As me and Yukina left school for the day, a familiar voice cooed at us.

"Ah, Boya-san, Doll-chan~."

Waiting at the entrance was Yogen, waving at the two of us.

I looked over to Yukina to see what she wanted to do, but instead of freezing up or running away, she stopped in front of Yogen without hesitation.

Following her lead, I also stopped. It was surprising to see Yukina act so boldly, but after the results of the special exam today, it was certainly justified.

"Or rather... should I say, Takanori-san and Kazuraba-san?"

Yogen smirked innocently. I was taken aback when she said that. It was the first time she had ever called me by my actual name.

"Kazuraba...?"

Likewise, Yukina was also surprised by the lack of a nickname. Yogen then held her hand out.

"Congratulations, it's my loss."

"...eh?"

Yukina stiffened, knitting her eyebrows together. Yogen tilted her head.

"What? Just because I lost doesn't mean I'm a sore loser. Do I look like Machida-san to you?"

She teased, smiling smugly. Ironically, I ran into him moments earlier.

"No. You just seem awfully calm for someone who's going to drop all the way down to D Class, that's all."

With mild reluctance, Yukina shook her hand firmly. Yogen giggled.

"Honestly, I'm a little excited for it. I get to now be in the same class as you and Takanori-san! Isn't that great?"

"Maybe for you, but not for me."

"But you're the one who proposed I transfer."

Yogen pouted softly.

"Because I recognise your abilities would be a useful asset for the class to have. As a person, I still don't like you."

Despite holding a grudge against Yogen, Yukina was able to put aside her bias and see the longterm benefits of having her as an ally in the intra-class war.

"I see, how unfortunate. I've actually grown quite fond of you."

"We've barely even talked before."

"You're the only person so far brave enough to dump a drink on me. That makes you more respectable than some of the people in my class who hate me but say nothing about it."

"You sure have some twisted logic..."

"Most people are too afraid to act out. It's almost refreshing to see someone get mad at me."

Yogen giggled.

"When will you be joining our class then?"

"As soon as I get the funds for it."

Yukina raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean by that?"

"When I asked Hiden-sensei this morning about moving down to your class, he said it was going to cost 200,000 Pr."

"...really? I thought that moving to a lower class was free since you're putting yourself in a worse position."

"Well, the cost of moving classes in general is relative to the status of the class and how far apart your position is. Since I'm an A Class student trying to transfer down to D Class, the cost worked out as 200,000. Moving up is a whole different ballpark though, it costs exponentially more to force your way up than it is to force your way down."

I was under the same impression as Yukina, but after thinking about it, I could see why the school made all class transfers, even moving down, cost Pr.

If moving down classes was free, it'd be an extremely abusable system. If the school moved you up and you didn't like the class, you could just move back down into your original class. It'd defeat the purpose of the meritocratic system.

"How many private points do you have right now?"

"189,762. It's close, but if I got the missing amount and paid for it now, I'd go bankrupt."

"I see... Yuu, what should we do?"

I thought about it. For a moment, I considered asking Kaido for help again, but after lending me 10 million, I don't think he'd be willing to shell out anymore Pr for me.

In the first place, 200,000 wasn't an unachievable goal. Over the course of the second semester, she'd easily get the points to transfer just from being in A Class. I don't think this'll be a problem, but just in case...

"Leave the details of Yogen-san's transfer with me for now. I'll think of something."

"Alright..."

There wasn't any need to rush into this anyways. We just had to make Yogen join our class before the school year ended.

"Thanks for being so understanding. Even if I'm in A Class, I'll be part of your class in spirit, so I'll do what I can to help you guys out. I'm looking forward to working with both of you!"

"That'd be great. Thanks."

"By the way, Kazuraba-san..."

"What?"

"Is it alright if I borrow Takanori-san from you?"

"Borrow him...? What for?"

"I'd like to speak with him privately."

Yukina's confident face from earlier turned annoyed.

"Depends. How long are you going to take? I've got training with my seniors soon and I don't want to be late."

