In the end, Shiho is hesitant about dating Kotaro.
It’s not because she dislikes him, of course. She’s just become too cowardly because she likes him so much.
“…I’m sorry, right? I’m being very selfish.”
She is aware of this.
Considering Kotaro’s feelings, she thinks it would be better to accept him properly.
Despite everything, she loves him dearly.
Once they start dating, things might work out somehow…There’s that way of thinking too.
Still, Shiho hesitates.
She is so happy with the current situation that she doesn’t want it to change.
Kotaro watches her quietly.
With a gentle smile, he speaks slowly.
“It’s not selfish. If that’s Shiho’s ‘feeling’, you should cherish it.”
With these words, he lightens her guilt… and that aspect of him captures her heart.
(There’s no one more wonderful than him.)
Her heart pounds loudly.
Even if she tries to suppress it by holding her chest, her heart beats so hard that it pushes back.
Her blood flows faster, and not just her face but her whole body feels hot. Her head feels like it’s spinning and overheating, like a computer that’s about to break down from overuse.
“Um… I really love you, Kotaro-kun.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“I love you just the way you are, Kotaro-kun.”
“…? Well, I understand that.”
Kotaro tilts his head in confusion.
Seeing his face, Shiho realizes that her ‘true feelings’ haven’t been conveyed.
(Don’t become a different Kotaro-kun.)
She keeps that thought to herself.
She judges that now is probably not the time to say it… so she keeps the ‘other reason she’s scared of dating’ a secret.
(If Kotaro-kun changes because he’s dating me… that’s scary too—maybe I shouldn’t say that.)
Recently, there are moments when Kotaro changes his tone.
Right now, she loves Kotaro Nakayama just as he is… but when his tone changes, he sometimes seems cold, like a different person.
She doesn’t like that very much.
She is also afraid that dating or changing something might affect Kotaro.
Because of this, she concludes that it’s still too early to date.
“…Kotaro-kun, thank you for confessing. And sorry for saying such troublesome things.”
“No, it’s fine… I kind of expected it. I thought, ‘Shiho probably isn’t ready yet.’ Even so, I just wanted to convey my feelings, and now that I’ve done that, it’s enough.”
“Yeah. Well… I’m really happy you confessed to me, even though it feels like I’m being cowardly. Hehe.”
She smiles shyly, and Kotaro shrugs and pats her head.
“You’re the one who said, ‘Take it slow.’ Just like you waited for me, I’ll wait for you.”
He waits for her kindly.
That was truly a relief for Shiho.
(Surely, from now on… there will be no one I can love more than Kotaro-kun.)
She was sure of that.
That’s how wonderful Kotaro was to her.
…To her, he shines like the protagonist of a shoujo manga. Of course, there’s a filter over her eyes, so it’s not actually like that.
Until now, the story had been progressing mostly from Kotaro’s perspective, and the other characters were seen through his eyes.
But when the perspective changes, the characters look different too.
Kotaro is more attractive than he thinks.
Shiho knows this better than anyone else.
Therefore, she hopes.
From the bottom of her heart, she hopes that Kotaro-kun will stay the same.
