POV: Torikachi

Today is the 25th, which is Christmas Day. I am looking forward to this day for many major events are going to happen.

I already know about Kiyotaka and Satou will have a date and to be blunt, I will not surprised if we see each other during the day, but it might hinder the progress of their date. I respect others' privacy, so I just let the plot do its job.

Speaking of dating, it is currently 8:00 AM and I am waiting for a certain person at the front of their door.

*knock knock knock

"Ryuko. It's me. We are supposed to start at 8:30 you know?" I ask my girlfriend for a reminder. "And the lights aren't turned on yet. Are you still sleeping?"

"T-Tori? Y-yes. Come in. The door's unlocked." Replied my girlfriend from the other side of the door, panicking because of my sudden appearance.

As I open the door, what I can see is a very cute sight from my beloved girlfriend.

She is still sleeping on the bed like a baby.

"Are you still sleeping?" I ask.

"Mgphmmm... yes..." She replies.

"Aren't you supposed to wake up at this point?"

"Perhaps... please pull me up..." She requests as she gives off her hand for me to pull her up.

"Sigh... fine." I decide to do something that could potentially wake her up for the rest of the day.

Instead of holding her hand and pulling her up, I grab her between my arms and kiss her on her cheek.

Immediately she senses something on her cheeks, she wakes up and looks at me with embarrassment.

"Wake up now, sleepyhead." I say as I smile at her. "The Cafe will be crowded if we decide to stay here for too long."

"F-fine. But d-don't wake me up like that again... I might get addicted to it..." She murmurs at the final sentence, assuming that I will not hear her.

"Alright. You should get ready, Ryuko or I will do it again if you like it." I say with a grin, implying I heard her murmurs.

"B-Baka... s-stop teasing me..." She flinches as she knew what I meant, while still keeping her red face as a beautiful sight.

"Alright. Get ready now, and we will be leaving in 15 minutes."

"Okay. I will be changing. Make yourself at home at the moment." She says as she goes to the bathroom to get ready.

*15 minutes later.

POV: Ryuko

It is currently 8:10 AM and I am still getting myself ready for our Christmas Date.

Today is Christmas Day, so I wanted to make myself look a bit different today. I should change my hairstyle and perfume, just to see how Tori will react.

Speaking of him, I remember him keeping telling me that I am cute almost every day. It was embarrassing...

He kept on hugging me when we have our time since we started dating. To be honest, I was surprised at first, but I got used to it the more we did it.

So far, ever since we are dating, Tori has usually talked to me about how he feels in his heart.

His mentality might be the worst of the worst, at least that was what he said.

But he also told me that he can change, because he is also a human.

He thanked me for being by his side despite seeing his weakness, and I am glad that he showed his weakness to me, meaning that he trusted me.

Alright, it is almost time for us to go. I finished my preparation for us to start the date.

"Tori. I'm ready!" I say as I open the door.

Immediately, he got embarrassed when he saw my appearance.

POV: Torikachi

"Tori. I'm ready!" She says as she opens the door.

She is wearing a skin-colored coat with a white shirt underneath, along with a long black skirt. As I can remember, it is still snowing outside, so it makes sense for her to wear her winter coat.

I could not help but look at her hair, then her face, then back to her hair, finding a way to compliment her beauty.

Her hair is usually a ponytail, but today I can see something different from her hairstyle.

"You know... I've been complimenting you every day, but today, you look beautiful, Ryuko. As expected from my girlfriend." I compliment her with a small smile on my face. "Did you change your hairstyle?"

"Umm... yes... Do you like it?" She asks while covering half of her face with her hat.

Right at that moment, I could not help myself but be embarrassed by her cuteness. This is too much for me, Ryuko.

"Etou... I-I don't know what to say... this is too cute for you..." I reply while gaining my composure. "In overall, you look as cute as ever, Ryuko."

"Ehehe... As expected from my boyfriend. Let's go! The Cafe will be crowded soon." She initiates the date by holding my hand and we start our date today.

POV: Kiyotaka

*The double date happens as usual for the group along with the light novel (pls I'm too tired to write the whole date. Sr about that)

*time skip to the confession

"A-Ayanokouji-kun!! Um... I like you! P-Please go out with me, Ayanokouji-kun!!"

The moment she asked me out, I could see that she has determined to confess her feelings for me, as I look back at everything, I have not done any significance during this school year except for my race with Manabu-senpai during the Festival.

A strong gust of wind whooshed past.

The first time in my life that I have ever received a romantic confession.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I felt a presence nearby, but I should let it be since it might hurt Satou even more.

Even though I could accept her, I do not think she could handle it in one go. Moreover, Nagumo has his eyes on me so this could lead to Satou's safety concerns.

It is inevitable now, so I should choose my words wisely.

Remembering back the moment I shared my thoughts about romance to Ichinose, I guess I overdid it myself.

'Honest feelings should be replied with an honest response, huh...?' I thought as I turn my gaze to Satou for a final decision.

"I'm sorry, Satou. I can't be that to you." I replied.

The moment I said it, even though it hurts her, I have to do it for her safety. Moreover, I do not have feelings for her.

"Oh...! I-I see... I guess it's hopeless, huh...?" Satou, clearly fighting not to break down, gave me a small smile. 'W-Well, for future reference, could you tell me why? Is there someone else you like?"

"It's not like that. I'm just not ready for a relationship. It's me, not you." I told her. "No matter who asked me out right now, my answer would be the same... whether it was you, Satou, or someone like Horikita or Kushida. I can't go out with someone if I don't love them back."

I would give Airi the same answer if she ever decided to tell me about her feelings.

"This might sound kind of lame, but I've never had feelings for anyone yet. I'm not rejecting you, personally. I just haven't really matured enough to handle romance." I said.