"Um... it might take a couple, I don't know... hours?"

What the hell did she mean by hours?

"...excuse me?"

"You heard me. I'm going to have to borrow him for a couple of hours."

"Oi, hang on, I didn't agree to this..."

I interjected, but Yukina stared at me blankly, thinking about it for a few minutes before sighing.

"...fine, you can have him. Only because I don't want to trouble Itteki-nii and the others by showing up late."

"Yay, thank you Kazuraba-chan! You're the best!"

Did... did they just ignore me?

"Drop the "chan". Don't start acting friendly with me now just because we're going to be allies in the future. I still don't trust you."

"Aww, but "Kazuraba-san" is so boring. At least let me call you "Yukina-san" then."

"No."

Yukina bluntly rejected her. Yogen pouted.

"Boo, but fine."

She then turned to me, grabbing my wrist with a smile.

"Come on Takanori-san, let's go!"

"Wait, but I... h-hey... Yukina, save me...!"

Yukina ignored my cries for help as Yogen dragged me away. I shivered as she waved goodbye with a scary smile.

I didn't know she could be so cold-hearted...

Once we were away from Yukina, Yogen let go of my wrist with a small giggle.

"Well, wasn't that fun?"

"...what was?"

"Escaping from Kazuraba-san. Gosh, she had such a scary face back there!"

I wonder who made her that way...

"That's debatable."

"Ara, are you into scary women?"

"...your mind jumps to some weird places."

"You're not denying it though~."

"That doesn't matter. What did you want to talk to me privately about?"

"Nothing much. I just wanted to catch up since the last time we talked."

"And we couldn't do that while Yukina was around, because...?"

"She might've gotten jealous. I wouldn't want to break the poor girl's heart."

"...what exactly are we catching up on?"

"There's some juicy new rumours floating around about you. I wanted to know whether or not they were real."

Yogen grinned as we walked into a park. It was the same park we ran away to last time after Ritaka tried to molest her.

"There's more rumours about me? Seriously?"

"They're not bad ones. Well, actually, it depends on your perspective."

"That doesn't inspire hope... alright, let's hear what people have been saying about me behind my back then."

"I will... only if you sit here."

Stopping by a set of swings, Yogen patted the seat of one. I raised an eyebrow.

"Don't you think we're a little too old to be playing on the swings...?"

"Nonsense. You can never be too old to play on them."

"I don't know about that... what if someone catches us doing this?"

"Aww, are you embarrassed about me pushing you on the swings?"

"Of course I am... who wouldn't be?"

"That's so cute... perhaps you'd prefer someone like Shinomiya-senpai to push you on the swings instead?"

"S-Shinomiya-senpai? Why her?"

"Oh, I don't know... I guess you'll have to sit on the swing seat to find out."

Yogen smiled playfully.

"...this better be worth it."

I sighed and dropped my bag on the floor, sitting on the swing.

"Good boy. Are you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be... I think."

There was no one else around, so I think the coast is clear... as I double checked my surroundings, I was suddenly thrust into the air with so much force, it made my dangling legs kick up and down in surprise.

"W-woah! Y-Yogen-san, what are you—?!"

"I'm pushing you on the swing!"

Yogen laughed as she pushed me even harder, sending me up even higher than before. I gripped the handles tightly, but without any solace, as it felt like they'd snap on me at any second due how hard I was swinging backwards and forwards.

"T-this isn't funny... stop... s-stop right now!"

Even as I screamed for her to stop, Yogen increased the momentum of the swing while laughing happily. As I swung back the third time, she pushed me as hard as she could, shooting me into the sky like a rocket.

"Y-Yogen-saaaaaaaaaaaaan!"

I think I was on the verge of crying as the swing was stuck in a perpetual loop of going backwards and forwards, with no end in sight or no way to stop. All I could do was hold on tightly for dear life and pray that Yogen would eventually catch me.

"Takanori-san, are you having fun?"

"No! What the hell is wrong with you?! Stop this right now, before my sunglasses fall off!"

