The moment she regained her freedom, Anna immediately shrank back, retreating to the other end of the bench to distance herself from Keita.
She crossed her arms warily, subconsciously rubbing her wrist, feeling the lingering warmth and strength from Keita.
Hearing Keita's question, Anna felt like she had lost face in front of him again.
She just thought it would be enough to simply tell everyone; that's how it always unfolded in those anime and light novels.
Thus, she forced herself to speak: "There's no need to make it so complicated! As long as we announce to the public that we're a couple, everyone will naturally think so. No one's going to investigate the truth."
Keita shook his head, merely bringing up what had just happened: "The person who subconsciously wanted to push me away just now was you, Nanami-san, wasn't it? Is that the kind of reaction a couple has just from grabbing a wrist?"
Anna's face couldn't help but flush.
Seeing that Anna didn't retort, Keita continued: "If your friends teased us and asked you, the 'girlfriend,' to get a little closer to me, what would you do?"
...
"Would you jump up like you just did, or would you freeze on the spot, letting everyone see that something's wrong?"
Keita leaned back against the backrest and sighed, speaking of Anna's shortcomings.
"Ultimately, Nanami-san, although you've always been by Sousuke's side, do you really understand what it's like to be 'lovers'? All your perceptions are built upon a man who never once saw you as a lover."
"Of course I know!"
This sentence made Anna's cheeks heat up instantly, and she hurried to defend herself.
"W-Who said I don't know! I've read plenty of shoujo manga! Holding hands, dating, giving nicknames... I know all of that, of course!"
Anna used the theories she had read in books as her most powerful weapon.
Keita laughed again, looking at the resentful look in Anna's eyes as he began to explain to her.
"Yanami, that's just 'knowledge' you've observed."
Keita raised a thumb and shook it. "You've only thought about it countless times in your head, but you and Sousuke have never once interacted like that."
"You treated him like the male lead of your fantasy story, while he merely treated you as a long-time friend."
"If there had been even a single instance of true 'lover-like' contact between you, you wouldn't have lost as badly as you have now."
"That's not true!"
Anna's retort was pale and weak. "Sousuke and I go to and from school together every day, and we always eat lunch together during the break. Doesn't that count?!"
She brought up her most cherished memories from the past, trying to prove something...
Hearing this naive and pathetic retort, Keita suddenly felt a stir in his heart.
It seemed like a good time for a lesson in 'lover-like' contact.
Conveniently, he could also personally test how much 'lover-like' contact would alleviate his ability.
Keita denied her claim once more: "Even friends can do those things. Between lovers, what's needed are signals to confirm that each other is'special'."
"For example... the simplest physical contact."
After saying that, Keita slowly moved toward her again.
Although he didn't say it directly, Anna could read what he was about to do from the sense of intimacy radiating from Keita.
Anna tensed up nervously, her hands subconsciously clutching her skirt, but she didn't choose to dodge.
She seemed to be stumped by that phrase, "special signal."
Keita stopped half a meter in front of her and didn't act abruptly; instead, he gave a verbal warning first, indicating he was only demonstrating.
"Between lovers, it won't be as rough as before. For instance, when just wanting to hold hands, one would test the waters first."
Keita's voice was very soft, with a guiding tone. "Like this, lightly touching the other person's hand to see the reaction."
His fingertips, carrying a slight coolness, landed extremely gently on the back of Anna's left hand, which was resting on her knee.
Anna's whole body trembled.
A subtle sensation spread from that point of contact on her skin, making her instantly hold her breath.
She could clearly feel that the skin on that small patch of the back of her hand had become exceptionally sensitive.
Keita also felt something unusual.
Just after their skin touched, a weak but clear warm current flowed through the point of contact, as if a parched sponge had absorbed a drop of water.
This energy was far purer and more comfortable than the chaotic energy from when she was resisting earlier.
The throbbing pain in his temples was thus more effectively relieved.
Keita viewed Anna's abnormal silence as a mixed result of the aura's influence and her own tacit consent.
...
His fingers slid down smoothly, his fingertip gently hooking her pinky.
