Vol 2 Chapter 12 (1/2)

「CHAPTER 12」

“Yo, Chiaki. I bought strawberry daif.u.ku from Aiya!”

“Seriously? Yes!! I'll go make tea right now.”

Strawberry daif.u.ku from Aiya were unique because their outside was made out of

gyūhi and their inside out of fresh strawberries and red bean paste. They were Yos.h.i.+no's

favorite. He was thinking of taking a break soon so this was perfect.

“Huh? Don't you have work today, Yuu?”

“It got postponed, so I came to hang out. I can stay until evening, right? I won't

get in the way.”

“Yeah, take it easy.”

When Yos.h.i.+no came carrying the tea to the table, he saw the bag was open and

stuffed with strawberry daif.u.ku. The soft bag made his heart dance with joy.

“Itadakimaaas! Mm! They really are good!”

The strawberries and the sweet red bean paste were superb, and the springy

texture of the gyūhi was out of this world. His mouth stuffed with daif.u.ku, Yos.h.i.+no

chewed happiness and suddenly remembered an unsolved problem.

…But that's not something to discuss over tea now is it?

Yanase had confessed to him. Yos.h.i.+no had put off the matter, but eventually he

had to give an answer.

He had resolved the matter with Hatori, now he had to resolve this matter as well.

“…Say, Yuu.”

“Hm?”

“About my answer…”

“Ohh, have you thought about it?”

Although right now he was replying to Yanase's confession, Yanase's face

remained unchanged. He didn't know whether Yanase was indeed calm or only

pretending, so it kind of threw him off.

“Sorry, but I really do only think of you as a friend, Yuu.”

“I figured.”

“B- but, it's true that I think of you as an important friend! If possible, I want to

still be friends with you, Yuu. …That's probably a selfish thing to say, though.”

“I'm happy you say that. I want to be friends with you forever, too, Chiaki.”

“Yuu…!”

Yanase's kind words touched his heart.