Due to all the back and forth movement, my sunglasses were on the verge of falling off as they had slid down all the way to the tip of my nose. I could push them back up, but that would mean letting go of the rope, and there's no way I'm risking that.

"But I've always wanted to try this on someone!"

"T-try it on someone else! Someone other than me!"

Hearing the legitimate distress in my voice, Yogen decided to take mercy on me and stopped the swing by grabbing it. I breathed a sigh of relief, dizzy from all the movement.

"You're not good with heights, huh?"

"I've always hated rollercoasters and amusement parks for that exact reason... can you grab me my drink?"

Yogen laughed lightly, handing me my water bottle.

"Here you go."

"Thanks..."

I took a swig of water before handing it back to her. She put it back into my bag before starting to push the swing normally. Compared to what I was experiencing earlier, this was way more in my comfort zone. It was even relaxing, almost.

"I guess I should tell you about those rumours, huh?"

"It's the whole reason I even got on this swing in the first place..."

"Sorry to keep you waiting~. But you're having fun now, right?"

"...a little bit, I guess."

Yogen giggled, gently pushing me back and forth.

"That's good."

"I'm guessing these rumours involve me and Shinomiya-senpai, then?"

"Yeah. People are saying you two are going out."

"Wait... what?"

The swing came to a grinding halt as I planted my feet on the ground.

"Well, that's what I've heard. You two do spend an awful amount of time together, you know?"

So this is what Ayano must feel like whenever people accuse him and Kita of going out together...

"You get seen with a girl once and now you guys are a couple... great."

"Hey, does that mean if people saw us, we'd look like a couple?"

"...don't even entertain the idea, Yogen-san."

Yogen laughed, continuing to push me on the swings.

"You're the one who brought it up."

"To make a point? Besides, she lives with Nibiiro-senpai, where's the rumours about them dating?"

"Actually, another rumour is that you guys are bitter love rivals and are locked in a love triangle."

"This is getting ridiculous..."

I sighed. Yogen laughed.

"Well, can you blame them? You even went so far as expelling her stalker. There's no way you'd do something that extreme if you weren't in a relationship with her."

"...people even know about that?"

"Of course. Oozora's expulsion was the hottest topic trending on the app today. Everybody knows you're the one responsible for it."

Information gets spread around way too quickly these days, I swear...

"Well, I can assure you that me and Shinomiya-senpai aren't a couple."

"I figured. If you were, Kazuraba-san would probably look more depressed than usual."

"You're still going on about that?"

"And you're still going to play dumb?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"I'm saying that it's obvious she likes you, Takanori-san. Even you can't deny that."

"Only as friends. There's a thing called platonic love, ever heard of it?"

"Ho? Then what would you describe your feelings towards Shinomiya-senpai then, hm?"

"Also platonic. There's nothing romantic going on between us."

"I don't know... expelling her stalker to get justice for her sounds romantic in my opinion."

"That's just your opinion. I only wanted to be a helpful friend. There's no need to spin it in a weird way like that."

"But you went out of your way to get 20 million for it? Not even we spent that much to buy that surveillance footage... you still owe me for that, by the way."

"I know. Still, I think it was worth it. Oozora's a scumbag. Even if he stopped stalking Shinomiya-senpai, what if he started stalking another girl? It was better to get rid of him completely rather than risk letting him stay on the island with an exposed reputation."

"I see..."

The swing slowed down as Yogen stopped pushing me.

"Is something wrong?"

She shook her head and helped me off the swings.

"I was just thinking, the sun is way too hot..."

"...that's your first thought after talking about that?"

I honestly thought she would try and make fun out of me more.

"It was the only rumour I was interested in."

"Of course it'd be about something as trivial as my love life... you really don't have a sense of importance."

"I'm not really interested in how you do things. All I care about are the results."

There was a sincerity in Yogen's voice that I couldn't ignore.

"Right... well, if you're sweating your pants off out here, we can always move into the shade."

"That sounds like a good idea. Also, you want to see me with my pants off?"

"It's a figure of speech, don't take it out of context..."

