Chapter 122: Cloudy Day
He asked a question that had been puzzling him for a while, "Kita, why do you want to put such restrictions on our relationship?"
Kita's expression changed quickly.
Hearing his question, she gradually calmed down.
After a moment of hesitation, she prepared to voice her thoughts.
Kita was very clear about her feelings.
She did like Ishikawa Hayato, but not to the extent of needing to be with Ishikawa Hayato no matter what.
She also didn't want to disrupt the relaxed atmosphere in the band.
However, liking someone is an unreasonable thing. The more rationally one chooses to let go, the more one feels a sense of regret.
In situations where they met frequently, his every heroic save, the changes he spurred her to make, his steady self and his meticulousness beneath his playful demeanor, all of it attracted her so much.
"Ishikawa-kun, I..."
Kita thought, using a smile to cover her shyness.
She looked up and met Ishikawa Hayato's gaze directly.
As she organized her thoughts, she spoke slowly, word by word, "I'm finding it a little hard to control my liking for you."
To prevent him from getting carried away or misunderstanding, Kita quickly waved her hands and continued her explanation, "Ah, but I won't accept a harem, and I don't plan to compete with Gotou-san, Ryo-senpai, um... and Ijiichi-senpai."
"I just want to spend some time with you before you start dating them, so I don't have any regrets."
"That's my goal."
Ishikawa Hayato seemed to be thinking seriously, his deep gaze fixed on Kita.
Just as Kita started to feel uneasy, Ishikawa Hayato said, "Then it seems I'm at a bit of a disadvantage. How about Kita gives me some compensation?"
This guy really got carried away!
Kita, annoyed with herself from a few seconds ago, took half a step back, feigning a look of disdain.
"What kind of compensation do you want?"
"Hmm..."
Ishikawa Hayato's face bore an irrepressible smile as he pretended to think, "Let's settle our accounts."
"Accounts?"
Kita tilted her head in confusion, her greenish-yellow eyes revealing her puzzlement.
"You owe me a meal, I owe you a meal, and there's also that swimming lesson."
Because aside from what Ishikawa Hayato owed her, the other two things were from a while ago, Kita barely remembered them and only recalled them after thinking for a moment.
"You actually still remember that," she sighed, unsure if she was happy or helpless.
"The chance to mooch off a beautiful girl, I never forget! This is the self-cultivation of a pervert!"
Ishikawa Hayato declared with great momentum.
"Then... what should we do?"
Kita understood Ishikawa Hayato's intention, but this time she chose to strike back, absolutely not giving Ishikawa Hayato the upper hand.
Ishikawa Hayato looked at the girl beside him, who had a subtly triumphant smile, her hands behind her back, turning her body expectantly.
He didn't tease her much and said directly, "Let's go on a date. Any day later is fine, we're both free during the summer break."
"Mm..."
Kita felt like she had finally gained the upper hand in her interaction with Ishikawa Hayato—no, she should say, in her interaction with her boyfriend.
Happy and content inside, she wanted to tease Ishikawa Hayato in return, but she herself noticed that the smile on her face was uncontrollable.
Complaining inwardly about how difficult it was to tease others, she gave up on the idea.
"Since it's settling accounts, you'll have to satisfy me then."
She responded with the most impressive words she could muster.
Ishikawa Hayato secretly chuckled at his girlfriend's tsundere demeanor. He placed a hand on his chest, bowed his head slightly, and bluffed, "The Ishikawa Family motto says, 'Accounts must be settled completely.'"
Kita let out a light laugh. "Then the time will also be arranged by Ishikawa-kun. Just tell me two days in advance, and I'll make time."
"Okay," Ishikawa Hayato replied, though not as happily as before.
He pondered, then asked, "Now that we're lovers, can we do things that lovers do?"
Kita stared at him blankly, as if checking if she had heard correctly, a joyful smile still on her face.
After confirming, she struggled internally for a moment, then her expression gradually turned cold.
Her gaze made Ishikawa Hayato feel a chilling cold.
"Ishikawa-kun, what do you mean?"
She asked with a fake smile.
Ishikawa Hayato was unperturbed.
"I think we can use a more intimate address. Right now, Kita is the only one in the band who still calls me by my surname, right?"
Kita was momentarily enlightened, but she also strongly suspected that he was intentionally making her misunderstand.
