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A cute color like soft peach pink would definitely look good on her, but she also could totally pull a bold velvet red somehow despite the innocent appearance. So, which one would be the best for her? It was no use thinking hard about it after all. Everything would look good on her, he finally came to that one conclusion.
Azusawa...
"You're staring at her too much, Touya."
His partner's voice brought him back to his senses and he realized they were still in the middle of doing some shopping together. The girls were having fun trying out different-colored lip tints, so the guys were waiting for them at the entrance of the shop. Touya blinked.
"...Was I staring?"
"Yeah, you didn't avert your gaze at all. Even the densest person would notice if you're staring at Kohane with that much love in your eyes. At least be a bit more subtle if you want to hide it."
"I see... I didn't realize," he turned his head so he wouldn't get lost staring at her again. "Sorry. Thanks for calling out to me, Akito."
It's alright, he said before peeking at the girls once again to check if they were still taking their sweet time. After confirming there was no sign of them to finish soon, he returned to Touya.
"You know..." Akito started, speaking a bit like a whisper. "If you're that impatient, you should just confess to her... You wouldn't know when you would lose your chance. Aren't you letting down your guard too much just because we're the closest to Kohane right now?"
"That's..."
"I heard someone asked for Kohane's number after her solo live the other day."
To casual observers, his face showed almost no change except for the shoulders that jolted slightly, but as a partner he could see right through him. Akito knew what he told him just now agitated him greatly that he barely managed to straighten his back. He was clenching his hands tightly and he seemed to be unable to think clearly.
I know you're upset, but aren't you a bit too upset? Akito wondered inside his head, waiting for Touya to respond. After a while, he finally opened his mouth.
"...How was Azusawa's answer?"
"Fortunately, her father drilled it to her head that she shouldn't give her number around to strangers, so she didn't give it."
Touya let out a sigh of relief, thanking Azusawa's family head inside his heart, but he knew he shouldn't be completely relieved yet. He wasn't the only one who thought of her as cute, of course not. Other than being cute, she was also growing with unbelievable pace, and her confidence got a lot better by time. Even now, plenty of people were charmed by her singing voice, so there's a big possibility that kind of thing would only increase in the future. Like Akito said earlier, if he kept being like this, he'd eventually miss his chance. His stomach was churning even just by the thought.
He looked up at Akito who had been standing by his side with a complicated expression on his face, and he remembered the both of them were in similar situation.
"If we're talking about this topic, then I can also say the same for Akito."
"Huh?"
"About Shiraishi," he said, in which Akito's shoulders shook at the mention of the name. "Every time Shiraishi was called out to the back of the school building for a confession, you'd be in a very foul mood for the whole day."
"...Was I really that bad?"
"Yeah, it never affects your performance or our practice, but I once thought your face wouldn't be able to return to normal if you were frowning that hard. Akito looked terribly upset."
"You're just exaggerating it..."
"I'm not exaggerating it at all."
Shiraishi An, who had always been eye-catching and easy to talk to, often got confessions from both male and female students who thought of her as cool and charismatic. For quite some time, Touya had been watching as his partner endured his swirling feelings by clenching his fists each time that happened. All this time An had been answering those confessions with a no, but there's no guarantee how long she'd give that kind of answer. Akito too, shouldn't let down his guard just because she kept rejecting confessions.
If you already understand then act quickly.
They were eyeing each other with a sharp gaze until they let out a tired sigh at the same time. It's no use, the both of them thought. In this matter, neither of them could lecture the other, because they were both as bad in terms of making no move. Even though they wanted to act, there were a lot of what ifs that got in the way.
"...We're the same, aren't we?"
"It seems so."
Each of them confirmed that their situations were as hopeless, and they hung their heads low.
"You should live you life without regrets! It's better to be sad after trying than regret not trying at all! Throw away all the ifs and just push your way through it, you know what I'm talking about!"
Suddenly, a man was talking loudly on the phone as he walked in front of them. Live your life without regrets and throw away all the ifs, Touya repeated inside his head what the unknown man said although it wasn't actually directed at them. He then looked at Akito and found that he was also looking at him with a mysterious smile.
"You heard him, Touya."
Touya nodded, a determined glint in his eyes.
"Azusawa, I got this for you."
After they were done with their shopping, on the way of walking her home, Touya handed her a bag from the store they visited earlier. Inside of the bag was a soft coral pink-colored lip tint that perfectly suited her image. Kohane stared at the bag and at Touya alternately, looking flustered.
"Eh—this is...? My birthday already passed though, Aoyagi-kun??"
"I know."
"I can't remember any special occasion other than my birthday after all, but Aoyagi-kun already gave me a present back then... is there anything else I missed by any chance?"
