Chapter 25: The Taste of Pizza Shared Like Lovers, Between Best Friends

While waiting for the food, Haru kept fiddling with her bangs, glancing around nervously, bringing the straw to her lips only to stop short—restless and fidgety.

“Calm down a little.”

“I mean, we’re a couple, a couple! In other words, lovers! I don’t know how I’m supposed to act!”

I see. Well, just being yourself should be fine— No, that’s not quite right.

“You don’t know how to act, huh… Look around. See that couple over there? The ones practically radiating sweetness? Use them as your reference.”

“Hmm… Wait, no way! They’re totally lost in their own little world… I can’t go that far!”

“What, aren’t you playing the role of my lover?”

“No, no, no… Ehh… seriously… nghhh…”

Haru folded her arms and wrestled with herself, visibly conflicted. I was half-joking when I said it, but… is she actually going to go through with it?

“S-So, what exactly am I supposed to do?”

Looks like she’s thinking positively about it. In that case, I’d better not say anything unnecessary.

“Exactly what… well, that couple isn’t really doing anything special. But they’re still way more couple-y than everyone else around. Any idea why?”

“Why… hmm… I guess… they’re looking right at each other. Like, they only have eyes for each other. And then… it’s like their feelings—how much they love the other person—aren’t just on their faces, but coming out of their whole body or something? They look happy, kind of bouncing with joy… It just really comes across that they like each other a lot.”

Yeah. That’s good.

If she’s felt that herself, she’s more likely to do it naturally, rather than being told what to do.

“Alright, then why don’t we give it a try?”

“Eh!? Wait, but still, that’s…”

“What’s wrong, Haru? Didn’t you say I couldn’t refuse?”

“Y-Yeah, but that’s different…”

Once again, Haru folded her arms and fell into thought—but this time, it seemed she was seriously considering whether to go through with it.

“You did say you’d play the part of my girlfriend, didn’t you? What, already chickening out?”

“I did say it, yeah… Fine! If you’re gonna push it that far, then I’ll do it!”

“How many times do you need to ‘steel yourself’?”

“C’mon, can you blame me!? I’ve never really thought about this kind of thing!”

Thought about it, huh… That’s true.

Back then, Haru probably never gave a thought to questions like “how do we act like a couple?” when it came to Kurakumo-kun.

If you like someone, and you feel connected with them, it just kind of comes naturally.

Back in those days, every day was fun.

But looking back now, something was missing. It was just a normal romance.

I thought of Haru as a best friend, but she never realized that. So no matter what we did, we were just lovers. Nothing more.

And becoming best friends after already being lovers… no matter how close we are, I think that would’ve been nearly impossible.

In that sense, maybe the way things are now is actually the right path.

Right now, with the kind of bond we share… we can start as best friends and become lovers on top of that.

That’s the kind of relationship I really want. That’s what it means to truly make Haru mine.

“A-Alright! Let’s do this!”

With that, Haru closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

I watched quietly as she opened them again and looked straight at me.

But unfortunately, the food chose that exact moment to arrive.

“Thank you for waiting. One margherita pizza and a shrimp Caesar salad. Please enjoy your meal.”

The pizza and salad—clearly meant to be shared between two people—were generous in portion. Still, to me, it felt a bit lacking. But considering the parfait coming afterward, it was probably just right.

And if it still wasn’t enough, it’d give us an excuse to drop by another place afterward.

“…Well, great timing, huh. Just when we were getting started. Oh well. I’ll serve you some salad.”

As if the tension had been swept away, Haru was suddenly back to her usual self. She snatched my side plate and began serving the salad.

She placed cabbage, boiled egg, and broccoli with a good balance, then neatly laid shrimp on top.

“Here you go—my lovingly prepared salad. Bon appétit.”

She held the plate with both hands and offered it to me.

She only served it, but… I didn’t say that aloud. If we were just best friends, I might’ve teased her. But since she’s trying to play the role of a girlfriend, calling her out on it would’ve just been rude.

There’s no reason to mock Haru when she’s doing her best.

“Thanks.”

As I said that, I placed my left hand over Haru’s right hand, which was holding the plate, and used my right to take it from her.

“—!!”

With a breathless little gasp, Haru’s hand slipped away from mine.

Hey now, weren’t we supposed to be acting like lovers?

“No need to pull away like that.”

“Well you suddenly touched my hand…!”

“Touching hands is no big deal. We are lovers, after all.”

“Uuuugh…”

“Anyway, never mind that. Here, I’ll serve your portion.”

I picked up Haru’s plate and began serving her salad with care, making sure it looked nice.

“Haru.”

Holding the plate in one hand, I offered it to her.

I looked at her and gave her my best attempt at a smile.

“Th-Thanks…”

Haru accepted the plate and set it down in front of her.

After glancing at my face, she quickly averted her eyes in embarrassment. She fumbled around for a fork as if trying to cover it up, then picked it up.

“L-Let’s eat!”

“Yeah.”

After watching me put my hands together to say “itadakimasu,” Haru hurried to do the same.

Usually, she’s the one who does it first—guess she totally forgot this time.

I took a bite of the salad. Yeah, well… it’s just salad.

It’s not like it was something Haru made herself, or something she’d already eaten. Just salad.

Still, Haru’s handmade hamburg steak from before really was delicious.

That was full of love—the ultimate food.

I’d love to have it again.

“Oh, the cheese on the pizza will get cold if we don’t eat it soon.”

“Right. Hold on a sec.”

