Please Marry Me

The next morning.

After a good night's rest, he felt his energy had returned to its peak.

He finished washing up early and left his room.

But he hadn't expected to run into Suzune downstairs.

"...Morning, Horikita?"

She glared at him and replied irritably:

"Don't act like we're close. We're less than strangers."

Less than strangers meant they were enemies?

"You've got it wrong, Horikita. I'm the kind of person who'd greet even a dog I ran into on the street," Eito explained.

"Oh? So you mean I'm worth less than a dog?"

"If that's how you want to take it, I can't help you."

"Hmph." Suzune shot him another glare and walked away.

He left the dorm, too.

However—

"Why are you following me?" They'd barely gone a few steps before Suzune stopped and glared at him.

"Um, the school is that way. If I don't go this way, which way am I supposed to go?"

"Then walk in front of me."

"Fine."

He could only take the lead.

And so Suzune ended up following behind him.

They kept that formation all the way to the classroom.

As soon as they entered, Sato spotted them and asked in surprise:

"Takeda, when did you and Horikita get so close? Are you two dating?"

"That's impossible—unless Yamauchi found himself a girlfriend."

"Eh, haha, what kind of assumption is that? But, oh, you already know?"

"What?"

Could Yamauchi really have found himself a girlfriend?

Seeing the confused look on his face, Sato said cheerfully:

"Did you hear that Yamauchi confessed to Kushida yesterday?"

"And then?"

"She turned him down, haha."

"Ah, poor Yamauchi."

"And you know what—" Sato said excitedly, tugging at his sleeve. "When Yamauchi confessed yesterday, he got the wrong person! Haha, it's so funny~"

"Who was it?"

"Um... I think it was Wang Meiyu."

"Oh."

The name sounded Chinese, and she was, in fact, Chinese. She'd come to Japan to study during middle school and was quite close to Kikyo.

Wang Meiyu was petite, with dark blue twin tails, and was a very cute girl.

As a fellow Chinese person, Eito felt a sense of kinship with her. If he got the chance, he definitely wanted to talk to her more. Maybe they had a lot in common.

The only problem was that she was rather timid, so getting close to her wouldn't be easy.

Still, he could start with Kikyo.

After chatting with Sato for a while, class began.

Maybe because it was the first period, the students in Class D were still paying some attention. But by the next two periods, some of them had started fooling around.

They'd realized the teachers wouldn't stop them, no matter what they did in class, so they gradually grew bolder.

Things would only get worse.

There was a term for it: the bandwagon effect. When one person started slacking off, others followed suit. After all, they wanted to slack off, too; they just needed someone to lead the way.

By the third period, things had gotten really bad. Some students were even playing on their phones under their desks.

Still, a few students were paying attention, like Hirata, Kikyo, and Suzune, who was sitting behind him to the right.

Meanwhile, Sato, sitting on his right, was passing him notes.

He opened the note and saw the words: Takeda, what's your favorite animal?

He paused, then wrote back: Rabbits.

(Is it because they're cute? I like them, too.)

(Yeah.)

Spicy rabbit heads were delicious.

Thinking of them suddenly made him a little hungry.

Not long after, he saw his phone screen light up. When he checked it, he found a message from Sato.

She'd sent a few pictures of fluffy rabbits, along with one of herself wearing a rabbit hood and making a peace sign with both hands.

Putting aside how tasty they were, rabbits really were cute.

It was lunchtime.

Eito was about to head to the cafeteria with Ayanokoji when a girl stopped them just as they left the classroom.

"Ayanokoji-kun, Takeda-kun, could I talk to you for a moment?"

Standing in front of them was Kushida Kikyo, the adorable girl who was currently incredibly popular in class, known as a little angel and hoping to be friends with everyone.

Ayanokoji glanced at him, then asked:

"What is it?"

"Can I have lunch with you two?"

"Uh... why?" Ayanokoji thought he had no connection with Kikyo, so she had no reason to approach him. But if she was looking for Eito, that made sense, since the two of them had become friends on the bus.

So what should he do now? Stick with them and be an inconspicuous third wheel, or tactfully leave and enjoy some freedom?

Ayanokoji decisively chose the latter.

"You two take your time. I have something to do, so..."

But before he could take two steps, Kikyo stopped him. "Ayanokoji-kun, actually, I wanted to talk to you about something, too."

"Oh... you did? All right."

Ayanokoji more or less understood what she meant.

Eito, who'd been watching the scene unfold, suddenly leaned close to his ear and whispered:

"Hehe, are you embarrassed?"

"..."

Ayanokoji glanced at him expressionlessly, then looked back at Kikyo.

She was watching him with a faint smile.

Her cheeks were slightly flushed, and her smile was as sweet as candy. Even the briefest look made a hint of sweetness seep into his heart.

For a boy, it was only natural to feel shy when he saw a girl like her.

Please Marry Me

"Is this spot okay?"

"It's fine."

Perhaps she didn't want to draw attention, so Kikyo chose a seat in the corner.

Eito sat across from Kikyo, and Ayanokoji sat next to him.

Ayanokoji had bought bread, while he had gotten a meal from the cafeteria.

Kikyo, meanwhile, had brought a homemade lunch.

"Kushida, you're amazing. No wonder you're the most popular person in class. Your lunch looks so good. It must taste great, too."

"Would you like to try some, Takeda-kun?"

"May I?" He looked at the generous spread, hesitating.

It was phrased as a question, but in that atmosphere, Kikyo could only agree.

So he got a piece of chicken that Kikyo had fried herself.

He put it in his mouth and took a bite, unable to hide his surprise.

Beneath the crispy coating, a rich, fragrant burst of juice filled his mouth. The chicken flavor was strong, but there wasn't the slightest hint of gaminess.

How had she done that? She was much better at cooking than he was.

"Kushida, marry me."

"Wha—?"

Kikyo, eagerly waiting for his opinion, jumped in surprise. Her mouth fell slightly open as she stared at him blankly.

Several seconds passed before she recovered.

"That's a bit much, but thank you for the compliment."

Apparently, she'd taken Eito's words as praise for the food.

Normally, that would have been the case, but—

"Eh, did Kushida just reject me?"

"Ah, no... Wait... What do you mean?"

Little Kikyo was bewildered. She looked at the boy shoveling food into his mouth and couldn't figure out what he was trying to do.

"Then... gulp, gulp... does that mean... gulp, gulp... you accept?"

"No, no... Wait a second... Huh?"

Her little head couldn't handle the enormous amount of calculation required.

Kikyo took a deep breath, calming herself down.

First, she needed to go back to where the conversation began.

She'd given Eito a piece of chicken, and then he'd proposed to her.

Considering that he'd denied it afterward, that meant the proposal had been real.

The question was why he'd proposed.

At last, she put the pieces together.

Kikyo opened her eyes and looked at Eito, whose plate was already empty. Confused, she asked:

"Takeda-kun, why did you propose to—"

"Thank you for the meal!"