Dusk was falling.
Shigen Ryouka originally wanted to keep Nanao Akane for dinner.
But if she kept Nanao Akane and didn't keep Hayato, it would be a bit unreasonable.
And keeping Xiao Lin, for the current Shigen Ryouka, this idea was still too bold.
She hadn't thought about how to introduce this boy to her family.
Nanao Akane seemed to have noticed Shigen Ryouka's hesitation, so she voluntarily stood up when it was time:
"It's about time; I have something else to do later, so I'll take my leave first."
Shigen Ryouka gave her best friend a grateful look.
Since Nanao Akane brought it up, even Xiao Lin wouldn't think she was impolite.
As expected of Akane, she's so thoughtful.
"Mm, okay." Hayato also nodded and began to pack his things.
Shigen Ryouka saw them to the door, waving her small hand:
"Bye-bye, see you Monday."
"See you Monday."
Nanao Akane and Hayato also bid her farewell.
Watching their departing figures,
Shigen Ryouka suddenly thought, so Akane and Xiao Lin take the same road home.
After closing the door, she still lingered, leaning her back against the door, smiling for a long time.
Xiao Lin and Akane on the way back… they must be talking about her, right?
What will he say about me? Will he be smiling or very silent?
Shigen Ryouka suppressed the urge to call Nanao Akane right now, deciding to talk to Akane properly later.
She still didn't know what Akane and Xiao Lin had talked about in the kitchen earlier.
But~~
Shigen Ryouka excitedly swayed from side to side, her cheeks flushed with shyness.
So happy! To be able to be so close to Xiao Lin.
He actually came to her house.
Their relationship must have advanced a great deal, right?
It would be great if they could have a more inti… inti-inti-inti-intimate development in the future.
Shigen Ryouka thought happily.
Nanao Akane followed behind Hayato, without a word the whole way.
When they both walked out of the street in front of Shigen Ryouka's house,
Nanao Akane suddenly took three steps in two, and with a "thud," softly bumped into Hayato's back.
"What are you doing?"
Hayato wanted to turn his head to look, but Nanao Akane's two slender arms wrapped around his waist like water snakes.
"You bullied me," Nanao Akane said in a muffled voice.
Hayato paused: "You assaulted me first, don't play the victim."
"Who told you to be so close with Shigen Ryouka?" Nanao Akane said softly, her head still resting against the boy's back, her arms around his waist tightening: "…Promise me."
"What?"
"Don't abandon me."
"Then you promise me first."
"I, what can I promise?" Nanao Akane asked, at a loss. Did he think she could leave him? How could that be?
"Study hard."
"That kind of thing… I, I've always been studying hard, you know." Nanao Akane's face was tinged with red: "Otherwise, I wouldn't be doing this, you know. This, this is my first time, okay?"
"Your head is full of dirty thoughts," Hayato chuckled: "I told you to study hard so you won't be left behind."
Nanao Akane's face grew even redder: "Books, I'm certainly studying them hard too."
"Oh, Siyuan did five or six pages of problems this afternoon, and they were all big ones. You haven't even memorized the word 'abandon,' have you?" Hayato said.
"This, this I can explain," Nanao Akane said. Who told him to let her see such a thing? "You're already so close with Shigen Ryouka behind my back; how could I possibly be in the mood to study?"
"Can't carry you," Hayato said.
Nanao Akane: ?
Hayato glanced at Nanao Akane, who was still firmly holding him from behind. He returned to the main topic: "You also have no intention of explaining to Siyuan."
The evidence was that ever since the incident on the green field, Nanao Akane had affectionately called him "Lin-chan" or "A Lin," but today she had reverted to "Xiao Lin," clearly not wanting Shigen Ryouka to notice anything amiss.
"Because—" Nanao Akane said with a slight nasal tone.
But she didn't finish the sentence, instead gripping Hayato's clothes tightly.
If she were to explain it clearly like that, it would inevitably make Shigen Ryouka sad.
She talked on the phone with Shigen Ryouka every night, and the conversations were all about the boy they both liked.
Shigen Ryouka's personality was more reserved than hers, but Nanao Akane knew that Shigen Ryouka's affection was no less than her own.
If the happy Shigen Ryouka suddenly learned of this today, it would surely be like a bolt from the blue.
It was truly too pitiful.
"Anyway," Nanao Akane emphasized, "I will study hard, but you absolutely, absolutely, absolutely cannot abandon me."
"…Stop clutching my clothes." Hayato patted her hand: "My clothes are pitifully few."
"…" Nanao Akane, without a definitive answer, fell silent.
"Let's go, I'll walk you to the subway station," Hayato said again.
Nanao Akane's gloomy expression brightened immediately, and she smiled with her eyes curving:
"I want you to walk me home… You haven't been to my house yet, even though you've been to Shigen Ryouka's."
"Don't push your luck."
"Are you going or not~~"
"Next time, for sure."
"Then it's a promise, next time, okay?"
Nanao Akane released Hayato's waist, but didn't withdraw her hands; instead, she put them around his shoulders and then jumped up with force:
"Carry me."
Hayato's body swayed, but he managed to stabilize himself with the powerful lower body strength of "Thousand-Pound Drop EX."
Then, using "Fantasy Killer," his right hand, which was a bit stronger than others, supported Nanao Akane's perky bottom.
The famous Japan basketball superstar Hanadō-kun said it well: the left hand is just for support.
"…Just for a short while," Hayato said: "Get down yourself after that street corner."
"Alright." Nanao Akane rested her head on Hayato's shoulder, her eyes immediately falling upon the boy's profile, so close.
She blew a breath into the boy's earlobe, then smiled ambiguously: "You're so bad?"
Hayato did not speak.
"But I like it so much~~~ it made Dou Dou feel so good." Nanao Akane continued to blow, almost licking Hayato's ear with her fragrant tongue: "Did you feel good?"
"So-so," Hayato said.
"What do you mean?" Nanao Akane leaned against his shoulder dejectedly: "So I still can't satisfy you?"
"However, you're fine just as you are now," Hayato added.
A young girl possesses a certain youthful innocence, which, like purity, fades with the passage of time.
A lady has a unique charm, and so does a young girl.
Nanao Akane was currently at the most bittersweet moment of her life.
There was no need for Hayato to rush her maturity; forcing growth prematurely was not a good thing.
One step at a time.
Teaching her what she needed to learn, little by little.
There was plenty of time.
…
…