The moment the confession left Hayashi's lips, he couldn't help but want to slap himself across the face.
Look at that pathetic attempt! You call this a "heartfelt confession"? This dry line isn't even as good as steamed buns—at best it's rye bread!
At least steamed buns get slightly sweet if you chew them long enough.
"Ahem, ahem—"
Hisako and Sabrina beside him immediately erupted into awkward coughs. They truly hadn't expected that after all that buildup, Hayashi would squeeze out just nine measly words—Aren't you a novelist? Couldn't you throw in some classical poetry or something?
Like for example...
The ocean, oh how watery you are, the spider, oh your eight legs, Erina, oh how cute you are, date me, mwah—
And toss in a finger heart for good measure...
Never mind, forget I said that.
"I... I..."
Despite such a "simple" confession, Erina felt her heart skip a beat for a moment. She almost couldn't stop herself from nodding and saying, "Well, it's not impossible."
Close call. She held back.
Just as she was about to voice her thoughts, Sabrina spoke up with clear disdain: "No way! What kind of heartfelt confession is this?"
Quickly noticing that Erina wasn't completely swept away, Hisako hurriedly nodded in agreement. "This is totally unacceptable! Really, no good! Try again, there's zero heartfelt feeling here!"
"Wow..."
Hayashi's morale took a nosedive. He buried his hands in his hair, nearly breaking down as he said, "Dear sisters, spare me! I've been single my whole life—I've never confessed to a girl before! I have no experience!"
Hearing his words, Erina's lips curled into a fleeting smile, but she quickly suppressed it with sheer willpower.
Yes! First-time confession!
Seeing Hayashi's exaggerated (and clearly acted) distress, Hisako kindly suggested, "You could try copying the tropes from shoujo manga, you know what I mean?"
Sabrina immediately snapped her fingers. "Yeah! Like that one guy from Kaguya-sama—do a kabedon!"
Ka... kabedon?!
Erina felt her heart stop. Just imagining Hayashi pinning her against a wall made her want to bury her flushed face in her hands and roll around on the bed.
Ahhh, such an embarrassing scenario is absolutely unacceptable! No no no, no way!
Hayashi's heart also skipped a beat. Wiping cold sweat from his forehead, he muttered nervously, "Uh, isn't kabedon a bit too..."
'He's hesitating—let's push a little more and see his reaction—'
Hisako and Sabrina exchanged glances.
Hisako: "Kabedon is great! Confess with a kabedon!"
Sabrina: "Yeah, totally doable!"
Hayashi shook his head frantically. "No way, kabedon is way too..."
Just the heartfelt confession alone felt like it drained all his courage—now kabedon too? Absolutely not! His shame would explode into bamboo shoots!
Quickly recognizing Hayashi's resistance due to overwhelming embarrassment, Hisako stopped Sabrina with a look—Don't push further, or his defiance will only grow stronger!
"At times like this, you have to act like fishing—sometimes give a little slack, sometimes reel it in tight, keeping the fish exhausted..." Hisako narrowed her eyes slightly before smiling and saying, "Not doing the kabedon is fine, but at least make the confession a bit more heartfelt, right? Hayashi-san's confession just now was way too monotone."
Sabrina nodded seriously and said, "Indeed! That wasn't heartfelt at all!"
Ah, this...
Kabedon can be avoided, but this issue really can't be dodged! Hayashi asked himself—he had been so nervous his voice cracked earlier. Just managing to get the words out was an achievement; how could he have cared about whether it was heartfelt or not?
He's doomed!
"W-well, alright then."
Gritting his teeth, Hayashi took out his phone in front of the others and said, "Wait a moment, I'll search for some lines!"
"???" x3
Wait, you're searching for confession lines!?
Hisako's face darkened as she exchanged glances with Sabrina—
'What do we do? Should we stop him?'
'I think it's fine. Doesn't matter if it's a black cat or a white cat, as long as it catches mice, it's a good cat, right?'
'That makes sense. Whether it's original or copied, as long as the confession succeeds, it's good enough!'
Having reached an agreement, Sabrina and Hisako immediately adopted an air of serene detachment, which only made the already flustered Erina even more unsettled.
'Hisakoooo—' Her heart screamed, 'I already figured out what you're trying to do!!'
Though Erina was a bit tsundere, she wasn't stupid! She had deduced from Sabrina and Hisako's behavior what the two were planning—have you even considered how I feel!?
What if I can't hold back and nod!? Damn it!
...
...
