Momoka Aoi looked at the bloody wound on Akiba Sakura’s knee, her heart aching for her.
Without a second thought, she immediately helped Sakura toward the infirmary, her pace much faster than usual.
The nurse in the infirmary quickly rinsed Sakura’s knee, gently disinfected it with iodine, and finally instructed her to keep the wound clean and disinfect it regularly.
As the wound was being treated, Sakura winced in pain, tears welling up in her eyes, but she stubbornly refused to let them fall.
“It’s all my fault. If only I could have brought Yuuma-kun here…”
“It’s not your fault at all!”
Akiba Sakura sniffled and forced a smile at Momoka Aoi.
“I was running too fast and didn’t notice my shoelace.”
Even as she said that, the stifling frustration in Sakura’s heart hadn’t dissipated at all.
She gently pressed the skin around the wound on her knee, the burning pain still persisting.
After the wound was simply treated, Momoka Aoi helped Sakura stand up and carefully guided her toward home.
But when they reached a fork in the road, since Momoka Aoi’s home was in a different direction, under normal circumstances, this would have been where they parted ways.
“Sakura-chan, let me walk you home. It’s too dangerous for you to walk like this.”
Momoka Aoi looked at her limping figure with concern, holding her arm tightly.
Akiba Sakura stopped, looked up at the sky, then at Momoka Aoi, and gently shook her head.
“No, it’s fine! Little Aoi, you should go home. It’s getting dark. I can walk back slowly on my own. This little injury is nothing.”
“But your knee…”
“Really, it’s okay!”
Akiba Sakura cut her off, forcing a relaxed smile.
“My house isn’t far ahead. I’ll just walk slowly~ But if you don’t go back, your mom will start to worry.”
She gently pushed away Momoka Aoi’s hand, her tone carrying a hint of determination that brooked no refusal.
Momoka Aoi saw the exhaustion and loneliness hidden deep in her eyes.
Though worried, she knew Sakura’s temper well.
She sighed and gave a final worried instruction.
“Then you have to walk slowly, and message me when you get home! If it hurts, stop and rest. Don’t push yourself!”
“Got it. Go on home!”
Akiba Sakura waved her hand, watching Momoka Aoi turn and leave.
Only when the other girl’s figure disappeared at the end of the street did she slowly retract her gaze and turn her steps toward the path leading to the park.
She didn’t go straight home. Instead, she turned into the small park by the roadside.
The park was very quiet.
Only a few streetlights cast a dim yellow glow, and occasionally, an evening breeze rustled the leaves.
Akiba Sakura limped over to a bench, sat down slowly, and gently stretched out her injured right leg.
Leaning back against the cold stone seat, she looked down at the conspicuous wound on her knee, her heart a mixture of emotions.
She thought back to her meticulously planned Netorare Plan, to her attempts to keep Yuuma Tsugumu firmly in her grasp.
But now, it all seemed ridiculous.
She had racked her brains to get close, to guide, to scheme.
But in the end, she realized she was the one being neglected and overlooked.
‘Just give up…’
A thought popped into her head uncontrollably.
‘Is this really meaningful? No matter what I do, things never seem to turn out the way I plan…’
The pain in her knee was still faintly throbbing, but the grievance and confusion in her heart were even stronger.
‘Maybe… I really should just give up?’
The evening breeze blew gently, carrying a hint of chill.
Akiba Sakura shrunk her shoulders, burying her face in her knees.
For the first time, she felt a wavering doubt about her own ‘Netorare Plan.’
Her cheek, pressed against her knees, felt a little warm.
The swirling grievances and confusion made her mind a mess.
She took a deep breath, lifted her head, and tried to muster her spirits.
‘It’s getting darker. Sitting here won’t solve anything. Instead of overthinking, I should just go home and rest… I’ll think about the rest… tomorrow.’
“I wonder if today is going to get any worse…”
Akiba Sakura muttered softly to herself.
Holding the armrest of the bench, she slowly straightened up.
Her injured right leg couldn’t bear much weight, so she could only lightly touch the ground with her toes, moving cautiously.
She intended to slowly walk out of the park, but as soon as she took two steps, her foot suddenly gave way.
A sharp, stabbing pain shot through her right ankle, and she instantly lost her balance.
“Ah, crap—”
Akiba Sakura cried out in alarm, stumbling sideways.
She barely managed to grab onto the bench to keep from falling.
The pain in her ankle shot up her nerves, worse than the scrape on her knee.
‘It hurts so much…’
Akiba Sakura frowned, slowly squatting down while holding onto the bench.
She gently rubbed her hot, swollen ankle.
The tears she had been holding back finally welled up, and the sense of grievance in her heart burst forth.
First, the eagerly anticipated training session was ruined when she was brushed off by Yuuma, so she ran off to the coffee shop.
Then, she stomped off in a huff, tripped, and scraped her knee.
Now, she couldn’t even walk properly without twisting her ankle.
A series of unfortunate events had come crashing down one after another.
Akiba Sakura’s nose stung.
She couldn’t help but let her mind wander into wild thoughts—
‘Is even God picking on me?!’
