Sakurada Nagisa was running, even though running through a shopping mall is normally prohibited behavior; there isn’t time to worry about that right now.

But thanks to that, she was able to find Sado.

He was slumped over in front of the fountain in the central plaza.

His back looked painfully distressed—so much so that it hurt just to look at him.

It was nothing like his usual bright, cheerful self.

“Sado-kun…”

“Ah… Sakurada-san… Is it really okay for you to be here?”

“I can’t just leave you like this.”

“……”

“Is it okay if I sit next to you? Well, even if you say no, I will anyway.”

“…Why would you bother with someone like me?”

“…Because I like you. I like you, Sado Kengo! Of course, in a romantic sense!!”

“W-What… You like me…?”

“I actually intended to keep it hidden in my heart forever… but seeing you now, I can’t just stand by… I want to be by your side.”

“I… I like Fuyunagi…”

“I know. If you still desire Shizuku, then work hard and go for it! I’ll support you!”

“Eh…? But… that means…”

“I love seeing the back of someone I like working hard… What kind of person would I be if I couldn’t support that?”

“Sakurada-san……”

Her cheeks are dyed crimson.

It’s more embarrassing than she thought it would be.

Even so, she’ll regret stopping now. Sakurada Nagisa, carried away by the momentum, blurts out her honest feelings.

“I’d be ecstatic if you looked at me… but I love seeing you work hard! If you want to pursue Fuyunagi Shizuku, I will wholeheartedly support that! I… I want to be by your side and watch you! So even if you don’t choose me, that’s okay… It’s okay if you don’t pick me!! So… so please show me the back of you working hard again!”

“…………Sakurada……san…”

Sado was stunned speechless, struck dumb by her words.

Sakurada Nagisa regretted it immediately.

A feeling like anxiety welled up in her chest.

She’s terribly anxious about the words she just spoke.

It was a burst of feeling born from the courage she’d scraped together… but she immediately regretted it.

Maybe he was disgusted with her.

Maybe he thought she was gross, or got angry at her for saying something so selfish.

But even so…

“I… I used to like Fuyunagi Shizuku… There wasn’t any particular trigger… It was love at first sight… I was captivated by her lovely appearance….”

“… Sado… you…”

“There were many guys who fell for her beauty… but Fuyunagi-san never went out with anyone… She was beautiful and elegant, an unattainable flower… But I thought if I tried, I could reach her… I was conceited… I thought I was different from the other boys… that I would be a suitable guy to be by her side… What a joke, right?”

“……….”

“But when I finally confessed, I got rejected. She probably noticed my arrogant attitude… I was presumptuous thinking I could definitely do it…”

“……”

“Even so, I couldn’t give up. I repeatedly and embarrassingly begged her… Then she gave me a condition.”

“A condition?”

“She… gets a lot of attention, you know? So she told me that if I became her boyfriend to act as her protector, then she’d allow it. She said I could stay her boyfriend until she found someone she truly loved…”

“Wh–what is that even supposed to be…? Th–that’s just—!”

“Please… don’t be angry with her. I’m the one who accepted that arrangement. And… I had selfish hopes too. Even if it was only as her ‘protector,’ I still got to be her boyfriend. I thought that from there… maybe someday I could become her real boyfriend… that I could be someone she loved. I honestly believed I could… even though I had no guarantee, no proof, no reason to think so.”

“……Sado-kun…”

“And this is how it all ended… I’m pathetic, right? Completely pathetic… Sakurada… can you really say you like someone like me?”

“Enough already!! Don’t you dare make light of my feelings!! I said I like you, and I meant it!! I like all of you—including the pathetic parts!!”

“But… but I…”

“So what!? Being pathetic, being miserable—desperately struggling and clinging to what you love… none of that makes you worthless! Everything you did still mattered! So, please…”

“…It’s okay now.”

“Eh…? ‘It’s okay’…? What do you mean it’s okay!? What’s okay about any of this!? Nothing is okay! None of this is okay!!”

“…It’s okay… really… I’m done with Fuyunagi-san… I’m letting go…”

“It’s not okay!! That’s not okay at all!!”

“It’s okay… I have… someone else I like more, someone I can love even more…”

“Eh…? ”

“Ghh… sniff… ngh… damn it… my tears… this is pathetic… seriously pathetic… crying like this… in front of the girl I like… I look like such a loser…”

“…Does that mean…?”

“…I think… I’ve fallen for you, Sakurada-san…”

“…H-huh? Eh? F-fweh? …Are you… serious…?”

“Well, yeah. Being comforted during a heartbreak and showing me all your pathetic sides… after everything you did for me… of course I’d fall for you.”

“Eh…? Huh? Whaaaat?!”

“Well, of course I would… When someone cheers you up like this when you’re hurting… when they see all the pathetic parts of you, and still do all this for you… how could I not fall for you…?”

“Eh…? Huh? Ehh!?”

“Sakurada-san… guys like me… we’re easy, you know… so go easy on me… Because now I… um… I’m already…”

Sado hangs his head and falls silent.

But his ears are completely red, there is no need for any further evidence to understand his feelings.

“Seriously…? Seriously seriously!? Eh!? Aba-ba-ba!!”

“Sakurada-san…? ”

“I’m sorry… it’s rude of me to say this… but I’m happy… I’m so happy I can’t stop it!”

“Sakurada-san…… I’ll say it again……will you go out with me?”

“Yes! …Absolutely!”

At that moment, applause echoes from all around.

A gallery of onlookers had gathered surrounding Sakurada and Sado, showering the newly formed couple with a storm of applause to celebrate their birth.

Young men and women reconciling and becoming a couple in the large plaza of a shopping mall filled with people.

Passersby around them began offering their congratulations.

The two of them reacted with embarrassed smiles.

“Wooo! Wooo!!”

“Congrats~!”

“May you two explode forever, you stupid lovey-dovey couple!!”

Words of congratulations poured out from the gathered onlookers.

Sado was overwhelmed by all the cheering.

But Sakurada was different.

“Everyone~ Thank you~! ”

With her cheeks flushed in embarrassment yet wearing a radiant smile, Sakurada Nagisa offered words of thanks to the crowd.

Sado found himself captivated by the sight.

Her smile was dazzling—so bright it felt almost sacred.

Just moments ago, he’d been crushed by Fuyunagi’s words.

He had believed he had no worth.

He had even thought he might be better off dead.

And yet now… he couldn’t understand why he’d been so cornered. His mind felt lighter—almost hopeful.

Without even realizing it, Sado Kengo had become completely taken with Sakurada Nagisa.

So much so that he’d forgotten the sting of his heartbreak.