"..."
"..."
Silence.
A long, unbroken silence.
After stepping out of the arcade, Natsukawa Kanade hadn't uttered a single word.
Not that he was particularly embarrassed—far from it. If anything, his mind was already racing, constructing a battle plan faster than a last-minute student cramming before an exam.
Losing to an elementary school kid? No big deal. Tons of people had been humiliated by little prodigies in arcades before. That wasn't the problem.
The real problem?
He got destroyed in front of a girl his age.
That was an entirely different battlefield.
But Kanade was no fool. He had foreseen this.
The moment he realized that victory was out of reach, he'd already begun laying out a strategy. The key? Narrative control.
The second he lost, he didn't just slump in defeat like some random high schooler getting schooled by a kid—no, that would be pathetic. Instead, he crafted a legend.
A story of passing the torch.
He took on the dignified air of a seasoned warrior acknowledging the arrival of the next generation. The "waves behind pushing the waves ahead" mentality, accepting that the young must surpass the old.
With a solemn gaze, he had entrusted his fighting spirit to the prodigious child, bestowing upon him the title of "future champion."
—Yes, that was the perfect cover story.
Now, even if Utaha brought this up in the future, the narrative was airtight.
"He wasn't defeated. He had simply recognized a true genius and chosen to nurture the next legend."
It was brilliant. Flawless.
At least, it should have been.
"..."
Except there was one problem.
Kasumigaoka Utaha hadn't said a single word.
She had been completely silent ever since they walked out of the arcade.
Kanade sneaked a glance at her, growing more and more uneasy by the second.
—Why was she so calm?!
Didn't she get it? Wasn't this the part where she teased him, where she smirked and threw out some cutting remark about his loss?
No sarcasm. No amusement. Nothing.
…Wait.
Could it be—was she actually feeling sorry for him?
No. No, no, no, no.
That was the worst possible outcome.
If Utaha was pitying him, it meant she thought he was actually crushed by the defeat. That he was some poor, devastated fool who had lost all confidence.
That couldn't happen.
Not after all the careful planning he had put in to make it seem like a noble, dignified loss!
Something had to be done.
Now.
"That kid… is a genius."
With a dramatic air, Kanade suddenly spoke, breaking the silence himself. His tone was serious, like he had just discovered the next great esports legend.
Utaha turned to him, blinking in mild surprise. "Huh? What…?"
Kanade met her gaze, nodding as if he had just made a deep realization.
"The boy back there," he continued, voice steady. "His talent is incredible. With the right training, he could become a world champion."
There. A simple statement, packaged neatly into a casual, offhand comment.
If he played it cool, it wouldn't look like he was trying to defend himself. Just some small talk.
It was perfect.
Utaha tilted her head slightly, her expression unreadable.
Then—
"Oh. I see."
That was all she said.
No sarcastic remark. No teasing smirk.
Just a bored nod.
Kanade's brain short-circuited.
—Wait, that's it?!
That simple? That casual?!
Had she already forgotten the entire thing?
The realization hit like a ton of bricks.
She wasn't ignoring it because she was pitying him.
She just didn't care.
It wasn't even worth commenting on.
And yet—he had been so desperate to justify himself that he brought it up again.
Damn it!
Now it looked like he actually cared!
Kanade could feel the invisible L branding itself onto his forehead. What had he done?!
Utaha, meanwhile, seemed more preoccupied with something else entirely.
Sure, the arcade match had been amusing, but her real focus was elsewhere—
Her junior.
He had chosen this place for their outing. An arcade.
Kasumigaoka Utaha understood.
And she was certain that Natsukawa Kanade understood as well.
Girls—especially girls like her—generally didn't enjoy places like this.
Arcades were cramped, noisy, and filled with rowdy crowds. Sure, claw machines and rhythm games could provide some fleeting amusement, but in the grand scheme of things, this wasn't an ideal location for a date.
In fact, unless the relationship was exceptionally strong, bringing a girl here could even be seen as reckless—or worse, selfish.
"You only think about yourself."
She could already hear the imaginary breakup lines forming.
But her junior had brought her here.
Why?
Was it just an oversight? A careless slip-up?
No. That wasn't possible.
Kanade had always been painfully precise when it came to her preferences. Every outing, every interaction—he knew exactly how to get things just right.
So why now?
Why bring her to a place that was the opposite of what she typically liked?
…Could it be that he was trying to make her hate him?
No, no, that was even more impossible.
She trusted her judgment, and her judgment had never been wrong—
Except for one time.
The time her junior confessed.
She had believed her hints were more than clear.
"I hope that my junior can face me as his true self. No need for hesitation—I will accept him as he is."
That was the message she had tried to send.
And yet—
He had misunderstood.
He thought she was rejecting him.
"She can't accept my confession now."
And so, he began to pull away.
He distanced himself from her.
And in the end, he even threw himself into that blonde idiot's arms.
That was unacceptable.
So she interfered. She made sure to block him at every turn, refusing to let him simply slip away.
She had even abandoned all subtlety and told him outright—
"I clearly care about you, as long as you can—"
But before she could finish—
"Please don't tease me anymore, Senior. And please… don't look for me so often. I'm afraid Eri will misunderstand our relationship."
Then he left.
Without even looking back.
That was the moment she realized—
She had hurt him. Far deeper than she ever intended.
And because of that, he no longer trusted her words.
He wouldn't even let her explain.
From then on, she had changed her approach.
She lowered her pride. She stopped acting like she was untouchable.
Instead, she actively pursued him—step by step, inch by inch.
And little by little, their relationship had thawed.
Until finally, now—
He was comfortable enough to bring her to a place like this.
To a place that wasn't catered to her interests.
But to his.
Wasn't this proof that things between them had finally returned to what they were before?
Or maybe… even something better?
Perhaps she had misjudged things before.
But this—this she would not misread.
This was progress.
This was what she had wanted all along.
She didn't want a relationship built on carefully calculated moves.
She wanted the real Natsukawa Kanade.
His interests, his habits, his unfiltered thoughts.
Everything about him.
She wanted to understand it all.
And in return, she would meet him with the same unreserved passion.
Because she longed for a love that was pure.
A love that was wholehearted and genuine.
"..."