Around three minutes had silently passed since Kanji request Airi to explain why she feared looking people in the eyes.
She couldn't do it.
Multiple times she opened her mouth as if to speak, but in the end, she couldn't articulate her thoughts for others to understand.
Thus the silence that settled between them was horribly uncomfortable, though Kanji was veryy faintly amused by her trepidation.
The timid girl beside him on the other hand, she likely felt anything but.
From time to time Kanji glanced over at her, with a subtle smile she could not see.
As such he took notice of how her gaze was always glued to the ground, as though it might offer her an escape.
He also noticed her small hands quivering slightly; she must have wanted to break the silence but didn't know how.
In the end, it was the truth that she was tasked to do something of which she failed to accomplish, which also deterred her from seaking out of guilt.
That must be her current state, at least.
Then Kanji's eyes moved to her shoulders, which were stiff, then to her fingers clenched tightly around her thigh.
Indeed, the silence stretched, but he was not in a state of impatience, so he decided to approach her hesitance gently instead.
"Hmm... Sakura san," he called out, with a measured tone so as not to startle her.
"Y-yes?" Sakura hesitate to look him in the eye.
Her words were very soft and fragile, as if afraid her vocal cords may shatter if she were to speak louder.
"I was thinking..." Kanji paused, choosing his words very carefully.
"Would you try holding eye contact with me? Just for a little while. We could see what you're afraid of together."
The mere suggestion seemed to unnerve the little rabbit as her eyes moved around the ground nervously, with her chest rising and falling as her breath quickened furthermore.
'Wow, she's really tense,' Kanji thought. 'I wonder if she might bolt.'
For a moment, it really appeared as if she might disintegrate for good.
"You don't have to, of course," he added gently, to eased her tension for a bit. "But if you want, I'm willing to help you."
Sakura bit her lip and lowered her head further, and her hands clutching the hem of her shirt tightly.
Kanji watched her silently, finding her reaction quite amusing.
But as amusing as he found her demeanor to be, Kanji chooses to suppressed any mood his expression may revealed, just so he could avoid discouraging her.
Like that seconds crawled by as she visibly struggled with the idea, while Kanji no longer suggest anything more.
Instead, he waited with a soft and steady expression, though her silence likely indicated a refusal.
'A failure, huh?' he mused. 'But, oh well, it isn't far from what I'd expected.'
Those were his thoughts at the moment.
Despite anticipating Sakura's rejection, he remained relatively calm.
'Though, admittedly,' Kanji—or the soul currently possessing his body—monologued, 'I thought trying from this angle might work while assessing Sakura's character.'
Eventually, due to the awkward stillness, Kanji was about to dismiss his suggestion, opening his mouth, but just before he could spoken up, the timid girl interrupted him.
"I... I'll try."
'Ooh?' Kanji raised one brow, but seeing this as a positive development, his lips curved into a faint, encouraging smile as he quickly responded.
"Good. Whenever you're ready, just let me know."
He said, averting his eyes upward, toward the bark of the tree, from which the both of them took solace unto.
'Though, right now, I have absolutely no clue why you're alone in the woods with a person with a reputation as a pervert.'
Kanji with a blank face thought.
'Damn, this shit is about to make me tear up.'
Perhaps he didn't realize it then, but at that moment, there were already a droplets of moisture glistened at the edges of his eyes.
But before he could further tragify the situation that was granted to him, the familiar, submissive voice addressed him.
"I-Ike-kun..."
Another pause followed.
Sakura's hands twisted her shirt, her fingers pale from the pressure.
Her eyes darted around like a frightened bird before finally settling down.
Slowly... painfully slowly, like the creeking of a machine that had been long since utilised that it's joint have become rusty, she raised her head and fixed her unstable gaze upon his face.
"I, I-I'm ready," she mumbled.
Kanji receiving her cue, he also lowered his gaze descriptively slowly.
Until, eventually, his eyes met hers.
