With Machina stepping away to give us some space, Alice and I began our date at the fair. The fireworks were scheduled for an hour from now, so I figured we could pass the time by browsing the stalls and picking up some food.
I was still pretty full from the meal we had shared with Machina, but I knew Alice's stomach was a bottomless pit. I decided our route should probably focus on the food stalls.
As I was planning our path, Alice—who was walking right beside me—murmured something in a tiny voice.
"...U-Um... Kaito-san."
"Yeah?"
"Well... you see... the thing is..."
"What's wrong? You look like you're struggling to say something."
Alice wasn't wearing her mask, so her expressions were much easier to read than usual. Her face was slightly flushed, and it didn't look like it was just the reflection of the festival lights.
She seemed more on edge than usual. I tilted my head, wondering what had her so worked up, and prompted her again.
"...Er... hand... I was wondering if it would be okay if we... held hands, maybe?"
"Huh?"
"L-Look, we are a couple! And this is a date! So..."
"And here I was wondering what kind of heavy confession you were about to drop with that serious look on your face. I don't mind at all. Honestly, you don't even have to ask."
She had looked like she was about to deliver a life-altering revelation, only to ask about holding hands. It felt a bit late in the game to be nervous about that, though come to think of it, Alice rarely initiated things like this.
"Don't underestimate me, Kaito-san! For your information, I'm just as much of a Romance Bottom-tier Alice-chan as Lilia-san—if not more so!"
"...I'm not sure that's something you should be bragging about with such confidence."
Exasperated by her logic, I took her hand as requested. Her shoulders flinched for a split second, but she didn't pull away. We fell into step, our fingers interlaced.
Hmm... I knew from our history that she was weak when it came to romance, but even with that in mind, she was incredibly tense today. Her shoulders were practically up to her ears.
"Hey, Alice? Can I ask you something?"
"Eh? What is it?"
"Aren't you being... way more nervous than usual?"
"I-I-Is that so? Alice-chan is just her usual Pretty Transcendent Beautiful Girl self!"
"..."
"...Augh. Okay, fine. It's just... it's a rare opportunity, so I thought I'd try being more proactive for once. I-I mean, I want to do more lover-like things with you too, Kaito-san! It's just that I'm usually too embarrassed to actually go through with it..."
Her face turned as red as a boiled octopus as she made the confession. Everything clicked. She wasn't just nervous; she had set a goal for herself to take the lead, and she was overthinking it to the point of a meltdown.
"...I appreciate the sentiment, but if you're so conscious of it that we're both walking like robots, it's not much of a date. There's no need to force yourself."
"Ugh... Well, when you put it that way..."
She seemed to realize how much she was panicking. After nodding at my advice, she took a deep breath and finally let her shoulders drop.
I watched her with a small smile. Hearing that she wanted to do more romantic things together made me genuinely happy. If trying to initiate things herself was causing her this much stress, then the best thing I could do was take the lead myself.
Once I had made up my mind, I let go of her hand, moved my arm behind her, and pulled her small body firmly against my side.
"Wahya?! W-Wha-What's this?!"
"Well, it's a date. I thought it might be nice to walk like this for a change."
At a real festival, the crowds would make it impossible to walk with my arm around her shoulder, but in this private space, it wasn't an issue. Walking hand-in-hand was nice, but I wanted to try something a bit more intimate to match her wishes.
"B-But... i-isn't this a little too lewd?"
"It's just an arm around your shoulder. Besides, it's not like we haven't done much more intense things than this before..."
"Stop! Do not bring up the bath!"
"I wasn't even talking about the bath... but now that you mention it, you were the one who hopped in saying you were going to wash my back—"
"Whoa, Kaito-san! Stop right there! If you keep going, the sheer shame is going to incinerate Romance Bottom-tier Alice-chan! It'll be a catastrophe!"
"Again, why are you declaring that about yourself?"
"Because it's the truth! My face is literally on fire right now!"
"Well, you're cute when you're blushing."
"Wnyah?! There you go again, dropping lines like that so casually! That's what I'm talking about! Honestly, you're the worst!"
I couldn't help but chuckle as she protested, her face somehow turning an even deeper shade of crimson. Despite her complaints, she didn't try to pull away from my arm. She really was incredibly dear to me.
Serious-senpai: "...This is bad. The sugar content is off the charts. And I can see a despair-inducing title like '①' at the top. Is the real hell only just beginning...?"