In the twilight, Shin accompanied Yui Yuigahama home, but throughout this journey, Yui Yuigahama hardly spoke at all.
Of course Yui Yuigahama wanted to say something to Shin, but unfortunately, her personality made it very difficult for her to frankly express her thoughts.
Several times along the way she tried to strike up a conversation with Shin, but in the end, it always shifted to trivial topics, turning into discussions about class matters.
This made Yui Yuigahama feel very frustrated and once again dissatisfied with her own personality.
She had previously admired Shin somewhat because Shin would say what he thought and wouldn't flatter others because of their opinions.
Usually, if the "normie group" she belonged to invited other classmates to join them, those classmates would basically give them face and join in the activities.
But Shin didn't care about this at all. When he refused, he refused, which made Yui Yuigahama, who usually only knew how to read others' expressions, find him very cool.
Later, under Yumiko Miura's lead, she often watched Shin too, and these feelings gradually deepened, becoming uncontrollable now.
But who would have thought that even so, her dishonest personality still hadn't changed. Even when facing Shin, she still didn't dare reveal her true feelings.
She was probably worried that once she revealed her feelings, if Shin didn't accept her, then even their current relationship as "friends" might be gone.
Just like that, Yui Yuigahama walked on the street behind Shin, complaining about her dishonesty in her heart.
At least now she could be alone with Shin for a while, which Yui Yuigahama felt was already quite nice...
"We're here."
However, just as she was satisfied with such a small thing, Shin, who was walking ahead of her, suddenly stopped, then turned back to look at Yui Yuigahama.
"This is your home, right?"
"Eh?"
Yui Yuigahama was stunned. She had been walking behind Shin with her head down and hadn't even noticed that the surrounding environment had become familiar.
She looked up and indeed saw her familiar scenery ahead—Shin had already escorted her all the way to her building, and she hadn't noticed at all.
This made Yui Yuigahama's heart tighten. It seemed she had enjoyed the time alone with Shin too much, which was why it felt like it had passed so quickly.
"Since you're home now, I'll head back."
Shin had a slight smile on his face. He looked at Yui Yuigahama, then made a gesture to turn and leave.
This was quite normal—after all, his current purpose was to escort Yui Yuigahama home, and since he had already delivered her, leaving now was only natural.
However, seeing Shin turn around, Yui Yuigahama suddenly felt panicked.
She instinctively reached out and grabbed Shin's clothes, then mustered her courage and called out to Shin in a not-so-loud voice:
"Please... please wait! Shin-san!"
Feeling the force on his clothes, Shin stopped—after all, if he didn't stop, Yui Yuigahama would be pulled down.
Shin seemed to have anticipated Yui Yuigahama's behavior. He turned back to look at her with a smile on his face, waiting for her to continue.
And Yui Yuigahama probably realized her behavior seemed a bit impulsive. After grabbing Shin, she didn't know what to say next.
But Shin was looking at her, so if she didn't say anything, it would seem too strange.
So Yui Yuigahama simply closed her eyes, then somewhat self-destructively shouted at Shin:
"Shin-san! I've always admired you! I... also want to stay by your side!"
Although not stated outright, the meaning of this sentence was quite obvious.
Perhaps for Yui Yuigahama, who still didn't dare express herself, this sentence was already the most direct statement she could make.
"You should know what saying this means, right?"
Shin looked at Yui Yuigahama with a helpless smile.
"You should have learned about my situation from Ebina. Are you really mentally prepared?"
That's right—Ebina Hina thought her conversation with Yui Yuigahama was private, but Shin had actually heard everything.
After all, the place where the two of them went to buy drinks and food wasn't far from the aquarium. To prevent them from encountering any accidents, Shin had been monitoring them with "ki."
As a result, he didn't discover any danger to them but instead heard the conversation between Ebina Hina and Yui Yuigahama.
Although Yui Yuigahama said she could accept anything then, now facing him directly, would she still stick to this choice?
"I know! I'm already prepared!"
Yui Yuigahama obviously hadn't noticed "why Shin knew about her conversation with Ebina Hina." Her emotions were very tense at this moment.
But her expression still looked very determined, showing she had indeed prepared herself mentally.
As soon as she finished speaking, Yui Yuigahama felt Shin's lips cover hers.
Since Yui Yuigahama was already prepared, naturally Shin wouldn't hold back.
Although they were on the street and right below Yui Yuigahama's building, making some extreme things inconvenient, collecting a little interest was still fine.
If Yui Yuigahama had expressed her feelings earlier, perhaps today's progress could have been even faster—but Yui Yuigahama's personality meant she only mustered courage at the last moment.
Of course, Shin's mind wasn't completely filled with such things. Having Yui Yuigahama voice her feelings today was already beyond expectations.
"This can be considered marking you with my mark."
After a while, Shin pulled away from Yui Yuigahama's lips, then looked at her with a smile as she turned completely red, her brain seemingly overloaded.
"Alright, hurry home. If there's anything else, we can talk on the phone later."
"I... I understand."
Yui Yuigahama was completely dazed, obviously still not recovered from that kiss. She just followed Shin's request somewhat confusedly and turned to walk home.
Shin's kissing technique had been well-trained during this period. For Yui Yuigahama, a girl who had just given her first kiss to Shin, it was perhaps indeed a bit too stimulating.
However, this could also be considered advance adaptation. After all, there might be even more stimulating things in the future that Yui Yuigahama would eventually have to experience.
"Though I originally thought it would be Miura who would make progress today..."
Shin watched Yui Yuigahama enter the house, then shook his head and turned to leave.
He had originally thought something would happen between him and Yumiko Miura today, but unexpectedly, Yui Yuigahama had gotten ahead of her.
To be continued…