It was a well-known fact that thoughts could travel faster than the speed of light.
And at this moment, Eriri's thoughts were practically breaking the sound barrier.
She had spent what felt like an eternity convincing herself to go through with this.
In reality? Only a few minutes had passed.
If time hadn't been playing tricks on them, Natsukawa Kanade would have probably already grown impatient and asked Eriri to move aside. After all, he still had an agreement to keep with Mahiru later.
Yet, despite everything, she repeated the same warning:
"You must not open your eyes."
"..."
Sometimes, trust between people was as fragile as a glass teacup.
Like when you're watching TV with a friend and can't find the remote control. You ask, "Hey, did you sit on it?"
They reply, "No!"
And yet, you still say: "Then get up first."
It wasn't that you didn't believe them… but some things were easier to trust when you saw them for yourself.
And right now?
Eriri was very, very aware that she was acting suspiciously.
Her guilt gnawed at her. Her nerves were on fire.
After all—she was about to do something bad.
If she got caught in the act… how could she ever live this down?!
Unlike a certain "villainous savior" with slicked-back hair, she couldn't just scream, "I don't wanna be human anymore!" and make a dramatic transformation into something cool.
No, no, no.
She was just an ordinary, beautiful girl.
And that meant she had to keep her pride intact.
So, after one last deep breath, she made her move.
Eriri trembled as she slowly inched forward, her gaze locked onto the handsome face of the guy she had been thinking about day and night.
Her heart pounded violently.
Her hands felt ice-cold.
Every fiber of her being was screaming, "This is insane! Abort mission! ABORT—"
But at the same time…
A small part of her was excited.
What if Kanade figured out what she was doing?
Would he sigh in exasperation and say, "Don't do things that might make me misunderstand you."
Or would he suddenly realize her feelings and have some sort of epiphany?!
Of course… there was also a third option.
What if this turned into a scene straight out of one of her books?
A situation where the guy says nothing—instead, he just grabs her by the wrist, flips the situation around, and pushes her down while whispering something cool—
…
NO. NOPE. NOT HAPPENING.
Eriri shook the dangerous thoughts out of her head and forced herself to focus.
Her body continued moving forward on instinct, as if she had lost all control over her actions.
And with every passing second, the distance between them grew smaller and smaller.
So close…
Kanade could feel it.
Warm breath tickled his skin, the soft sensation of it sending shivers down his spine.
"...Uh, Eriri?"
"Don't talk."
"...Okay."
"And you are absolutely not allowed to open your eyes."
"..."
Kanade let out a long, suffering sigh.
This was the third time she had repeated that.
At this point, the temptation to just open his eyes and see what the hell was going on was almost too strong to resist.
Not because he was curious about what Eriri was about to do.
No, no.
He simply wanted to see the hilarious expression she'd make if he caught her in the act.
Because let's be honest—
Tsundere girls were the easiest to tease.
And, sure enough—
The moment finally came.
Something soft and slightly cold pressed against his forehead.
For just a second.
Then it was gone.
The sensation was brief, fleeting—
But undeniable.
Even now, the lingering touch remained vivid in his mind, constantly reminding him that—
Something had happened.
But what exactly?
Had Eriri… drawn something weird on his forehead?
Did she carve the words "I'm a moron" into his skin?
Kanade was deeply curious.
But before he could ask, Eriri continued her charade.
"Don't open your eyes!"
Her voice was sharper this time, more desperate.
"...Hah."
Kanade rubbed his temples.
He wanted to ask.
He wanted to see her reaction.
But in the end, he held back.
For now.
Still, after waiting several more seconds, something started bothering him.
Eriri wasn't saying anything.
No follow-up prank? No smug tsundere insults?
Nothing.
And that unnerved him.
"...?"
Okay. That's it. I'm asking.
Just as he was about to speak, Eriri's voice suddenly cut in:
"You still haven't opened your eyes?"
"...Uh. Right. Doing that now."
Kanade finally opened his eyes and turned to look at her.
And what he saw—
Was not what he expected.
His vision was a little hazy from keeping his eyes closed for so long. Or maybe it was just the dim lighting of the room.
But for some reason—
Eriri's expression looked… surreal.
Not guilty.
Not flustered.
Not even remotely tsundere-like.
Instead, her face held an unreadable calm.
No, wait—
Was that relief?
Kanade blinked.
Maybe he was just tired.
Maybe his eyes were playing tricks on him.
He hesitated, waiting for her to say something.
But Eriri remained silent, just staring at him.
Seconds passed.
"...?"
"...?"
This is getting awkward.
Finally, Eriri broke the silence.
"...So you're not going to say anything?"
Kanade scratched his cheek.
"...Uh…"
He hesitated. Then, after a long pause, he asked the only question that truly mattered:
"...Is that it?"
Because honestly—
At this point, he was half-expecting her to have drawn some cursed message on his forehead.
Something ridiculous.
Like "Test Passed!" or "Certified Idiot!"
But… for some reason, Eriri didn't seem like she had done that.
Which only made this whole thing even weirder—but honestly, that wasn't important right now.
What mattered more was Eriri's reaction.
He needed to understand what had led her to pull this so-called prank in the first place.
But before that—he had to calm her down.
So, he casually asked, "Is that it?"
It wasn't meant to be sarcastic. If anything, it was an attempt at reassurance, a subtle way of saying, "If this was supposed to be some kind of punishment, you don't have to worry about it."
But to the little golden retriever in front of him…
It hit completely differently.
"Is this the end?" sounded a lot like "Is that all?"
And in her mind, that simple phrase morphed into something far worse.
—Did this mean that Kanade had already experienced something more intimate with someone else?
—Did he think that a forehead kiss was nothing? That it was just a childish game?
Hadn't she read something like this in her books before?
The main heroine finally gathers her courage, closes her eyes, and gives her beloved a nervous, shy kiss… Only for the other person to respond with complete indifference.
In other words, what she had done just now—
Didn't even make Kanade's heart skip a beat?!
"..."
She was going to explode.
Eriri was furious. Eriri wanted to throw hands. Eriri wanted to kick something!
—But all that came out was a pitiful, muttered complaint:
"W-Well, what else could I have done…? I can't do anything more than this…"
A deep sense of frustration and grievance welled up inside her.
After all, she was a coward.
She had hyped herself up for this moment. She had prepared herself mentally. She had gone in for the kill—
And yet, at the very last second…
She had wimped out.
A simple forehead kiss?!
That's all she could manage?!
"Of course, something like this should be mutual! A sneak attack doesn't count as pure love at all!"
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. How frustrating!
And to make things worse—
Even though she knew Kanade probably hadn't meant anything bad, she couldn't help but feel incredibly wronged.
If this had happened in the past, she would've been so mad that no amount of coaxing would've helped.
Because this was a big deal! This was the first time she had ever taken the initiative in something like this! And he didn't even appreciate it?!
—GUILTY! COMMIT SEPPUKU!
But… that was then.
And this was now.
The more she thought about it, the more her frustration twisted into something else entirely.
...Guilt.
Because she remembered something.
In the past, Kanade had been the one who had taken the initiative. He had made the first moves. He had tried, time and time again, to reach out to her.
And back then—
Her attitude toward him had never been particularly kind.
If anything… she had pushed him away.
But now? The roles were reversed.
Now she was the one standing in his shoes, experiencing the same awkwardness, the same uncertainty, the same fear of rejection.
And with that realization—
Her anger melted away.
She sighed, completely deflating.
"What can I do…? I'm just like this. I'm just… timid."
She gave up. Complete surrender.
Kanade, meanwhile, was left utterly perplexed.
"...Huh?"