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"Hm? Oh, it's Touya and Akito! Hey, you guys!! What are you two doing here looking so sullen?"
"You look as if you just committed a big sin and are now repenting for it, I'm talking about you Aoyagi-kun."
"Senpai, you have a strong instinct it's scary."
On the rooftop just behind the storage building, the third-year students who initially came up to test their new device found two of their juniors were already there, one of them was leaning on the wall with a strangely low tension and gloom expression like he just witnessed the end of the world.
"Tsukasa-senpai, I'm sorry," Touya weakly called. "I think I made a grave mistake... I deserve the worst punishment."
"What!? What is it? What did you do to make you feel this way, Touya??? It's okay, no matter how big your sin is I'll always be on your side!!"
"Senpai..."
Hurriedly, Tsukasa ran towards his junior who seemed as if he wouldn't mind even if the sky fell at this very moment. In the midst of the touchung moment, Rui glanced at Akito and he caught the hint, pulling himself to sit properly. He then began to explain the situation.
"That guy," he pointed at his singing partner. "He somehow made Kohane cry yesterday, and ever since then he thinks he doesn't deserve to be ear her anymore."
"Shiraishi seems to be on an agreement with me though."
"Doesn't mean you have to do as she said to keep 10 meters distance from Kohane. How are we going to sing together that way? Anyway, you're Kohane's boyfriend damn it! Don't listen to An!!"
"Then should it be 100 meters instead...? No, I can't stand being that far with Azusawa..."
"Touya, get a grip."
"No, Akito, I'm being serious here. Do you think I even deserve to breath the same air as Azusawa?"
"It doesn't matter whether it's serious or not, rather I wish you'd just say it's a joke... Senpai, please kick some sense to this guy.
"Wait, what did you do to make her cry in the first place, Aoyagi-kun?"
Rui tilted his head, a face full of question. Tsukasa was the same too. This junior of theirs was someone so soft that he couldn't even hurt a fly, how he could make his girlfriend cry was beyond them. After letting out a sigh, Touya started talking.
"...Actually, I was just relishing myself in Azusawa's homemade cooking..."
That day, Kohane brought the dishes she made in home-ed class to Weekend Garage and shared it with everyone. The dishes were delicious that everyone was enjoying it. In the middle of that friendly moment, Aoyagi Touya made a terrible blunder.
"The person who will marry Azusawa in the future would be very happy."
While he was saying it in a lighthearted manner while munching on the octopus-shaped sausage, the temperature of the room suddenly dropped as Kohane looked at Touya with a confused expression. Her brows lowered sadly and her face gave a sense of loneliness. From the corner of his eyes, he could see An glaring at him while Akito hinted for him to quickly apologize. Touya shifted his gaze back to the girl in front of him. She frowned.
"... The person I'm going to marry in the future... is it not Aoyagi-kun...?"
Even though the weather outside was a clear blue sky without a hint of dark cloud, he felt as if he heard a loud thunder behind him.
Aoyagi Touya just made a grave mistake.
"Then Azusawa asked if I'm dating her without any intention to proceed for marriage... I'm a worthless guy, I made Azusawa have that kind of worry even though I didn't mean that at all..."
Touya held his head in his hand while his other hand was clutching his chest with a face full of regrets. Tsukasa gasped dramatically and Rui lowered his brows in sympathy, while Akito was twitching his eye.
"No... in the first place to talk about marriage when you are still in high school is a bit--"
"What do you mean, Akito!?" Tsukasa cut Akito's words with a hit on the shoulder (in which Akito groaned in pain). "If you're dating someone's daughter, it goes without saying that you're dating her with the intention to fill her life with happiness until death do you part! Don't be a trash to hurt your own lover even once!"
"So heavy!!"
"...I am... a trash..."
"W-wahh, Touya!!! Sorry, I didn't mean to direct it to you!"
Tsukasa patted him on the back while Akito pressed his fingers to his temple, wondering if he got a headache. Rui then squatted in front of the gloomy Touya to give a reassuring pat on the shoulder.
"Aoyagi-kun, while what Tsukasa said held some truth, it doesn't mean everything is instantly over once you made a mistake unintentionally. This must be your first time fighting with Azusawa-kun, huh?"
He nodded, "I've never fought with Azusawa even once before, so when I saw tears welling up in her eyes after what I said I thought I should just turn into some pebbles on the ground..."
"That makes sense of your current situation, you must be shocked with your first fight. Everything will be okay, Aoyagi-kun, look here... you have a perfect example," this time Rui gestured his hands towards the orange-haired guy beside him. He presented the guy proudly, "Shinonome-kun here fights with Shiraishi-kun all the time, but they are still dating to this day. You and Azusawa-kun will surely be okay. Just apologize to her and tell her your honest feelings, she'll surely understand."
"For some reason I'm feeling very offended right now, Senpai."
"...Now that you mention it, Kamishiro-Senpai... you're right!"
"Don't suddenly get convinced by using An and I as example!"
"But didn't Akito and Shiraishi break up, like, 3 times in the span of one year?"
"Who cares, Tsukasa-kun.They always got back together again the next day after all."
"Is it about me now? Is that it??"
The guy, whose relationship was being used as an example for a couple who excelled in arguing, made a complaint but no one seemed to pay any mind. Suddenly, a message notification rang from Touya's phone. The name displayed on the screen made his eyes sparkle.
