Chapter 31
Learning the Basics from Kanzuru
After school, Kanzuru took me to a dessert café.
It was a place that mainly sold parfaits and similar sweets, and looking around, the only customers were either women or mixed-gender pairs who were clearly couples.
“…Will eating sweets together somehow change our relationship?”
“You don’t need to overthink it. Anyway, which one do you want to eat, Hitori?”
From the way Kanzuru spoke, it didn’t seem like I needed to read too much into it.
If that’s the case, then for now, I should just focus on enjoying this dessert café.
Looking at the menu that Kanzuru opened, I decided what I wanted to order.
“…That one with all the fruits piled on top looks good.”
“The fruit tart? Alright, I’ll have the same one.”
So we both ordered fruit tarts, and after a short wait, two beautifully arranged tarts were brought to our table.
“They look delicious.”
“Yeah, let’s dig in.”
Just as I reached out for the spoon placed in front of me—Kanzuru took it first.
“Huh…?”
I blinked in confusion, but before I could say anything, Kanzuru scooped a piece of my fruit tart with that spoon and held it up to my mouth.
“Hitori, open your mouth. I’ll feed you.”
“Wh–What!?”
Startled by her sudden and baffling words, I shook my head frantically.
“Feed me? There’s no way I can just accept that! Do you realize how many people are watching us right now—”
“In a café like this, couples feeding each other is totally normal. Besides, remember what I said? ‘I’ll teach you the basics of how our relationship could change from now on.’”
“Change, as in…?”
“You’ve opened your mouth already.”
Before I could react, Kanzuru gently put the spoon into my mouth.
Since I couldn’t just spit it out, I reluctantly swallowed the fruit tart.
“How does it taste?”
“It was delicious… but more importantly, this whole ‘changing our relationship’ thing—it feels like we’re acting like a couple.”
“Exactly. I told you, this is just to teach you the basics of how things might change.”
From how calm she seemed, it was clear that Kanzuru wasn’t doing this out of romantic feelings—she was just demonstrating something. Still…
“Couldn’t you have just explained it with words instead of… you know, doing it for real?”
Kanzuru’s cheeks turned faintly red.
“W-Well… something like this is best learned through practice, right?”
“Is it?”
“It is!”
After that, the two of us finished our fruit tarts together.
Kanzuru usually didn’t show much emotion, but when we went out like this, she always seemed to enjoy herself. Today, she looked even happier than usual.
As we walked home, lost in that thought—Kanzuru suddenly reached out and took my hand.
“Kanzuru!?”
Naturally, I was startled, and she spoke while her cheeks were tinged pink.
“T-This is also part of teaching you the basics… And besides, you held Yui-chan’s hand before, didn’t you?”
…Right, she had seen that happen.
“You really know how to hit where it hurts.”
It wasn’t like I was the one who initiated it, but in the end, I hadn’t refused either.
If I tried to make excuses now, it would only make me sound guilty, so I decided to stay quiet.
Kanzuru tightened her grip on my hand slightly.
“So… it’s fine, right?”
“…Yeah.”
And like that, Kanzuru and I walked home quietly, hand in hand.
