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June 27 (First week)
A month has passed since Sakuta Azusagawa confessed his love to Mai Sakurajima in front of the entire school on the playground.
A lot of things happened during this period, happy and sad, too many to count with ten fingers. But generally speaking, Mai Sakurajima's puberty syndrome caused by her special feeling of "not wanting to be observed by others" was finally resolved, and the matter ended perfectly.
Sakuta Azusagawa, who has taken back an important person from the world, happily establishes a romantic relationship with Mai Sakurajima.
As the name suggests, Azusagawa Sakuta, the guy who was isolated by everyone at school, finally got married and has a lovely girlfriend like Sakurajima Mai.
Look, the two people who are in the climax of their love affair made an appointment to have lunch together in an empty classroom at noon today.
Sakuta was slightly surprised when he saw Mai taking out two bento boxes from the white bag.
"You really made a lunch box."
"It's because Mrs. Saki was so arrogant and asked, 'Mai, can you cook?' That's why I made it for you."
Mai's thoughtful behavior was beyond his expectations, and Sakuta quickly bowed his head and admitted his mistake:
"I'm sorry, I was wrong, I was too arrogant, I'm sorry."
"Just so you know."
"I'm starting."
Just as he was about to start eating the love bento that Mai had made for him, Sakuta suddenly raised his head with a serious expression:
"Um, Mai..."
"What's wrong?"
"I like you, please go out with me." This is both a promise and a test.
During the confession on the playground, Sakuta promised Mai that he would tell her "I love you" once a day for the next month. Only in this way would the lovely senior Mai be willing to be his girlfriend.
Although he knew that Mai had already acquiesced to this relationship, in order to please his girlfriend and to apologize for forgetting Mai at the critical moment despite having promised to "never forget", Sakuta was like a tireless repeater, conscientiously telling Mai "I like you" for a whole month.
And this approach is indeed particularly significant, but it feels a bit counterproductive. Didn't you see that Mai's eyes were now calm and she was silently looking away?
"Uh? Ignore?"
"We've been saying the same thing every day for a month, and I don't feel anything anymore. I'm no longer moved."
"You were the one who asked me to say that. That's too much."
Although she knew that Sakuta's depressed look was fake, Mai still found it inexplicably amusing.
Teasing Sakuta from time to time and liking to see him in trouble gradually became one of her hobbies. This was probably a sign of liking someone, right? Yes, there was no doubt that she liked Sakuta, more than he thought, this was something Mai was extremely sure of.
Only by repeatedly confirming their relationship like this could she feel at ease and not easily let her imagination run wild and forget all the unpleasant experiences that had happened between her and that bad guy.
"By the way, I will be appearing in a TV series that will be aired in July. Although it is a late-night show, and my role will only appear in one episode in the middle, there will also be a kissing scene." Mai shook the TV script in her hand, which immediately caught Sakuta's attention.
After hearing that there was a kissing scene, he was surprised:
"What did you say?"
"There's a kissing scene."
"Please refuse it."
"What's wrong with that? It's not the first time..."
At this point, Mai's sinister smile faded a little, and the light in her pupils dimmed.
The first kiss is long gone, and the one was not you. Mai didn't dare to say such cruel words to Sakuta. She was trembling, afraid that the moment she told the truth, she would see disappointment and contempt on Sakuta's face.
The feeling of not wanting to be disliked by Sakuta came like a wave, her heart aching slightly, and the dark thoughts called self-blame eroded her soul bit by bit.
"Wait! Mai, you said this isn't the first time?"
"I gave my first time to you, Sakuta. Have you forgotten, you scumbag?"
———Lied.
———I'm sorry, Sakuta.
"Could it be during the time when I forgot about Mai?"
"Reality is not like the nursery rhyme. I thought if I kissed you, Sakuta would remember me."
"I will definitely remember it. Please tell me the specific time and place."
"No~"
"A hint would be fine."
"I will never tell you."
"I'm counting on you!"
Looking at Sakuta's regretful and unwilling expression, Mai's heart seemed to be surrounded by countless love. This warmth was like the summer sun that dispelled the darkness hidden in the corner.
She moved suddenly, perhaps unable to resist the emotion in her heart, and her body leaned forward involuntarily.
Staring at the slightly pouting lips, the soft touch spread from Sakuta's lips.
~Chiu.
———Forgive me
———Sakuta.
"Mai?" Sakuta seemed frightened by her bold action and showed a rare dazed expression.
"Idiot~Are you bewitched by my charm?"
"Um, Mai, that was too fast. Can we do it again?"
"No! Don't get too carried away, Sakuta."
Mai glared at him, picked up a piece of egg roll from the lunch box with her chopsticks and stuffed it into Sakuta's mouth.
Sakuta chewed the delicious egg roll in his mouth and said teasingly:
"Although it's not as good as mouth-to-mouth, I'm still happy to kiss Mai indirectly. I think the mature Mai will definitely not mind kissing the immature me indirectly."
"Of course."
