True

"...Mmm..." She quickly covered her face with her hands. "...Takeda-kun... We... This is..."

"Is that not okay?" Eito asked calmly.

"It's not that it's not okay... It's just... Mmm... I'm so embarrassed."

"So it is okay?" Eito pulled her hands away from her face, lifted Sakura's rounded chin, and made her meet his gaze.

But her eyes darted away at once. Her nostrils flared, and her little hands gripped his clothes tightly.

"Sakura, you're beautiful."

"Mm..."

"Can I kiss you?"

"Mm... Huh?"

Sakura stared at him in surprise. She pressed her lips together, her eyes drifting to his faintly glistening lips. His well-defined features gave him a distinct, handsome air.

"...Wait... I'm not ready yet... I can't."

Her eyelids fluttered. She felt as if she had no strength left in her body, especially where Eito held her. That spot was faintly warm.

Her mind raced, but she still couldn't figure out what she was supposed to do.

In the end, she simply closed her eyes.

Looking at the adorable little face that seemed ready to meet its doom, Eito smiled and flicked her nose.

"All right, I was joking. Get up."

"Huh—"

After letting Sakura go, Eito straightened his clothes.

Mostly, he picked off the leaves and bits of grass stuck to his clothes.

It only took a few minutes to tidy up.

Then he looked over at Sakura.

Sakura was crouched in a corner, drawing circles in the dirt with a twig.

"Um, Sakura?"

"..."

She ignored him. It seemed she was angry.

Fortunately, Sakura was easy to cheer up. It didn't take much coaxing before she was back to how she'd been earlier.

When they returned, they saw that their classmates had already put up the tents. Ike had even built a fire and was roasting fish on sticks.

Various seasonings were laid out nearby. They had probably traded points for them.

Understandable. Without seasoning, the fish really didn't taste good.

The others said Yamauchi had apparently found some wild fruit. After Chabashira confirmed it wasn't poisonous, everyone had hurried off to pick some.

Since it was only the first day, that little bit of food wouldn't be enough to replenish their energy, so they'd also spent a dozen or so points on several boxes of emergency rations.

As for the tents, they'd added two more.

The tents were quite heavy. The boys could manage, but Hirata had to carry the girls' tents for them.

Not a single boy had offered to help. That showed just how severe the divisions in Class D were.

Eito almost wanted to tell them all to go home, wash up, and get some sleep.

He brought Sakura over to Ike.

"Ike, you've done a nice job roasting that fish. Want me to taste it for you?"

"Go roast your own. There's plenty over there. Honestly, I worked hard catching fish, and you went off on a date with a girl."

"...A date?"

Sakura opened her mouth, but didn't dare argue.

Eito sat down beside Ike.

"Hey, Ike, you're really trying hard to impress everyone this time. What are you trying to prove?"

"None of your business. Hmph, I've seen through you. You're one of those enviable winners in life."

Ike ate his grilled fish, glaring at Eito in resentment. "When will I get to flirt with a girl?"

"Ike, what do you think is holding you back?"

"Hirata." Ike answered without a second thought. "If he weren't in our class, I wouldn't be so invisible. That's right, it's all his fault. And yours too, you traitor!"

"No, the real reason is you."

"What?"

Eito sighed.

"Your character is such a cliché. In a manga, you'd be the guy who wants to bully the heroine but doesn't have the guts, and then gets humiliated by the protagonist."

"What kind of garbage character is that? That's awful. That's not me at all."

"So you need to learn to change," Eito said. "If you keep picking fights with the male lead, there's only one way it'll end: everyone will hate you."

"Wait." Ike stared at him, speechless. "The male lead you're talking about... isn't that you?"

"Of course not. Everyone is the protagonist of their own story. But..." Eito looked at him. "In my story, you're the kind of character who's a little more important than an extra. If I weren't merciful, you'd already be dead on the beach. So what kind of character am I in your story?"

"What kind?" Ike thought for a few seconds, then suddenly understood. "The villainous boss who destroys the village and kidnaps all the women, leaving me with no choice but to stay single."

