Man, Was It Cringe?

"I must say, that was an impressive answer we've got," I sarcastically said.

Ai bowed her head repeatedly to me. "I'm sorry! I don't know how to convince her anymore...!"

I averted my eyes. "Well, it already happened, so there's no point in regretting it now."

We had been allowed to spend the night together in exchange for me carrying out a favor for her later on. That favor paid fine money, even with this agreement, so I guess I just had to keep my mouth shut and accept the gift gratefully.

Now that Ai decided to spend the night with me, I thought about utilizing some of her time for something other than cooking. 

"—you want to dress inconspicuously like me?" Ai repeated my wish.

"Yes," we were still standing in front of the apartment, talking about our plans. "You know there's a small clothing store behind the apartment. It would be pointless for you to mask your appearance if someone still recognizes me."

Ai didn't seem to understand what I was trying to say. "Why is that a problem, Hirosha-kun?"

"You're well-known," I shrugged. "There's a photo, or maybe more than a photo, floating around social media regarding you and me. They're exploding in popularity, and obviously, I'm bound to become more easily recognized because of it."

She tilted her head, as if saying [So what?]

I sighed. "Do you know that... love can result in rivalry? And when they see their rivals gaining the attention they're aiming for, they'll generate another negative emotion such as jealousy. I don't have a problem if those negative emotions are kept to a small amount, but if it's a large amount and in many people, you'll have a hard time dealing with them. No, maybe it's me that'll experience them. Anyway, something awful could happen to us from that, and I want to avoid the possibility as much as possible."

"Ohh..." Ai covered her mouth with two hands. "Hirosha-kun thinking of me to that extent?"

"I think it's within reasonable limits..."

She laughed. "You really like to put yourself down sometimes, don't you?"

"Rather than that, I think it's just my standards that are broken," I shrugged. "I see it differently than those who know it's a high bar, but they deliberately lower it."

"Is that so? Hmm, okay, then, you can leave that to me," Ai grinned, pointing her thumb at her chest.

"I'll trust you."

When we arrived at the place, everything went quickly. Ai determines my size, then buys a shirt, pants, shoes, jacket, hat, glasses, and mask, all in complementary colors. Their colors were deliberately neutral to blend in with the people on the streets, such as black, gray, or navy blue.

I quickly ordered them all for the normal price. After that was done, we finally decided to go to the supermarket to prepare the cooking ingredients. We walked together to the nearest supermarket through an entertainment district, where the variety of shops were mostly for adults. I remember the name of that district was Yugen Yatai, meaning a subtle and mysterious beauty in the night.

It was still approaching to night. Naturally, I couldn't see the beauty yet. Well, the streets were already quite crowded even at the time.

I glanced at Ai by my side, walking along in harmony with the locals. I opened my mouth. "How's school going for you? Did you enjoy it?"

"I'm thoroughly loving it!" Ai answered more than happily. "In the beginning, I was quite overwhelmed by the pressure that many people in class put on me because of my popularity. But, I had a number of other classmates who were understanding and took that strange pressure off of me! I even made more friends...!"

"That's good for you," I smiled along. "I didn't have such a good first day, honestly."

"Are you alright?" Ai looked at me in concern.

I laughed it off. "I'll be fine."

Then, for some reason, I suddenly remembered the Tsugumi incident. It seemed to show up somehow in my expression, and Ai caught it. "Did you... hide something from me, Hirosha-kun...?"

"...No, not really."

I can't say that I endangered myself to save Tsugumi for Ai. That said, even if Ai's problem didn't exist, I doubt I would just ignore Tsugumi's issue. Ignoring matters I could handle would leave a bitter taste in my mouth. I would do something about her. [Does that mean I'm a nice person?] No. No way, no how. At least, I thought so. I figured I had enough reason to believe that.

"I see..." Ai lowered her head. When I looked at her profile more carefully, she seemed to be smiling sadly. "You know, Hirosha-kun, the chance to encounter you is one thing I'm very fortunate for."

I restrained myself from frowning, and simply let her continue.

"You brought me so many new experiences," Ai clenched her hands together, pressing them to her chest. "I decided to go to public school because of your influence. I think you know that already. With you as my role model, in just a few days, I gained more than I had in my fifteen years of life— I'm not exaggerating it."

Ai grasped my left hand with both of hers, raising it to the height of her shoulders. She stared at me earnestly. "I know this probably won't resonate with you, but I consider you to be the person I favor most in the world, Hirosha-kun. How about you?"

Why was she asking me that? It was because she wanted me to narrate my own story. But truthfully, even with that being said and done, I still had my doubts in sharing it.

[When was the last time I opened up to someone?] Never, probably. I hate sharing my emotional problems even to someone closest to me. I always wanted to appear fine, unproblematic, and resilient in front of others. That's not to say I've never snapped and let it all out beyond my control, of course. I have, but those instances were only when I was alone and I'm still immature. I think everyone experience them, so it's only normal.

