Chapter 20

(A/N Notes: I wasn't able to properly write this week, but I still have some drafts for about 5 weeks or so)

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Yuriko and Takeru were walking back home while holding one of each other's arms, as they walked they would have short talks, but most of the time they would walk in silence, and now during one of those silences Yuriko began yawning

"*Yawns*"

"? Are you feeling sleepy, Yuriko?"

"Yeah, usually I would have a cup of coffee at the stucco office before going home, but today because of certain reasons, no one in the room had time to make coffee"

"Is that so?… Then… Do you want me to make you some coffee?"

Takeru's cheeks were slightly red as he said that, but when Yuriko heard his offer of making something for her she responded almost immediately

"You will? Then I'll gladly accept"

"Okay *mumbling something*… Do you have coffee beans at your apartment?"

"Coffee beans? No, I don't… Don't tell me, you're going to make the coffee with the beams?"

"Yeah, that's how I learned to do it"

"Takeru… Do you like coffee by any chance?"

"I hate it"

"… Oh… I-I see…"

Yuriko was left slightly confused at Takeru's answer, but she only stayed confused for a little while, as Takeru began to pull her

"Then let's go buy some coffee beans"

"… Okay!"

Yuriko was about to say that it wasn't needed, but noticing that this meant spending more time with Takeru, she quickly changed her mind and agreed with a smile on her face. And so with Takeru in the lead, the two went to a store to buy some coffee beans

Some minutes later

The two had entered a pretty famous store for selling high-quality coffee and related products

"I'll go take a look over there, so you can go take a look to see if you find anything that interests you, Yuriko"

"Okay"

With that, they both went to different aisles. Yuriko went to the aisle that contained coffee makers and cups, and she looked at the variety the shop had, but Yuriko was looking at the various cups with great interest as she crouched down

"…" <These patterns are quite beautiful… I wonder if Takeru wouldn't mind if we shared cups with matching patterns>

Then after waving away that thought of hers, she got up and turned, making her almost bump into someone

" "Ah!" "

"I'm sorry about that!"

"It's alright, we didn't bump nor break any of the products"

"Yes, you're right"

The person she almost bumped into was a boy just slightly shorter than her by 3 cm, with brown hair and eyes, and with a smile on his face as he held two cups with matching flower patterns, which she noticed

"Buying those for you and someone else?"

"Yes, one for me and one for my cute fi… Girlfriend"

"I hope she likes it"

"Thanks"

Having finished their short talk, Yuriko went on walking down the aisle as she looked at the other products

Meanwhile

Takeru was carefully looking at each coffee package to find one that Yuriko would like, as he did that he eventually ended up bumping into someone

"I'm sorry for that, I wasn't paying attention"

"Ah! No, it's my fault for not paying attention either"

" "Hm?" "

"Kogane-san?"

"Tanaka-san?"

Takeru had bumped into Sakurako, as they were both carefully looking at the coffee available, but now they were now staring at each other as they cold sweat since they were both worried about how to continue their accidental talk

"A-are you here to buy coffee, Kogane-san?"

"Yes…"

"I see…"

And after that really short exchange, the awkward silence returned, only making their anxieties grow even more, as they worried about that, they both didn't notice the shadows behind them, and then

"Takeru!"

"Sakurako-san"

" "!?" "

They were both hugged from behind, Takeru was hugged by Yuriko, and Sakurako was hugged by Ichiro, which caught both of them by surprise. Then Yuriko and Ichiro noticed each other again and who they were hugging

"Kogane-san?… ! Is that person your fiancé?"

"Yes, he is my fiancé"

"Fufu, I can see that he cares a lot about you"

"Yeah… You can say that"

Sakurako blushed a little at hearing that from Yuriko, as for Ichiro and Takeru…

"…" <Say anything, I'll kill you>

"…" <Ooooh! Scawwy! Takkun got himself a lucky pull and now has a beautiful girlfriend>

"…" <I-it's not like that… … … Yet…>

"…" <I see, I see. A very tsundere response, as expected from Takkun>

"… *Deeply breaths in*"

The two were talking with their eyes, but Ichiro now having a mischievous smile, decided to talk with Yuriko

"So… Are you perhaps, Nanami Yuriko-san?"

"Yes, that's my name. Did Kogane-san tell you about me?"

"Nope, I heard it from Takkun"

"!"

"Takkun?"