Mai blushed and ignored Sakuta's teasing. She picked up some rice grains and put them into her mouth, chewing them slowly.
In order to hide her shame, Mai closed her eyes and covered her mouth with her fists.
"First of all, it's not me."
"Um?"
"The one who has the kissing scene is the heroine."
After learning that the person he was going to kiss was not his girlfriend, Sakuta secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Of course, this little detail did not escape her eyes, and a faint smile appeared on Mai's lips.
"Mai, you have such a bad personality," Sakuta complained.
"But Sakuta probably likes me this way."
"But if this goes on, love will soon fade away"
As expected, Sakuta's unexpected counterattack made Mai unable to help but question.
"Why…why!?"
"Because I can't see that Mai is interested in me at all. When I heard you say 'I'm no longer interested', I felt desperate."
Before Sakuta could finish, he was kissed by Mai again, lips to lips. Although this sneak attack was not as powerful as the first one, it was still heart-pounding.
"How is it? Still desperate?" Mai looked at her schoolmate and boyfriend, who was one year younger than her, with a relaxed attitude and a smile.
Sakuta paused for a few seconds and then said slowly:
"I always felt that Mai was unexpectedly bold today, and the initiative was taken away from me repeatedly. I wanted to show my handsome and manly side to Mai, whom I like so much..."
"Hehe~ You want to make a mature me shy, Sakuta, you're still too young."
Mai laughed softly and reached out to grab Sakuta's cheek.
"Ah…it hurts!"
Sakuta rubbed his red, painful cheek and shamelessly took advantage of the situation.
"Well, I think the mature Mai wouldn't mind me kissing you proactively, right?"
"Uh,? Um...well..." Mai's face flushed as she held up the script to block Sakuta's naked view.
"May I?"
"…Um."
A gust of hot wind blew into the classroom, and the white curtains fluttered in the air, drawing a graceful arc.
The kissing figures of a man and a woman were just hidden by the raised curtains, and they became a landscape like a painting in this empty classroom.
After school, Mai and Sakuta left the school together.
The two are currently on the tram on their way home.
Perhaps Mai's strange behavior caught his attention, and Sakuta asked curiously:
"Mai, what's wrong with you? You were looking around all the way from school to here."
"Nothing... I just sometimes worry that I will be forgotten again."
This is a lie.
The reason why Mai kept looking around was that she just wanted to know if the bad guy was lurking nearby.
Strangely enough, ever since Sakuta confessed his love to her in public, the bad boy named "Souye" never harassed her again, nor did he hang around where she appeared. Sometimes, out of curiosity, he would pretend to pass by the next class by chance, but he never noticed her. It was as if he had completely disappeared.
If Asuna hadn't mentioned that bastard in her ear from time to time, she almost thought that this person didn't exist in the school at all, as if he had never existed from the beginning.
However, the fact that the bad guy finally gave up on her was something worth celebrating. However, it was incredible that she would care to the point of being suspicious.
The feeling that grows in my heart is a mixture of vigilance, fear, and even expectation.
Expectations? No, no, no! Am I crazy? ———Mai was so ashamed that she had no place to hide. No wonder she always felt something was wrong recently, especially after having physical relations with that bad guy twice (fake), this dangerous thought seemed to subtly change her attitude towards the bad guy.
At least, the hatred towards him now is not as severe as it was at the beginning.
"Just now, just pretend I didn't say anything."
In order to prevent Sakuta from having wild thoughts, Mai concealed her true thoughts.
Sakuta didn't realize that Mai was lying. He just thought her explanation was reasonable. He held her hand and comforted her:
"Don't worry, it's all over."
"Really? What if my puberty syndrome hasn't healed yet?" Mai asked jokingly.
"Although it seems unlikely...but if that time really comes, this time - I swear, even if everyone around me forgets you, I will remember your name and take you back from the world once again."
"Oh? What if you forget too?"
"Please punish me by making me eat Pocky with my nose, even a whole box is fine."
"No, add another one and eat noodles with your nose."
"No problem!" Seeing Sakuta being so confident, Mai pretended to be angry and poked him in the ribs with her elbow.
"Hmph. You're just too proud of yourself, Sakuta. Don't forget that you still owe me one for chewing Pocky with your nose last time."
Sakuta scratched his head in embarrassment. He didn't expect that after so long, Mai still wrote this down in her little notebook.
I remember that during the period when Mai had puberty syndrome, the two of them agreed that if he also forgot about Mai in the end, he would be punished to eat Pocky with his nose. Although Mai's puberty syndrome was later resolved, I thought that after a while, Mai would slowly forget about it, but who knows...
"Ahem…! Please, mature Mai-sama, be magnanimous and allow me to apply the IOU from last time to this agreement."
"Okay. Remember, if you forget me again, you will eat two boxes of Pocky and a plate of noodles with your nose."
"As you command! Lord Mai."
Ten minutes later, they arrived home.
By the way, Mai's apartment is just opposite Sakuta's house, so the two of them often make plans to go to school together in the morning.
After parting with Sakuta, Mai took the elevator to her floor.