Chapter 29

As we looked at each other with our mouths gaping open, the phone that I put in my back pocket vibrated.

It was from Kazuki.

<I’m glad you can reunite with him successfully.>

Seeing the text he sent me along with a weird sticker, I finally realized that I’d been set up.

I looked around my surroundings in a hurry, then I saw Kazuki grinning and waving at us from the gap between buildings, and next to him was Mr. Masuda.

Apparently, we were both summoned here on purpose by the two of them.

“—Tch, that damn Tooru . . . “

“Kazuki, that idiot . . .”

We muttered almost at the exact same time, then we both looked up in surprise and locked gazes with each other. I felt somewhat embarrassed, but at the same time, I found the situation so funny that a chuckle escaped my lips.

There were so many things I wanted to talk about, but there were too many people here. More than anything, just like the first time we met, Akira’s eye-catching appearance made him stand out even if I like it or not.

Even now, I could hear admiring exclamations in the distance and it made me feel somewhat uneasy.

“For now . . . let’s go somewhere else, shall we?”

Perhaps noticing the atmosphere, Akira scratched his cheek with a troubled look. I nodded in reply.

While giving a wry smile to the two gazes that watched over us as if wishing us luck, I thanked them in my heart.

Maybe I would buy some snacks for Kazuki next time. While thinking about that, I followed Akira, who had started walking a little ahead of me. Akira, whom I had been wanting to see, was now so close to me. I felt like floating, I couldn’t believe that he was now at a distance that I could reach if I just stretched my hand.

Could it be that I was still dreaming? I even wondered about something like that.

I tried pinching my own cheek as I walked. Naturally, it hurted.

“. . . You’re making a hundred faces again, like usual.”

I heard him chuckling and suddenly felt a tug on my arm. We suddenly became closer and Akira’s scent tickled my nostrils, causing my heart to race and something warm to well up in my chest.

As I was confused and didn’t know what to do, his fingertips gently touched mine—

“Wait, your hand . . .”

“You look like you want to hold hands.”

“What?! I- I didn’t!”

As I yelled at him, Akira just looked at me with a soft expression.

“I- it’s not me who wants to hold hands, it’s you who actually wanted to do that, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right. To tell the truth, not only holding hands, I want to hold you and have you all to myself right now.”

“. . . Wha . . .”

I felt somewhat embarrassed and tried to retort, but I was bewildered by his wild remark instead.

Perhaps because he found my dumbfounded expression funny, Akira laughed. His shoulders shook.

I just remembered. He was the kind of guy whose hobby was teasing people.

I thought it would be awkward if we met again, but we were able to talk to each other like before.

Somehow, that made me feel happy . . .

“. . . Come on, Watase. Let’s go.”

“. . . Huh? . . . Ah, okay.”

He had a melancholic look on his face for a moment, then called my name. True, it was me who told him to stop calling me Haru.

But still, I wonder what this weird feeling is.

“Watase?”

“So- sorry. I’m coming.”

I hesitantly took the hand that was offered to me. Akira’s hand was a little sweaty and a little cold.

“. . . I did agree to go somewhere else, but still . . .”

“What is it? Something you’re not satisfied with?”

“Of course! This place is—”

The room, with craggy rocks protruding from the walls, was elaborately designed as if one were inside a cave.

Of course, the floor wasn’t sand— it was a clean carpet of a similar color. In one corner of the room were a TV and refrigerator. Above all, there was a large queen-size round bed with a canopy that was carefully crafted to resemble a seashell.

I already thought that something was weird when Akira retrieved his suitcase from the coin locker along the way and then we went into an obscure alleyway.

It was also my fault for not asking where we were going . . .

But why did he bring me to a love hotel again?!

“Isn’t it the perfect place to talk with just the two of us?”

“That’s not the problem here . . .”

True, if we were in here, we wouldn’t have to worry about other people. It was probably soundproofed.

But when I thought that it was a place to do those things, I couldn’t stay calm.

“Don’t worry, I won’t do anything that you don’t like.”

“Don’t you know that those words can’t be trusted at all, coming from you?”

“Hah. If Watase says ‘I want Mr. Akira to do it with me <3,’ then I’ll think about it.”

“Wha— I wouldn’t say something like that! Actually it’s you whose head is full of those things.”

While thinking that I don’t want to get swept away by him anymore, I couldn’t help but feel happy and nostalgic about having this kind of conversation with him.

Perhaps Akira was also feeling the same way, his eyes that were looking at me turned into a fond gaze.

As I sat on the bed, our gazes entwined.

“I’m happy to see you again, Ha— Watase.”

“. . . I didn’t really want to see you, though.”

“. . .”

Akira’s face tensed in an instant. The look of obvious shock on his face was somewhat funny.

“I’m joking. I also . . . wanted to see you. There were so many things I wanted to talk about.”

Putting it into words evoked the frustration of the days when I couldn’t see him.

At that time, I was too shocked to listen to Akira’s story properly, but maybe I could accept it now.

“Let me hear your true feelings . . .”

Akira nodded as he gently held my hand.

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