"That's the way, our family calls Takeru like, you can also call like that if you feel like it. By the way, I'm his cousin Hirano Ichiro"

"Fufu, Takkun is it? That's a good nickname for Takeru"

"Yes, and please continue to take care of Takkun in our stead"

"Of course!"

"Thanks. Shall we get going, Sakurako-san?"

"Yes"

And with that Ichiro and Sakurako walked away after she picked up a coffee beans package

"Shall we get going as well… Takkun?"

"… Please don't call me like that…"

"Nope!"

"… Fine…"

Takeru gave up on convincing Yuriko to not call him by his family nickname. He then also picked a coffee package, and they both went to the cashiers and paid for it. Then as they left the store, they passed by a pink-haired girl who was accompanied by a handsome black-haired boy, and Takeru's eyes and the girl's eyes met for a moment, and they…

" "Huuuuuuuh?" "

Began glaring at each other and making tsundere noises. That girl was Cicilia, and the boy was Yasu, and so both he and Yuriko began pulling Cicilia and Takeru away from each other by the hand, Yuriko did so with a troubled face, while Yasu did so with his eternal

expressionless face

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Some time later

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"I'll start making the coffee, make yourself comfortable while you wait"

"Okay"

Yuriko was sitting in the living room of Takeru's apartment, while he was in the kitchen picking the necessary tools to make the coffee for Yuriko. While he did that, Yuriko began talking to herself inside her mind

"…" <Although I didn't mind the way Takeru interacted with Kogane-san and that other girl today… I still don't want him to interact with other girls when I'm not with him as much as possible… What do I do?… … … I know! Let's put Takeru in the secretary position of the student council, not only will that mean that we will still get to go home together, but I will also get to spend more time with him> *Nods* <Yeah, let's do that>

Yuriko was now making a satisfied face as she came up with that idea, and just as she had come up with her plan, Takeru approached her with a mug in his hands

"Here"

"Ah! Thank you, Takeru"

Yuriko accepted the mug from him, then Takeru sat down on one of the ends of the table, and seeing that Yuriko pouted a little and then she began tapping the spot beside her on the carpet as she called him

"Takeru, sit here"

"… … … Fine…"

Takeru accepted without a fight Yuriko's request and sat beside her with his cheeks slightly red. Seeing Takeru sitting close to her Yuriko's mood got better, and she began drinking the coffee

"! Your coffee is really good, Takeru"

"T-thank you"

There was a short silence between the two before Yuriko decided to go forward with her idea

"… By the way, Takeru… Do you want to join the student council?"

"No!"

When Yuriko heard, Takeru's immediate response she looked at him with a smile of someone who was not going to give up, while Takeru was making a bright face without smiling

"Are you sure you don't want to join the student council?"

"Yes!"

"What if I say you can't refuse?"

"I will still refuse!"

" "…" "

The two once again looked at each other in silence as they smiled, then after that equally short silence, their smiles were replaced by serious faces

"Takeru, are you sure you don't want to join the student council?"

"Yes, I won't join it even if it's you, Yuriko"

"Not even if that means we can have more time together?"

"… … … Y-yes"

And Takeru's willpower took a serious blow when he heard that very tempting offer from Yuriko, but he still refused with a lot of hesitation. But Yuriko had noticed his hesitation

"Think Takeru, if you join the student council, then that means that you can hug me and bury your face on my chest, the way you like it"

"I don't like doing that!"

Takeru's face got bright red when Yuriko said that about him as he tried to refute her

"But didn't you keep burying your face in my chest last weekend?"

"!… Erm… Well… … … Y-yes…"

"Then if you join the student council, I won't mind you doing that every so often inside the stucco room"

"… … … I-I… I-I will still refuse…"

Takeru was really close to accepting Yuriko's invitation to join the student council

"Takeru… If you accept my invitation to join the student council… I will let you bury your face in my chest right now, and whenever we're alone as well"

"… … … … … …"

Takeru remained silent doing his best to not fall into his temptation… And before he noticed, he was already hugging Yuriko while burying his face in her chest

"Fufu, I will take this as you accepting my invitation to join the student council"

"…"

Takeru didn't say anything as even his ears had turned red while he hid his face from Yuriko's view, as Yuriko patted his head while hugging him back with a big happy smile on her face from hogging an embarrassed Takeru all to herself

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(A/N Notes: Diabetus)