(…If Yuzuru-san would just apologise, I’d forgive him straight away.)
Yukishiro Arisa was feeling frustrated with her fiancé, Takasegawa Yuzuru.
It had been a few days since they’d argued over a certain incident.
Since then, they hadn’t had a proper conversation.
(Honestly, being so stubborn…)
Arisa believed she wasn’t at fault.
The one in the wrong was Yuzuru—for saying something awful, for trying to make her do something awful.
At least, that’s what she believed.
So she had no intention of apologising first.
But if he apologised, she would forgive him.
She was sure he would apologise soon.
Sure he would understand.
(…No, but maybe I should—)
Still, the fact that he hadn’t apologised yet was unexpected.
Arisa was growing restless.
Even though it had only been a few days, not being with him felt unbearably lonely.
And alongside that—
An uneasy anxiety crept in.
…What if, while things stayed like this, he ended up falling for another girl?
(B-but…)
Even so, admitting fault this time was incredibly difficult for her.
Because doing so would mean admitting that Yuzuru was right.
And that would mean she’d have to do something she absolutely didn’t want to do.
That, she wanted to avoid at all costs.
Even weighing it against making up with him—
She still hesitated.
(I mean, even if I don’t apologise, we could at least eat lunch together…)
In fact, Arisa had brought a lunch for him.
Finally making up her mind, she stood up—
Just as she was about to call out to him—
“A-ri-sa-chan!”
“Let’s hang out!”
Suddenly, someone grabbed her chest.
“Kyah!”
A small scream escaped her lips.
Turning around, she found her friends—Tachibana Ayaka and Uenishi Chiharu.
“W-what are you doing!?”
Blushing, she protested.
Another girl answered—
“We thought we’d have lunch together.”
Tenka gently pulled Ayaka and Chiharu away from her as she spoke.
After a brief pause—
“…Alright. Sure.”
Arisa nodded.
“Wow, I’m confident in my cooking, but Arisa-chan, you’re pretty amazing.”
“I can’t beat this kind of Japanese food.”
“This simmered taro is delicious.”
The three of them praised her lunch as they ate.
It had originally been made for Yuzuru—
In case he apologised, she’d planned to give it to him.
Not wanting it to go to waste, she’d shared it with them instead.
“Oh, it’s nothing…”
She couldn’t help but smile slightly at the compliments—
But then—
“Yuzurun’s lucky, getting to eat something this good every day.”
“…”
At Ayaka’s words, Arisa’s expression darkened.
Seeing that obvious reaction, the three exchanged glances.
“Arisa-san… why did you fight?”
Chiharu asked bluntly.
“Huh!? W-what are you talking about? Y-Yuzuru-san and I aren’t fighting or anything!?”
Her reaction was painfully obvious.
Tenka gave a wry smile.
“…No one said you were fighting with Yuzuru-kun, though?”
Caught, Arisa’s shoulders slumped.
“…What happened, Arisa-chan?”
Ayaka asked gently.
After a moment’s hesitation—
“…Will you listen?”
Looking up at them, she asked.
All three answered at once—
“““Of course.”””
Arisa felt a little lighter.
“It’s something small, really…”
“Mm-hm.”
“Most fights start like that.”
“Go on, go on.”
After hesitating slightly, Arisa spoke.
“It’s just… there’s something I don’t want to do, but Yuzuru-san wants me to…”
At that—
All three girls pressed their hands to their foreheads and looked up at the sky.
—That idiot finally did it, huh…—
Their expressions said it all.
“Yuzuru-kun, really… I thought he was more of a gentleman…”
“Well, he’s still a guy, at the end of the day.”
“Maybe he’s just gotten a bit too comfortable… in a bad way.”
Tenka, Ayaka, and Chiharu came to their conclusions.
Arisa nodded.
“Yes, and… I told him I didn’t want to, but he kept insisting… even teasing me about it… and that’s how we ended up fighting…”
As she explained, her expression grew more pained.
Tears welled in her eyes.
“Sniff… I really didn’t want to…”
“…What did Yuzurun ask you to do?”
Ayaka asked, clearly annoyed.
How dare he make such a cute girl cry?
“Th-that is…”
Arisa opened her mouth—
And by pure coincidence—
At the exact same time, Yuzuru—who was eating lunch with his friends—said:
“He told me to get a flu shot before the season starts…”
“She says she doesn’t want to get a flu vaccine!”
“““““…Huh?”””””
“So yeah, an injection. A shot!”
“She says she’s scared of needles! At her age!”
