"An Le, what is wrong?"
Amidst the bustling crowds of Akihabara, Miyake Fufu's concerned voice drifted over, catching the ear of An Le, who had turned her head to look in a certain direction.
At this mont, An Le stood on the street not far from GIGO, gazing across the road at a petite, beautiful girl dressed in a kimono.
It was Sakuramiya Hitomi.
"..."
An Le watched the striking beauty with a slight flicker in her eyes, but she eventually turned back, offering Miyake Fufu a shy smile.
"It is nothing, let us go, Teacher Miyake."
"Oh, all right..."
'Forget it. I already decided to wait until I go out with Xiao Huan tomorrow before thinking about those things,' she thought.
'Speaking of which, why is Vice President Sakuramiya here today?'
An Le did not know.
However, even though Sakuramiya Hitomi appeared to be alone, An Le still had no intention of making a move against her.
With this in mind, An Le pursed her lips, pretending not to have seen anything, and continued following Miyake Fufu and the few illustrators ahead of them to go eat lunch.
Not long after An Le walked away, Yan Huan, having just secured his "first kiss", dashed out of the GIGO arcade behind them.
"The operation has officially begun, Myau-chan. Look alive!"
"ow!"
Yan Huan checked the ti on his phone. The physical boost from the Kiss God granted him the stamina to rapidly change locations.
His expression was dead serious, and even Myau-chan on his shoulder looked like it was bracing for battle.
"Myau-chan, I now bestow upon you the title of 'Mobile Phone Consul'!"
"ow?!"
Yan Huan shoved the phone into his pocket as he ran, instructing the cat simultaneously.
"Later, during the date, if anyone else sends a ssage, you must report it imdiately and type out a reply on my behalf!"
"N-No problem, ow!"
After their rehearsal the night before last, Myau-chan should be up to the task.
Before this great battle even began, Yan Huan had already laid all the groundwork.
He had placated Spencer, settled Bai Yi and Ye Shiyu who had arrived early, and even solved the phone issue with Myau-chan's help...
Looking at it now, the plan was absolutely foolproof!
Then...
First stop, Hakata Furyu!
Yan Huan sprinted wildly. It did not take long before he spotted the ran shop on the street corner, sporting a sign that read "Akihabara Main Store".
Because Akihabara was packed with people today, having a taste of this authentic, delicious ran ant queuing up was inevitable.
A line of people stood at the entrance, all of them looking down and playing with their phones.
Among them, Sakuramiya Hitomi, dressed in an elegant pale pink kimono, looked incredibly striking.
Yet, for so reason, upon catching his first glimpse of her, Yan Huan did not take the ti to admire her beauty. Instead, he glanced up at the blazing sun in the sky.
Earlier, to prevent Bai Yi from coming here, he had lied, claiming he was worried she would be exposed to the sun.
Now, looking at Sakuramiya Hitomi, Yan Huan genuinely felt that sa concern sprouting in his heart.
"..."
Over there, in the field of vision of Sakuramiya Hitomi, who was also looking at her phone, the bright, sweltering sunlight suddenly turned into shadow, making her pause in surprise.
Turning her head, she saw the tall figure of Yan Huan standing in the direction of the light, blocking all the glaring rays.
"P-President?"
"Sorry, did I keep you waiting long?"
Sakuramiya Hitomi blinked and glanced down at the ti.
"No, I actually thought it would take you much longer to get here."
"Yeah, I originally planned to be a bit early, but I did not expect you to arrive even earlier than ."
Yan Huan offered a slight smile as he explained.
"I see..."
'Then, the music I heard earlier from GIGO was probably just because the President was getting close, right?' she thought.
Thinking this way, Sakuramiya Hitomi discarded her suspicions and simply looked at the short line ahead of them.
"Ah, it is almost our turn. Let us go in, President."
"All right."
She had been queuing up for a while, so naturally, they did not have to wait much longer.
"Welco, valued guests! The ordering machine is right this way. Once you have ordered, I will lead you both to take a seat."
Yan Huan casually ordered a bowl of spicy miso pork bone ran, and Sakuramiya Hitomi chose the exact sa thing.
After confirming their preferred noodle firmness, the two of them finally sat down.
While waiting for their food to arrive, Sakuramiya Hitomi carefully placed her small handbag aside and smoothed out her skirt.
"Akihabara is really bustling today, President. There are so many people."
"Yeah, a lot of people showed up..."
Yan Huan said this while glancing at Myau-chan, who was perched on his shoulder, tasked with guarding his phone.
Sakuramiya Hitomi could not read the hidden aning behind his words, but she suddenly grew a little nervous.
She pursed her lips and finally looked at Yan Huan, asking,
"What you ntioned before... you wanted to talk to about what happened previously, right?"
