The music's Outro (outro) slowly faded away in the private room. The scrolling lyrics on the screen finally Freeze frame (froze), then were replaced by a dazzling scoring animation.
Programmed applause and cheers came from the speakers, pulling Yanami Anna back from that complex emotion mixed with sadness and relief.
An unprecedented sense of lightness welled up from the depths of her heart.
Yanami Anna slowly turned her head to look at Imaizumi Keita beside her. His profile appeared particularly (particularly) gentle in the dim light.
She opened her mouth, her throat still tight from the earlier emotional turmoil.
"Thank you..."
Yanami Anna's voice was very soft, sounding a bit hoarse, "...Classmate Imaizumi."
Imaizumi Keita didn't simply nod or say "you're welcome" as she had expected.
He naturally let go of their Always (continuously) interlocked hands, Go with the flow (taking the opportunity) to take half a step forward, open his arms, and gently pull her into an embrace.
This action was smooth and decisive, as if fulfilling the promise of his earlier "I'm here."
His arm reached around her, not with excessive pressure, but with just the right amount of force to provide a comforting embrace.
Even so, Yanami Anna's body stiffened uncontrollably at the touch.
A strong instinct urged her to break free immediately, to escape from this overly intimate embrace.
She subconsciously raised her arm and pressed her palm against his chest, just about to push—
For some inexplicable reason, Imaizumi Keita's previous instructions flashed through her mind.
"If you don't know what to say, or don't know what to do, just stay by my side and watch me."
"You just... have to believe in me."
More importantly, out of the corner of her eye, Yanami Anna could clearly see Karen and Sousuke on the nearby Sofa turning their heads to watch her interaction with Imaizumi.
Yanami Anna's palm, which had been pressed against his chest, slowly relaxed.
She gave only a symbolic, slight struggle before obediently ceasing her resistance, allowing herself to lean against his solid chest.
As her body relaxed, a strange sensation welled up in her heart.
The clean scent of shower gel on Classmate Imaizumi seemed even stronger than before, smelling so good it made her feel somewhat at ease.
Classmate Imaizumi... although he could be mean when he spoke and was a bit forceful, he... seemed to actually be quite a good person.
Just like now, even in such an ambiguous atmosphere, he only gave such a restrained and gentle embrace, not taking the opportunity to do anything out of line at all.
For a moment, she had even secretly worried that Imaizumi might do something more excessive and offensive to her under the banner of "rehearsing."
Thinking back now, she had... she had simply misunderstood him.
He was just fulfilling his duties as a "boyfriend" in his own way.
Thinking of this, a mixture of guilt and relief caused Yanami Anna's cheeks to heat up again.
Through two layers of school uniform fabric, she felt as if she could hear his steady, powerful heartbeat.
This embrace was very warm and very reassuring.
Is this... lover-like contact?
Unlike the depictions in shoujo manga, there were no petals fluttering everywhere or exaggerated internal monologues; there was only this comforting warmth and heartbeat.
So being close to someone you like feels like this—a heart-pounding yet incredibly secure feeling...
Wait, not someone I like!
It's just pretend!
Yanami Anna's brain was a bit of a mess, and the temperature of her cheeks rose uncontrollably again, making her let out a faint, hazy hum from her nose.
"Mm..."
The girl in his arms suddenly quieted down, letting out only a satisfied soft hum, like a cat that had found a comfortable spot.
"Mm..."
Imaizumi Keita clearly felt the change in the girl in his arms.
From initial stiff resistance to current soft compliance, a high-quality stream of energy mixed with "trust," "peace of mind," and "infatuation" was continuously flowing from her, nourishing the restless power within him.
In particular, Yanami Anna's unconscious soft hum brought this energy to a peak, giving him a nearly intoxicated sense of comfort.
But Imaizumi Keita also immediately noticed something was wrong.
He found that Yanami Anna seemed to be falling into a near-hypnotic daze due to the influence of his "Succubus Aura" and this overly intimate contact.
This wasn't the result Imaizumi Keita wanted...
He chose a loser like Yanami Anna not just because she could soothe his restless energy.
But also because a loser like Yanami, due to her failure in love, wouldn't be excessively affected by the Succubus Aura.
Thinking of this, Imaizumi Keita decisively let go of the arm encircling her and gently pushed her away from his chest.
Yanami Anna looked up somewhat dazed, a trace of confusion in her eyes.
Seeing her like this, Imaizumi Keita smiled and reached out to give her forehead a light flick.
"Snap out of it, Anna."
"Ow!"
The slight pain from her forehead successfully pulled Yanami Anna back from that hazy state.
She clutched her forehead and looked at the smiling expression on Imaizumi Keita's face, realizing in hindsight that she seemed to have been completely immersed in that embrace, and her cheeks flushed hot once again.
"Alright, what do you want to sing next?"
Imaizumi Keita didn't give her time to continue being embarrassed, pulling her by the wrist back to the song selection console.
He quickly browsed through the library, skipped the love songs with overly ambiguous atmospheres, and finally chose a fast-paced pop duet.
"How about this one? The atmosphere has become so heavy, it's time for a change of mood."
He turned the console toward her, his tone relaxed and natural.
"Mm, mm! Okay!"
Yanami Anna nodded haphazardly, trying to shake the messy thoughts out of her head.
Soon, energetic music filled the booth once more.
This time, without the heavy past carried by the previous song, Yanami's performance was significantly more natural.
Her coordination with Imaizumi Keita also became more synchronized; the two occasionally shared a smile, looking very much like a normal couple enjoying a date.
When the song ended, Himiya Karen and Hakamada Sousuke also smiled and clapped.
Perhaps the embrace earlier had worked, or perhaps that song had completely vented the gloom in her heart, but Yanami Anna found that when she faced Sousuke and Karen again, her mindset was completely different.
She could even joke naturally with Karen and look calmly at Sousuke when he spoke, without any more racing heartbeats or feelings of loss.
She watched the two of them still sitting intimately together, watched Karen naturally help Sousuke tidy his messy bangs, and no longer felt that unspeakable sadness in her heart.
Yanami Anna suddenly understood.
What had troubled her for so long and made her so miserable perhaps wasn't some melodramatic "new girl defeats childhood friend" plot at all.
In the end, it was just her own one-sided fantasy.
Hakamada Sousuke had never had any feelings for her beyond friendship.
The so-called twelve years as childhood sweethearts was just a special filter she had placed on him and herself.
He had simply made the most normal choice when he met the girl who truly made his heart flutter.
There was no right or wrong, and no winner or loser.
It was simply that two childhood sweethearts didn't happen to like each other as a matter of course, like in the stories.
She should have accepted this fact long ago.
It turned out she could live perfectly fine without him.
Or rather, she was already living perfectly fine, and it was only because she was trapped by unrealistic fantasies that she had become so pathetic.
Yanami Anna let out a long sigh of relief and turned her head to look at Imaizumi Keita, who was sitting quietly beside her.
Noticing Yanami Anna's gaze, Imaizumi Keita turned his head, raised his cup to her, and mouthed words with his lips slightly parted.
'So, are you satisfied with my performance?'
Yanami Anna's heart successfully skipped a beat.