"I see."

There was not anything else I could say.

"Maybe I rushed things. It's not like you can really like a person after just one date." Satou reasoned. Frankly, such an honest confession had required a tremendous amount of courage on her part.

"I might've missed out on my chance," I said quietly. I had turned down a girl who was honest and brave. Some part of me felt like I was making a mistake. It was a part of me who wanted a fun, normal high school career, including finding a girlfriend. But I could not say anything.

However, I think I should let her be. I could have a girlfriend, but should not be her since it will give me trouble in the long run.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I did not know who is calling me, but I should not answer it right now.

Satou put a gift-wrapped box back in her bag. "Thank you for everything today, Ayanokouji-kun."

She understood that my reply and feelings would not change. Even if Satou liked me at this moment, she might not feel that way tomorrow. Maybe she could find a new love. However, I will never forget that Satou was the first to say she loved me.

"Is it... okay if I ask you to hang out again?" She asked.

"Of course. I had fun with you, Satou. I'd like to hang out too." I said with my genuine feelings.

"Yeah..."

Even though the awkwardness was still there, things were rapidly returning to normal. The winter cold pierced through us.

"It's freezing. Should we head back?" I asked. We have been standing here for a long time. However, when I started to move, Satou remained firmly in place, trying to hold back her tears.

"Satou?" I looked back to see tears welling in her eyes. She quickly wiped them away with her arm and smiled at me.

"Sorry. I think I'll go on ahead!" With that, Satou ran through the snow, leaving me behind.

I quietly watched her go. "Guess I understand."

I waited until she was out of sight, making sure we would not bump into each other in the dorm lobby before resuming my walk home.

At the moment, there is the student council issue that stopped me from dating her. If she'd told me her feelings before the relay, I might've accepted. Ironic, since the relay was what made her develop her feelings for me.

A normal boy in his first year of high school might have taken this chance to accept the first girl to offer him affection, but I was not normal, due to the existence of the White Room.

"Now then..." I have to take care of some business before I could call it a night. As I headed for a patch of bushes, my phone rang again. Onscreen identified the caller as Torikachi. I accept his call and brought the phone to my ear.

"How did it go?" He asked.

"I assumed you already knew the information beforehand. You are from there after all."

"Perhaps..." He complied.

"What is it that you wanted to call me now?" I continued to ask.

"I just want to inform you that your father is currently imprisoned by the government, but this is not over for us yet. So be prepared for more troubles to come in the future."

"I see... Thank you for notifying me about the information. I could live in this school in peace now. I'm grateful for your help." I answered with my honest thoughts.

"No problem, my best friend. That's what friends should do, right?" He asked.

"I assumed so. Thank you once again."

I said as I ended my call with Torikachi, and the presence earlier is still here. I should call them out.

"Come out now, I know you are there."

(For Kiyo and Kei's conversation, read the light novel.)

POV: Satou Maya

I have done it... I confessed my feelings for Ayanokouji-kun...

Even though he enjoyed the date, I could not help myself to run away, just because I got rejected.

I am currently running away from the tree, as far as possible, not wanting to return to my dorm any time soon.

As much as I love him, he said he was not ready for entering a loving relationship.

It hurts... it hurts me so much to see the boy I love can not reciprocate my feelings.

I ran away to an isolated place, somewhere in the middle of the mall.

My tears started to dry out because I cried too much. Maybe I should return to my dorm now.

Suddenly, my cellphone rang, someone is calling me.

As I look at the person who is dialing my phone.

"T-Torikachi-kun?" I murmured.

As I could remember, I told him about my feelings for Ayanokouji-kun, and he did not look surprised at all. Not even a shocked expression, seemingly he had expected this to happen. (Is seemingly a word? Idk I'm still bad at English. Sorry.)

'I should accept his call...' I thought as I accept the call and put the phone right next to my ear.

"T-Torikachi-kun?" I asked. "What is it that you wanted to call me?"

"How did it go?" He asked straight to the point. "I assumed you told him about it?"

"He... Ayanokouji-kun rejected me... I don't know why... but it hurts so much when he told me that he was not ready for dating anyone."

"Hmm... Quite unexpected. But I think you rushed things a bit too quick. Maybe you should slow things down a little, Satou."

"A-Are there anything else you wanted to tell me? Since you told me that you acquainted with him for a while..." I asked while still on the verge of tears.

"I'm sorry to tell you about this, but I think I should tell you since you asked me." He said. "Even though he did not smile at all, he genuinely wants more time to develop his own 'feelings' so that he could grow up more. So don't blame yourself, Satou. He genuinely wanted to hang out just because he wanted to, but not tried to develop his own emotions at the moment."

"I see... Thank you, Torikachi-kun. I guess I should hang up the call now. I need more time to think."

"I'm glad to hear that you are still okay after what happened. And you could join the music show that's about to happen around 10:00 PM to calm yourself down."

"Okay... I guess I could go. See you then, Torikachi-kun."

"See you later." He said as he ended the call afterward.

I guess I should watch the play tonight. It has been a rough day for me after all...

End of volume 7.5

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HELLO EVERYONE!!

I'm back for another chapter.

First of all, sorry for not uploading for a while. I actually got sick for 5 days in a row due to my new medication.

But yeah, I did write a few but got burned out of ideas on what to write, so this is pretty much what I have in mind.

Second, the teaser for the second year will be published in the near future. I know there is still a bunch of volumes left for me to write, but I finished the teaser so I might publish it beforehand.

I guess y'all could say that the votes for the future have concluded for Tori to have a new enemy in the future, so yay! I guess.

So yeah, that's it for my notes. I will continue to write as soon as I recovered from my sickness.

And I will see y'all next chapter.

PEACE!!!! *coughing like having a cancer*