"Maybe you shouldn't be saying such suggestive phrases around me."

Yogen giggled.

"Maybe you shouldn't be taking things so literally."

"You know how I am. I don't like hiding anything."

"I would start considering it. One of these days, your honesty is going to end up hurting you."

"Huh..."

"What?"

"It's weird to hear you give advice to me."

"If we're going to be classmates in the future, I might as well start looking out for you."

"That's nice of you to offer, but I don't need that."

Me and Yogen moved from the swings to under the shade of a large oak tree. We sat at the base of the tree roots, leaning our backs against the thick wooden trunk, and basked in the sunlight filtering through the bright green leaves.

"If anything, I think I should be the one looking out for you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"After what you pulled off in the special exam, you're going to be gaining a lot more enemies in the future."

"Then they can come at me with all their might. I have no intention of backing down."

"That's good to hear, but I wouldn't get cocky just yet. You might've won this time, but it'll become harder to win in the future once you're surrounded on all sides."

"I know, but leaders need a certain level of confidence to be feared. I haven't lost my cautiousness just yet."

"I hope so. But if you ever trip and fall... I'll be there for you."

I folded my arms behind my head and closed my eyes.

"...you're being surprisingly nice to me today. Did you hit your head or something?"

"Ara, so you prefer it when I'm teasing you? You're such a masochist..."

Yogen giggled, whispering into my ear. I opened my sleepy eyes and looked away.

"It's not that... I'm just wondering why your attitude towards me and Yukina changed so drastically."

"Isn't it obvious? We're not enemies anymore, so there's no reason to be mean to you guys."

"Then why were you mean to us in the first place?"

"Because you're the type of person who takes actions for others. Not for yourself."

Yogen continued to talk into my ear sweetly, her warm breaths tickling my earlobe.

"...that's a bit of a sweeping statement to make, don't you think?"

"I don't think so. You fought Mikazuchi-senpai because he killed Kazuraba-san. You went out of your way to help Shimizu-san because she was being harassed by Creepymoto. You started a civil war to help prepare your class, especially Ishima-san, for the war against D Class. You won the test shuffle special exam so Kazuraba-san wouldn't lose her bet with me. You expelled Oozora so Shinomiya-senpai could feel safe again. This entire time, you've been doing things for other people's sake."

Yogen closed the distance between us, laying down besides me.

"Even for me, when Ritaka tried to rape me... you were ready to protect me, weren't you?"

"Well... yeah. I couldn't just stand there and do nothing. I'd be no better than that guy if I let him defile you like that. And besides... you told me once before that if you were ever in trouble, I should save you."

"Aww, you still remember that?"

"...of course I did. How could I ignore a cry for help like that?"

Yogen laughed softly.

"It's sweet that you tried to honour that."

"It ended up being useless though... if you could kick ass like that, then you never needed my help in the first place."

"Sorry for tricking you. I guess I should've said, "If you were ever in trouble, I'd come and save you.", or something like that."

There was only one thing I needed saving from, and I don't think Yogen was capable of protecting me from...

Before I could finish the thought, I crumpled it and threw it away.

"Anyways, what I'm trying to say is... if I didn't hurt Kazuraba-san, you wouldn't have taken action. In order to see the best of you, I had to be the villain. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah... I get it now."

"Good. I don't actually hate you, Takanori-san. I'm quite fond of you, if you couldn't tell."

I could tell alright... she's one of the few girls to touch me so intimately other than my mom and little sister.

"As long as you stay this way, I don't mind."

I yawned, growing sleepy as I relaxed under the tree. Yogen giggled, pressing her body against mine.

"Tired?"

"Very... I haven't gotten any proper sleep in weeks."

"Oh? What's the matter?"

"Just stress. During the entire exam period, I was extremely on edge... I don't know why, but it kept me up at night."

"Has it gotten better now that it's all over?"

"A little... but a part of me still haunted by those uncertain thoughts."

"What are you anxious about?"

I stared up at the leaves, watching as they swayed in the wind. I yawned again.