Yan Huan did not expect her to get straight to the point so quickly, but he gathered his wandering attention and focused entirely on her.
"Yes, that is right."
The problem was that the task required him to get a kiss without the influence of the Modifier, which always necessitated a solid reason.
Especially when it ca to Bai Yi and Ye Shiyu.
Bai Yi was sowhat manageable. While Yan Huan did not particularly like her, he certainly did not hate her either.
At the very least, she had her rits, such as...
Uh...
Her looks!
Yes, her looks!
And...
She sang beautifully!
But Ye Shiyu...
He feared that all her good points were inevitably overshadowed by her glaring flaws in his mind.
If he really kissed her, there would likely be no turning back.
"President, I am truly sorry about what happened before, I..."
"Did you not already say that on Plane? I have already forgiven you. Just do not do it again."
'Forget it, securing the Crab dicine takes priority!' he thought.
With that in mind, Yan Huan cast aside his worries about the future and focused on the present.
He took a deep breath, raised his eyes to et Sakuramiya Hitomi's, and said with a smile,
"I just feel like it has been a long ti since we have spent ti alone together like this, not since that incident."
Hearing this, Sakuramiya Hitomi's heartbeat began to gradually accelerate.
It was because, in this very mont, she truly felt as if she and the President had returned to the days before her secrets blew up.
Back then, after spending day and night in daily companionship, they had developed a tacit understanding and a deep intimacy...
In the end, she had ruined it all, reducing things to their current state.
"Yes, the last ti you and I were alone like this was probably during Ryo's birthday. Back then, the two of us sat together by the seaside... It really feels pleasant just thinking about it."
"..."
As soon as she said this, Yan Huan's expression involuntarily stiffened.
He was getting a bit of PTSD.
Even now, he vividly rembered how using the Devil's Mind-Reading that night had nearly traumatized him out of existence.
Seeing this, even Myau-chan on his shoulder could not help but shake its head and sigh.
It had to be said, Sakuramiya Hitomi really had an uncanny knack for these things.
Out of all their countless beautiful monts in the past, she could have ntioned literally any other, and Yan Huan would have empathized and wholeheartedly agreed.
Yet, out of hundreds, perhaps thousands of fond mories, she flawlessly pinpointed the single one that was an absolute minefield...
No one else could pull that off but this silly Sakura.
"Haha, indeed..."
Looking at the blissfully happy Sakuramiya Hitomi, Yan Huan had no idea what to say, so he just forced an awkward smile.
"Speaking of which, President, there is sothing I have been wanting to ask you."
"Hm?"
Yan Huan looked up at her, only to see her small face flush slightly.
Her pink lips, painted with a hint of lip glaze, pursed slightly, betraying her internal struggle.
After a long silence, she finally asked shyly, her gaze darting away,
"During Ryo's birthday, when we played Truth or Dare, you ntioned that you 'had soone you liked'... Who was the person you were talking about back then?"
"..."
Yan Huan opened his mouth, but before he could respond, a highly oblivious staff mber brought over their noodles.
"Here is your order, please enjoy~"
"...Thank you."
Their conversation was left hanging by a thread. Even though the steaming bowls of ran were right in front of them, neither picked up their chopsticks.
It was Sakuramiya Hitomi who grew too anxious first. She squeezed her eyes shut and said nervously,
"If you feel it is too hard to answer or if you do not want to say it, you do not have to! Just... even if you refuse to answer, please do not give a perfunctory response, I am begging you..."
"...All right, Sakuramiya."
Sakuramiya Hitomi slowly opened her eyes. Seeing Yan Huan reach for his chopsticks, a wave of disappointnt inevitably washed over her heart.
After all, if there was no answer, did that not an...
That the real answer was not her.
"..."
Filled with a sense of loss, Sakuramiya Hitomi reached out for the disposable chopsticks.
But just as she extended her hand, Yan Huan had already snapped his chopsticks apart and handed them to her.
As he placed the chopsticks into her hands, he said softly,
"Back then, the person I was talking about was you, Sakuramiya."
"...Eh?"
Sakuramiya Hitomi stared up at him in stunned silence. Watching him set down the extra pair and reach for his own chopsticks, a brilliant light slowly rippled within her eyes.
"President, i-is that really true?"
"Mhm."
His words were virtually a confession to declare his love...
But they were the genuine truth.
Back then, Yan Huan truly had liked Sakuramiya Hitomi.
It was only after the major problem of her voyeurism ca to light that his feelings for her beca incredibly complicated.
In the past, if you ran into a girl with such shocking habits, you would be crazy not to run away.
But perhaps because his tolerance threshold had been relentlessly hamred upwards by a host of monstrous, supernatural Modifier Hosts, or maybe he simply could not part with the beautiful mories they had shared...
