From betrotheds to lovers

Chapter 41

It was another normal Saturday, the day was cool, the sky was clear, and the sun blazing, in other words, it was a perfect day for being outside. But Sakurako was an indoor person, so that didn't apply to her. Instead, it was already afternoon, and not even once had she left the confines of her home taking full use of the air conditioner and cozy clothes.

However, right now, she didn't appear to be having a fulfilling Saturday of nothing, as she mindlessly played the guitar she had recently bought on her last date with Ichiro.

"..."

With her usual expressionless face, Sakurako kept looking at nothing at the ceiling with empty thoughts, something that she had been doing for two consecutive days already, ever since she realized her feelings for Ichiro. Then she closed her eyes and stopped moving her hands, seemingly appearing that she was now thinking about something.

"..." <I want to see, Ichiro-san... But...>

At the thought of meeting him after a few days without contacting each other, Sakurako began to blush slightly as she felt embarrassed just from thinking about Ichiro.

"*Sigh*..."

Not knowing what to do, Sakurako simply sighed as she opened her eyes and went back to looking at the ceiling. She felt the seconds pass by, as she continued to think about what she wanted to do now.

"... *Closes eyes and Nods*"

Nodding her head, and if she had arrived at an answer, Sakurako got up from the chair she had been sitting on for a while, put back her guitar on its holder, and left her private music studio.

.

.

.

"... *Deeply inhales*... ... ... Finally... External peace"

Hitori who had to work at the cafe on Saturdays, was almost on the verge of tears from the amount of relief she felt at seeing the cafe being completely empty...

"Oi, rookie. We have tables to clean"

"Y-Yes!"

But the emptiness quickly disappeared when Ichiro called Hitori from behind, as he had been doing so ever since she started working at the cafe. And just as Ichiro asked her, she began cleaning the tables alongside him.

"..." <Hirano-san may have a horrible personality, but he at least never shouts at me, nor ever gets angry when I mess up... But he's still really scary with that fake smile of his!>

Without anything else to put her mind onto, Hitori began to think about her current situation, and the only conclusion she arrived at was that Ichiro was scary, and hoped that she never make him angry.

"..." <Now to the next table>

*Bell ringing*

"!" <A-A-A customer!? W-Wait, r-remember w-what H-Hirano-san s-said! J-J-Just g-g-greet t-them w-with a s-smile!>

At the sound of someone entering the cafe, Hitori first became desperate, but she quickly did her best to recover as soon as possible, while also trying her best to show a friendly.

"W-W-Welphome, d-d-d-dear c-c-cusfomer... !?"

With an awkward and trembling smile, Hitori greeted the customer, only for her to end up fumbling with her words, which was already enough to make her want to hide in a hole out of embarrassment. But, right now, she wanted to die instead, because...

"Hm? Kaneko-san?"

"..." <AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!>

The person that she accidentally fumbled her greetings, was none other than Sakurako, whose desire to see Ichiro had overpowered her embarrassment. Seeing the person who was using her lap like a cat every time they had lunch together, was enough to make Hitori's face grow pale as she began to realize what just happened.

"..." *Soul leaving her mouth*

"Kaneko-san? Is something wrong?"

Hitori had passed out while standing, from the overwhelming embarrassment she felt at fumbling right in front of an acquaintance. This worried Sakurako since one could clearly see that Hitori wasn't doing so well.

"Let me handle her"

Hearing Ichiro's voice right beside her, Sakurako looked in his direction, as he carefully laid down Hitori on the bench right behind her. After doing so, he turned towards Sakurako right a big smile on his face.

"Welcome, Sakurako-san. It has been a while, hasn't it?"

"...! Y-Yes, it has been a while, Ichiro-san"

Sakurako silently looked at Ichiro face's before realizing that she needed to respond to him, which she did so as she looked down, and then away with her cheeks tinted slightly pink. Seeing that cute reaction from his fiancée, Ichiro also ended up looking away as he covered his mouth with one hand.

"..."

"..."

The two stood in front of each other in silence as they kept looking away from each other. As they were both happy and embarrassed from seeing each other after a few days. The two kept standing in front of each other for minutes, with them always looking away whenever they noticed each other glancing.

"... ... ...! *Lowers head even more*"

Sakurako whose heart had been beating rapidly ever since seeing Ichiro, began to feel even more embarrassed each moment she kept standing in front of him, but at the same time, she wanted to get closer to him, and just thinking about taking a step closer to Ichiro, was enough to make her embarrassment grow even more.

And then she was unable to keep holding herself, and her desire to hug Ichiro after not meeting him for a few days, won over her embarrassment again, so she slowly took a step forward, then another, and on the third step, she embarrassingly hugged Ichiro as she buried her red face on his chest to hide it from view.

"!... ... ...*Sigh*"

Ichiro who was caught by surprise, showed a very surprised expression, before quickly happily sighing, as he hugged Sakurako back. And with that, the two kept hugging each other for quite some time, as they missed seeing each other in those few days.

.

.

.

"Are you feeling better, Sakurako-san"

"... Yes..."

"That's great to hear"

After they finally got enough hugging time from each other, Ichiro took Sakurako to her usual table and brought back her usual coffee. Ichiro appeared unaffected by the hug, while Sakurako was still blushing and feeling embarrassed from doing it, which she tried to forget by drinking the coffee.

"... Warm... ... ... *Lowers head again*"

But it backfired tremendously as she only felt more embarrassed just from taking a sip of Ichiro's coffee after some time, as it also made her become more aware of feelings towards him.

"... ... ... Hm... I-Ichiro-san"

"Yes, Sakurako-san?"

"C-Can you... Sit beside me?"

"... Of course!"

At her request, Ichiro sat down beside her, only for Sakurako to hug one of his arms with a red face. And so, just like their other times together, they spent it simply enjoying the presence of each other in silence.