"And then," he continued explaining in that gentle tone, "if the other person isn't repulsed, only then will you slowly hold it like this."
His palm slowly covered hers, completely enveloping her hand—which was somewhat cold due to nervousness—within his own.
That dryness and warmth were vastly different from the slight coolness of his fingertips.
The "warm current" grew stronger.
As the contact area increased, the comfortable flow of energy also intensified, steadily nourishing his restless constitution.
Anna stared blankly as her hand was covered by his. A sense of shame mixed with some indescribable emotion left her brain in a state of confusion.
But it wasn't over yet.
After fully grasping her hand, that comfortable warmth became even more pronounced.
Keita discovered that the primal "succubus" craving for warmth deep within him seemed to be slightly satisfied.
This discovery led him to subconsciously make a move that wasn't originally in the plan—his fingers nimbly parted her closed fingers and then firmly interlaced with hers.
Their two hands were clasped together in a perfectly fitting manner.
"Ugh!"
Anna subconsciously wanted to pull away, but hesitated due to the strange sensation brought by their interlaced fingers.
At that moment, a higher quality flow of energy surged into Keita's body!
Yanami's "shyness," "panic," and "nervousness"—these pure positive emotions arising solely because of him—seemed to be refined into the top-grade nectar, instantly flooding Keita's entire body.
He could clearly feel the unstable "Succubus Aura" within him slowly stabilizing due to this energy, and the risk of losing control decreased accordingly.
The pleasure brought by this energy even made his own heart skip a beat!
Keita was now completely certain of what he needed to do.
Anna felt that all her tough pretenses had failed.
The warmth from his palm was being transmitted continuously, as if it wanted to soothe all the panic in the depths of her heart.
Her cheeks and the tips of her ears flushed red at a visible speed.
She hurriedly lowered her head in a panic, staring intently at the tips of her shoes as if there were something there that she absolutely had to see.
Keita suppressed his previous thoughts and gently teased Anna, asking the question he already knew the answer to.
"Have you ever done these things with him?"
After several seconds, Anna stubbornly pretended not to care and said, "This isn't really anything special. Back during the class School Festival rehearsals with male classmates, who hasn't held a male classmate's hand..."
After saying that, she wanted to pull her hand back, but found that although he seemed to be holding it loosely, he made it impossible for her to easily break free.
Thus, she could only beg for mercy in shame and anger: "No... let go..."
Having obtained this answer, Keita released her hand.
Anna withdrew her left hand almost immediately, clenching it into a fist and hiding it behind her back, still keeping her head down in silence.
"Do you understand now?"
Keita leaned back against the backrest again, creating some distance to ease the tense atmosphere.
"If we're going to pretend to be boyfriend and girlfriend, we might need many such 'rehearsals' in the future. So,"
He looked at Anna, whose earlobes were bright red, confirming whether she had been swayed by his actions.
"Are you going to accept my proposal?"
Silence spread between the two...
An ambiguous and tacit thought was born in both of their hearts at the same time...
Anna kept her head down, her shoulders heaving slightly as if she were undergoing a fierce internal struggle.
After a long time, she finally said in a muffled voice, "...L-Let me... let me consider it."
This was the greatest concession her pride could make at this moment.
Hearing this answer, a smile that couldn't be hidden finally appeared on Keita's face.
Nice! Plan successful!
Seeing Anna blushing from her cheeks all the way to the base of her neck, Keita decided to give her a way out.
"Oh, you're blushing. You've turned so red just from holding hands."
Keita broke the heavy silence with a light, teasing tone.
"Nanami-san, didn't you say you've read lots of shoujo manga? Why is your reaction more exaggerated than a beginner's?"
"Or could it be that you actually enjoyed the feeling just now?"
This sudden joke made Anna, who was immersed in shame, look up at Imaizumi.
The expression on her face shifted from shyness to indignant rage.
Her body, which had been slightly feverish from interlacing fingers with Keita, was no longer tense. She stood up and threw a punch at Keita's chest.
"H-How is that possible?!!"