"Forget it, forget it, as long as you're happy, I won't bother you," said Ichika as she ran behind a tree to hide.
Hakuto didn't mind and didn't bother with her, as he wasn't doing anything shameful.
After a while, Nino, panting heavily, ran out of the apartment and approached Hakuto.
"Ha~"
"There's no need to be in such a rush," he said.
"Who? Who's rushing? I'm not!" Nino shook her head, adjusted her breathing, and straightened her posture.
Nino glanced at Hakuto, who was leaning against a scooter. Her face turned slightly red as she handed him something in her hand.
"Here."
"What's this?"
"This is the earring I picked for you… pure silver, so you don't need to worry about inflammation."
At that moment, in Hakuto's hand, a silver, ring-shaped earring lay perfectly in his palm.
"I spent a long time picking this… don't say it looks bad!"
Hakuto looked at Nino's proud and tsundere expression and smiled.
"It looks great, I really like it…" Hakuto took off the earring that Nao had given him and put on the one Nino had given him.
"Then, thank you for the gift, Miss Nino."
"Don't get the wrong idea! I just happened to see it when I was out shopping, thought it'd suit you, so I bought it. I didn't pick it out specially for you…"
Hakuto felt that this sounded familiar, like something a certain white-haired person had said before.
But he didn't think much of it, and he certainly wouldn't take Nino's words too seriously.
"By the way…" Nino then opened her hand.
"Is this the one I gave to you last time?"
In Nino's palm was the little doll Hakuto had given her, modeled after himself.
"Did you say this could record sounds…"
"Yeah."
As he spoke, Hakuto picked up the doll. Before Nino could continue, he instinctively pressed the play button.
[I love you~]
A very awkward and low-quality mechanical male voice came from the doll. However, the key point wasn't the voice itself but the words it said.
Although Hakuto knew Nino had recorded something in it, he hadn't expected this.
"U-uh… um…" Feeling Hakuto's gaze, Nino nearly exploded on the spot!!
Although she had planned for Hakuto to hear the recording, she hadn't expected it to play so suddenly.
Nino didn't intend to confess anything, as her feelings were quite obvious to anyone.
Nino had originally wanted Hakuto to record his real voice in the doll…
She had always had a hard time asking for it, and now, with this situation, it made it even harder to bring it up.
What to do, what to do…
Just as Nino was pondering how to handle the situation, Hakuto shook his head and deleted the awkward mechanical voice from the doll.
After doing that, Hakuto cleared his throat and opened the recording.
"I… love you…"
Nino hadn't processed what had happened when Hakuto had already put the doll back into her hand.
"Eh… eh?"
Seeing Nino's confused reaction, Hakuto smiled and imitated Nino's earlier proud tone, saying:
"Nino, don't misunderstand, it's just to thank you for the earrings…"
"I… I know, of course… Who would misunderstand…" Nino blushed and put the doll back into her hands.
However, when she was putting it away, Nino, whether intentionally or not, accidentally pressed the play button.
The next second, Hakuto's lazy voice mixed with the mechanical sound from the recording came from the doll.
[I love you~]
When this voice played, Nino, already red, looked as if she had been steamed, nearly losing her balance.
Hakuto lightly tapped her forehead with his hand: "Alright, Nino, you should be fine now, right?"
Nino, still blushing, shook her head. Not only was she fine, but she was actually very satisfied with the outcome of today.
"This is my house key…" Hakuto said, throwing a set of keys at Nino.
Nino stared at the keys he threw, her mind going blank!
Is it moving so fast? Though, if it's Hakuto, she wouldn't necessarily refuse…
But isn't this too fast… They haven't even confirmed their relationship yet…
While Nino was lost in thought, Hakuto said: "That room probably won't be used for the next few months. On the far right of my bedside table, there are gifts for Miku and the others…"
"I haven't had a chance to give them yet, so could you pass them on for me?"
"Ah?" Hearing Hakuto's words, Nino felt a little disappointed. She had thought it was something else.
"Eh, what are you saying? Did you hear me?"
"I heard, I heard, I'm not deaf…" Nino shook her head. Clearly, this was very different from what she had imagined.
"Is it really that urgent at school?" Nino asked, looking at the keys in her hand.
"Yeah, maybe I'll be leaving tonight."
Nino nodded. Given Hakuto's personality, he'd prefer to deliver such things personally. The fact that he was asking her meant it was probably urgent.
"Alright, I'm off. Remember to keep my keys safe, don't go messing around in my place," Hakuto said, putting on his helmet.
"Who! Who would do that!"
Actually, Nino had thought about it, but it was just a thought.
"Yeah, yeah..." Hakuto responded dismissively, but just as he was about to start the engine, he thought he heard someone calling him.
"Mr. Shiratori! Mr. Shiratori! Wait! Don't leave yet!!"
Hakuto furrowed his brow and glanced through the goggles of his helmet toward the voice. Sure enough, Yotsuba was running toward him, waving her hand.
"Mr. Shiratori! Mr. Shiratori..."
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