A few minutes later, Hayashi, having found and memorized suitable lines, raised his head again. At this moment, he was like Jing Ke preparing to assassinate the Qin Shi Huang, bravely locking eyes with Erina.
"Erina—"
"Your eyes are beautiful because they hold mountains, clouds, rain, flowers, and rainbows—"
"But my eyes are even more beautiful, because they hold you—"
"I like you. Let's go out together."
One second, two seconds, three seconds...
By the fourth second, as if by unspoken agreement, both of them turned their heads away at the same time, clutching their chests and gasping for breath.
Hayashi: 'I-I'm gonna die! How did I even manage to say those lines? Hah, human potential is truly amazing!'
Erina: 'S-so nervous! Aaah, I-I almost couldn't stop myself from nodding! Hold it together, Erina! Show them the power of human will!'
Hisako and Sabrina, who had witnessed the entire scene, were practically dying to collapse onto the nearby bed and start wriggling like worms—this kind of awkward, heart-fluttering young love was just too delicious!
Heh heh!
"Ahem—"
After calming her urge to squirm, Hisako feigned composure and said, "About that confession just now, I think it was passable. What about you, Sabrina-chan?"
Sabrina also struggled to suppress her rising smile and said, "I think it was passable too! Let's consider it a success?"
Hisako nodded. "I agree! Let's move on to the third round!"
'Again?' Hayashi's eyelids twitched. 'A heartfelt confession already? Next thing you know, they'll actually pull off a kabedon on me. No, no, this can't go on—'
But just as he was about to raise his hand and declare he was quitting the game, Hayashi hesitated inexplicably. 'But I'm the one getting punished here, while they're fine!? If I just quit now, wouldn't I be at a huge disadvantage?'
That won't do!
At the very least, he had to win once! Mess with their heads a little! Then win and run away, hee hee hee!
A wicked grin spread across Hayashi's face. As a successor of communism who had transcended vulgar interests, there was no way he could just take this loss lying down, right?
Heh heh, if Sabrina loses, I'll make her challenge Caitlin of the Unova region dressed in a SpongeBob outfit! Let her experience social death!
Heh heh, if Hisako loses, I'll make her say out loud that Erina's cooking is terrible! Let her taste despair!
Wow, I'm so evil!
The more he thought about it, the more excited he became. Eyes gleaming, rubbing his hands together, Hayashi declared, "Come on! Again! I'll show you the true power of Hayashi, the Gambling Saint of North Lake!"
...
And then he lost again.
"?"
Hayashi stared at the joker card in his hand with a look of utter disbelief, muttering, "How did this happen? I drew you first and then couldn't get rid of you. What kind of logic is this?"
Could it be that the clown was actually me all along, and this is the bond between clowns?
Damn it! I don't want this kind of bond!
"Hmm, Mr. Hayashi, a bet is a bet—" Hisako glanced at Erina, then said with a smirk, "Truth or dare?"
Hayashi gulped and replied, "I-I'll take dare!"
Truth was absolutely out of the question. If they asked when I first ahem or what my preferences were, my true nature as a degenerate would be exposed! Damn it, absolutely not!
"Alright—"
Sabrina flashed a mischievous grin. She exchanged a look with Hisako before swaying her head playfully and declaring, "Since we missed your chance to kabedon Erina-chan earlier, this dare will make up for it!"
"!"
Hayashi's eyes widened as he stared at Sabrina and Hisako. "Hey, hey, are you two seriously determined to see me kabedon Erina!?"
Hisako and Sabrina nodded in unison, both wearing innocent smiles so pure they could melt the ice in Esdeath's heart and turn her into a lovestruck fool.
'Just as I thought...'
Erina covered her face with her hands. Just as she had suspected, these two were definitely stirring up trouble!
Spare me! If I actually end up nodding along, and this dense idiot thinks it's just a joke...
I don't want that.
Clutching her head in agony, Erina wore a pained expression. So this dare wasn't torturing him—it was torturing me, right?
Thanks a lot, you two!
Completely unaware that Erina had already seen through their scheme, Hisako eagerly pulled up a reference image of a kabedon and began instructing Hayashi, "See? Just pin the young lady against the wall like this—left hand on the wall beside her, right hand lifting her chin, then gaze deeply into her eyes. Do that, and you pass!"
Hayashi's face turned green.
Hold on, kabedon is one thing, but chin-lifting and deep eye contact? Are those paid DLC options!? Can I skip the DLC and just do the base game kabedon!?
Seeing the sparkling, expectant looks in Hisako and Sabrina's eyes, Hayashi gave a desolate smile.
Guess not.
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