"Uh..." Eito said. "Ike, I haven't stolen any of your women."

"You're still asking? Little Kushida always talks to you and ignores me."

"No, it's because the things you say are too perverted. Any girl would have no idea how to respond."

"So if I were handsome, I could say those things?"

"No," Eito said. "Looks only attract someone's attention at first. Once they discover how rotten you are on the inside, they'll hate you even more."

"So, Ike," Eito said, patting his shoulder, "the best thing you can do is keep that mouth of yours shut. As long as you don't speak, no one will know what kind of person you are. The more you talk, the more you reveal about yourself."

"I feel like you're insulting me." Ike stared at him. A small piece of grilled fish fell from his hand onto the ground.

"No, I'm speaking to you sincerely. If you don't understand, just pretend I never said anything."

"Oh."

Eito led Sakura away.

Thirty-Nine: Truth

"...Um... Takeda-kun, why aren't you going to be with them?"

Sakura tugged at his clothes, hesitating before she spoke.

They had deliberately walked away from their classmates and found an inconspicuous spot. The big tree blocked them from view, making it hard to tell they were there.

"When you say 'them,' you mean...?"

"Kushida, Hirata, Sato, and Horikita."

As far as Sakura could tell, Eito usually got along quite well with them. Sometimes, the way they joked around even made her blush.

But now he was deliberately avoiding them. Was it because of her?

Was he looking after her, or did he not want them to see the two of them together?

"There's not much to talk about."

Eito pulled her toward him, and Sakura fell into his arms. He sat her on his lap, wrapped one arm around her waist, and lifted her chin with the other, making her look directly at him.

"Look into my eyes. What do you see?"

Sakura was startled at first, but after hearing his words, she looked up into the eyes she'd seen so many times.

"They're beautiful... But..."

But there was nothing else.

The moon was beautiful, but it was just the moon.

Unless someone gave it meaning, it was only the moon.

Everyone saw the world through the lens of their own perspective. The same picture, the same passage of text, even the same person could look different to different people.

In Sakura's eyes, his eyes were perfect because, to her, the world was supposed to be that way. His eyes were supposed to be that beautiful.

It wasn't that Sakura had seen into his heart. Rather, he had seen into hers.

That was how beautiful this girl was.

But was there really nothing there?

Perhaps.

A sudden, indescribable irritability stirred inside him.

He gazed at Sakura with his dark eyes.

"Can I kiss you? I mean it this time."

Sakura didn't answer. She stared blankly at Eito, and a familiar feeling suddenly stirred inside her.

It was as if she'd experienced this before.

Yes, she knew that kind of atmosphere.

When she was alone in her room, staring at her computer without saying a word.

When she watched other people from far away.

She'd thought those feelings only happened to her, but now she saw a similar shadow in the boy before her.

Why did he have such lonely thoughts? He always seemed so happy. He was so gentle, so considerate of others.

Could he be like her?

The moment that thought crossed her mind, her heart began pounding uncontrollably.

Ah, so he was the same kind of person as me.

Why was that?

But it made her so happy, so glad.

She wanted to understand him better, to touch his heart, to feel him.

A kiss?

If all it took was a kiss, then...

If they kissed, she could feel his warmth with her body. If they kissed, she could understand him better.

His lips looked so soft. What would they taste like?

Without realizing it, Sakura nodded.

"...Mmph... Mm..."

It was so intense. Was this what an adult kiss was like?

A gentle breeze swept through the woods. A verdant leaf drifted down like a lonely boat rocking on a lake, then came to rest on Eito's shoulder.

He looked at the flushed girl in his arms, his gaze lightly brushing over her cherry-colored lips.

Sakura's body had gone completely limp against him. One hand loosely gripped his lapel as she panted.

Eito covered her cheek with his hand, his fingertips gliding gently over her face and down her chin, before finally coming to rest on her delicate collarbone.

His touch threw off her breathing for a moment. Her body rose and fell slightly, then went limp again.