Regardless, for the very first ti, Yan Huan admitted with absolute certainty:
Even now, he still held a great deal of affection for her.
He felt it for Spencer, and he felt it for Sakuramiya Hitomi.
'Yan Huan, oh Yan Huan, you really are a piece of work...'
Deep down, without Myau-chan running cover for him, Yan Huan felt genuinely ashad of his inferiority for the first ti.
"The noodles are getting soggy. What are you spacing out for?"
Only for now, he had to temporarily cast his sha aside. Because the Crab dicine was still waving at him from the Demon's Shop.
"Ah, o-okay!"
Sakuramiya Hitomi's face was completely red as she quickly lowered her head to eat.
Yet, unlike Yan Huan who was heartily wolfing down his food, she seed to just be chewing on the exact sa strand of noodle over and over.
The tangled noodles in the broth perfectly mirrored her current state of mind.
'The President...'
'Actually liked back then!'
'If... If I had known, I should have told Nara to remove all those voyeuristic gadgets much earlier!'
'If I did...'
'I might already be on my honeymoon with the President right now!'
'How did things end up like this...'
As she chewed her noodles, Sakuramiya Hitomi felt completely beyond tears.
However...
There was still room for salvation!
Since the President had just said all of that, and even explicitly stated he had forgiven her...
Did that not an...
That the President still liked her exactly the sa as before? That he only liked her!
"..."
She was fantasizing again.
She imagined the President confessing his feelings and getting together with her today, and then keeping his distance from all other girls from then on.
After that, the mont they graduated, they would get married under the witness of both their parents—uh, wait, just her parents.
And then they would settle down in Linn, building a complete family... Maybe they would even have a few adorable children in the future...
That would be true bliss.
"Pfft..."
Still looking down at her noodles, Sakuramiya Hitomi could not hold back a sudden giggle, leaving Yan Huan staring at her in bewildernt.
But seeing her deeply flushed, plump earlobes, Yan Huan eventually could not help but smile too.
'Sakuramiya does have feelings for ...'
'In that case, getting a kiss from her shouldn't be too difficult.'
'Though thinking about it, the truly difficult parts are probably yet to co.'
Yan Huan put down his chopsticks, looked up at Sakuramiya Hitomi, and asked,
"I am full. How about you, Sakuramiya?"
"Ah, m- too."
In reality, she had barely eaten anything; she had been too busy smiling goofily into her broth.
But it was about ti anyway, so they needed to head to the next stop.
Initially, Yan Huan planned to stroll through Yodobashi Cara with her first, but ti was tight, so he decided to head straight to the cat cafe.
"Let us go, Sakuramiya. There seems to be a cat cafe nearby. How about we go check it out?"
"Ah, all right, President."
Sakuramiya Hitomi wiped her lips and reapplied a touch of lip glaze before finally standing up and following him out of the ran shop.
Outside, as midday passed, the sunlight only grew more intense.
"There are so many people, President..."
"Yeah. Keep close and be careful not to get lost. I will walk a little slower."
Yan Huan glanced at his GPS navigation, failing to notice Sakuramiya Hitomi puffing out her cheeks behind him.
Shortly after, she sighed, reached out, and proactively intertwined her fingers with his.
Feeling a soft, cooling sensation slip into his grip, Yan Huan paused slightly.
He turned his head to see Sakuramiya Hitomi smiling as she tried her hardest to feign composure.
"Now I will not get lost, President."
"..."
Held by her small, seemingly boneless hand, Yan Huan's heart inevitably began to pick up its pace again.
It was completely different from Spencer's firm, scorching grip. Sakuramiya Hitomi's little hand felt like weightless silk.
It was delightfully cool and incredibly soft.
Yan Huan subconsciously thought this, but a second later, he forced himself to feel guilty.
How could he just inexplicably start comparing the two?
'Yan Huan, oh Yan Huan, you...'
"!!"
Just as Yan Huan was berating himself while holding Sakuramiya Hitomi's hand and guiding her through the crowd, a tall, cold figure suddenly crashed into his field of vision not far away.
The girl wore a white dress, her ink-black hair neatly combed—like a dark lotus blooming in a field of pristine snow.
It was Ye Shiyu!!
She stood by the side of the street, clutching her phone.
Yan Huan's heart nearly stopped. He imdiately whipped his head around, changing direction while simultaneously shifting his body closer to Sakuramiya Hitomi.
It was not to be intimate—he was using his height to block the line of sight from that direction.
He was terrified of Ye Shiyu seeing them, and equally terrified of Sakuramiya Hitomi spotting Ye Shiyu!
"President, are we not going that way?"
"There are too many people over there. Let us go this way."
"All right..."
Sakuramiya Hitomi nodded without thinking much of it, simply following him on the detour.
