Kawasaki Saki froze at the sudden attack.
Her mind went blank, and she dumbly raised a hand to lightly touch her lips.
It took her a long while to finally react.
“Ehh—!!!!!” The girl’s cheeks instantly flushed bright red, and even her earlobes were tinged pink.
It felt as if even her pale-blue ponytail was about to float up.
If this were drawn in a cute two-dimensional style, she would probably have already turned into a steam princess.
“We’re leaving.
The movie’s over.
What are you still waiting for?” His voice came from the direction of the theater entrance.
Only then did Saki snap back to herself and hurriedly jog after him.
Akira still pulled her under his wide, long coat, resting his arm over her shoulder and letting his hand hang in front of her.
Then he opened his fist.
“Here.” “Candy?” “A Halloween present for a little kid who didn’t cause trouble.” “I’m not a kid.” Saki’s face was red as she accepted it, embarrassed.
Then she asked curiously, “At this hour, the theater only sells drinks and popcorn, right?
Where did this candy come from?” “From a little devil I passed at the theater entrance, who was fighting Magical Girl Meruru.” Saki’s eyes widened.
“You stole it?” “I usually call that a monster drop.” Akira glanced at her.
“I beat that wicked, greedy little villain with three large buckets of popcorn in different flavors, then claimed the spoils that belonged to me.” “Oh, right.
There’s this too.” Akira took out another piece of candy.
This time it was toffee.
The one from earlier had been liqueur chocolate.
“This is the reward the magical girl gave me for helping justice defeat evil.” “Huh?” “This one’s for your sister.
Both of you get one.” “Sister?” Saki instinctively thought of her own little sister, then suddenly realized he did not know Keika at all.
He was talking about the cat in her arms.
For a moment, she actually found it a little funny.
“Um…
never mind.” As she smiled, Kawasaki Saki suddenly spoke, only to stop again.
The guy who used to just bang her one shot after another was suddenly taking her to a movie.
He was also acting completely out of character, speaking with a frankness that was almost brutally honest.
Saki did not understand what kind of strange move he was trying to pull.
It felt like everything had been a dream ever since he woke her in the middle of the night, told her that her little brother and classmates were downstairs, and she left the hotel in a daze with her mind blank.
Everything after that felt unreal.
He was completely unlike himself.
Feeling her cheeks still faintly hot in the cold night wind, and feeling her heart beating cheerfully in her chest, Saki thought of the resolve she had made at the very beginning: to treat this only as an arrangement that would definitely end someday, and to never let herself fall for him.
Even I seem a little unlike myself now.
So it really is a dream, isn’t it?
My little brother running over to look for me in the middle of the night and everything else…
dreams really don’t have logic.
Akira sent the photo he had taken in the theater, of the two of them kissing, to Saki’s phone.
“Don’t overthink it.
Just like I said, you can completely treat yourself as normally dating me.
As my girlfriend, you can openly show this relationship to other people.” “I won’t deny it.
When necessary, I can even go with you to deal with friends or parents.
Aside from the fact that I won’t marry anyone and won’t devotedly stay with one person, we’re no different from an ordinary couple.
We do the things other lovers do, and we even have an extra layer of shared interests.” “Feelings are only brief, unstable sensations.
Stable benefits are the eternal foundation of a stable relationship.” “Emotions always change and fade with time.
They’re unexpected windfalls you happen to receive.
Stupid people treat them like a regular salary, so when they don’t get enough of the return they expected, far too many people spend the second half of their lives with broken feelings, parting like swallows after spring.
I don’t like that.” “The feelings in the movie were beautiful.
The male and female leads broke up and got back together several times before finally overcoming their difficulties and reaching each other.
But what the movie didn’t show is the part that happens in reality.
For a marriage barely patched together through all those stumbles, how long could it really last?
And how many people like that can truly stay together for life?” “We’re different.
Our relationship is built on a visible, stable, measurable foundation.
It began with my appreciation for you.
The occasional flutter of emotion is only an extra reward in life.
Even if that never happens, it won’t affect the basic support I provide you.
I’ll wait for the day you’re willing to become a mother.
Compared to fragile and sensitive feelings, as long as nothing unexpected happens, our relationship can continue for a very long time.” Saki looked at the photo on her phone screen, at the dumb, frozen look on her face when she had been suddenly kissed in the theater.
She pressed her lips together, as if she could still faintly feel the light scent of popcorn lingering there.
“Your view of love is way too pessimistic.” “I’ve always been used to considering the worst possible outcome first.
That way, no matter how bad things get afterward, it’s still within my expectations.
It won’t be worse.” “Have you never considered that one day, when I can support myself, I won’t stay with you anymore?” “You’re the one who hasn’t considered something.” Akira looked calmly at the street on their way back and slowly said, “Someone who can easily offer an adult’s monthly income to hire a girl like you, who currently can’t provide much value beyond herself—what would he do if he didn’t intend to accept your plan?” “My possessiveness is actually very strong.” “Because Kawasaki is a girl with a good personality and a cute side, and because you needed money, I found you.
If you hadn’t agreed back then, I wouldn’t have pestered you.
But since you did agree, the right to end our relationship is only in my hands.” “You only have the right to stop me from ending this relationship.” “I don’t consider myself some casual man who falls for every girl he sees.
I have my own standards and bottom line when choosing someone.
I won’t force anyone.
That would be too tasteless.
At the same time, I don’t like casually giving up on a girl who already belongs to me.” Kawasaki Saki stayed silent for a long while.
Then she once again let out the same sigh she had given when they first met.
“You really are someone who only thinks about himself.” Toyokawa Sakiko: “???” Hey, I was happily eating this melon, and somehow I feel personally attacked, desuwa!
“Because that’s just the kind of person I am.” Akira calmly accepted Saki’s evaluation and nodded in affirmation.
“I might not fall for you.” “I don’t care.” “I mean…” Saki lowered her head and took a deep breath, her palm gripping the piece of candy he had so casually given her earlier.
“Since I don’t have any other choice anyway, I’ll do my best to try liking you.” So, what happened earlier really was a dream.
There was no way this guy would suddenly act like a normal person, completely change his personality, try to please someone, and casually do something unbelievable.
So annoying.
He almost made my heart flutter for a second.
Good thing I’ve woken up now.
After hearing her words, Akira froze for a moment.
He fell silent briefly, then held her a little tighter.
“Thank you.” …
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