Zzzzt
Amidst the bubbling oil, the chicken Ren Suzuki was frying sizzled loudly in the pan.
For someone living alone, making fried food was already a time-consuming and labor-intensive task especially when it was five in the morning.
But Ren didn't care about such trivial inconveniences.
On one hand, he was doing this to raise Hitori Gotoh's affection toward him.
On the other hand… this was his own way of trying to atone for the deception he was about to carry out.
Ren knew perfectly well what kind of hopes and fantasies his words would spark, and exactly what kind of misunderstanding his actions would cause.
A boy with his dating history seventeen failed relationships understood it all too well.
A girl like Hitori Gotoh, with absolutely no experience with boys, would naturally mistake his persistent approach for genuine interest. She would inevitably let her imagination run wild.
The bold [60%] now displayed on his capture progress panel was proof that his strategy had succeeded.
Even someone as deeply self-conscious as Hitori Gotoh had eventually fallen into his carefully laid trap after his relentless pursuit.
"…"
Click.
Ren took a photo of the frying chicken still bubbling in the oil and sent it to Hitori Gotoh.
After confirming that the message had gone through, he silently put his phone down and continued to watch the oil as the bubbles gradually subsided.
"Even if I'm doing this to save her… the fact remains that I'm committing something unforgivable."
Ren had fully accepted this from the moment he began planning his strategy.
Sure, with his long history of heartbreak, he no longer saw love as something sacred but it wasn't the same for Hitori Gotoh.
A first love was an incredibly important life experience for any girl. In some cases, a first love could influence a person's entire life.
And for this girl, who hadn't even had a single male friend, he would, without a doubt, become her first love.
But unfortunately for her, her first love would be a liar.
Someone who never had any romantic feelings for her to begin with.
The story she was about to experience was one destined to fail from the start.
"Before I leave… I really need to help her grow stronger to stand on her own."
Ren murmured to himself.
"I want her to become someone who can still get back up after heartbreak."
When he said I want to know more about Gotoh-san, that wasn't entirely a lie.
His past experience told him that simply spending time together and showing kindness wasn't enough to help someone grow.
Only by genuinely getting to know her could he guide and support her in the right way helping her break free from her social anxiety and self-loathing as soon as possible.
After that… he could finally leave with peace of mind.
Ren glanced back at his capture panel. He carefully read every word before finally closing it.
[Upon successful capture, the target's memories of the captor will be erased. Other relevant individuals' memories will also be adjusted accordingly.]
Splash
Ren smoothly fished out the first batch of fried chicken and waited quietly for the oil temperature to rise again, preparing for the second round of frying.
…
In the early morning, when Hitori Gotoh saw the photo on her phone, her groggy mind instantly snapped awake. Her heartbeat surged, and her body temperature shot up.
"Five in the morning?! He… he really made it… and he even got up early just to do it…"
Joy, excitement, anticipation, panic her heart was overwhelmed with so many emotions at once that she didn't know what expression she should make.
But there was one thing she was now certain of
"Today, we'll have lunch together again… and I'll get to eat something he made just for me…"
It felt like she was still dreaming.
"Uwahhh… If the girls in class who like him found out about this, they'd totally kill me out of jealousy."
No matter how she looked at it wasn't this just too much good fortune?
I'll have to return the favor, right?! I absolutely have to thank Suzuki-kun properly, right?!
But… what could a gloomy social outcast like her possibly offer in return?
Money? Well… she had saved up a bit of pocket money, but paying him for something he made with such care felt like it would completely trample on his kindness.
Then… maybe she could cook something he liked? Yeah, right. She didn't have those kinds of skills.
A gift? Hmm… but she didn't even know what Suzuki-kun liked. What if she picked something he didn't like and upset him instead…?
Uwahhh! This is so hard! Other than playing guitar, what else could she possibly offer him ?
…
"Wait… guitar?"
Suddenly, a bold idea she'd never considered before popped into her mind.
At the same time, she recalled the one thing Suzuki-kun had repeatedly asked about.
"He's always seemed oddly interested in that unfinished self-introduction of mine…"
When she entered high school, she'd originally planned to proudly declare her guitar skills as her big debut talking point. But when faced with everyone's eyes on her, fear completely overtook her.
What if they think I'm bragging?
What if no one actually cares?
What if someone in this room is better at guitar than me?
Those kinds of fears instantly amplified her already deeply rooted self-doubt. The anxiety and nervousness completely blocked her throat like a heavy stone she couldn't make a sound.
By the time she realized it, everyone had already looked away.
She'd completely messed up her first chance to stand out.
Forget mentioning the guitar she hadn't even finished her basic introduction properly.
She always thought that after something like that, no one would ever care about her unfinished sentence let alone want to hear the rest.
But… Ren Suzuki, who sat right next to her, not only noticed he even made it a point to say he wanted to know more about her…
What if he's just messing with me?
What if he's just pretending to care, only to laugh at me behind my back with the others?
Just like always, doubts like that had crossed her mind more than once.
But
"Five… in the morning."
She glanced again at the timestamp on the photo and the [Good night] message from last night that she'd been too nervous to reply to.
"...…"
Hitori Gotoh quietly put her phone down, stared blankly at the ceiling for a full five minutes, then slowly climbed out of bed and walked toward the guitar hanging on her wall.