Time passed, and before long it was late April.
That Sunday as well, Yuzuru and Arisa were happily playing games together.
“I win again.”
“Grr…”
And as usual, Yuzuru lost.
He was terrible at fighting games, whereas Arisa clearly had a knack for them.
Yuzuru had far more experience with games overall, and yet—
Once a week.
Each time they played, Arisa improved, and lately, Yuzuru could hardly win at all.
(…Well, she looks like she’s having fun, so it’s fine.)
Seeing the delighted smile on Arisa’s face, Yuzuru found himself smiling too.
Fortunately, even when he lost, he was the type who could still enjoy the game for what it was.
And if his fiancée was enjoying herself, he had no complaints.
Besides, fighting games weren’t everything.
Yuzuru was fairly good at strategy simulations and had beaten Arisa plenty of times there.
And in co-op games, while they weren’t exactly the perfect couple combo—
they still had fun playing together.
“What is it?”
As Yuzuru kept gazing at her face, Arisa tilted her head curiously.
Her beautiful flaxen hair swayed slightly, and her jade-green eyes looked straight at him.
As always, she really is stunning, Yuzuru thought.
“Nothing… just thinking how cute you are.”
“Thank you.”
“…You’re not even going to deny it?”
“Is that incorrect?”
Saying that, Arisa leaned closer.
With her face suddenly so near, Yuzuru instinctively looked away.
“N-no… it’s not incorrect.”
“I’m glad.”
Arisa smiled sweetly.
It had been about a year since they met, and Yuzuru couldn’t help but think how much she had changed.
“…So what’s the real reason?”
“Well… I just feel a bit bad making you play games all the time.”
Of course, he genuinely thought she was cute.
But that wasn’t all.
Even though they were now engaged, he hadn’t really been able to take her on a proper date since the cherry blossom outing.
Naturally, he wanted to take her to places like amusement parks or the cinema.
But—
“I’m having fun, so please don’t worry. …And your finances are a bit tight right now, aren’t they?”
That was the problem.
Yuzuru was broke.
The reason was obvious.
He’d spent everything on Christmas and White Day.
And considering the time he wanted to spend with Arisa, he couldn’t just increase his part-time work hours either.
Working more just to afford dates—at the cost of spending time with her—would defeat the purpose.
“Well… yeah, that’s true…”
Still, having his fiancée worry about his finances was a bit of a blow to his pride.
But there was no money to be had.
…He could probably ask his parents for some, but his pride wouldn’t allow it.
“To be honest… I feel a bit apologetic myself.”
Arisa said this with a slightly troubled expression, touching her hand.
The engagement ring Yuzuru had given her sparkled there.
“I keep wondering if I’ve done enough to be worthy of this ring…”
“…”
Naturally, Yuzuru had given her the ring because he believed she was worthy.
Because he wanted to make her happy.
Because he wanted her to become his wife.
He had intended all of that to be contained within it.
Just as he was about to say something reassuring—
“Yuzuru-san!”
“Y-yes! What is it?!”
“…Why did you suddenly switch to polite speech?”
“You just raised your voice out of nowhere…”
Arisa cleared her throat lightly, as if to cover it up.
“I want to become someone worthy of you, Yuzuru-san.”
“I-is that so…?”
He had assumed she was slipping into her usual negative spiral—
but instead, she seemed determined. Positive.
From Yuzuru’s perspective, she already supported him plenty—cooking for him, taking care of him.
He didn’t think of their relationship in terms of give and take.
So he wanted to tell her not to push herself too hard—
but he also didn’t want to dampen her motivation.
“So… about that. What do you think about future plans? Are there any qualifications that would be useful?”
“Hm… well, that’s something you should decide based on what you want—”
“Honestly, there’s nothing in particular I want to do. If anything, I’d rather do something that helps you, Yuzuru-san. That way I’ll be more motivated to study.”
Not many second-year high school students had their future careers decided.
Some didn’t even decide until university.
“Come to think of it, I asked my father something similar once.”
As the future head of the Takasegawa family—
Yuzuru had asked which university faculty he should choose.
His father’s answer had been—
“‘We’ll teach you everything you need here, so study whatever you like at university.’ That’s what he said.”
“…Wouldn’t something like becoming a lawyer be useful?”
“I said something similar, but he told me, ‘You’ll be the one hiring them, won’t you?’”
“Ah… I see.”
Yuzuru’s father and grandfather already employed excellent lawyers.
There was no need for Yuzuru—or Arisa—to become one.
“At most, he said it’d be nice if I got into a prestigious university—it adds prestige.”
“Prestige…”
“Yeah. It’s better to have it than not. Though it’s not essential.”
Of course, that only applied to Yuzuru’s situation.
Whether it applied to Arisa was another matter entirely.
“Then… I’ll aim for top academic results for now.”
Arisa said, sounding slightly underwhelmed.
It seemed his answer hadn’t quite met her expectations.
“Still… being useful, huh…”
Yuzuru had never really thought about their relationship in terms of usefulness.
If anything, just being with her—
spending time together, touching, sharing meals—
that alone was enough.
Just being together was enough.
“Yuzuru-san?”
“…Hey, it’s almost Golden Week, right?”
“Yes. Broadly speaking, it’s the anniversary of our engagement.”
“…Let’s leave the debate over which exact date counts for later.”
Gently steering the conversation back on track, Yuzuru continued.
“This is only if you’re okay with it.”
“Yes.”
“…How about we have a sleepover here?”
During the holidays, there’d be no need to bring uniforms.
They could even stay up late and play—
something they normally couldn’t do.
“What do you think… Arisa?”
For some reason, she had gone quiet.
When Yuzuru looked at her, she seemed a little dazed, her pale cheeks faintly flushed.
Her eyes wandered, and she held her own arm as if steadying herself.
Panicking, Yuzuru hurried to clarify—
“N-no, I mean… of course… we’ll sleep in separate beds. Don’t worry.”
At that, Arisa’s face turned even redder.
“O-of course! What are you thinking?!”
Smack!
She lightly hit him.
Yuzuru asked again.
“…So, what do you think?”
“…”
Arisa looked away slightly.
Then she gave a small nod.
“…Okay.”
