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"Hey, Rui, if you have a moment, come outside".
With some help, Nene decided to give her friends some aromatic candles for Valentine's day as a friendship gift. That was, too, what she handed Rui in front of their friends, even though she had a different gift for when they could be alone, feeling too embarrassed to hand him something like that in public.
That's why, a while after they got home, she found herself standing next to his garage's door, holding a small bag of homemade chocolate close to her chest.
"Nene? Is something the matter? It's not usual for you to call me outside".
Opening the door, Rui peeked from the inside of his room.
"No, I just…" She took a deep breath. "L-Look, I… made these for you".
As she handed him the small bag, her red face turned to the ground, hiding from Rui's gaze, waiting for him to take the sweets and put a temporary end to her embarrassment. However, before he accepted them, he crouched right next to her, smiling when their eyes met, and he let out a chuckle.
"Your whole face is red".
"H-Hey, you're not supposed to look at me! Just… take them, please…"
He finally took the sweets from her hands and, before he could say anything else, Nene rushed back to her house.
A month had passed since then. Rui didn't even bother to try to mention it, and Nene wouldn't bring it up either. She simply took it like a total rejection, hoping they could at least stay as friends— or that Rui was actually really oblivious and didn't notice that it was her way to confess her love, though that was even less likely.
However, as March arrived and march came, her fear became bigger by seconds. And, on the fourteenth day of the month, she told herself for a moment that she should avoid Rui at all costs.
Gosh, how she wished she'd done that.
Rui wasn't that popular. Maybe that's why he'd prepared return gifts for everyone. He even went to Nene's class and handed Toya, who was standing behind her as she watched a show on her phone, a small bag with madeleines.
She held her breath when Rui turned around to see her, smiling, but he simply waved and bid the two of them farewell, leaving the classroom without saying another word.
She paused the video on her phone, flabbergasted, and she could also tell Toya had slowly stepped back from his spot, carefully hiding the bag behind his back.
“…Kusanagi? I thought you two were—"
"A-Ah! Sorry. I was… I was thinking about something". She sighed. "You're trying to see my phone again, right? Don't get too close from behind. If you want to watch the show, sit next to me".
For someone not that expressive, Toya's eyes surely lit up as he moved his chair to sit next to her, taking the headphone she was handing him.
At least, she managed to take his attention away from the gift. And, hopefully, it would distract her too.
That scene repeated itself when they met with Emu and Tsukasa —surprisingly, he seemed not to have bothered to go to his class like he did with Toya.
Again, both of them got a bag of sweets from him. Again, he turned to see her confused face and smiled before excusing himself and leaving his three friends behind for a moment. Like some kind of bad joke.
He got the same reaction as before. Tsukasa and Emu looked at their own hands, and each other's, and Nene's; and then, they hid the presents behind their backs.
"I-t's a sunny day outside, huh!"
"It's cloudy, Tsukasa".
"Sun will come out soon or later! I'm predicting it… that should be expected of—"
"Cut it off with the act, will you? You're just making it more uncomfortable".
Tsukasa looked away.
"Right. My bad".
"Nene-chan… did you two have a fight?"
"Maybe. Really, it's not that big. Don't think too much about it". As if to comfort them, she smiled softly.
It looked bad for her, though. The three friends turned their gaze down with worried expressions.
"Ah, Nene!" Their friend's voice surprised her, making the four of them look up at the same time. "Are we going back home together today? We need to talk".
Probably the words she wanted to hear the least. Panicking, she grabbed Emu's arm.
"A-Actually… I was… planning to hang out with Emu! I-If she can come, then…"
"Hm. I expected we'd have some time alone. My apologies for saying this, but… couldn't you postpone that for another day?"
"O-Okay… I'm sorry, Emu…"
"That's good". After his serious expression, the smile that he was showing meant from zero to nothing. "I'll wait back there".
With that, he left again.
None of the three actors dared to speak again then. Emu and Tsukasa simply looked at her worriedly as she walked away, crestfallen, as if she was directed to her own execution.
When she met with Rui, he smiled again. Another expression she couldn't believe. Both of them headed over to their neighborhood.
Unfortunately for Nene, it was a silent walk. At least until they had almost arrived home.
"You know, Nene, about last month…" He stopped walking. "Are you okay?"
"H-Huh?"
"You're shaking. And I'd dare to say you look like you just saw a ghost".
"N-No, I'm okay, but… You're just acting strange. It's scary".
"Ah— is that so? I'm sorry".
He laughed. She was even more pale than usual as she turned around.
"H-Hey, I'm being serious!"
"Right, right… I didn't mean to scare you".
"You're… You're not mad at me?"
"Huh? Why would I be?"
"Last month… I made chocolate for you, and I went out of my way to give it to you, maybe…"
"Nene. I could never be mad at you over something so trivial. There's no reason to feel upset because of your gift".
"Well… I'm glad you're not angry". She sighed. "Still, giving everyone gifts in front of me while you ignore me is…"
Rui showed her a soft smile before he started searching for something in his bag.
"Don't be silly. It's just not something I can hand you in front of everyone. It's not the same as a return gift between friends, after all".
"What do you—"
"Here. Of course I have a gift for you too".
He handed her a small, cylindrical box. It was of a light blue color, decorated with stripes and a dark bow.
Inside, she found a few colored hard candy, kept in a tiny plastic bag. She closed the box to look at her friend, embarrassed.
"Rui, that's not something you should give to a friend".
"I'm well aware of that".
Just like the previous month, her face slowly turned red.
"This is… something you give to the one you like".
"I'm aware of that as well". Although she opened her mouth, no reply would came out as he got closer. "I love you, Nene".
"…Me too". She finally smiled. "I'm glad you're not mad".
"Hm? Did I really look upset, though?"
"Well, everyone thought you were acting weird, even Tsukasa, and you didn't even mention what happened in a whole month".
"Oh? Is that so? I suppose I should work on my manners. You can rest assured, though. I would never feel like that towards you".
This time, both of them smiled.
The previous month, Nene had shyly tried to confess her love. A month later, she finally got an answer— perhaps it was unnecessary, nonchalant, but that was a part of the Rui she fell in love with.