BHSAF 160: Date with Airi 7

　Yu approached slowly, and when he was sure that Airi had her eyes closed, he lifted her bangs and gently kissed her beautiful forehead.

　The feeling of his lips gently touching hers made Airi open her eyes in surprise.

"I'm sorry Airi. This is the limit of what I can do for you."

　Unable to look him in the eye, Yu lowered his eyes slightly and confessed his feelings.

　There's no lie about how much he cares about Airi. Airi is one of the few people that Yuu has feelings for. But it's not the kind of feelings he has for the opposite sex. He just likes Airi as a person, that's all.

"...That is..."

　He could tell from the atmosphere that Airi was looking up at him, but Yu didn't have the courage to meet her gaze head-on.

"Do you dislike Airi?"

"No way. I don't hate you."

　I could hear Airi's voice gradually beginning to tremble.

"I don't hate you, but... I like Yui-chan, so I can't respond to Airi's feelings..."

"...Senpai, please look at Airi here..."

　It was almost like a cry, but you could tell there was a strong core at the center.

　There was no way for Yu to refuse such a request. As a result of telling her his true feelings without any lies, Yu had an obligation to continue dating her.

　He slowly raised his gaze, which had been lowered, and made eye contact with Airi.

　There were so many tears that it was a wonder they didn't spill out.

"Finally, you're looking at me..."

　Airi was probably trying to smile, but her smile looked very painful.

"Senpai, is Airi just not right for you...? Seriously, Airi would do anything for you."

　As if it were a final request, I asked again, but Yu's answer remained unchanged.

"That's not right, Airi. Don't say things like that. You have to take care of your own body."

"I would never say this to anyone other than Yu-senpai. I want to do this because you're Yu-senpai. There's no one better than you, after all."

"Just for now. With time, someone better will come along."

"There's no one! There's absolutely no one like that..."

"Airi..."

　Airi's love is so strong that it is overwhelming, but Yuu cannot accept it.

"...I'm sorry, Sen. The truth is, I didn't mean to cause you any trouble today..."

　Airi still has one card she can play: a graphic video of Yu and Yui having sex outdoors.

　But what good will it do? Even if he manages to scare her into turning around, it is Yui who has taken root in his heart. Even though he has his eyes on Airi and his mouth whispers words of love, in reality he only has eyes for Yui.

　That's much more painful than having unrequited love.

"No, it's fine. In fact, I'm the one who's sorry. I'm sure I've been..."

　Up until now, Airi has told her that she likes Yui and has even asked for advice. I wonder how painful each of these experiences must have been.

"It's fine, I didn't know that Yu-senpai liked Airi..."

　Airi seems to be gradually calming down.

　However, that's just how it "seems" to Yu. He's been hiding his intense love inside this small body all this time, so there's no way he'll calm down that easily.

　Eventually, the gondola, which was supposed to be at the top, makes a full circle and arrives at the ground.

　Yu gets off the gondola first and offers Airi his hand to help her get off.

"Thank you very much, senpai..."

　Then, after they finished getting off the gondola, he let go of Airi's hand.

　Before they got on the Ferris wheel, Airi had put her arm around him and leaned close to him. It can't be helped, but Yu felt lonely.

"Senpai, I'm going to go pick some flowers."

"Hmm? Got it."

"Um, I'm sorry, but I think it will be very late..."

"...It's okay, I'll wait for you. No matter how late I get home, I won't leave you alone."

"Thank you... Or you can just call me Airi as usual, Someya-senpai."

"I understand."

　He can guess the real reason why Airi wanted to go to the bathroom. No matter how much time passes, Yuu will continue to wait until Airi returns. That is the only way Yuu can make amends.

　Airi started to walk towards the bathroom, but stopped and turned around as if thinking for a moment.

"Someya-senpai. Airi got rejected, but... I'm glad I fell in love with Someya-senpai. Also, since he rejected Airi, I'll never forgive him if he makes my sister sad..."

　With that said, Airi started walking faster than usual and hurried to the bathroom.

　Although she was desperately trying to hold back in front of Yu, she was probably reaching her limit.

　I wasn't going to do anything rude like stop it, so I just hoped that when she returned, she would be as close to her usual self as possible.