The final school bell rang on time, signaling the end of the day's classes.
For Anna, the bell felt more like a warning of her impending execution.
Before she could even finish packing her bag, Sousuke and Karen appeared together beside her desk, their faces beaming as they invited her.
"Anna! Let's go, to karaoke!"
Karen affectionately grabbed her arm, her voice full of anticipation. "I've already decided which new song I want to sing!"
Sousuke stood to the side, a natural smile on his face. "Yeah, Anna, it's rare for us all to get together. Let's celebrate."
Celebrate.
That word made Yanami's body stiffen again. She really didn't want to hear it.
Her gaze, seeking help, involuntarily drifted towards Keita, who was quietly looking out the window on the other side of the classroom.
Keita wasn't looking this way, because this was the first test of his 'cooperation' with Yanami. He needed to see if Yanami could take the first step herself.
Anna took a deep breath, remembering their conversation at noon and their agreement in the afternoon.
This was a trial she had to face on her own...
She forced a somewhat natural smile, stood up from her seat, and said to Karen, "Sorry, Karen, I have a little something to take care of here. You guys go ahead first. Once you get a room, text me the number. I'll be right there."
"Huh? What is it? Do you need help?"
Karen asked with concern.
"N-no, it's nothing, just a personal matter!"
Anna waved her hand, using a light tone to mask her nervousness. "You guys go order drinks, don't worry about me!"
Seeing her insistence, Karen, though still a bit puzzled, was pulled along by Sousuke and left first.
The classroom gradually emptied, soon leaving only Anna and Keita.
She slowly stuffed her books into her bag, every movement seeming heavy...
"Let's go."
Keita's voice came from behind her, plain yet carrying a hint of warmth.
Anna, backpack slung over her shoulder, followed behind Keita as they walked one after the other down the hallway after school.
The evening sun shone in diagonally from the windows, stretching their shadows long.
The whole way, Anna didn't say a word, just walked with her head down.
Her fingers nervously gripped the straps of her backpack, clearly full of worry about the scene to come.
"Yanami."
Keita suddenly stopped.
Yanami, walking behind him, didn't react in time and almost bumped into his back.
She looked up to see Keita had turned around, his dark eyes looking at her gently.
Seeing her nervous, almost tearful expression, Keita smiled wryly and softened his tone.
"Your expression looks like you're heading to the battlefield," he said softly. "You did just fine back in the classroom."
This sudden praise instantly softened Anna's mood.
"I..." Anna's voice held a trace of worry. "I'm a little... worried... that I'll mess things up..."
"You won't."
Keita smiled, using a light tone to comfort Anna. "Did you forget our agreement from noon? Being a couple is about the relationship between two people."
He took half a step forward, closing the distance just enough for her to feel reassured.
The familiar, comforting aura emanating from Keita once again washed over her, soothing her tense nerves.
"You still look scared,"
Keita continued, comforting Anna.
"In that case, just remember one thing. If you don't know what to say or what to do, just stay by my side and watch me. I'll handle it. You just... need to believe in me."
Hearing these words, Anna couldn't help but lift her head to look at Keita. He seemed to be glowing with an incredibly soft light before her eyes.
Temporarily handing over the right to think and decide... didn't seem like such a bad thing.
She suddenly felt her heart enveloped by a warm current, feeling very warm and secure...
"...I understand."
Anna replied softly.
The pride stemming from her identity as an 'Outgoing Person' temporarily chose to yield before this reliable sense of security.
...
By the time they arrived at the Karaoke Shop on the Commercial Street, the sky had already grown somewhat dim.
Under the colorful Neon Signs stood, as expected, two familiar figures.
Seeing Anna appear, Karen immediately waved happily.
But when she clearly saw Keita following beside Yanami, the expression on her face noticeably froze for a moment.
Sousuke, however, frowned, his gaze shifting back and forth between Yanami and Imaizumi, his tone full of confusion.
"Anna, why are you with Imaizumi-kun?"
Anna froze on the spot, not knowing how to answer.
Even though Keita's words were still echoing in her ears...
But when it actually came to this moment, the stiffness in her body and the panic in her heart still prevented her from answering naturally.
Just as she was feeling she was making a fool of herself simply because of a question from Kusagari, Keita's hand reached over from beside her.
Keita's hand gently rested on her shoulder, pulling her half a step closer to him.
Keita smoothly took a step forward, smiling at the two people before him, shielding Anna behind his back.
"Because, I'm Anna's boyfriend."
Anna.
The affectionate address came naturally from Keita's mouth, as if they had already called each other that countless times.
"B-boyfriend?!"
Sousuke's eyes widened, his expression shifting from confusion to surprise. "You... when did you two start dating?!"
