Chapter 122

It was as if he was troubled by her choice, but happy for her confession.

Realizing he wasn't teasing her, Kita subsided, but she still stubbornly said something.

"If you don't want it, just refuse!"

"How could I not want her? We've been calling her 'Harem Number Two' for so long."

Ishikawa Hayato grinned mischievously.

However, he awkwardly brushed his bangs aside, leaned against the protective netting, and sighed.

"But my first relationship turned out to be one where I could see the end from the beginning, sigh..."

He seemed quite helpless as he spoke.

Kita looked at him strangely.

If she hadn't heard from his sister and his old friends that he had never had a girlfriend, she really wouldn't have believed that someone like Ishikawa Hayato had a blank romantic history.

Someone as carefree and easygoing as him, shouldn't he have forgotten how many girlfriends he's had?

The thought of becoming his first girlfriend made her heart race.

She retorted, feeling both ashamed and indignant.

"This is my first time too, stop complaining!"

Ishikawa Hayato was taken aback, his expression suddenly turning serious.

"Could you please say that again, with a shy smile, my girlfriend?"

"Ah?"

Kita's heart skipped a beat. Hearing him say the words "girlfriend" while pointing at her, she felt an overwhelming mix of shyness and excitement.

Even though nothing has changed since a few minutes ago, I suddenly feel much more relaxed.

The feeling was like running into a rain shelter during a light rain, only to find that the person she liked was walking in from the opposite direction.

My heart is churning with untold words, yet I don't know how to express them.

She chose to respond to what Ishikawa Hayato had just said first.

"I'm the first one too..."

Kita spoke, he suddenly realized something and looked at Ishikawa Hayato with utter disdain.

"I would never indulge your lewd thoughts!"

Ishikawa Hayato gave a regretful, slight laugh.

While he was quiet, Kita's face broke into an undisguised smile. With her hands behind her back, she walked to his side with the lightness of a thief and stood with him in front of the protective net.

Standing beside Ishikawa Hayato, she cleverly glanced at him from the side before looking down again.

His toes tapped the ground nervously, making a dull thud.

She tilted her head and asked, "So, are we dating now?"

Ishikawa Hayato stood there, unusually quiet, before answering.

"Yes, of course."

Kita's eyes curved into crescents, but he still gave a reminder.

"This news can't be told to anyone else."

Ishikawa Hayato didn't understand the point of her doing this and complained.

"A secret lover?"

Kita felt mocked and said angrily.

"Stop arguing. If we get exposed, you'll be the only one in trouble, right?"

"I'm not afraid at all."

"Yeah, you're a pervert after all."

"Hello, my weird girlfriend~"

Ishikawa Hayato's attack silenced Kita, who looked conflicted, wanting to retort but unable to utter a word, and gritted her teeth to accept defeat.

Seeing her angry expression, Ishikawa Hayato chuckled, pulling away from the casual conversation and suppressing some of his smile.

He asked the question that had puzzled him for a while.

"Kita, why put such restrictions on dating?"

Kita's expression changed quickly, but he gradually quieted down after hearing his question.

After hesitating for a while, she finally prepared to express her thoughts.

106. Cloudy

Kita very clear about her own feelings.

She does like Ishikawa Hayato, but not to the point where she absolutely has to be with him.

She didn't want to spoil the relaxed atmosphere in the band.

It's irrational to simply like something; the more rationally you choose to let go, the more regret you'll feel.

With their frequent meetings, his repeated efforts to save the day, the changes he prompted her to make, his understated steadiness and his thoughtfulness beneath his playful antics—all these attracted her.

"Ishikawa-kun, I..."

Kita thought to herself, hiding her shyness with a smile, and looked up to look directly at Ishikawa Hayato.

He spoke slowly and deliberately, clarifying his thoughts as he spoke.

I can't quite control my feelings for you anymore.

To prevent the man from getting carried away and to avoid any misunderstanding, Kita quickly waved his hand to explain.

"Ah, but I won't accept a harem, and I don't plan to compete with Gotou-san, Ryo-senpai, um... and Ijichi-senpai."

"I just want to spend some time with you before you start dating them, so I won't have any regrets."

"This is my purpose."