'Blue, huh...' he noted.
Along with it, he could also see the hesitation painted there—the dread that made her shoulders tense and her breathing shallow, all of which Kanji decided to disregard as of the moment.
Instead, "What do you see~?" He coax her, elongating his words and accentuating each syllable like he was to soothe her like a frightened child that he had to tame.
'Why is she going along, though? As far as I know... No, that can wait. I'm more curious...'
Sakura blinked rapidly in response, her lips parting and closing like a fish out of water, it looks as if she was attempting to speak, but no word emerge from her lips.
Her hands fidgeted, scratching her nails and rubbing her thighs together anxiously.
Even so, Kanji perceived that she tried her best to accomplish the task he gave her, as her gaze stayed locked with his.
Airi's instinct was to avert her eyes, but she fought that instinct head on, her gaze clinging to his like a lifeline.
For that reason alone, Kanji's fondness for Sakura Airi soared rapidly.
A warm sensation was stockpiling inside his chest, that squeeze it ever so tightly.
The sensation made it even difficult for him to inhale, with his heart pumping more blood than what would have been naturally required.
But it was a pleasant sensation nonetheless.
The emotion he felt in that instance could be replicated by fondly watching at one's pet showing off something to thou.
However banal that "something" may be, because they are so proud, and wish to show specifically to you, they make you feel a squeezing sensation in your chest, and in turn drawing maximum affection from you.
Sakura Airi was that amusing pet for him.
"...W-white!" she blurted out finally.
In return Kanji smiled faintly.
"That's the sclera," he explained in a soothing way. "It protects the eye and helps keep everything in place."
Sakura's lips pressed into a thin line, but she nodded slightly as she tried formulating her next words.
"And?" he prompted, looking at her fondly. Then after a brief pause, she spoke again.
"Circle..."
"That's the iris," Kanji smiled vividly with his whole shoulder shaking, leaning against the tree.
"It's what gives eyes their color. Yours, for example…" He trailed off, tilting his head and squinting slightly.
"A gradient blue, isn't it? They are much rarer and more striking.~"
Sakura, in turn blinked rapidly, and her lips parting slightly, but ultimately her clumsy self failed to formulate a response to his flirting.
Kanji just look at her in amusement, but noticing the faint blush creeping up her cheeks, he chuckled once more but choses not to push the comment further.
On the other hand, "B-Brown." Airi shyly stuttered out instead, perhaps to consciously avoid the subject.
She also wished to compliment Kanji, but it was just too embarrassing for her.
"That's the color of my iris—Brown is good in bright light but not so much in the dark.
Yours, on the other hand, might be the opposite. Blue eyes are better suited for low light. Isn't that interesting?"
Sakura listened quietly.
She didn't exactly know what, or why, or how, but her shoulders were relaxing just a little, and her gaze no longer darted away as nervously as before.
For a moment, she seemed absorbed in her thoughts.
"D-dark… circle."
"That's the pupil. It lets light in so we can see. It's controlled by muscles around it that expand or contract based on how much light there is."
Sakura even realized her breathing had become more even, and though what Kanji said wasn't particularly interesting, she acknowledged that it felt good just leaning closer to listen...
She didn't even realise her body swayed entirely close to Kanji, perhaps it was because of his voice?
Or perhaps it was because he had spoken so softly and quietly, she subconsciously leaned in closer.
For a few moments, they sat in silence following that, with her gaze still locked with his.
"And now?" Kanji whispered softly, but with a very clear pronunciation, "What is there to fear?"
To which Sakura failed to answer.
Her eyes roamed around his for a moment, searching for another thing she might want an explanation for.
But she quickly realized that it was because she just wanted to listen to him talk more.
With that, she quickly broke off the eye contact, looking down with a flushed face.
Kanji didn't press her abrupt shift.
Instead, he simply leaned back, closing his eyes and let the quiet settle between them.
For now, this was enough.