"Who knows..."

"If you want to sleep, it's okay. I'll be here to watch over you peacefully."

"...somehow, that feels less reassuring."

Yogen laughed.

"What? Would you prefer Shinomiya-senpai to say that to you, or something?"

Just a little...

"Whatever."

"If you want, you can use my lap as a pillow."

My mind cast back to the time I woke up on Kurosaki's lap and nearly went face first into her boobs. I didn't want a repeat of that, so I declined her offer.

"...no thanks."

"Your loss."

She shrugged. I yawned again, my eyelids growing heavy as I turned on my side.

Soon, the face of Yogen that I could see in front of me faded away, turning into pitch black.

All I could feel was a gentle patting on my back, before I...

...

...something cool dropped on my face.

There was another drop, and another drop. Cool drops fell down from the sky, hitting me incessantly.

Coming to my senses, I realised it was the rain.

I struggled to open my bleary eyes and looked into the sky.

It had grown dark and heavy, with all traces of the warm sun disappearing.

Despite that, I didn't feel cold, even though I was wearing the summer uniform.

When I looked down, I realised this was because a blazer was on top of me, covering me from the rain.

"Did you have a good nap?"

Noticing that I was awake, Yogen greeted me with a smile. I yawned lightly.

"Fuaa... how long was I out for?"

"About two and a half hours."

"...and you stayed here this entire time?"

"Would you have preferred it if I hadn't?"

"N-no... but if you did, I wouldn't be surprised."

"Hey, I'm not that shallow. I wouldn't desert you that easily, especially not when you've fallen asleep in public. That's just asking for trouble."

"I guess you're right... thanks for looking after me, I suppose."

"You're welcome. Though, I did think about picking you up and taking you back to my place since I was getting bored of sitting here doing nothing."

"Oi, I think that would've just woke me up..."

"Nah, you were sleeping like a baby. I don't think anything would've been able to wake you up, except... well, this."

Yogen held her hand out to the rain. It was light at first, but slowly it was getting heavier and heavier.

"How long has it been raining for...?"

"A couple of minutes."

"You didn't have to go out of your way to cover me with your blazer then."

"Oh, I covered you with that from the beginning."

"You did...?"

"Yeah, it was the only way to get you to calm down."

"Calm down...?"

"For a deep sleeper, you sure do move around a lot. You even sleep talked about your mom at one point."

Oh god, that's embarrassing... do I seriously do that?

"So... to stop me from moving, you covered me with your blazer?"

"Yup! It worked like a treat."

"That's so embarrassing..."

I swear, my body has a mind of its own when I'm sleeping...

"How are we going to go home in this weather?"

"Did you not bring your umbrella with you today?"

"No."

"Eh? You should've!"

"I would've if I knew it was going to rain today."

"It was on the weather forecast this morning. Did you not see?"

"I don't usually check that kind of stuff out."

"You boys really are all the same..."

"What's that supposed to mean...?"

Yogen sighed and took out an umbrella from her bag.

"You're lucky that I came prepared."

"Wait, you're not suggesting that we share, are you...?"

"It's either that, or you become soaking wet on our way to the train station."

This is like picking between the lesser of two evils...

"What are you even worried about anyways? Haven't you ever shared an umbrella with someone before?"

"...only with my mom."

"...I would make a joke, but that's actually really sad."

"Look, I don't go out often, okay?"

Whenever it rains, I like staying inside and reading a book. It adds to the atmosphere of the story when the sky is grey and I can see streaks of rain rolling down my window.

"I could tell, but I didn't think it was that bad."

"Every time I go outside, I seem to end up in some kind of trouble, so I try to avoid doing it if possible."

"I guess today's an exception, hm?"

"Only because you dragged me out here."

Yogen laughed and opened her umbrella.

"Come on, let's go."

"I can't believe we're seriously doing this..."

"I don't know why you seem so against it. We're just sharing an umbrella."

"That's exactly the problem here..."

"I still fail to see the issue."

I sighed.

