved.”
“But… I still can’t. I don’t know anything about you yet, and you haven’t actually spent any time with me.”
“Just agreeing to go out like this… it’s not impossible, but I feel that various problems could crop up.”
Yukari quietly listened to him.
Seiji paused for a moment as he considered what to say next.
“Thank you for liking me,” he said haltingly; “but I’m sorry…”
He sincerely thanked her and apologized.
“I can’t agree to go out with you just like this. If you’d like, we can begin as friends.”
That’s how it was.
‘This is my answer.’
Seiji looked directly at Yukari.
“Harano-san…” Tears dripped out of the corner of Yukari’s eyes as she looked at him.
However, her expression wasn’t a sad one.
“Your reply… was just as I expected.” The purple-haired girl wiped her eyes. “I feel that you’re a serious and steady person, who probably wouldn’t be able to accept an unfamiliar girl’s sudden confession.
“But I still did what I did. That’s because I truly do like you.”
She looked directly into his eyes as she spoke her honest feelings and smiled once more.
Seiji felt that his heart was wavering again as he looked at this beautiful girl.
He suddenly wanted to ask “Why do you like me so much?”
But he was unable to do so.
That was because he instinctively realized that if he asked this question, he might receive an even bigger impact from the answer.
And he was unable to take anything more… if he wavered any further, he wasn’t confident that he could still refuse her.
Seiji inwardly sighed. ‘Yukari Asamiya… as expected of a “princess.”‘
A period of silence fell between them.
“Can I at least confirm if you have anyone you like right now?” Yukari asked him calmly.
“Er… romantically, no.” Seiji scratched his face.
“That means I have a chance then.” An indescribable light flashed in Yukari’s eyes. “Let’s start as friends then. Harano-san, please give me your cell phone number!”
“Er… Okay.”
Seiji told her his cell phone number.
Yukari took out her cell phone and called him.
Seiji’s cell phone began ringing.
Yukari looked deeply at Seiji as he took out his cell phone. She then turned around and left, but pressed her cell phone against her ear.
Seiji accepted the call and perked up his ears to listen to what she had to say.
“Harano-san…” He heard her soft voice clearly through the cell phone. “I will capture you.”
The firm resolution in her voice made it easy for Seiji to imagine the expression she must have had while saying it.
The phone call ended there.
“Honestly,” Seiji muttered as he slowly put away his cell phone, “she’s such an amazing girl.”
He stood rooted to the ground as he watched the purple-haired girl slowly disappear into the distance.
After he stood there long enough for his emotions to finally settle, he also turned around to leave.
“Seiji…”
He saw Mika standing there before him with an apologetic expression on her face.
“Mika… did you see all that just now?”
She nodded in response.
“I’m sorry… It wasn’t on purpose… I just reflexively…”
Mika was very apologetic.
Secretly spying on him; this type of action was…
Seiji blinked. “It’s fine—if you saw it, you saw it.”
This was still technically a public place after all. There was no helping it if other people saw it.
Mika apologizing to him even felt somewhat odd. With her haughty personality, shouldn’t she currently be having a temper tantrum?
Seiji figured out the truth after he mulled it over.
“You must have followed me secretly, right? So, you were spying on me?”
Mika nodded with tears in her eyes.
‘Ah, so that’s how it is.’
“That’s a bit wrong to do then, but… still, this is a public location.” Seiji rubbed his chin. “By the way, was that sneeze a few moments ago from you?”
That was quite an important sneeze.
If it wasn’t for that sneeze interrupting his thoughts, perhaps…
Mika shook her head.
“It wasn’t me…” She revealed a complex expression. “It… was Miyamoto-san.”
…
Kaho Miyamoto really wanted to go and hide in a hole somewhere right now.
Earlier this morning, she had been working together in the classroom confectionery store. It should have been a good chance for her to say something to him.
However, Harano-san was too outstanding as an attraction and brought so many customers. She, as one of the cooks, was too busy, which left her no spare time whatsoever to approach him and strike up a conversation.
That continued all the way until it was time to change shifts.
After Harano-san finished his work, changed his clothes, and left, Kaho did the same thing and hurriedly followed after him. It was then that she saw Harano being called out by two unfamiliar girls.
She instantly figured out what was about to happen.
And so, coincidentally, Kaho secretly began following him. On the way, she discovered to her astonishment that Harano-san’s good friend Mika Uehara was also secretly following him!
At first, she was stunned, but then she felt reassured. That was because she wasn’t the only one doing this—there was another stalker… whoops, accomplice!
And so, they followed, hid, and secretly watched…
Kaho was moved by the amazing confession she witnessed.
At that critical moment, a leaf suddenly fell right in front of her face and landed on her nose, causing it to itch…
“Achoo!” She was unable to suppress herself and sneezed loudly.
She instantly covered her mouth and noticed someone looking at her. When she reflexively looked to see who it was, she exchanged glances with Uehara-san, who was also staring at her in astonishment with her mouth wide agape.
An enormous sense of embarrassment began welling up within her…
Kaho discovered that she had already escaped from the scene when she returned to her senses.
Everything was fine now… Not!
‘I was discovered! Uehara-san saw me!!’
Even though Uehara-san was also secretly spying, at the very least she was Harano-san’s good friend. Even though it was also somewhat wrong, she could at least use the excuse of being concerned for a good friend, but as for Kaho…
‘So humiliating! So embarrassing! I really want to go hide somewhere!!’
Kaho almost had an impulse to simply roll around on the ground.
‘I secretly spied on his confession scene and even interrupted them at a critical moment by sneezing! I’m the worst…
‘Uehara-san… will she tell Harano-san? If she tells him, then I… how exactly can I face Harano-san?’
Kaho envisioned a pathetic scene in her mind.
In her mind she imagined a handsome boy sighing. “I never imagined that Miyamoto-san was a person to do such a thing.” There was an expression of disappointment on the tall and handsome boy’s face. “I even wanted to be friends with Miyamoto-san. I must have been mistaken. Just forget about me saying that before.”
‘No!!!’ Kaho inwardly shouted in her soul.
“I just impulsively made a mistake in the heat of the moment! It wasn’t on purpose! I was just a little curious, and that’s why—”
Her voice died down mid-sentence.
That was because someone familiar had appeared before her.
“Kaho,” asked a concerned voice, “what were you saying? You made a mistake?”
“Er, it’s nothing, Karen. Why are you here?” Kaho felt awkward that her sister had caught her raving like this.
“Of course I’m here to find you.” The brown-haired girl with a huge chest smiled at her younger sister. “Didn’t I tell you before that I would come and have fun at your school festival!?”