She crossed her arms in front of her in an X, saying tsundere-like, "No way~ Didn't we say it would be a secret relationship? What does it mean to expose it so quickly?"
But when Kita saw Ishikawa Hayato's slightly regretful expression, she let out the breath she had been holding.
Even so, she didn't want to indulge Ishikawa Hayato too much.
She looked to the side, at the dark clouds floating in the sky, and said, "If the date is successful, I'll agree to it."
Seeing Kita's tsundere appearance, Ishikawa Hayato resisted the urge to get closer to her. He pleaded, "Then... let's practice first. Please, my cute Kita, give me some motivation for the date plan."
Seeing that Ishikawa Hayato had put it that way, and it was just a trial call, Kita agreed after a brief thought.
"Then, it'll be a special one, okay?"
Although Kita said this, she felt strange inside, an inexpressible complexity.
She opened her mouth.
Ishikawa Hayato's name was simple and crisp to pronounce, but at this moment, for some reason, she felt unable to say it.
"..." She whispered it once under her breath.
But looking up and seeing Ishikawa Hayato still waiting for her, Kita suppressed her shyness and called out, "...Hayato-kun."
It was Kita's first time calling someone of the opposite sex by their given name, and though she often heard others in the band do it, at this moment she felt an inexplicable thrill.
Calling her boyfriend’s name made her feel a lot closer to him.
But just as she called out, on the other side, Ishikawa Hayato was also ready, responding in a low voice.
“Ikuyo.”
This single sound directly struck Kita’s core, making her blush terribly.
Her body stiffened, her eyes widened, and then her pupils became a chaotic mess.
“Foul… Foul! How could you call me by my name at a time like this!”
Kita shook her head and waved her hands in a panic, her neatly combed red hair bouncing, but feeling that she still couldn't hide her panic, she suddenly turned her back, covering her face with her small hands.
It was rare for her to be called by her name, and it was the first time she heard her name from someone else without finding it funny.
“Ikuyo, that’s a beautiful name.”
Ishikawa Hayato walked forward and said, leaning behind her.
“Wait, wait, wait! Stop, stop!”
Kita felt like she would break if he kept calling her name, so she quickly turned around again to stop Ishikawa Hayato.
Ishikawa Hayato could see it clearly now: Kita’s face was wearing an exaggerated, uncontrollable smile, one hand waving in front, trying to stop Ishikawa Hayato from speaking further, while the other hand desperately covered her face.
Ishikawa Hayato couldn't help but smile when he saw her like this.
He respectfully clasped his hands together and said.
“Extremely cute, thank you very much! Being with Kita today has filled my cuteness meter for ten years. I hope to be with Kita more often to fill my cuteness meter for the next ten lifetimes.”
“Don’t, don’t say these things to me!” Kita, mortified, immediately squatted down and covered her face.
After Kita’s shy shout, only Ishikawa Hayato’s two satisfied chuckles echoed.
As his emotions slowly calmed, he took a deep, enjoyable breath.
Even in such terrible weather, the moist air still made him feel comfortable at this moment.
He looked up at the sky, where dark, heavy clouds drifted.
Ishikawa Hayato thought, 'Why is the sky gloomy? Because the brilliant sun has squatted down to the ground.'
A moment later, he felt that Kita’s mood had mostly recovered, and he reached out his hand to the bright sun on the ground.
“Kita, it’s almost time to go to STARRY.”
After a few seconds, Kita responded in a muffled voice.
“Mm…”
She slowly reached out and grasped Ishikawa Hayato’s hand, using his strength to stand up.
But after she stood up, Ishikawa Hayato still didn't let go of her hand, and she said nothing, allowing Ishikawa Hayato to lead her towards the stairs.
However, when they reached the stairwell, she pulled her hand free.
Looking at the stairs, darker than the rooftop, and the direction they were heading, Kita clearly felt the distance between them, a distance that, no matter how close they became, could not be maintained forever.
“Ishikawa-kun, please don’t be too good to me. It will make it very painful when we break up.”
She said heavily.
“Is that so? But my goal has always been a harem, so not breaking up is also fine.”
“Womanizing jerk.”
Kita cursed him aloud, but in her heart, she was thinking, 'Ishikawa-kun must be talking about making up for her missed swimming lessons, right?'
'Hmm… I need to buy a swimsuit.'
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