"If people saw us together... they'll think we're some kind of couple, or something..."

"...that's your problem with it?"

For some reason, Yogen burst out laughing. She laughed so hard, there were tears in her eyes.

"You're still scared people will think we're a couple even though we've spent the past three hours alone together at the park?"

"Technically, I was asleep for two and a half of those three hours."

"With my blazer on top of you."

"You put it on top of me... actually, do you want it back?"

"Sure. Unless, are you cold?"

"Not really... the cool air is kind of refreshing for a change."

"Hmm, I see."

Yogen slipped her blazer back on. Even though I wasn't wearing it anymore, I could still faintly smell her sweet perfumed scent lingering on me.

"But yes... that's what I'm worried about. I've already had four rumours spread about me, I don't need a fifth."

"You're keeping track of them?"

"Kind of hard not to when a new one pops up every month."

From having a crush on my mom, to being a woman beater, to dating Shinomiya, and everything in between... there was absolutely no correlation between them, and yet they all made me look like a horrible person.

"Relax, it'll be fine. If you haven't noticed, there's barely anyone around here. No one's going to see us."

I looked around. There didn't seem to be anybody nearby, but it was hard to see clearly because of the misty rain.

"...fine. Let's get this done and over with quickly."

I sighed, moving under Yogen's umbrella. The rain continued to scatter around us, pitter-patting on the floor.

"That wasn't so hard, was it?"

"I guess not..."

Together, under the veil of the umbrella, the two of us walked to the train station. Instead of talking, we let the sound of falling rain fill the silence between us.

"Nee, Takanori-san."

"Hm?"

As we were halfway there, Yogen spoke up and glanced at me.

"I've been wondering something ever since I first met you."

"What is it?"

"What made you become the person you are today?"

As she asked that, my pace slowed down. I didn't think she would be interested in that kind of stuff.

"...I'm not sure how to answer that."

"You can't, or you don't want to?"

"Well..."

As I thought about it, memories of <that> surfaced to my mind.

I crushed it with my own two hands and buried them as deep as I could.

I'll never accept that as the reason "why"...

"It's a bit of both."

"You're cherry picking it, huh?"

"Not really. That's just how open ended your question is."

"That's the point though? It's up to your interpretation, so answer it however you'd like. I don't mind."

"And if I don't answer it at all?"

"You wouldn't do that."

"How do you know?"

"If you did that, it'd be the same as admitting that you're hiding something in your past. It'd be better for you to make up a backstory and lie about it so I wouldn't suspect you."

"It'd be pointless against you. You're so good at reading others, even if I tried to make up something, you'd probably just see through it regardless and realise I am hiding something."

"If you know that, then just tell me the truth."

Yogen smiled.

"That being said... if you don't want to tell me, that's completely fine too."

"...doesn't that go against what you said earlier though?"

"If you have something in your past that you'd rather not talk about, then I'll leave it be. There's no point in digging up the skeletons in your closet if it'll just hurt you."

What a surprisingly mature response from Yogen. At least she had the decency to respect other people's privacy... unlike me, whose snooped around other people's pasts without them knowing.

Yeah, the irony of this situation isn't lost on me.

"...well, there is one thing I can think of."

"And that is?"

"The person who changed my life."

"Aww, I'm flattered!"

"I'm not talking about you..."

Yogen laughed as I gave her a deadpan stare.

"I mean, technically speaking, your life did change after meeting me."

"Sure... but not on the same level as this person has."

"They're someone special to you, I presume?"

"Yeah... they are. I'd do anything to meet them again."

"Meet again...? Wait, don't tell me... is this person dead?"

"Huh? Oh, no... I just lost contact with them years ago."

By "lost contact", I actually mean I never saw them again after the first time we met.

However, that day we spent together on the beach...

...it was the happiest day of my life.

I wish I could go back to that day and see her face again.

I can barely remember what she looks like...

...all I remember is her swaying black bangs, and the glimmer of gold that hid behind them.

I'm just scared that one day... I'll forget.

