"Thank you for your hard work." Hiko thanked the delivery man who brought the dress and took the shopping bag.
The delivery man from the clothing store left immediately after delivering the items.
"Eh, the clothing store worker could find this place?" Ai was a little surprised.
If they hadn't been here, wouldn't the delivery man have had no way to accurately deliver the clothes to Hiko?
Besides, they had already been in Starbucks for almost an hour before the delivery man arrived.
"Yes, I already told the shop assistant." Hiko handed the bag to Ai. "Here you go."
"Actually, I didn't want it…" Ai sighed as she looked at the bag being handed to her. "Why don't you give it to a cousin or female cousin or something?"
"What are you talking about? This is a gift I bought for you, not for someone else!"
Seeing that Ai didn't want to accept it, Hiko had to persuade her. "When we first met, I should have given you a gift, but I only gave you a peace talisman."
"It's already strange for strangers of the same age to give gifts, and this is also…"
Ai still wanted to refuse, but before she could finish speaking, the bag containing the clothes was stuffed into her hands.
"Don't decline. Uncle gave you 10,000 yen, and what I'm giving you is only worth 5,000 yen. Besides, I don't have any close cousins or female cousins, and it's even more impossible to give it to other people. If you really don't want it, then I can only donate it."
Hiko forcefully interrupted Ai's hesitant words, not giving her a chance to refuse.
Ai felt that every word Hiko said seemed true, but something still felt off.
Even so, she couldn't bear to reject him and ruin his good intentions.
Because she felt that if a gift was given away and the other person didn't accept it, forcing him to donate it to save face would definitely make him very sad and disappointed.
"Okay… I'll accept the gift, and I'll give you a return gift later."
Ai took the bag and placed it at her feet. "But don't expect too much…"
"Although you said not to expect too much, I'm still looking forward to it."
Hiko smiled as he looked at the young girl. "Actually, if you feel guilty, just prepare me another bento."
"I don't want to!"
Ai refused Hiko's idea without hesitation. "I said, I won't make bento for you anymore."
"Eh… I'm so sad." Hiko spoke in a sorrowful tone.
However, he didn't really believe Ai would never make bento for him again.
One day in the future, she would.
"Stop pretending to be pitiful, you're not being sincere at all."
Ai looked at Hiko's face, which was still smiling even though he spoke in a sad tone.
She felt like she had been tricked just now. She had clearly said to let him touch her face, but in the end, she was tricked into opening her mouth and was forcibly fed…
'He even put the fork he fed me with into his mouth and licked it clean just now! Ah!!!'
The more Ai thought about it, the more ashamed she felt, and she glared fiercely at Hiko sitting next to her.
Hiko saw Ai's cheeks suddenly turn red again as she widened her eyes and glared at him, which confused him. He didn't understand at all.
'Ai, why did she blush and get angry? What strange things is she imagining again? Could it be some little drama in her head, imagining I'd have her wear this outfit in a room, doing this and that?'
Besides that, Hiko couldn't think of any reason why Ai would blush, grow shy, and glare at him, so he could only say, "It's definitely not what you think. I don't have any improper thoughts about you right now."
"???"
Ai felt confused and didn't know why Hiko would suddenly say that, so she had to ask, "Why did you say that? What improper thoughts?"
"You just now…" She stopped and didn't finish, instead shifting her attention back to her notebook and starting to study, avoiding further embarrassment. "Actually, never mind."
Hiko cut off a small piece of cake in front of him, stuck it with a fork, then moved it to Ai's mouth and guided her. "Ah~"
Ai, who had just been diverting her attention, suddenly saw Hiko holding out a fork with cake toward her mouth. Embarrassed and angry, she immediately scolded him: "Baka! I don't want you to feed me, go away!"
"If you don't want to eat it, then forget it. Why are you still angry?"
Hiko had no choice but to put the cake back into his own mouth.
"If you tease me like this again, I'm going back!" Ai said angrily.
"Okay, I won't tease you anymore."
Hiko also realized that he had been too forceful.
He noticed the rain outside was easing. The shower had come quickly, poured heavily, and was now leaving just as quickly.
"The rain is about to stop," Hiko said as he looked at the lightening drizzle.
They had already been in Starbucks for more than an hour.
The plan to let Ai eat more had failed; she had simply refused. Even the original plan to move her body and walk around after eating had been aborted because she claimed she couldn't walk.
"It hasn't stopped yet." Ai glanced out the window and could still clearly see raindrops falling rapidly through the air.
After another ten minutes or so, the rain outside finally stopped.
"There's still so much left, Ai. Please eat some more. My stomach is already stuffed with these snacks."
Hiko touched his stomach and looked at Ai. "If I eat any more, I'll burst."
"I'm also very full. Try harder. There are only three pieces of cake left. You ordered them, so you should finish them in the end." Ai refused his request. She was tired of eating too.
So she cheered for Hiko instead. "Hiko-kun, you can do it, you can finish them!"
Hearing her cheer, Hiko had no choice but to cut the honey cake in front of him with a knife and put it into his mouth with a fork.
The cake that had felt delicious before now only tasted heavy.
Since he was already full, the sweet flavor was gone, replaced by reluctance.
Fortunately, it was a fluffy cake, and after eating it, he didn't feel uncomfortable.
"I really can't eat anymore!" Hiko pleaded with Ai again.
"Sigh, I really can't do anything about you. I'll help you finish another piece of cake."
Seeing Hiko eat the cake as though he was being tortured, wearing a pained expression, Ai reluctantly pulled the chestnut pudding caramel cake toward herself. "You can finish the rest on your own, right?"
"Thank you very much!"
Hiko thanked her when he saw Hoshino Ai taking a piece of cake.
But instead of continuing to eat, he looked at her and said, "Ai, if you feed me, I think even if I can't eat anymore, I'll still be able to. So, Ai, can you feed me the cake?"
"You see, I fed you just now, shouldn't you also feed me?"
Hiko looked at Ai with hopeful eyes, wishing she would feed him the last two pieces of cake.
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Hiko X Ai - 47: Date VII
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Hiko x Ai - 73: Lecture
Hiko x Ai - 74: Retelling
Hiko x Ai - 75: Sacrifice?
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