The Pure-Hearted Beauty Who Only Dotes on Me Despite Not Being in a Relationship—And How She Became Even Sweeter After We Started Dating - Chapter 66: I'll tell you, but you have to promise not to laugh out loud.

I’ll tell you, but you have to promise not to laugh out loud.

December 29th. I, without a boyfriend, gathered at a café with four friends. The organizer was not me but Honoka, a friend I often hang out with.

Honestly, I didn’t want to go, but since Honoka invited me, I decided to attend.

“hehe~, really? I like that singer too!”

Even if I didn’t particularly like the singer, saying so would ruin the mood. So, I didn’t say it out loud.

“Yua, you like them too!? I’ll lend you their CD next time.”

“Really!? Thanks~”

In middle school, I once told Ao that overdoing anything isn’t good. But I’m not really in a position to talk.

I, too, push myself to do things I don’t want to, just to avoid breaking something. I’ve never thought this effort was wasted.

Constantly hiding my true self is exhausting. That’s why I sometimes act naturally. I can’t keep going if I don’t.

The conversation shifted to where we should meet next, and I thought it might be nice to go to karaoke together instead of just a café.

“Hey! I think karaoke sounds fun!”

“Oh, that’s a great idea! I’m in!”

If I don’t speak up, we’ll end up going somewhere else. So, I always voice my opinion when I have one.

There are times when I force myself to fit in, but I don’t dislike my friends here. In fact, I like them because we get along well.

The conversation continued for about 30 minutes, and after we parted ways, I stopped by the supermarket to buy some bread.

While deciding which bread to buy, I ran into Tsuyuzaki-chan, who was also shopping.

“Oh, Yua-san. Good evening.”

“Hey, Tsuyuzaki-chan. Are you here because your mom asked you to shop? That’s great!”

I said this while patting Tsuyuzaki-chan’s head, which made her pout.

“I feel like you’re treating me like a kid.”

“I’m not, I’m not.”

“Really? By the way, what are you here to buy, Yua-san?”

“I’m here to buy bread for tomorrow’s breakfast. Since I’m just buying this, I can accompany you while you shop.”

“Thank you.”

***

“Happy New Year!”

January 1st. Mizuki came over so we could go to the first shrine visit of the year together.

“Happy New Year. That outfit really suits you, Mizuki. You look adorable.”

“Thank you.”

Mizuki motioned for me to lend her my ear. When I leaned in, she whispered softly.

“Ao-kun, you look handsome today too.”

(Oh man… hearing that right in my ear is too much.)

As I stood there blushing in the entranceway, my mom called out to us.

“It’s nice to chat in the doorway, but you better get going or it’ll be noon. Oh, Mizuki, you look lovely today as well.”

“Thank you, Hinano-san. Ao-kun, shall we go?”

“Yeah. Mom, we’re going to the shopping mall after the shrine, so don’t worry about lunch.”

“Is this a date, perhaps? Have a great time!”

With my mom’s send-off, Mizuki and I left the house and started walking towards the shrine.

Last year, if I remember correctly, Mizuki invited me to go to the shrine.

“I wonder if Kana-san will be there?”

“Hmm, hard to say. We ran into her by chance last year. Do you want to see her, Mizuki?”

“Well, I would like to say Happy New Year to her, but since we’re on a date, I kind of hope we don’t run into anyone.”

Mizuki made it clear she didn’t want our time together interrupted, and she held my hand.

“Ao-kun, I’ve been meaning to ask, what did you do with the teddy bear?”

“I have it displayed in my room.”

I haven’t been sleeping with it, but I found a nice spot on top of my bookshelf.

“Is that so?”

“And what about you, Mizuki?”

“I, I…”

Even though she started this topic, she seemed hesitant to reveal her own situation.

“I’ll tell you, but you have to promise not to laugh out loud.”

Her face turned bright red as she spoke.

“I promise, I won’t laugh or be freaked out.”

As I said that, I gently patted Mizuki’s head.

“Okay, I’ll tell you. Every night, I hug the teddy bear you gave me tightly while… I sleep.”

Hearing this, I couldn’t help but imagine it. Even without seeing it, I knew it would be adorable to see her hugging that teddy bear while sleeping.

“I’d love to ask Akihito-san to secretly take a picture of you hugging it while you sleep.”

“No way! I won’t let him do that!”

Mizuki pressed me not to ask her father to do such a thing.

“I won’t. I promise I won’t do anything you dislike.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really. Come on, we’re here, let’s go make our New Year’s prayers.”

“Okay.”

Since it was still before noon, there weren’t many people at the shrine. Usually, we come around lunchtime, but maybe the early morning is the most popular time.

After making our prayers, we noticed some food stalls. Mizuki wanted to try some castella, so we bought some and decided to eat it at a nearby park.

“Freshly made castella is delicious…”

“It is. By the way, you seemed to have prayed for a long time. What did you wish for?”

“I had many wishes, but one of them was to stay with you, Ao-kun, from now on.”

“That’s a wonderful wish. Alright, let’s head to the shopping mall for lunch. But since we just ate, let’s grab something light.”

“Yeah. I feel like having some bread.”

“Alright, there’s a place I often go to—”

As we left the park and headed towards the shopping mall, we saw a man and Yua arguing in front of a parked car.

“Let go of me!”

“Yua, let’s talk this over one more time.”

“No, you’re just going to try to convince me to give up again, aren’t you?”

It looked like a potential kidnapping situation, so I quickly told Mizuki to wait and headed over to Yua.