"It's from... Azusawa."
"Oh!! What did she say, Touya?" Tsukasa got excited for his junior. "Did she say she want to talk about it?"
Touya nodded, "Yeah. Azusawa said she was also sorry for reacting too emotionally yesterday, so she asked me if I want to walk home together with her... Akito, Senpai, what should I do? I think I'm dating an angel...?"
"Good for you guys, huh..."
"Good for you, Aoyagi-kun. Go on, reply to her before she changes mind."
"Mhm, I will."
As if to show off the skill of a gamer, his fingers slid across the screen so fast as he typed his reply in response to Rui's words that Akito grimaced a bit. Tsukasa then pulled on his arm.
"Touya, since you want to apologize to her you should turn it into a perfect date, and for that you need a plan! Come with me, I will help you to plan a spectacular date!"
"!!! Thank you, Senpai... then I will be relying on you!"
Tsukasa and Touya went through the door to the stairs leading down, leaving Rui and Akito in the rooftop. Akito somehow was suspicious about what kind of 'spectacular date' that Tsukasa meant knowing he was one of the two eccentrics, but as long Touya is happy. He then shifted his gaze to his other senior who was currently giving him a knowing grin.
"...What is it that you want to say to me, Kamishiro-senpai? Why are you still here anyway?"
"Hm? I'm just curious because Shinonome-kun hasn't told us his portion of story yet," he said. "Aoyagi-kun is one thing, but I also heard from Mizuki that Shiraishi-kun once again complained about her boyfriend."
The guy scratched his head. Everytime he had a problem with An the story seemed to circulate in a consistent order. An would tell Mizuki, then Mizuki would tell either Ena or Rui, and from then on who knows how wide the story spread. He sighed since it didn't seem like he had a way out.
"...It was just after Touya had that problem with Kohane, we had a small talk..."
"Touya is unforgivable!! How dare he made Kohane cry like that!?"
"Oi... don't pour oil on fire. It's something between the two of them so we shouldn't meddle too much. I'm sure they will fix it soon... In the first place it wasn't that big of a deal..."
At Akito's words, An stopped grumbling to raise a brow at him. She cocked her head to the side, "Really? Is it not a big deal for Akito?"
"...Ha? I mean, he just misspoke a bit. It's too early to talk about marriage too. Touya probably just too caught up in the image of Kohane as a wife that he forgot he's already in the position to be expecting it."
"I see..." An nodded to herself, which made Akito secretly sighed in relief although not for long. She looked at him again, "Then if I said someone who will be Akito's wife in the future would be happy, are you not annoyed at all?"
"That's—"
A statement that sounded as if leaving the speaker out of the picture felt a little lonely, the words he was about to say got stuck in his throat. As if he was swallowing back his own words. Surely, he might be a little annoyed. To think about someone other than her being the one in his future, he thought it was unpleasant after all. Seeing how he reacted, the girl in front of him grinned triumphantly.
"See? You talk so highly earlier, but it bugs you too after all, doesn't it? Now you should've understood Kohane's feelings better! Move, Akito. I'm going to scold Touya more!!"
"O-oi, wait, An—!"
He grabbed her hand before she could go.
"...About what you said earlier..."
There was a frown on his face. It seemed he was still disturbed with what she said. She suppress a smile, despite saying it wasn't a big deal, it looked to her like he was worried big.
"Akito, I will just tell you this," She cupped his face in her hands, stroking his cheek with her thumbs. "Back then when Akito confessed to me, I was never sure if I liked Akito in that way. I couldn't imagine myself dating Akito at all."
"...Ha? You're saying this to me now?? After dating me for a year???"
"Just listen to me until the end!"
An squeezed his cheeks so he'd stop talking, then after laughing a bit at his duck face she leaned in to plant a brief kiss on his puckered lips. He widened his eyes.
"I couldn't imagine myself dating Akito, but if I were to spend the rest of my life with someone, then I thought that person should be Akito. That's why I'm dating you right now."
A sudden unwarranted attack, that the guy was unable to say anything in return. He froze in his place with his face raising in temperature. He was sure his face was so red even without looking at the mirror. Satisfied with his reaction, he gave him one last kiss on the cheek before running inside.
Being left all by himself and his loudly beating heart, Shinonome Akito let out an defeated sigh.
"...That girl was really determined to prove me wrong that she did it that far. I was caught off guard."
"Hmm... I see," Rui nodded. "I thought you guys fight again, but I guess you're looking troubled right now because you're too happy, Shinonome-kun."
"Ha...? What are you talking about now?"
"I was just asking what problem you have with Shiraishi-kun, but Shinonome-kun went around bragging about how Shiraishi-kun only has you in mind to marry. Well, since it's an interesting information, I appreciate the tmi."
"You were the one asking! Damn it, I fell right into your trap..."
"Ahaha... Come on, Shinonome-kun, let's head down. It's almost time the bell rings. Leave the talk of marriage behind for a moment, a highschool student's duty is to study after all. You can think of getting married with Shiraishi-kun later."
"Senpai, I'm begging you to just stop talking."
Akito quickened his pace to leave the place so he could get away from him as soon as possible, which Rui simply chuckled as he followed after him.
It was just another day of high school boys dealing with their own love issues.