Ishikawa Hayato seemed to be thinking seriously, his gaze fixed intently on Kita.

As Kita began to feel uneasy, Ishikawa Hayato said.

"That seems like I'm at a disadvantage. How about you give me Kita compensation?"

This guy got too cocky!

Kita, still harboring resentment towards herself from a few seconds earlier, took a half-step back with her small feet, feigning a look of disgust.

What kind of compensation do you want?

"Um..."

Ishikawa Hayato wore an undisguised smile, feigning deep thought.

Let's settle our accounts.

"Account?"

Kita tilted his head in confusion, his bluish-yellow eyes revealing bewilderment.

"You owe me a meal, and I owe you a meal, plus a swimming lesson."

Because aside from the one Ishikawa Hayato owed her, the other two had been gone for a while, and Kita didn't quite remember them. She had to think back to recall them.

"You actually still remember?" She sighed, whether with pleasure or helplessness.

"I never forget the chance to live off pretty girls! It's a perverted form of self-cultivation!"

Ishikawa Hayato declared with overwhelming force.

"Then... what should we do?"

Kita understood Ishikawa Hayato's thoughts, but this time she chose to strike back and refused to concede the high ground to Ishikawa Hayato.

Ishikawa Hayato watched as the girl beside him turned around expectantly, a hint of smugness in her eyes, her hands clasped behind her back.

He didn't tease her any further and just said it directly.

"Let's go on a date, any day after this is fine, we'll both be free during summer vacation."

"Um..."

Kita felt that she had finally gained the upper hand in her conversation with Ishikawa Hayato —no, she should say she had gained the upper hand in her conversation with her boyfriend.

Feeling happy and satisfied, she wanted to tease Ishikawa Hayato in return, but she realized that she couldn't suppress the smile on her face.

While inwardly complaining that it was so difficult to tease others, she gave up on the idea.

"Since it's about settling a debt, it has to be to my satisfaction."

She responded with the most remarkable words she could muster.

Looking at his girlfriend's haughty and coquettish appearance, Ishikawa Hayato chuckled inwardly. He placed his hand on his chest, lowered his head slightly, and rambled on.

"Ishikawa family says, all debts must be settled."

Kita chuckled softly, "Then the timing is up to Ishikawa-kun. Just let me know two days in advance, and I'll make time."

"Okay," Ishikawa Hayato replied, but he didn't seem as happy as before.

He pondered for a moment, then asked.

"Now that we're a couple, can we do things that couples do?"

Kita stared at him blankly, as if confirming that he hadn't misheard, a joyful smile even on his face.

After confirming it, she struggled internally for a moment, then her expression gradually turned cold.

That gaze made Ishikawa Hayato feel a chill run down his spine.

"Ishikawa-kun, what do you mean?"

She asked with a forced smile.

Ishikawa Hayato remained calm and unhurried.

"I think we can switch to a more intimate way of addressing each other. Right now, only Kita in the band still calls me by my last name, right?"

Kita suddenly realized, but she also strongly suspected that this guy was deliberately trying to mislead her.

She crossed her arms into an X shape in front of her with a haughty air and said.

"No way~ Didn't we say we'd keep our relationship secret? What does it mean to be exposed so quickly?"

Kita the slightly regretful expression on Ishikawa Hayato's face, Kichita breathed a sigh of relief.

Even so, she didn't want to indulge Ishikawa Hayato too much.

She looked to the side, gazing at the dark clouds drifting in the sky, and said...

If the date goes well, I'll say yes.

Seeing Kita's haughty demeanor, Ishikawa Hayato suppressed his urge to get closer to her and made a request.

"Well... let's practice first. Please give me some motivation for our date plan, lovely Kita."

Kita Ishikawa Hayato had already said so, and he had only tried calling out to him once before agreeing after a little thought.

"Then, let's do something special just this once."

Although Kita said this, she felt strange inside, with an indescribable sense of complexity.

She opened her mouth.

The pronunciation of Ishikawa Hayato's name is simple and straightforward, but for some reason, she felt like she couldn't pronounce it at that moment.

She whispered "..." into her mouth once.

But when she looked up and saw that Ishikawa Hayato was still waiting for her, Kita suppressed her shyness and called out.

".. Falcon -Hayato-kun."