It wasn't too much of a detour, anyway. The roads here branched off in all directions, so any path would eventually lead them toward the station.
And that cat cafe was right near the station.
"Welco, valued guests~"
At the entrance of a cat cafe nad "MOFF", Yan Huan led Sakuramiya Hitomi inside.
"ow~"
Various breeds of adorable cats weaved through the different scratching posts and climbing fras. Seeing custors enter, they all turned their eyes to inspect them.
Sakuramiya Hitomi's eyes lit up slightly, but Yan Huan felt nothing but disdain.
None of these felines were nearly as cute as Myau-chan.
Though, heaven only knew why he was comparing a literal Kami to the regular pets of a cat cafe.
Perhaps it was because a certain fat cat had beco so useless that its value could only be judged by its cuteness?
"Wow, so cute..."
Sakuramiya Hitomi reached out to play with the cats that gathered around, causing them to lift their heads, utterly enjoying the comfort of being petted.
anwhile, Yan Huan kept his eye on the ti, simultaneously mulling over his plan to secure that kiss.
The very next second, as if struck by inspiration, he looked at Sakuramiya Hitomi's side profile.
"Yeah, truly cute."
"Right?"
Cradling a cat in her arms, Sakuramiya Hitomi turned her head, only to realize that Yan Huan was looking at her, not the cat.
Realizing that he had been calling her cute, a faint blush crept onto her cheeks, and she shyly averted her gaze.
"I-Is it really true, President...?"
"Of course it is true."
'Sakuramiya is shy, just as I thought.'
Seizing the opportunity, Yan Huan's expression shifted suddenly. He looked at her face and abruptly extended a finger.
"Sakuramiya, there is sothing on your face."
"Eh? My face..."
Yan Huan nodded, and while she was still caught off guard, he swiftly closed the distance between them.
Feeling his masculine fra drawing nearer and nearer, Sakuramiya Hitomi's face imdiately flushed crimson. Yet, she did not step back. Instead, her hands went soft, dropping the cat in her arms.
"ow!"
The cat darted away, but Yan Huan kept his gaze entirely focused on her face as he pointed out,
"Cat hair."
"Eh?"
"Let get it off for you."
"O-Okay!"
Hearing this, Sakuramiya Hitomi nervously propped her hands on the floor behind her and tilted her head back, fully submitting to his actions.
Thump... Thump...
Her increasingly frantic heartbeat bood like thunder, loud enough for her to hear clearly.
But watching her react this way, Yan Huan felt a slight sense of relief in his chest.
Because he knew that what she was agreeing to in this mont was not, strictly speaking, allowing him to pick off cat hair.
She was giving him permission to get intimately close.
Because anyone with a functioning brain could easily figure out:
This was definitely not just about removing a stray cat hair, right?
Even so, Yan Huan did not dare relax, terrified of ssing up the task's judgnt criteria.
He gently reached out, lightly gripping her chin, and threw in one last question just to be absolutely certain.
"Is this all right, Sakuramiya?"
"Mmm..."
Hearing his voice re inches away, her eyelashes fluttered uncontrollably.
Thump... Thump... Thump...
Her heart was on the verge of leaping out of her chest, and she was already experiencing shortness of breath...
Staring at the man before her, a blushing, thoroughly embarrassed Sakuramiya Hitomi finally nodded.
"I-It is all right, President..."
He got permission!
Gazing at her closed eyes and tilted head, her lips re monts away, Yan Huan pursed his own and slowly leaned in.
And truly, without any influence from the Modifier, he took the initiative and kissed Sakuramiya Hitomi!
"Muah."
The instant their lips touched, a tingling sensation involuntarily swept across Yan Huan's scalp.
Because Sakuramiya's lips were simply far too soft.
Her tender lips carried a faint, sweet fragrance from her lip glaze, making it difficult for him to pull away.
However, just doing this was not enough.
He had to maintain the deep kiss for a full minute!
Thinking this, Yan Huan struggled to tear himself from that tender warmth, intending to pry her lips apart and explore deeper inside.
"..."
But just a second later, when he tried to push further, he suddenly realized that not only were her lips refusing to part, but they were actually accelerating away from him!
Could it be...
Was Sakuramiya unwilling?
Yan Huan paused in shock, the thought just crossing his mind.
He looked down, only to see Sakuramiya Hitomi completely slumped back into her seat, swirls practically spinning in her eyes, completely incapacitated.
She was experiencing shortness of breath, her entire face bright red, mumbling as she remained dazed.
"P-President..."
A second later, her head completely tilted to the side, and she closed her eyes peacefully.
Yan Huan was left standing there as if struck by lightning, his body frozen stiff like an idiot.
Because Sakuramiya...
Had actually just fainted from his kiss?!
But they had only just brushed their lips together!!
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