Chapter 9, Ask her out?

Ayame soon realized her creepy look towards Sora, and returned to her cheerful self before her beloved boyfriend could notice.

"Why aren't you eating, Ayame?" Sora asked looking at her bento, "Oh, yeah. I was just enjoying you eating my food with such pleasure," Ayame answered teasingly.

In return, Sora's face turned into a tomato. Ayame chuckled looking at him while opening her bento. 

Sora soon composed himself and looked at Ayame's bento. Just as he thought, it was similar to his, 'I wonder how long it took her to make these….' He pondered curiously, with a hint of guilt.

However, his heart started to feel warm. Unbeknownst to him, the wall he had built around him as his coping mechanism, had begun forming cracks.

Both of them soon started chatting about random books while continuing to eat. Their chuckles every now and then warmed the atmosphere. 

—

"Thank you, Ayame. The food was amazing," Sora said with a gentle smile appearing on his lips. 

They had finally finished their food. Both lunch and recess time were over. Usually, Sora was done eating within five minutes, but today, chatting with Ayame, and savouring each bite of her food extended that time by a lot. 

"You're welcome, Sora-kun. By the way…" The words she wanted to say seemed to be stuck in her throat, but soon she gathered the courage, "Can I bring you food every day from now on….?"

This shocked Sora greatly, leaving him speechless for a moment, "W-what? Every day? N-no! I gave you enough trouble today, and this bento must have been very expensive to make," Sora truthfully wanted to say yes. But he couldn't bear to trouble her any more, 'This is already way more than I deserve...' He thought.

"You don't have to worry about that! And haven't I mentioned before that it makes me happy? I'll say it again to make it clear. Sora-kun, this is my selfish desire to see you eat my food. I want you to be healthier too! Your skin is worryingly pale," Ayame stated firmly. 

"B-but," before Sora could say anything, Ayame interrupted, "No buts! Hmph! I will bring you bentos every day, and that's final!" She left no room for arguments.

Sora nodded with a flustered face. He didn't mind her forcing him, knowing it came from her genuine care, "Good boy," Ayame said with a teasing gaze. Sora's face heated up even more, with imaginary smoke coming out. 

—

Soon both of them parted ways reluctantly and went to their class. Sora was already missing her, he realized he was getting increasingly dependent on her with each passing moment. But weirdly enough, he didn't care. And his gut also told him for some reason this would be for the better.

He remained calm being close to her. It made him forget all about his pain and trauma. He generally tries to hide his "damaged" self from others. Kenji had threatened him implying if anyone ever finds out about his family situation, Sora's fate would be worse than death.

However, with Ayame, he feels like his damaged self just…. Disappears. This feeling was quite addicting, 'Maybe I should tell her about the nightmare I had last night…. Actually…. No. I should wait a little bit, we have just started dating, I can't already start dumping my problems on her,' Sora decided to do it after a little while, perhaps after a date…. Wait! 

'I should ask her out on a date! She gathered the courage to confess, I should do this much," Sora being determined to ask her after school, went to his class. 

—

The class was finally over! Sora was excited yet nervous. Excited because he gets to be with Ayame again, and nervous because he is going to ask her out on a date. But no matter what, he will ask her out! 

He was walking towards the gate to meet up with Ayame, the cherry blossom tree boosts his determination as he thinks of ways to ask her out.