The sound of steam grew increasingly intense, yet Tachibana Akane could hear nothing but the pounding of her own heartbeat.
She stared blankly as Kaoru took her hand, aligning the ring with her ring finger before slowly sliding it on.
The dazzling brilliance seemed determined to bind her for a lifetime.
"It seems to fit perfectly."
At the sound of his voice, Tachibana Akane snapped back to reality in an instant.
The sounds of the world rushed back into her ears, clamoring like summer cicadas despite spring not having officially arrived yet.
But gazing at this face so close before her—compared to that distant, unreachable figure—it now felt overwhelmingly real.
His slightly prominent nose bridge wasn't attractive at all, the upward tilt of his eyes always gave off an aggressive sense of danger, and his slightly lowered gaze seemed to look down on others like he was bullying them.
So unwilling, so jealous, so furious—why could he casually produce a ring like magic, as if wearing this ring symbolized clearing some conquest route, as if everything would be perfectly resolved this way.
"T-two years, okay?"
Akane forced these words through gritted teeth.
She desperately wanted to maintain a nonchalant smile, but her entire body trembled uncontrollably, her expression even harder to restrain.
"I... I might forget you immediately, quickly find a boyfriend. Juniors like you are everywhere in this world, you know?"
"Hmm, I'll Force away like an ox anyone who tries to take you from me," Kaoru said. "If Akane-chan resists, I think I'd actually get more excited. Turning Akane-chan into mine would make me happy for life."
"D-don't... don't use strange nicknames for me... at a time like this."
Akane spoke in broken phrases, like a helpless child carefully watching him.
"I... I don't like you as much as you like me..."
"One year was enough to reach this point. I'm looking forward to what feelings Akane-chan will develop for me next."
Kaoru paused. "But actually, you're not wrong. I don't like you as much as you imagine either."
She should have been happy, so why did her heart ache so sharply, as if being dullly carved by a knife?
"Y-yeah, that makes sense. After all, you have..."
"This has nothing to do with Honami or the others."
Kaoru cut off her words. "My affection for any of you isn't pure at all. I'm just selfishly unwilling to let any of you go. In other words, there's no pure love here."
"I... I don't understand what you're saying."
Akane struggled to contain her emotions. "It's really hard to believe I'd accept someone like you. I used to only resent you for seducing Nagumo-kun."
"I don't recall seducing anyone. If anything, someone kept scolding and hitting me in the student council."
Kaoru's face darkened.
When had he ever seduced Nagumo Miyabi?
"I... I never did anything that extreme."
Akane whispered, "But... being with you is enjoyable. Things I can't say to classmates or friends, I can tell you. Sometimes I vent my daily frustrations on you too."
"So I was just your punching bag all along."
"I've already said I'm not that harsh... Mmm... but I am that harsh, utterly terrible. When I see your usual disrespectful attitude, I want to teach you a lesson. When I see you always being frivolous and not taking the student council seriously, I want to teach you a lesson. When I see you being impolite to me, I want to teach you a lesson even more."
"Do you have so many complaints about me?"
"Yes, that's the kind of woman I am. You must have complaints about me too, right?"
"I certainly do. For example, I haven't gotten to know more sides of you yet."
His nonchalance made Tachibana Akane both shy and angry, her eyes reddening.
"Why are you sweet-talking me again? Can't you just speak honestly with me for once!"
The girl grabbed his collar and demanded, "I admit I'm easily appeased, like when you comforted me before. I'm happy with how you are now too, but I don't know what you're thinking! Suddenly confessing, suddenly proposing, suddenly making me think about all these things. If you were more forceful, I would agree - I'm that kind of easily handled woman. But I can't see what you want from me!"
"Want from you?"
"I've asked around - you do lewd things with girls, but you've never done any with me. And I don't see that kind of desire in your eyes either."
"Just because I haven't done strange things with you, you think I want nothing from you?"
"Is... isn't that the case?"
Tachibana Akane said fiercely, "What is there about me that you could possibly like? In terms of personality, isn't Honami-san better? In terms of ability, isn't Honami-san better? In terms of figure, isn't Honami..."
"Don't compare like that, Akane."
Kaoru pressed down her hands, "I like you. I like her. But it's not a comparative kind of liking. Even if you can list a hundred reasons why I like Honami, I can list a hundred and one reasons why I like you."
"Ha, what kind of logic is that?"
Tachibana Akane couldn't accept this, her thoughts completely in disarray, "Then... then what exactly am I?"
"This is a scumbag's perspective. Although everyone thinks it's a Harem, and I'm thinking about how to make you all get along harmoniously, but before that, I believe we should be in a relationship of mutual affection."
"Mu... mutual affection?"
"This is the relationship we're trying to build now. Even if I don't understand you well enough, even if you think you'll leave me soon, even if life gets worse from here, I think I'll try to continue liking you."
"Are you planning to make me avoid Honami-san and the others?"
"Because senpai doesn't know how to interact with them. Let's treat the next two years as a vacation for yourself."
Kaoru returned to using his initial form of address, gently holding the girl before him, "When we meet again, I believe senpai will have grown into a mature and sensible upperclassman. I'm sure Honami and the others will be greatly surprised."
Tachibana Akane remained silent for a moment, then turned and tightly embraced Kaoru.
Just as Kaoru had said, making a girl abandon her reserve and share the person she likes with so many other girls was too painful.
It wasn't just painful - there was also a feeling of inferiority.
She had always thought of Ichinose Honami as the main wife, while she was just the mistress, subconsciously avoiding everything.
"I'm so jealous. Jealous that they still get to be with you for two more years, a full two years. That's one year longer than the single year I had with you. I only had one year with you, yet they get to spend three years with you - a complete high school experience. I feel so unwilling."
"I clearly said I wanted to test how you would pursue me, how you would make me like you. I thought about how to make things difficult for you, how to teach you a lesson, how to make you like me even more than you like them. But I'm so unwilling."
"Unwilling... If I had met you earlier, I would never have let go. I wouldn't allow anyone to touch you, absolutely no one! I'm completely confident I could do better than them!"
In his embrace, Tachibana Akane practically ground out these last words through clenched teeth, her knuckles turning white as she gripped him tightly.
Kaoru patted her back.
Wanting to care for one person would inevitably make another feel lonely and hurt - this was probably why she had asked him to come up.
Because the senior was feeling lonely.