Do I… not have any femininity?

“Ah…!”

Yanaimi Anna snapped back to reality, belatedly realizing she had seriously been pondering that absurd question.

Her cheeks heated up again.

“N-no, it’s nothing!”

She hurriedly pulled back her fists, putting distance between herself and Imaizumi, returning to the opposite end of the bench.

Seriously, what am I even doing.

At first she just wanted to expose his horrible personality and question why he had suddenly become so “gentle” lately.

Yet after just a few lines of conversation, she had once again been dragged along by his pace, teased by those infuriatingly wicked words — and then she even pounced on him like an idiot to hit him.

Worst of all, she… she didn’t even actually get angry.

She had even felt… a tiny bit of heart-racing happiness from being teased that way.

“You… really are awful.”

Anna muttered in a sulky, slightly wronged tone.

“Am I?”

Imaizumi smiled as he looked at her but didn’t lean in this time.

His gaze simply lingered with amusement on her burning red ears.

“I actually think… you’ve changed a lot.”

“Eh?”

That sentence — without any teasing tone — made Anna freeze.

She stared at him, confused.

“Think about it.

Back at the family restaurant, when you got dumped, all you did was complain to yourself.”

His tone was calm as he stated his thoughts plainly.

“In the classroom, being surrounded by those two, you kept forcing a smile and didn’t even have the courage to say no.”

“Ugh…”

Anna had no retort — what he said was true.

“But now?”

Imaizumi looked at her, smiling.

“You can firmly refuse to go to something you don’t want to attend.

You even learned to use my own lines to tease me back.”

He paused, then said what was in his heart in a quiet voice.

“And even though you still get flustered when I tease you… at least you no longer cry over other people anymore.”

Anna fell silent, staring at him.

If this had been before she met him… she wouldn’t even have dared refuse Sōsuke and Karen’s invitation.

Just hearing they were going to Karen’s house for a reading session would’ve been enough to ruin her appetite for the whole day.

But now, not only could she face it calmly — she could even turn it into a chance to tease Imaizumi instead.

All of this change… seemed to have started after she met the man in front of her.

Anna let out a long sigh.

“I…”

She looked at Imaizumi, her voice muffled.

“Am I really… not feminine at all?”

“So that’s why Sōsuke… fell for Karen so easily.”

Anna’s gaze dropped to her clenched fists, speaking to herself in a self-mocking tone.

“I spent more than ten years with him, but the happiness I gave him might not even compare to the few days he spent with Karen.”

“The moment Karen appears, he stops seeing me altogether.”

Imaizumi was silent for a moment before replying matter-of-factly: “That kind of thing… only Hakumada Sōsuke can answer.”

“Hmph.”

Anna scrunched her nose, clearly unhappy with that response.

She lifted her head, eyes tinged with stubbornness and challenge.

“Didn’t you say back at the karaoke place that I wasn’t as charming as Karen?

Something about 8K and 4K — I remember every word.”

With that, Anna successfully pulled the conversation back to the space between the two of them.

Imaizumi looked at her expression that said don’t think you’re escaping this, and he finally laughed.

“So?”

“So—”

Anna took a deep breath, her clear eyes locking onto his as she asked each word slowly and seriously.

“In your eyes, Imaizumi… do I have charm?”

The air stopped between them for a moment.

This was a straight fastball.

Imaizumi could clearly feel it — as soon as the question left her lips, Anna’s heart, which had just settled down, began pounding violently again.

A mix of tension, expectation, and vulnerability radiated from her like pure high-quality emotional energy.

It was the signal that she had finally let go of the past… and was beginning to shift her heart completely toward him.

“Of course you do.”

Imaizumi answered without a single moment of hesitation.

He watched Anna’s eyes brighten instantly at his affirmation, and he felt the pure, sweet rush of her joy pouring into him.

Words alone were no longer enough.

It was time for the next step.

Imaizumi’s gaze changed — he no longer held back the alluring presence unique to his succubus aura.

Anna couldn’t explain what changed in that instant — only that her throat tightened.

It was still the same familiar face, yet she felt her gaze being pulled toward him like metal to a magnet, unable to look away.

The cicadas and wind around them seemed to fade, leaving only his quiet stare and her ever-louder heartbeat.

Then she saw Imaizumi slowly extend his right hand toward her.

A broad palm, clean fingers… gently offered before her eyes.

It was an invitation.

Anna looked at that hand, then into Imaizumi’s deep, captivating eyes.

Her instincts screamed that she should step back — that she should escape this dangerous atmosphere.

But her heart was shouting for her to reach out — to respond to the invitation.

In the end, emotion defeated reason.

A soft, uncontrollable blush spread across her cheeks.

She bit her lower lip and timidly extended her left hand, placing it into his.

The moment their hands touched, a warm, comforting heat flowed steadily from his palm.

Imaizumi’s fingers slowly closed around hers, wrapping her small, cool hand completely.

Then he gave her no chance to hesitate — his fingers gently threaded through her own, interlocking tightly.

“Mm…”

Anna let out a soft, instinctive sound.

This time, she didn’t pull away.

She didn’t resist.

She simply stared at their tightly joined hands, letting the warmth spreading from their palms melt into her limbs and bones.

That warmth soothed every bit of her tension.

Her previously tense shoulders relaxed entirely.

She slowly lifted her head, her unfocused gaze settling on his face just inches away.

She didn’t realize her body was leaning toward the warmth — toward him — entirely on its own.