Chapter 8

“Alright, Emily-chan. Let’s hold an emergency girls’ meeting.”

“Plötzlich was [So sudden] !?)”

Three days after Kenji had heard something terrifying (?) from Akito’s mouth, four people gathered in an empty classroom.

One of them was the main person in question, Tatekawa Emily. Across from her were girls from different classes.

Entry Number One: Nanami Kuroyanagi, the one who called Emily to this room. She’d set aside her usual gyaru attitude, taking on a more serious tone.

Entry Number Two: Kanon Hanamizaka, a returnee from Germany. After unexpectedly hearing something from Kenji, she was the instigator who prompted Nanami, a mutual friend of Emily and Akito, to gather everyone.

And lastly, Entry Number Three: Ayaka Matsuda, girlfriend of Kenji. She had twin ponytails and black eyes, with a look so cute it inspired a strong protective instinct.

The topic of this emergency girls’ meeting, as Kanon announced, was—

“Uh, everyone?”

“Emily… please don’t be too shocked, but… you haven’t confessed, have you?”

The topic was Akito’s revelation that he and Emily weren’t actually dating.

The three girls in attendance were all here with one mission: to help Emily and Akito finally get together. Meanwhile, Kenji was keeping Akito occupied elsewhere.

“…Huh? Well, yes.”

“…I didn’t believe it when I first heard it from Kanon, but it’s true…”

“Honestly, I didn’t think confessing wasn’t a thing in Germany…”

Emily tilted her head, confused by Nanami and Ayaka’s exasperated expressions. Then Kanon firmly placed her hands on Emily’s shoulders.

“Emily-chan, is Akito someone you love?”

“Ja. I love Akito a lot. One day, we’ll be husband and wife.”

“Yes, yes, that’s wonderful… but here’s the thing, Emily-chan. It seems that Akito… doesn’t actually think of you as his Liebhaber [lover].”

“…Was!?” [what?!]

Emily jumped up so fast that her chair clattered to the floor.

“W-Wha-what do you mean—?”

“Calm down, Emily-chan! But listen, there is a way for you to become his girlfriend right away!”

“!”

Kanon’s words brought Emily back to her senses. Faced with this shocking revelation, tears began to well up slightly at the corners of her eyes.

“Emily-chan… you need to go confess to him, right now.”

“C-Confess…?”

“Emily! If you don’t, someone else might snatch Akito away from you!”

“！I don’t want that!”

“Then go confess, Emily-san! If you don’t, you won’t be able to… censored… do that with him either!”

““Ayaka-san, don’t say that so loudly!””

Ayaka had let out a rather unexpected comment, shocking everyone.

“…But I don’t really know how to confess.”

“Emily-san, just tell Akito-san how you honestly feel. Say, ‘I love you. Please go out with me.'”

“Ayaka…”

“Now go, Emily-san! Akito-san is in the classroom! Kenji’s holding him there for you!”

“Right!”

And with that, Emily dashed off to the classroom where Akito was waiting. The three girls left behind exchanged looks.

“Alright, next topic. Do you think Emily-chan will actually be able to confess?”

““Hmmm… probably not?””

A new topic was decided on and quickly concluded.

Meanwhile, in the classroom, Akito was trying to figure out why Kenji had been stalling him with “Hey, relax” for the past thirty minutes. As the orange light of the sunset began to fill the room, the door suddenly slid open.

“Emily?”

“Finally. Well, I’ll be going now… make sure you give her a proper answer, Akito.”

“Kenji?”

As soon as Emily appeared, Kenji slipped out. Akito’s curiosity was piqued, but he focused on Emily, who was catching her breath with her hands on her knees.

“Emily, are you o—”

Before he could finish, Emily launched herself at him, wrapping him in a tight hug. Startled, Akito lost his balance and ended up on the floor, holding Emily close to prevent her from falling.

“Ouch… Emily? What’s going—”

“Akito.”

Just hearing his name from her lips stopped him in his tracks. For some reason, he sensed that now wasn’t the time to interrupt her.

“I… I… I love you, Ak… Akito… I… Ich… liebe… [i…….lo….ve…..] ～～～～っ!”

“E-Emily—”

“Peinlich! [Embarrassing]) Unvernunft! [Impossible!]”

“W-Wait! Emily!”

As the three girls had predicted, Emily ultimately couldn’t finish her confession.

(…She ran away.)

(She ran off.)

(She definitely ran away.)

Around the corner of the hallway, the three of them peered out in a totem-pole formation, witnessing the whole thing.