The two of them changed out of their workout clothes into normal clothes and left the facility.
On the way home.
They walked down the street, holding hands.
“A year ago, I never thought I’d have this relationship with you.”
Yuzuru muttered to himself.
Arisa giggled in response.
“That’s the same for me as well… We used to be so awkward with each other.”
“Haha… We used to go on dates to demonstrate our intimacy.”
There is no need to pretend that they are close now.
As a matter of fact, they are quite intimate.
“…this might be a strange thing to ask right now.”
“Yes?”
“How was it… back then? You know, the whole going on date with me thing.”
Regardless of now.
At the time, Arisa must not have liked Yuzuru.
As far as Yuzuru could see, she seemed to be enjoying herself in her own way even then…
“I wouldn’t have fallen in love with you if I wasn’t having fun, would I?”
“Ahaha… well, I guess that’s true too.”
Yuzuru couldn’t help but chuckle.
And then he scratched his cheek, half embarrassed.
“No, well… I mean, playing in general entertainment facilities and such was fine. But, you know… didn’t you think that swimming pools and such were unpleasant at first?”
“Well, that’s… I did think something like ‘Eeh!’ at that time.”
Arisa said with a slight blush on her cheeks.
Going to the pool with a man who wasn’t her boyfriend was a little hard.
But…
The fact that she actually went there means that she was able to overcome that hurdle.
“In retrospect, though… I’ve liked you since that time.”
“Eh? …is that so?”
As far as Yuzuru can recall, the first time he felt something like “love” from Arisa was during the summer festival.
At the time of the pool, it had never occurred to him that Arisa had taken a liking to him.
“No, of course… I didn’t expect to have the relationship that we have now, but…”
“But…?”
“Um, I did think of you as a wonderful person.”
Arisa said this while looking away in embarrassment.
Then, for some reason, she glared at Yuzuru with a slightly angry expression, lifting her eyes slightly.
“So, Yuzuru, how was it for you…?”
“What do you mean, how was it..?”
“Isn’t it unfair that I told you and you didn’t tell me?”
In other words, exactly one year ago from now.
This was about how he felt about Arisa.
“…right”
When did he start to want to be the lover of Arisa?
When he thought back on it… it was still after the summer festival.
However, that doesn’t mean that he wasn’t aware of Arisa as a member of the opposite sex at that earlier point.
“I might have… liked you too.”
“What do you mean you might have?”
“N-no… Well, I tried not to think about it too much at that time.”
Arisa was a lovely girl.
That was and still is the case… Of course, strictly speaking, she’s cuter now.
It would be a bit of a stretch to say that he could never consider her as the opposite sex.
“… tried not to think about it?”
“It was on the pretext of a fake engagement, after all… If I thought about these things too much, I’d probably regret it, wouldn’t I?”
As Yuzuru said this, Arisa raised the corner of her mouth slightly.
“So, in the end, did you regret it?”
“That’s exactly what I mean.”
Yuzuru answered clearly and without hesitation.
He squeezed Arisa’s hand tightly.
“It became like I don’t want to give you to anyone else… I ended up wanting you.”
“I-I see”
Perhaps it was a stronger statement than she had expected.
Arisa’s voice was a little high as she was perplexed.
“….hypothetically.”
“Hmm?”
“What would you do if I had said ‘I don’t want to be with you.’ ?”
In response to Arisa’s question, Yuzuru gave a small smile.
“Even if you had told me that you don’t like me… what I’ve fallen in love with is what I’ve fallen in love with. I wouldn’t give up so easily.”
“…You mean you would try your best to seduce me?”
“That’s natural”
The corner of Yuzuru’s mouth naturally rose.
“I’ll use every means to get you.”
“That’s …”
All kinds of methods.
Needless to say, Arisa could tell that this included forceful methods.