"Ah...!"
Yanami Anna snapped back to her senses, realizing after the fact that she had actually been seriously considering such a ridiculous question, and her face heated up again.
"N-Nothing!"
She hurriedly withdrew her fists and distanced herself from Imaizumi, sitting back at the other end of the bench.
Honestly, what on earth was she doing?
She had originally just wanted to expose his malicious nature and ask why he had been so "gentle" lately.
But in just a few words, she was led astray by him again, teased with such incredibly malicious words, and then she lunged at him like an idiot to hit him.
The worst part was that she... she wasn't actually truly angry.
She even felt a hint of... heart-pounding joy from that bullying interaction.
"You..."
Yanami Anna's voice was muffled, carrying a hint of grievance. "You're really the worst."
"Is that so?"
Imaizumi Keita looked at her and smiled. He didn't lean in again, just observed the bright red tips of her ears with an interested gaze.
"I actually think you've really changed a lot."
"Eh?"
This sentence, free of any teasing, left Yanami Anna stunned for a moment.
She looked at him with some confusion.
"Think about it. When we first met at the Family Restaurant, you'd just get dumped and do nothing but complain to yourself."
Imaizumi Keita's tone was flat, simply stating his thoughts. "In the classroom, surrounded by those two, you would only force a smile, without even the courage to refuse."
"Ugh..."
Yanami Anna was left speechless by his words.
"But what about now?"
Imaizumi Keita looked at her, a smile appearing on his face. "You can already decisively refuse activities you don't want to join, and you've even learned to use my own words to talk back to me."
He paused for a moment, softly voicing the thoughts in his heart.
"Although you still bristle sometimes because I tease you, at least you won't cry over other people's business anymore."
Yanami Anna grew completely quiet, looking at the man before her.
If it were before she met him, let alone refusing Sousuke and Karen's invitation, just hearing that they were going to Karen's house for a Study Session would probably make her so sad she couldn't eat.
Now, she could not only face it calmly but even use it as a tool to tease Imaizumi.
All these changes seemed to have started from the moment she met the man in front of her.
Yanami Anna let out a long sigh.
"I..."
She looked at Imaizumi Keita and spoke with a slightly muffled voice, "Am I really... lacking in feminine charm?"
"Is that why Sousuke... fell for Karen so easily?"
Yanami Anna's gaze fell on her clenched fists as she began to mutter to herself self-deprecatingly.
"Even though I've been with him for over a decade, the happiness I brought him might not even compare to those short ten or so days with Karen."
"As soon as Karen appears, he can no longer see me."
Imaizumi Keita was silent for a moment before answering in a flat tone: "That kind of thing is something only Hakamada Sousuke himself knows for sure."
"Hmph."
Yanami Anna wrinkled her nose, seemingly dissatisfied with the answer.
She looked up, a hint of frustration and defiance in her eyes.
"Didn't you say back at the KTV that I wasn't as charming as Karen, Imaizumi? Something about 8K and 4K? I still remember that."
Yanami Anna successfully pulled the somewhat heavy topic back to the two of them.
Imaizumi Keita looked at her "don't think you can brush this off" expression and finally couldn't help but laugh.
"And so?"
"And so,"
Yanami Anna took a deep breath, her clear eyes meeting his gaze directly as she asked one word at a time.
"In your eyes, Imaizumi... am I charming?"
The air between them seemed to stop for a moment.
This was a direct pitch.
Imaizumi Keita could clearly feel that with this question, Yanami Anna's heart, which had just calmed down, began to beat violently again.
A high-quality energy mixed with 'nervousness,' 'anticipation,' and 'vulnerability' was continuously flowing from her.
This was a signal that she had completely let go of the past and begun to tilt the scales of her emotions entirely toward him.
"Of course you are."
Imaizumi Keita's answer came without the slightest hesitation.
He watched Yanami Anna's eyes instantly light up because of his affirmative answer, feeling that purer and sweeter energy of 'joy' flooding into his body.
Ordinary words were no longer enough.
It was time for the next step.
Imaizumi Keita's gaze changed; he no longer deliberately suppressed the attraction unique to the Succubus Aura.
Yanami Anna couldn't say exactly what the change was, but she felt her throat tighten for no reason.
Even though it was still the same familiar face, she felt like her gaze was drawn by a magnet, unable to move away even an inch.
The surrounding cicadas and the sound of the wind seemed to fade away, leaving only his quiet gaze and her own heartbeat, which grew louder with every beat.
Then, she saw Imaizumi Keita slowly reach out his right hand toward her.
His broad palm and clean knuckles were held out quietly in front of her.
This was an invitation.
Yanami Anna looked at that hand and then at Imaizumi's charming, deep eyes. Her physical instinct told her to back away, to flee from this dangerous atmosphere.
But her heart was screaming for her to reach out and respond to this invitation.
Ultimately, reason lost to emotion.
An uncontrollable blush of shyness appeared on Yanami's face.
She bit her lower lip and cautiously reached out her left hand, gently placing it in his palm.
The moment their palms touched, a reassuring warmth was transmitted continuously from his palm.
Imaizumi's fingers slowly closed, completely enveloping her small, slightly cool hand.
Then, he didn't give her any more chance to hesitate, his fingers nimbly sliding between hers to interlock their fingers tightly.
"Mm..."
Yanami Anna subconsciously let out a soft hum.
This time, she didn't struggle or dodge.
She just stared blankly at their closely linked hands, letting that warm current that made her face flush and her heart race spread from her palm to every part of her body.
That warmth from their joined palms incredibly smoothed out all her nervousness.
Yanami Anna's previously tense shoulders slumped unconsciously, and she slowly raised her head, her gaze falling somewhat out of focus on his face so close to hers.
She didn't realize that her body was uncontrollably leaning toward that source of warmth.
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