His voice was full of bewilderment, his gaze darting between the two of them.
Before Yanami or Imaizumi could answer, Karen beside them had recovered from her surprise, a genuinely sincere smile blooming on her face.
"Really?! Anna! Congratulations!"
She quickly stepped forward, grabbed Yanami's hands, and shook them vigorously, the joy in her eyes seeming genuine.
"That's wonderful! You've finally found your own happiness too! I was worried about you, but I never imagined you had already secretly..."
Karen's congratulations were fervent and sincere...
Meeting her gaze that was purely happy for her, Anna felt the last bit of something in her heart completely turn cold.
She slowly nodded, saying nothing.
Entering the dimly lit Private Room of the karaoke place, a large screen was playing the music video of a chart-topping hit song.
Sousuke and Karen naturally sat down together, their heads close as they intimately browsed the Song Selection Screen.
Seeming to notice there was one more person in the room this time, Karen looked up and asked.
"Anna, Imaizumi-kun, would you like to sing first?"
"You go ahead. We haven't decided what to sing yet."
Keita answered for Yanami, then pulled her to sit down at the other end of the Sofa.
Soon, the gentle intro of a romantic male-female duet began to play.
Sousuke and Karen each picked up a Microphone, smiled at each other, and began singing sweetly in harmony.
Their voices intertwined, their gazes holding only each other, filling the entire room with the cloyingly sweet scent of romance.
Anna and Keita sat in the corner of the Sofa.
Watching those two intimately interact as if no one else was there, watching the gentle, doting look in Kusagari's eyes when he looked at Karen, she felt like an audience member forcibly dragged in to watch a show.
Even though Keita was by her side, the feeling of isolation still spread from the soles of her feet through her entire body.
Her body grew stiff, her mood sinking bit by bit to rock bottom, and even breathing felt oppressive.
Keita sat quietly beside her, taking in all her reactions.
A negative mix of frustration, disappointment, and jealousy was emanating from the girl beside him.
These emotions directed at others were not only unhelpful to him, but they also caused a faint, throbbing pain to return to his temples, which had just settled.
He needed to do something to break this unpleasant situation and pull Anna's attention back to himself.
As the song ended, harsh applause sounded from the screen.
Just as Anna was still immersed in her own sad emotions, a warm breath suddenly drew close to her ear.
Keita's voice was extremely low, speaking in a soothing tone only the two of them could hear, whispering by her ear:
"Don't keep looking at others. Your boyfriend is right here."
Anna trembled all over from the breath Keita blew onto her earlobe.
She turned her head and met Keita's smiling eyes, now extremely close.
The next second, her left hand resting on the Sofa was directly grasped by a warm, dry, larger hand.
Keita gave her no time to react. His fingers deftly parted her closed fingers, then, without a hint of hesitation, tightly interlocked with hers.
A 'warm current' even stronger than the one at noon in the courtyard instantly flowed from the point where their skin made tight contact!
This high-quality torrent of energy instantly surged through his entire body, not only completely dispelling that faint pain but also making the irritation born from the noisy surroundings vanish like smoke.
Accompanying it was the most primal pleasure derived from intimate contact with the girl beside him.
Anna, however, was experiencing something entirely different.
Being subjected to such an intimate gesture by another man in front of Kusagari and Karen, an intense sense of shame and nervousness nearly caused her brain to short-circuit.
But the constant warmth and the undeniable sense of control transmitted from the other's palm also strangely dispelled the icy feeling of isolation and pain in her heart.
It was as if it was silently declaring to those two: See, I'm not unwanted.
This complex, contradictory feeling made her, for a moment, actually somewhat enjoy this dangerous contact.
Imaizumi-kun's palm was really so warm... it gave her a strange sense of secure happiness...
Anna suddenly found herself, quite immorally, enjoying the happiness brought by interlocking fingers with Keita...
Just then, Kusagari and Karen, having just put down their Microphones, turned back with smiles, seemingly about to say something to them.
Then, they saw this scene—
Under the dim lighting, Keita and Anna were leaning close together, whispering about something, their hands tightly interlocked.
The smile on Sousuke's face involuntarily stiffened slightly.
A sour sense of loss welled up in his heart, inexplicably and without warning.
This wasn't the dissatisfaction and jealousy of a'simp' being taken away. It felt more like... an instinctive displeasure, the kind when something that had always followed you since childhood, something you took for granted as your own, suddenly had someone else's label slapped on it.
Karen completely failed to notice the change in Hakamata Kusagari's mood. She smiled brilliantly and even clapped her hands.
"Wow, Imaizumi-kun and Anna seem really close."