I believe that the environment you live in, and the way you're born affects a person's nature as they grow. I know that my unwillingness to share them with others is because of that. I've embraced that fact. In truth, I thought that I would live my entire life walking that desolate road— at least, until now.

"Ai," I grasped both her hands with my other hand. Hers was so dainty. Immediately, much like like the hand she held, warmth spread in my palm. "—I'm sorry, but I can't reciprocate you, not yet. However, I truly wish, from the bottom of my heart, to convey all my feelings openly someday..."

Yes, this might be, or certainly, the whole reason why I decided to involve myself with her and the other heroines. It's kind of the same with writing, even though I held no special feelings with it.

"I'm afraid to commit to a promise with you, and this is a selfish request of me, but will you wait until then?" I gazed at Ai as earnestly as I could.

Ai smiled widely. "Of course. No matter how long it takes, I will continue to wait for you, Hirosha-kun."

The pedestrians around didn't give us a second glance as they went about their days.

In this dusk, under the sunset, Ai's figure appeared so magnificent.

However, when I broke free from my chains, it doesn't mean that Ai would be the one standing with me by the end.

***

3 pieces of pie crust, 600 grams of fresh strawberries, a jar of strawberry jam, powdered sugar, eggs, and cornstarch were all that was needed for the ingredients. I already had almost all of them from the leftovers a few days ago, and only needed to buy the pie crust and fresh strawberries alone.

"Heat the skillet on the stove, Ai," I ordered.

"Ready to go!" She sure is excited. 

Ai was wearing an apron, which, for some reason, had a heart design and the word "I Love" on top of her casual clothes. Well, it fit, so whatever. 

I did the same to a small pot. There are two stations in one stove. "Ah, just turn it on to medium heat. Bake the pie crust until the bottom is golden colored after the skillet has been heated. It should be about five to seven minutes. You can do other activities while you wait."

"O-Okay!" Ai went to mixing fresh strawberries with a little sugar into the pot beside her. She had to wait again for the strawberries to become soft and melted. "—ah! I should bake the upper pie crust the same as the bottom, right?" 

"Yeah," I answered shortly, coming to her side. "Don't panic. I'm always by your side."

Ai was blushing a little. "...Then please watch me."

She added jam to the pot, and a little cornstarch solution to thicken it. After it was cooked and thickened, the same time she finished the pie crust and cool it down, I helped her pour it onto the now cooled pie crust. After leveling the surface, arranging the strawberry pieces according to Ai's taste, and spreading the whisked egg on the edge of the pie crust, all we need to do is chill it in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

"Whoa, that was surprisingly easy...!" Ai burst into laughter, sitting on my bed, which was in the same room as the kitchen.

I had stored away the entire diary in a box of some sort, which I could lock/unlock, for about 7,400 Yen. [I have to seriously find a part-time job...] At the moment, the box is enough for at least ten diaries.

[Actually, System-san, is it accessible to them?]

(Yes.)

It feels like a long time since I've seen you... Anyway, can I do something with it?

(Yes.)

...Is it related to Alternative Worlds Quest?

(...)

Honestly, what exactly is your purpose here...? 

I sighed, going towards the laptop on the study table. "Would you like to watch a movie while you wait?"

"Sure," I heard the sound of her jumping off the bed, running a little towards me.

I gave her the seat. "There are already a lot of choices on the screen. You can choose the one that suits your taste."

"What about you, Hirosha-kun?"

"I'll be writing... What's wrong?"

Ai averted her gaze. "...I want to watch it with you."

"You want to?" I was a little surprised, of course. "...Well, I don't have problems with it."

"B-But it interferes with your writing activities, doesn't it? You don't have to force yourself if you want to write."

"I'm not a crazed writer with tight deadlines or anything," I don't even particularly like to write, in the first place. "It doesn't bother me. So do you want to or not?"

"Of course I want to!"

"Well, then, I'll take a chair—"

"Sit here."

"Huh?"

Ai stood up from her seat. 

I frowned. "You don't have to give it to me. I'll just get one for myself from the guest room."

Ai pouted a little. "I was saying that we should sit together."

The frown on my forehead only deepened. "Just for advice— though it's too late by now— you should be more careful about letting a man into your private space."

"...I would only do this to Hirosh-kun."

"...I'm happy to hear that, but still..."

"Is there something wrong with this?"

[A lot.]

She clearly wanted me to sit first while she sat above or in front of me. There weren't enough seats for two people to sit side by side.

"I mean, for one, there'll be something rising, and it's not a shield hero," I mumbled.

"Eh, what's that?"

"—it's nothing. Forget it."

I'm a man. A healthy young man, after all.

While I can restrain my lustful actions, I won't be able to do much to my boy down there when excited.