The pizza had already been sliced into eight even pieces with a cutter.

I picked up one slice, cooled it a little by blowing on it, then held it out in front of Haru.

“Here—say ‘ahh.’”

“Eh!? …A-Ahh…”

At first, Haru looked shocked. But remembering her role as my “girlfriend,” she quietly went along with it.

She closed her eyes and opened her small mouth wide, waiting for the pizza. It was adorable.

A strong urge welled up to steal a kiss from her right then and there, but I held myself back.

“It might still be a little hot—don’t push yourself.”

As I guided the tip of the pizza into her mouth, she closed her lips and took a bite.

“Ahihi… But hey, it’s good. Thanks.”

Then she grabbed the remaining half of the pizza still in my hand and popped it into my mouth.

That’s a little privilege just for me.

“Ah! You ate it!!”

“Yeah, I wanted some too. …Ohh, I see. Sorry, I didn’t catch the hint. Give me a second.”

“What are you talking about?”

Haru looked puzzled as I replied, then watched as I finished off the rest of the pizza and opened my mouth wide.

“Okay, your turn. Say ‘ahh.’”

“Wait—what? No way…”

I pointed repeatedly at my own mouth, urging Haru to feed me back.

She glanced around nervously, scanning the area, then picked up a slice of pizza, cooled it a bit with a soft blow—just like I did—and nervously held it out toward my mouth.

“H-Here… Aahhh…”

When it reached my mouth, I took a big bite.

Mmm. This is great.

Since it came straight from Haru’s hands, of course it tastes amazing.

“Wah! You took a huge bite!”

“You can have the rest. Or I could feed that to you too, if you want?”

“I-I’m fine! I’ll eat it myself, thank you very much!”

Haru stared down at the pizza in her hands.

“…Hey, this is…”

“Hm?”

“D-Doesn’t that count as an indirect kiss?”

“It does.”

A little late to worry about that now.

Even earlier with the iced tea… though, I guess this time it was after I took a bite.

Then again, if we were still just best friends, she wouldn’t care about something like that.

Could it be… that she’s more conscious of it precisely because she’s acting like a girlfriend?

I almost said, "We're best friends, so don't sweat the small stuff,"—but I stopped myself.

If I said that, whatever Haru had managed to build up inside herself while playing the role of a girlfriend might collapse in an instant.

We’d probably go right back to being just friends.

So instead, I said this:

“We're lovers now, so that sort of thing’s totally normal. We’re gonna be doing way more intense stuff than that.”

“R-Right… yeah, I guess that’s true…”

Accepting my words without resistance, Haru took another bite of the pizza.

“Did it bother you?”

I asked on purpose.

There’s no way she’d say yes in this situation.

But by making her say it aloud, I wanted to imprint it into her subconsciously.

“Huh? No, not at all. Don’t worry about it.”

“I see. That’s good.”

Haru smiled at me, and I returned it with a look of relief.

That should have lowered her mental barrier to indirect kisses.

I watched Haru swallow her bite, then picked up a new slice and prepared to feed her again.

“Come on, say ‘ahh.’”

“Hold on… okay… Aahh.”

Haru gently wiped her mouth with a napkin, then opened up and waited for my pizza.

She opened her small mouth wide, but unlike before, she didn’t close her eyes—she looked back and forth between me and the pizza.

She looked so cute that I couldn’t help getting a little mischievous.

“Alright, aahhh—chomp.”

Just before the pizza reached her mouth, I turned it toward myself and bit off the tip.

“Hey!! You ate the best part!!”

Haru pointed at me in protest.

“Sorry, sorry. Come on, don’t be mad. Here—for real this time. Say ‘ahh.’”

“You better not mess around. Aahh~.”

I brought the pizza, now missing its tip, up to her lips. Haru leaned forward and bit into it.

“Nn!!”

With a soft “nn,” she chomped down and took a big bite, chewing away contentedly.

Even that side of her was adorable.

As she chewed and swallowed, I took a bite of the remaining pizza for myself.

While munching, I held out the next piece toward Haru again.

“Nn, aahh.”

Haru bit into the part I held out, and I finished the crust.

Once we were done, we smiled at each other—her with a slight blush, me with quiet satisfaction.

“I need a drink…”

Haru’s words made me realize I was thirsty too.

“Yeah, I could use something to drink too.”

I turned toward the iced tea, intending to take a sip—only to find Haru already had one of the two straws in her mouth, looking up at me with big eyes.

…Was she waiting for me?

Too cute. Seriously too cute.

I felt like I could scoop her up in a princess carry and just take her home right now. That’s how much it got to me.

But no, not yet. We’re not at that stage. Not quite.

I held myself back, smiled at Haru, and leaned in to take the other straw with my mouth.

Naturally, with both of us sipping from the same glass, our faces were close—really close. Barely a breath apart.

Even though we’d shared a drink like this just recently, somehow, it felt completely different now.

Haru was staring straight at me, her cheeks tinged pink, and she honestly looked really happy. I doubt it was just my imagination.

We drank the iced tea together and resumed eating.

From there, the “ahh~” feeding became mutual, and even the salad turned into something we fed each other between bites.

Whatever nervousness Haru had felt at the start was long gone. Now, like a real girlfriend, she’d look straight at me, cradle the food gently, and say, “Here, aah~.”

Between bites, we shared our drink from the same glass.

At some point, I started wondering—Is this really just an act anymore?

If this is how things are, maybe I could try stepping in a little deeper.