Huh?!
Kazusa was still stunned, with big question marks hovering over her head.
What did he just say?
He doesn't believe in love at first sight, but then he says, "until he met me"?
What does that mean? Why is he looking at me while saying this?
Emotions swirled in Kazusa's eyes.
The girl simply didn't like studying, but she wasn't stupid. She had already provided her own answer to that statement in her heart, yet she couldn't quite believe it.
To her, this was still an ambiguous statement, and she needed clearer words to confirm it.
Chisato didn't give Kazusa much time to think and continued to speak plainly. Since he had already started, it didn't matter if he clarified further.
"Probably at the beginning of the new semester, I developed a crush on you, Touma, and it was purely based on your appearance—the most superficial reason."
"Before that, I never thought someone could look so perfect according to my preferences."
"You, you, you…!"
His words were too simple and straightforward; the impact was both brutal and powerful.
It wasn't an extremely romantic love story, but it penetrated deeply into Kazusa's heart, radiating sweetness from within.
She felt panicked and confused. Not only was she speaking awkwardly, but even her outstretched hand trembled like that of a frail eighty-year-old man.
Chisato took the initiative to hold her slender hand, which was still shaking in mid-air.
This made Kazusa's pretty face even rosier. Her lips were pursed tightly, and a small cloud of steam seemed to "whir" above her head.
Yet this time, she didn't show the same eagerness to withdraw her hand, as she had done earlier. Instead, she quietly let her fingertips rest in his palm.
His hands were surprisingly warm.
"What I'm about to say may make you a little unhappy, but I hope you can listen to me patiently until the end."
Kazusa stared at his face, and those overly bright eyes made her panic momentarily, giving her the sensation of an electric shock that numbed her entire body.
She slowly looked away and responded with a soft "Hmm" in a nasally voice. In that moment, with her delicate and cute demeanor, she was completely different from her usual self.
Chisato organized the complicated words in his heart and then spoke slowly,
"If you have a good impression of someone, you'll naturally want to get in touch with them."
"I once tried to get along with you as a classmate, but it didn't work very well. You don't like talking to others and don't want anyone to get close to you."
"If that's the case, I can only take some unconventional measures."
He felt a little uneasy as he said this and paused deliberately to observe Kazusa's facial expression.
At that moment, she appeared remarkably well-behaved and docile, with no hint of impatience or negative emotions on her face.
She didn't show any disgust or surprise at the word "unconventional."
She seemed to understand that he was interested in her, and that fact alone made her happier than anything else. The rest didn't matter to her.
This emboldened Chisato to continue,
"Touma, you sleep in class and often leave early or arrive late."
"The exclusive aura you give off makes me a bit distressed, but at the same time, I'm happy because your attitude means I have no competition—I have absolutely no friends around me."
"However, I'm not satisfied with just maintaining a relationship with you as a classmate. I understand that talking to you too directly may seem unnatural."
"I fear my intentions will be easily seen through, so I've chosen other ways to communicate with you."
"To be honest, after that day when you fell by accident, I was actually quite happy because it gave me a legitimate reason to reach out to you."
"…"
The girl pursed her thin lips in slight dissatisfaction, but her expression didn't show anger.
She was able to grasp his inner thoughts from his self-narration during this time and understood Chisato better.
Did this guy really have such feelings for her back then?
"The same thing happened when I asked to borrow money later. I finally got close to you."
"I wanted to continue our relationship, and if I used the legitimate reason of paying you back as a cover, I could talk to you naturally."
All the thoughts he had carefully considered were laid bare at that moment.
Kazusa realized something. She recalled the expression Chisato had when he showed his love for the piano in front of her before.
Could that also mean…
Chisato could guess what Kazusa was thinking from the change in her expression. He nodded candidly.
"Because I want to be with you, the reason we help each other is somewhat of an excuse I came up with."
"I am indeed interested in the piano, but the main reason I said that is because of you."
Chisato continued to shamelessly speak these straightforward words,
"Not just in class, I want to interact with you in other settings too. Not just now, but in the future, I want to be by your side like this."
"The piano may be an excuse, but I genuinely want to teach you to learn because you could easily reach where I am with a little effort."
"However, I can't reach where you are. As you said, people have different talents—some are good, some are bad."
"If you finish high school and pursue your dream of becoming a pianist like your mother did, I will never be able to follow in your footsteps."
"You can easily reach my level with minimal effort, but where you are is something I can't attain."
Chisato had contemplated this question long before and now spoke about it honestly.
Kazusa finally understood. She slowly withdrew her hand from his palm and pressed her fingers on the edge of the table.
The heat rising from her brain spread throughout her body, leaving her unable to think.
She had comprehended Chisato's thoughts long ago, but she didn't know how to react in that moment.
Chisato wasn't surprised by her reaction. There's a process from knowing to accepting.
He stood up and walked directly to the kitchen without saying anything, leaving Kazusa alone to think quietly.
He had finished what he wanted to say, and now it was up to her to respond.
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