After finishing the morning classes, it was lunchtime.

Haruya, in a less crowded place, tidied his hair and took off his glasses before heading to the rooftop.

Carrying his sandwich for lunch, Haruya opened the door to the rooftop and was greeted by a clear sky and a pleasant breeze that welcomed him.

Normally, when he went up to the rooftop, his mood would brighten, but today his gloomy feelings couldn't be lifted. The reason was clear. Sarasa, whose shining hair swayed, was there.

"Ah, Asai-san. Thank you for coming."

"Thank you, Himekawa-san."

It seemed that Sara had called Haruya out under the pretense of having lunch together.

Taking a seat away from her on purpose, Haruya sat down, but Sara went out of her way to move closer and sit next to him.

Haruya smiled wryly, but Sara responded with a gentle smile.

"... You don't have to be so nervous. And you can call me Sara by my name if you want."

(No, it's just a nuisance ☆)

If only he could say such things aloud... but he couldn't assert himself strongly, probably because he was a coward.

(...I'm so pathetic.)

The fact that he couldn't call her "Sara" by her first name was only because he felt embarrassed.

Feeling the regret of his own incompetence, Haruya opened the wrapping of his sandwich.

"... Let's eat."

He put his hands together and greeted before taking a bite of his sandwich.

"Is it from a convenience store?"

"Well, yeah."

"Do you usually eat convenience store food?"

"Living alone, cooking is a hassle... so it ends up like this."

"Well, I understand. I live alone too, so I can relate."

She said that with a wry smile and a stiff expression.

(Is she disappointed to know that I'm lazy?☆)

From Sara reaction, Haruya felt a definite response. It was a sign of his rating going down.

"I usually skip cleaning and just eat whatever... That's me."

In response to Haruya's continued statement, Sara lowered her head and then clenched her fist.

Looking at her bright expression... it seemed she was trying to act tough.

(That's a good reaction. It's proof that my favorability is dropping...!)

Haruya inwardly expressed his joy, but it seemed like Sara had made up her mind about something as she turned to face Haruya.

"... If it's okay, would you like to eat my bento?"

"Huh?"

Haruya unintentionally let out a dumbfounded voice.

Why... that was the first question that came to his mind.

Seeing Haruya's confusion, Sara seemed to realize that she hadn't explained well and started talking.

"I actually called Asai-san here with that intention. I realized that I couldn't properly thank you, Asai-san, for saving me, and also for caring about me. You even behaved so gentlemanly last weekend. I can't just not show my gratitude."

It was all a misunderstanding, and as for last weekend, Haruya felt responsible because he had accidentally stepped on her landmine, so he tried to compensate by carrying her bags and being considerate.

Therefore, there was no reason for her to be grateful... but.

Before Haruya could say "no, " Sara preemptively shut him down.

"Asai-san acted with me in mind... Am I wrong?"

She looked at him with a confident expression.

Haruya couldn't deny her hopeful feelings, and he ambiguously averted his gaze.

(... Even if I say it's wrong, it's kind of a torture, isn't it?)

(Upon closer inspection... There are many couples around here.)

This is the famous fountain in the middle of the station. It's a popular meeting spot, but for some reason, today there are more young couples than usual. It's unusual for a weekday, especially. As Haruya thought about it, Nayu also seemed to have noticed and commented on it.

"It seems like there are a lot of couples today."

"Yeah, it looks that way."

Indeed, there were several couples walking by, their arms linked together.

"... We might look like a couple to others, too."

I wished she hadn't said it in such a seductive and alluring voice.

My heart unintentionally skipped a beat.

(... Doesn't Nayu feel embarrassed saying that?)

The translation clearly skips from lunch with Sara on the rooftop, to a date with Nayu in a station?

Sara has a whole subplot with arranged marriage and this was the central "drama" of volume 1.

Yuna and Haruya knew each other already as online friends, they have regular offline meetings where both wear different appearances, Haruya being more handsome, Yuna being more sloppy I guess.

Rin works partime at a café Haruya frequents in his handsome appearance.

None of these traits were in the WN and the author mentioned in the afterward that

On the day of the date.

The weather was perfect, with clear skies stretching endlessly... It was the perfect weather for a date.

Haruya, dressed stylishly rather than in his usual gloomy appearance, hurried to the meeting place to avoid being late. But it had to happen at that moment.

"Mommy, where are you?"

While crossing the park, which was on the way to the meeting place, Haruya heard a small girl's voice asking for help.

(... The people around will surely help her somehow.)

But relying on others like that wouldn't be good. In fact, several people had the typical mindset of pretending not to see or observing from a distance.

Without hesitation, Haruya approached the little girl.

He crouched down to be at eye level with her and looked into her eyes.

"B-Big brother, who are you?"

From the looks of it, the girl seemed to be around four or five years old.

First of all, Haruya was relieved that she didn't start crying or making a scene.

"I'm Haruya Akasaki. Uh, call my name Haruya... What's your name?"

"I'm Miyu."

"I see, Miyu-chan."

"Yeah, call my name Miyu"

Haruya shook his head vigorously, trying to change his consciousness.

"... Do we have today's plan decided?"

Sara stood next to Haruya, asking with hopeful eyes.

"Yeah, it's decided, so leave it to me."

(Somara: See what I mean? No, I didn't misquote anything, literally just copied it directly from the TL's site. Writing this at the 17th of July 2023.)

"Okay! Thank you..."

When Haruya gave her a refreshing smile, Sara nodded and smiled back gently.

(If I can entrust her with leading the date, she'll be mine. I'm sorry, Himekawa-san... But my evaluation will definitely drop after today.)