A Date with Sakura

In the dormitory, Sakura hugged her pillow and stared at her chat page with Takahashi, refreshing it every now and then. Although they had exchanged contact info after their first collision, this was the first time Sakura had taken the initiative to message Takahashi.

The sudden call from Kushida earlier had made her feel very uneasy. She didn't know what to do, and for some reason, Takahashi's words came to mind—he said he would always be there. So, as if possessed, she sent him a message, but even that one message was deleted and rewritten many times before she finally sent it.

"Ring!"

The notification sounded.

"Tomorrow, Kushida will definitely ask you at school. No matter how you answer or handle it, it doesn't matter. Whatever the consequences, you just need to know: I've got everything covered."

After reading the message, Sakura happily hugged her pillow and rolled back and forth on the bed a couple of times, as if receiving a message from Takahashi was something incredibly joyful.

The next day after school.

Just as Takahashi had predicted, Horikita and the others had Kushida talk to Sakura. But Sakura's personality was naturally shy, and with the Sudo incident happening, there was no way she could suddenly step up and speak out for Sudo.

Just as Sakura picked up her digital camera and was about to leave, she bumped into Hideo Tonokawa, who was walking and chatting with a friend. Although Sakura tried hard to avoid him, Tonokawa gestured with his hands while talking and knocked Sakura's camera out of her hands.

Tonokawa didn't notice and just said a couple of apologies before leaving with his friend.

Ignoring Sudo's complaints that Sakura wouldn't help him, Takahashi sent Sakura a message.

He knew what was in that camera, so he had to make sure it wasn't broken.

"Is the camera broken?"

"Yeah, the screen won't show anything."

"Where are you?"

"Just arrived at the stairwell."

"Stand by the side for a bit. I'll be right there."

When Takahashi arrived, Sakura's eyes were a little teary, and she called out to him softly, "Takahashi, the camera is broken."

He wiped her tears with a handkerchief. It seemed this camera was very important to her. "Come on, let's find a place and see if we can get it fixed."

"Okay."

They found a repair shop, and luckily the clerk said it could be fixed.

"It's still early. If you don't have anything else to do, how about we go on a date?" Takahashi suggested.

"Huh? A... a date?" Sakura couldn't believe her ears for a moment and confirmed with Takahashi.

"Yeah, a date. Not willing?"

"No... no, I'm willing."

"Then let's go." With that, Takahashi took Sakura's hand.

At a DIY store, Takahashi made a cherry-pink bracelet and gave it to Sakura. Of course, he also received a light-blue bracelet in return—one that was much prettier than his.

Next, they went to a dessert shop. The desserts looked beautiful in presentation, and Sakura took many photos of them with her phone. She even secretly snapped a picture of Takahashi, but she didn't dare raise the phone too high, so his face wasn't in the shot.

Of course, they couldn't skip the mall. Even though they didn't buy much, it was fun just looking around.

Finally, they went to a restaurant called Cat Cafe to eat. This restaurant was interesting—it had many cats, but they were all in cages. From their clean appearance, it was clear that each one was well taken care of by the owner. After taking one cat out of its cage, they started ordering. Watching Sakura play with the cat, Takahashi just smiled and didn't disturb her, ordering the same set meal for Sakura as he had for himself.

Takahashi didn't know how to define happiness, but watching Sakura play with the cat, he felt that this moment was pretty good.

He took out his phone and snapped a picture of Sakura just as the waiter brought their set meals.

Under the moonlight, in the evening breeze, by the lake, walking side by side—it seemed all the elements were in place. Takahashi took Sakura's hand, and the bracelets on their wrists clinked together.

After seeing Sakura back to her dormitory, Takahashi returned to his own. Not long after he got back, a message from Horikita arrived.

"You seem to be quite familiar with Sakura. If possible, please try to persuade her."

"Instead of making Sudo the center point, try thinking about finding another center point—like those three from Class C."

After sending the message, he deleted Horikita.

Seeing Takahashi's message, Horikita thought for a moment and asked him:

"Using the three from Class C as the center point?"

He deleted me? Horikita was a bit stunned.