Is there any other special occasion? Kohane tried to think hard about it but still couldn't figure it out, and even this kind of confused face looked cute in his eyes. Touya laughed a bit.
"No, you didn't miss anything, Azusawa," Touya said, placing the bag in her palm when she seemed hesitant to accept his gift. "I just bought this without thinking because I want to see it on you. I'll be troubled if Azusawa doesn't want it, so I hope you will accept it even though there's no special occasion."
Hearing it, her cheeks were immediately dyed in an adorable shade of red. She accepted the gift while smiling sheepishly, "Oh, I see... I understand, then I will put it on whenever I meet Aoyagi-kun as a thank you!"
"Please do so, I'll look forward to it."
They smiled to each other before Kohane suddenly gasped. "Ahh, but it's not something to wear for a practice, right? Should I just wear it when we're having a live performance...?"
Touya's mind went back to the piece of information Akito gave him today, honestly he didn't want that to happen again so live performances would be a no. Kohane noticed how Touya's expression darkened, so she quickly proposed another suggestion.
"Uhm, Aoyagi-kun... if it's alright with you, how about we go somewhere together this weekend for a nice place to drink coffee? I think it'll be the most appropriate opportunity to show it to Aoyagi-kun."
Kohane smiled and Touya too, smiled at the suggestion.
"...Sure, I'll look for the best place. Leave it to me."
"Fufu, if it's Aoyagi-kun's recommendation then it's definitely good. I'm also very looking forward to it~"
And so, just like that, a date for two was planned. He didn't even remember for what had he been hesitating all this time.
[ Throw away all the ifs— ]
"Today was soooo fun~!"
An happily walked in front of him, her steps were as if they were so light that she jumped a little and Akito watched as her night sky hair spread in front of him. She's in a really good mood, he quickened his pace to walk beside her, taking the side near the road.
"Of course you have fun, you guys were taking very long time trying out the lip stuffs."
"Because~~~!! Kohane looks good in every one of them, so it's very fun to try different colors! I want to try coordinating clothes for Kohane too sometimes... Oh! Also Akito, did you see today—"
She rambled excitedly while Akito listened to her voice in silence. It was the usual "my partner is the best!" talk, but Akito cut her in the middle of it this time.
"Then? Did you get yourself something too?"
At his question, An tilted her head, "Hm? Me?"
"You've only been talking about what looks good on Kohane so I'm asking you, what about you? Is there any color that caught your interest? The lip tint, I mean."
"Ahh... uhm, yeah, so about me, huh..." For the first time today, she seemed to be at loss of words. Maybe she didn't expect for him to suddenly ask about herself so she was scratching her cheek awkwardly. "Well... how do I say it? I tried some but I don't think any of them suited me, so I stopped trying them out. It's cuter to see them on Kohane~"
"...Is that so?"
"Mhm..."
The conversation stopped there, and An also somehow didn't continue rambling about Kohane after that. The walk was accompanied with an awkward silence for some time until Akito opened his mouth again.
"I know colors that definitely would look good on you, though."
"Huh?"
"I'm saying I'm confident I can pick out ones that suit you best, so let me choose it for you next time."
An blinked, staring at him in confusion for a while before her face reddened slightly as she realized what he meant. She grinned, teasing him to hide her own bashfulness, "Hmm, are you sure~? How can Akito be so confident?"
"Yeah, I'm telling you I can help you choose what looks best on you," he said with no hesitation. "I'm confident I understand your style and taste well... I've been watching you for a long time after all."
For less than a few seconds, it was as if the time had stopped. Her face felt hot, and the slight blush from earlier was definitely getting even redder now. An was overwhelmed by his unexpected words that she took a small step back, but then she noticed the slight change of color on his ears. She giggled a bit.
"...I see, I see... so, Akito is that confident about it, huh?" An said in a teasing tone while grinning broadly. "Well, if you're so sure then it can't be helped... I will leave it to Akito's sense of style after all! Don't disappoint me, alright? Let's go just the two of us next time~"
Akito widened his eyes for a moment, before showing her a smile.
"Hah... of course, I'm sure you'll like it a lot and thank me again and again for it."
"Whoa, the confidence is somehow very annoying... even though my heart was pounding for a moment earlier."
"Alright then I'll be waiting for you near the station tomorrow at ten."
"Huh—!? Wait, wait, wait, aren't you planning the date too soon though??? Are you that excited about it? Hey, Akito!???????"
He was walking a bit ahead of her, humming in a good mood without caring about her complaints on him. A heavy feeling of dissatisfaction was finally lifted up today and he didn't understand anymore why did he choose to endure it to himself all this time.
[ —and just push your way through it. ]