"Well, I don't give or receive money, right? But since he cares about me, there's no way I can't give him something in return, right? So I guess the only way to show my gratitude is through my actions."

　"Huh!?...That's certainly true, but..."

　Niizuma-san, who seemed about to be outdone by Rika-san, glanced my way. Then, the moment our eyes met, she hurriedly looked away.

　"...It's embarrassing."

　"What are you talking about? You're happy too, Mamoru-san, right?"

　"Huh?... No comment on that."

　You're bringing this up at this timing?! No matter how I answer, I can only see a hopeless future...

　"...Okay!...Eat it."

　Then, for some reason, Niizuma-san handed me a piece of fried chicken that she had picked up with her chopsticks. But still, I...

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

　"...No, Nizuma-san."

　"What? So you think I'm just not attractive?"

　"That's not true."

　"Then what happened?! If it's my fault, you should have told me straight out! Why didn't you talk to me about it?! Don't just leave me alone!"

　"Calm down, niizuma-san."

　I put my arms around Niizuma as she stood up. Rika, who was sitting in front of me, also seemed surprised by my sudden change of attitude, but I was sitting next to Niizuma and was the first to act . ...I wonder why they arranged us like this at a four-person table, though.

　"...Sugita, is that you?"

　"Yes, I'm Sugita Mamoru. Have you calmed down?"

　"S-sorry. I-I did it again..."

　"Don't worry about that. But you shouldn't do things like that so easily. If you do it even once, you'll gradually lose your resistance. You want to refrain from that sort of thing until you're 18, right? If it's someone you like, it's one thing, but you shouldn't do it so lightly, okay?"

　"But there's no one left who wants to do that for me."

　"...Yeah. So, give her to someone who makes you want to make her new."

　"…Understood"

　…I wonder if I can really refuse if Niizuma-san asks me to do it? I suddenly wondered. But there's no point in thinking about such things, right? It's just a temporary relationship until Niizuma-san gets better.

　I'm sure my feelings towards Niizuma-san are just sympathy. I want her to be happy. Niizuma-san has been hurt more deeply than the average person, so she shouldn't need to be hurt any more. I want to see her smile happily. As close as possible.

　From there, nothing happened and I went home. Maybe because I saw Niizuma-san's condition earlier, Rika-san asked me to pick her up and drop her off again when I was leaving, but I had always intended to do that. I'll come until I'm told not to.

　"...Today there's been too much going on."

　I thought this deeply in my room.