Her painstakingly planned schemes were hitting dead ends everywhere.
The person she wanted to get close to didn’t have eyes for her, his childhood friend.
Even just trying to get home safely, she kept getting hurt.
Akiba Sakura bit her lower lip, her shoulders trembling slightly.
She was even starting to feel that her plan from the very beginning was just a ridiculous joke.
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t grasp what she wanted.
Just as she was lowering her head, trying not to let her little tears fall, a rustling sound of footsteps, accompanied by a hint of familiarity, slowly approached and stopped right in front of her.
The park’s light was slightly blocked, casting a shadow at her feet.
Akiba Sakura froze.
Before she could even look up, she heard the voice she both resented and longed for sound from above her head.
“It’s this late, what are you still doing here? And you’re hurt?”
Akiba Sakura jerked her head up, meeting a pair of eyes full of worry.
Standing in front of her was none other than Yuuma Tsugumu, the very person she had just been complaining about.
He still held a half-finished cup of coffee in his hand, obviously on his way back from the coffee shop.
From Akiba Sakura’s upward angle, she could see that the usual calm and indifferent expression on Yuuma’s face, usually hidden beneath his long bangs, had faded.
His gaze was fixed on her scraped knee.
“…”
“…”
Today, at the usual time, Yuuma Tsugumu pushed open the door of the ‘Soft Cat Cafe’ and walked straight to his usual seat by the window.
Watching the unfamiliar maid come to serve him, he felt a flicker of confusion but quickly remembered that this was a maid cafe.
The staff serving wouldn’t be the same person every day.
However, he had come here tonight specifically, not to enjoy the maid’s service, but because he was craving the Raw Coconut Latte that Hoshikawa Chinami had deliberately made bitter and less sweet last time.
That cup, unlike the cloying sweetness of the standard version, had a refreshing, bitter taste that perfectly suited his palate.
He had been thinking about it for a long time and had come specifically to order another one.
But since that annoying little ‘Bratty Girl’ wasn’t around, it would be a bit boring.
So, he looked up and asked the staff.
“Is that maid from last time… the one with the stubborn temper who always likes to argue… not here today?”
The maid who had taken over the service was taken aback for a moment, then smiled back.
“Master, are you talking about Sakura-chan? She took the night off. She had something to do and left early. She won’t be in the store today at all.”
Learning that the bratty girl who had talked back to him wasn’t there, Yuuma Tsugumu nodded.
He didn’t dwell on it and looked away.
“I’d like to order two Raw Coconut Lattes. Not the regular sweetness. Make them on the bitter side. Less coconut milk flavor, more of a heavy coffee roast. Just like the last one was made…”
He remembered it very clearly.
The first regular one he had was so sweet it was cloying and completely unappealing.
The second one, deliberately made bitter, was exactly to his taste.
The maid in charge of taking the order immediately had a troubled look on her face.
She had been working at this shop for a while.
All the drinks had fixed recipes.
The Raw Coconut Latte was always made sweet, known for its mellow, sweet aroma.
She had never heard of making a bitter version.
She was frozen on the spot, not knowing how to proceed.
But looking at the young man in front of her, she didn’t dare refuse him outright.
She could only grit her teeth and force a smile, nodding repeatedly.
“Understood, Master. Please wait a moment. I’ll go prepare it right away.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the maid turned and quickly walked to the front counter.
She sidled up to Hoshikawa Chinami, who was organizing the equipment, and whispered urgently with a panicked face.
“Chinami-senpai, that customer over there is ordering a Raw Coconut Latte, but he wants it made bitter…”
Hoshikawa Chinami’s hand, which was wiping a glass, paused.
She followed the staff member’s gaze and immediately recognized Yuuma Tsugumu sitting by the window.
‘Oh, it’s him. That explains it…’
She naturally remembered this customer.
She also remembered how last time, Akiba Sakura had deliberately played a trick on her, telling her to cut the sweetness in half and add an extra shot of espresso to make a bitter version.
It was meant to annoy the customer, but instead, he had taken a liking to the taste.
‘Am I actually a genius?!’
“I understand. This customer has a unique taste. I’ll make it.”
Hoshikawa Chinami put down the cloth she was holding and started making the coffee, silently lamenting to herself.
‘A coffee that was intentionally made to taste bad, and yet someone actually prefers this bitter flavor and came back specifically to order it again… His taste is way too unique…’
“…”
“…”
“Master, here are your Raw Coconut Lattes~”
“Thank you—”
Yuuma Tsugumu took the packaged coffee, paid, and left the cafe.
‘Ah… I can’t resist… I’ll start drinking now, right?’
Yuuma couldn’t help but take out one of the cups and start drinking it.
After all, the walk home was still a bit of a way.
‘Yeah! That’s the taste!’
Yuuma felt instantly revived.
He swirled the coffee in his hand and strolled slowly toward home.
Soon after turning back onto the usual road home from the fork, just as he was passing the small park on the corner, Yuuma Tsugumu, almost by chance, glanced at the small park by the roadside.
He saw a figure on a bench in the distance that seemed very familiar yet lonely.
His steps involuntarily came to a halt.
‘Is that…?’