Chapter 28: 'Friends'
Swoosh—
Placing the snacks and drinks he was holding in front of Tsukimi Chifuyu, Sasaki sat in the seat in front of her and gently tapped her forehead beneath her long hair.
"You didn't go to eat, did you?"
Feeling the touch on her forehead and the familiar voice by her ear, the girl, who had been squinting her eyes, wallowing in loneliness and sorrow, opened her big, sparkling brown eyes.
Resting her chin on a soft, plush watermelon, Chifuyu Tsukimi looked at the large bag of snacks in front of her and felt a surge of joy.
She instinctively wanted to sit up straight and eat to her heart's content.
But then, remembering that these were from a boy other than Takagi-kun, she hesitated, glanced at them for a moment, then reached out and pushed the bag forward slightly.
"I'm not hungry, you can take it back."
Just as the boy took out a bag of potato chips from the snack bag and was about to tear it open, he heard Chifuyu Tsukimi's words and gave her a feigned surprised look.
"Eh? But I'm just here to chat with you."
Hearing the surprise in the latter's words, the cute little face of Chifuyu Tsukimi, who was hugging her little watermelon, suddenly became stiff, and she couldn't help but look at the boy who was eating potato chips.
"What's wrong?" Looking at the girl's surprised and confused look,
Sasaki munched on chips, holding back a laugh in his head, and then tilted his head.
"No, it's nothing..." Realizing that the bag of snacks wasn't meant for her, the girl awkwardly shifted her gaze away and then felt a stronger surge of sadness welling up inside her.
Although she would not accept kindness and care from other boys, the feeling of being cared for and minded was still very pleasing to her.
Because it made her feel that even someone as dull and boring as herself could be the object of someone's concern..and it made her happy.
But when she realized that all this was just her wishful thinking, the sadness that had just calmed down surged up again.
Before her sadness could spill out through her eyes, Sasaki, who had been looking at her, flicked her forehead.
"Aren't you eating?"
Putting her hand on her painful forehead and slightly wrinkling her sore little nose, Chifuyu Tsukimi, resting on the plush watermelon, gave him a puzzled look.
'Obviously, you said before that it was not for me...'
"It would be rude of me not to share a bit with a friend while eating." Placing the half-eaten chips on the table, Sasaki Fuyumi took out a few egg tarts, which girls tend to like, from the snack bag.
"This tastes pretty good. Do you want to try it?"
As he spoke, he opened the lid of the egg tarts and placed it in front of Chifuyu Tsukimi.
'friend...'
Not looking at the egg tarts in front of her, the latter widened her moist eyes, which seemed to contain a mist, when she heard this response.
Because she had always been somewhat slow to catch on since she was a child and lacked the ability to "read the room" or "go with the flow," she had never had many friends throughout her life.
And a lonely person will always be eager to extend his hand to the person he meets.
This was also why she agreed to become Takagi Kenta's girlfriend.
After all, for someone as lonely as her, nothing would feel more comforting and attached than the care of a lover.
But, like most people who don't cherish what's in front of them, her boyfriend, Takagi Kenta, often lacked the time to be with her due to his club activities.
Apart from receiving a simple "I like you" from her lover, she did not receive any care or protection from him, making her more withdrawn than before.
After all, as a girlfriend, failing to attract her boyfriend's attention felt like a dereliction of duty and a sign of lacking charm to her.
This would make her unable to help but think more about whether she was slow and whether Takagi found her boring, and that's why he was always involved in club activities... not wanting to spend time with her...
And Sasaki's mention of "friend" clearly struck a chord in her heart.
The term friend, in her view, would not affect her relationship with Takagi and could also reassure her that she wasn't such a slow and boring person.
It turns out that even a person like her could also have friends.
With this thought in mind, Chifuyu Tsukimi wiped the red corners of her eyes, straightened up, and held up the egg tart in front of her like a little squirrel.
Facing the boy's gaze, she lowered her rosy face and said in a soft and soft voice: "I'll start then."
Feeling the warm, soft, and sweet taste in her mouth, the hungry girl couldn't help but squint her eyes.
"It's delicious~."
Hearing these words filled with happiness, the boy took out a bottle of drink from the snack bag, twisted off the cap, and passed it over.
"Drink some water, eat slowly, there's more."
"Mhm~"
Seeing Chifuyu Tsukimi eating little bits at a time, behaving like a cat, Fuyumi Sasaki, who was sitting in front of her and watching quietly, felt like he was feeding a cat in the park.
But this feeling... wasn't too bad.
While this feeling emerged in his heart, thinking of this sweet and naive cat having a boyfriend, he couldn't help but shake his head.
'Dead pig head. '
After Chifuyu Tsukimi had eaten, she saw that Sasaki had no intention of taking away the remaining snacks, so when he walked past, she reached out and grabbed his sleeve.
"This...won't you take these?"
Stretching out his hand, petting the girl's head as if petting a cat, Sasaki Fuyumi, standing by her side, smiled and said, "It seemed like you really enjoyed them, so I left it all for you, there's not much left anyway."
Without waiting for the girl to respond, Sasaki looked at the nearly finished snacks and smoothed her very soft hair, which felt great.
"I didn't expect Tsukimi to be such a foodie."
Upon hearing this, the girl, who instantly turned her words of rejection into dissatisfaction, puffed out her cheeks that had just been stuffed with snacks: "I'm not; there wasn't much, to begin with."
Poking the soft cheek that was soft like a little bun, Sasaki nodded with a smile on his face.
"Then, I'll leave the little that's left to Tsukimi to finish, okay?"
Hearing the request from a 'friend,' the girl stroked her little watermelon and nodded seriously.
"No problem!"
After saying this, Tsukimi Chifuyu, who realized that the boy's actions were a bit affectionate, turned her face away and lay on the table as if she were shy, holding snacks in her hands.
'It's just an interaction between friends...'
Chifuyu Tsukimi felt that the interaction between them was somewhat problematic, but she didn't know if it was more than a friendship, so she could only comfort herself by saying something in her heart.
Meanwhile, Sasaki Fuyumi, who was already sitting in his seat, didn't think too much.
He did have a good impression of this sweet girl with unusual assets, but he wasn't bad enough to intentionally ruin someone's relationship.
Of course, if her boyfriend were someone like Miwa Itsuki, the type who doesn't know how to cherish, then he wouldn't mind being a yellow hair.
'After all, if you want the years to be peaceful, then let me carry the burden forward for you.'
That's the motto of his life
Just as this thought crossed his mind, Sasaki, who was about to lie down on the table and doze off for a while, heard an extremely quiet word.
"Hentai~"