'Ugh, these annoying humans.'
'Within seconds putting their fingers back at me, what a hypocrite!'
Asuna groaned in anguish.
I knew this was enough.
With decisive action, I came closer to her and held her hand.
"Dear, let's go. I just realised there is an excellent shop on the next street."
Before Asuna could react, I hastily pulled her along before running off.
Feeling a strong grip on her soft yet boneless hands, it was the first time a boy made such close contact with her.
She absentmindedly glanced at Elandor's rough hands pulling her along.
If it were someone else then she would have definitely killed him on the spot.
But for some reason, she let him hold her.
'What is this strange feeling?'
Asuna murmured in a barely audible voice.
When you protect a girl from bullying or when she is being slandered, you subconsciously enter her world.
As a result, you forcefully tore open a small opening in her tightly guarded heart even if you don't want it.
Feeling absent-minded, she slowly raised her head and looked at the profile of this boy in a daze.
[Held her hand 1 time.]
Even though I heard the system notification, I only stopped after ensuring we had travelled a sufficient distance.
Phew~
"Now, we are away from the crowd!"
I exclaimed after catching my breath.
"Still not leaving?"
Asuna spoke coldly.
"Huh?"
"What?"
Unable to understand, I directly questioned her.
Mnnn~
"Annoying!"
With a strong force, she shook her right hand out of my grip.
"You can't hold a girl's hand so casually."
With a heavy snort, Asuna distanced herself.
"But didn't we have close contact yesterday?"
I blurted straightaway.
"Well..."
"...…That was d-different, we were just p-pretending, yes pretending to be fake girlfriend-boyfriend yesterday."
Asuna stumbled with her words.
"Huh?"
"Aren't we still pretending today?"
I blurted without a pause.
"Today it's different."
"Stupid Elandor!"
All I got was Asuna's strong glare.
That was a bit tsundere-like action, never mind.
"Anyway, we have almost reached our destination."
"The shop is just a few meters away."
Checking up the surroundings, I kept walking.
With a tacit understanding, Asuna followed behind.
With her head down, she seemed to be lost in some thought, so I didn't bother disturbing her.
"Finally reached."
After reaching a big shop, I abruptly stopped.
Aah~
Asuna, who was walking thoughtlessly behind me, collided with my strong back, making her lose her centre of gravity.
I was in a better position so I quickly stabilised myself, but looking at her who was about to fall, my footsteps, like a natural reflex, moved automatically.
Getting hold of her wrist, I ardently pulled her closer, even though I could see her hidden upper valley through the narrow acute angle, I swear there was no hidden intention.
'What is he doing?'
Asuna's mind was in a mess as she was led into this situation.
Weeveee~
Feeling herself being stabilised, with a gentle force on her wrist, she allowed her body to limply fall into Elandor's arms
'Why is he so close?'
'This...Thisssss!'
When the situation subsided, she was standing close to me, with both of her arms resting on either side of my shoulders.
An accident happened again.
'This strange smell?'
A peculiar masculine smell unique to a man, mixed with sweat giving off a strong taste, hit Asuna's nostrils making her remarkably aware of the opposite gender for the first time.
Likewise, I also instinctively inhaled her sweet smell.
"It's jasmine like...….your smell."
Looking at her unique blood-red, like admiring a beauty from close, I unhurriedly muttered.
People really tell the truth, in front of a beautiful girl, a man can really lose her reason.
Even if this girl close to me was a ticking time-bomb, for this wonderful experience of holding her soft body so close, it was worth it.
Hearing my words, a small red cloud started brewing on Asuna's face yet she maintained eye contact so I continued.
As an inherently powerful creature, no boy had dared to say such frivolous words to her, but she found it amusing.
Perhaps it was the usual tendency of a woman wanting to keep hearing her praise?
A subtle expectation started rising in her eyes.
Anticipation? For what?
For some reason, she didn't interrupt.
"Has anyone told you?.....Your eyes are deep-red just like a ruby, enough to fascinate countless innocent boys."
"Maybe that's why I got trapped in the first place."
With a heavy sigh, I expressed the regret of our encounter."
Stomped~
With a threatening face, snapping my fingers, she readily stomped on my foot as she once again separated from me.
"You are really talkative, huh?"
"The store is in front, let's go and buy clothes, we are getting late."
Refusing to talk any further, Asuna left me and went into the store alone.
'This boy doesn't even know the basic boundaries between man and woman.'
Scolding Elandor repeatedly in her head, Asuna felt ashamed and indignant at the same time.
What no one saw was the faint blush on her face that was still faintly visible.
[Held her hand for the second time.]
[Give her a heartfelt moment.]
Looking at her behaving strangely, at first, I felt confused but the system's sound cleared my doubts.
"Really? She is definitely a tsundere."