There was a single lone girl on the rooftop when Takei opened the entrance to the landing.

Her long black hair was very common amongst girls of the same age, so it was nothing that surprised Takei.

The girl had modest assets and a normal build. Nothing about her stood out much, which was similar to a favorite protagonist of ours. Even the standard uniform she was wearing helped her blend in amongst the crowd of girls at the school.

She looked very normal to him, this thought would come back to bite Takei very soon because it was a severely gross underestimate of the being known as Mitsuki Fujiwara.

"Hello, Takei. Long time no see?"

The girl, Mitsuki, turned around and greeted Takei with a gentle yet longing smile.

"Uh, hey... You're the girl from the other day, right?"

Takei was confused as to why the girl he saved was now calling him out to the roof. He didn't make any meaningful connection with her, so why did she want to call him up here?

This situation reeks of a confession, but something just feels... off.

He didn't want to be vain and think that he was that much of a stud, but Takei was having trouble thinking about why he was called up here.

"Yes, I am the same girl that you saved on that fateful day. Thank you very much by the way."

"Yeah... no problem..."

Takei noticed that she had purposefully emphasized the word "fateful." He wanted to listen to what she had to say first, so he didn't point it out.

"I'm a first year in the class right below you, Class 1-A. Mitsuki Fujiwara is my full given name and I am single. I just recently turned 16-years-old. By the way, did I mention that I was single?"

"Yes, yes you did..."

More and more alarm bells were going off in Takei's head the more he continued to talk to her. There was just an eerie feeling that he felt when he talked to her. It was as if every sense in his body was telling him to run away.

"How about you, Takei? Are you looking for a romantic partner as well?" Mitsuki asked.

"No." Takei instantly denied.

To stop any misconceptions or allow any misunderstandings to happen, Takei stopped the problem at the very root.

"I have a very caring partner that I really love, so I'm not looking for anyone else."

He wanted to let Mitsuki off as easily as possible, but she still oddly had a determined expression on her face.

"I know, but..." Mitsuki's face reddened with frustration. "Why? Why would you choose her?!"

Takei could tell that she was not happy with his answer, so he decided to explain it to her. "I'm sorry, Akari is the only one in my heart. It's not me who chose her, rather it's her that chose me."

There was no way that a gloomy loner like him would be able to choose the goddess as his lover. Takei felt quite lucky that Akari saw the true side of him and fell in love as a result. It was still one of the many things that he happily prided himself on.

"Wouldn't you rather date someone on equal standing then? The goddess is an untouchable existence at the top while you're just a normal person. The gap is just too large," Mitsuki tried to persuade him.

This was something that Takei had spent a lot of time thinking about. Mitsuki wasn't wrong about the difference in status, but she forgot to factor in the irrational emotions of humans.

"Even if our social statuses are wildly different, that doesn't matter. Not in the slightest. The only thing that matters is that I love her and she loves me. Who cares about social structures and all these rules? I say to hell with it."

Takei would often be very cautious about the social hierarchy and rules of society, but none of that mattered when it would interfere with him and Akari's love life. He knew that if he didn't stand up for their love, he would regret it for the rest of his life.

Mitsuki was not too happy in the slightest when she heard Takei's passionate speech about his love for Akari. "I love you though..."

"...And, I'm sorry." Takei cut her off. "I can't reciprocate your feelings."

"I see..." Mitsuki sadly lowered her head.

Takei was acting extremely cold on purpose to protect the both of them. He didn't want to hurt Mitsuki's feelings any more than he would have, and he didn't want to feel guilty about hurting her. By encasing a cold exterior around his heart, he was able to get his true feelings across.

"Goodbye."

With that, Takei left the rooftop after shutting down the confession.

Now, there was only one person left on the rooftop.

Instead of being depressed and crying like Takei had expected, Mitsuki had a surprisingly refreshed expression on her face.

It was as if a weight was lifted off her shoulder.

"Hehehe... The easy way has been attempted and failed. Time to move on to the hard way..."

A creepy grin spread across her face as Mitsuki began to laugh maniacally.

"I'll never let you go..."

—

No Akari in this chapter too?! Author, you suck!

Sugar-chan: Bring back the goddess!

Serious-san: She'll be back next chapter...