I'll forget her face, I'll forget her words, and I'll forget how special she is to me.

If that ever happens... I'll never forgive myself.

Because she's the reason I'm able to live today.

"How did they change your life?"

"...they saved me from drowning myself."

Yogen's eyes softened.

"I was in a very dark place in my life... but their words pulled me out of the abyss and into the light."

Even if I end up forgetting her...

"What I think... is that life is here for us to become kinder."

...I'll never forget what she taught me that day.

Because of her, I learnt what true kindness was.

"They sound really important to you. Who is this person anyways?"

I gave a light shrug to Yogen.

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"I never asked for their name."

We met by coincidence, and parted by coincidence.

A one in a million encounter that should've never happened.

But because it did, the mark she left on my life will forever be engraved in my heart.

I'll always be grateful to her...

I... want to be with her again someday.

"...eh? How?!"

"Well... we only met once."

"That's it?"

"That's it."

"So a stranger changed your life basically? Talk about anticlimactic..."

"Well, the impact of meeting them once is still far greater than the impact of meeting you five times."

"Today's the sixth time, actually."

"...the fact you keep track of this stuff scares me."

Yogen laughed.

"I value our time together."

"Even when it's short like this?"

"I wouldn't call our meeting today short."

"But I was sleeping for more than half of it..."

"That's fine. I enjoyed admiring your cute sleeping face for three hours."

"...don't call me cute."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm not cute."

"No, you totally are! You're one of the cutest boys I've ever met! You're even cuter than that Nora-san in your class."

"That's a straight up lie. I'm a guy, and even I know how cute Nora-san is."

Seriously, it's cruel he's a male. If he was a girl, I would've totally asked him out by now...

"Nora-san is cute, but to me, you're even cuter. Right now, you're being super cute by denying it!"

"...huh?"

"You're always acting so cool and serious, so seeing you get flustered when I'm calling you cute is adorable... that reaction makes all the teasing worth it."

"Maybe I should stop reacting then..."

"Ara, I guess I'll make the teasing worse then. You wouldn't want that."

"I think you're underestimating how patient I can be. What's the worst you can do anyways?"

"This."

Yogen dropped the umbrella and grabbed me by the waist.

The rain fell on us relentlessly, soaking our clothes, and making us stick to each other like glue.

She pulled me closer, the front of our bodies touching each other.

As her shirt got wet, I could feel her pneumatic chest more clearly as she pressed it against me.

The ends of her long, silky brown hair fell on my face as she leaned forward, topping me.

Even though the rain was ice cold, my whole body felt extremely hot right now.

My face especially was burning as I could feel Yogen's hot breath tickle my lips.

Our faces were less than five centimetres apart, with our foreheads touching and our noses brushing against each other.

Her full pink lips were on the edge of meeting mine.

"Y... Yogen-san...?"

I managed to utter, but she simply giggled and pulled me into a tight embrace instead.

"How was that? Are you turned on yet?"

She whispered into my ear, running her fingers through my hair and stroking my head lovingly.

"S-stop... this is..."

"Stop? But I'm just getting started, Takanori-san...~"

I gulped, closing my eyes. Yogen giggled in my ear before softly cupping my face.

"I love that expression... you look so submissive right now... it makes me almost want to seriously do it."

With a seductive gaze in her eyes, she looked down at me while licking her bottom lip.

"I-I get it... I won't like it when you're being this aggressive... p-please stop..."

Yogen laughed, letting go me and picking up her umbrella from the floor.

"Told you. And this was me being nice~. If I wanted to, I really would've kissed you."

Putting the umbrella over both of our heads again, Yogen whispered something in my ear.

"...h-huh?"

I couldn't believe what I just heard. I snapped my legs shut and looked away embarrassingly.

"There's no point in hiding it. One day I'll fulfil that fantasy for you, okay~?"

This girl was dangerous. Way too dangerous. My chastity was at risk being around her.

"D-don't... d-don't even joke about that..."

I muttered, hugging my arms. I couldn't tell if I was shivering from the cold or Yogen's tempting offer.