Inside a private compartment on the train from Lilycove City to Rustboro City, a delightfully scandalous scene was unfolding.
Erina, her face flushed and pupils trembling, was pressed against the compartment door, her heart racing from sheer nervousness. Hayashi's face, mere inches away, made her dizzy with vertigo.
Meanwhile, Hayashi had his left hand braced against the door beside Erina's head, his face hovering near her crimson ear, his gaze distant as if lost in thought. But if one listened closely, the pounding of his heart could rival the King Engine.
As for Sabrina and Hisako? They were seated on the lower bunks, left and right, eagerly whipping out their Pokédexes to activate the recording function. With their lenses trained on Hayashi and Erina, they were ready to immortalize this historic moment.
By the way, Pikachu was sitting in Hisako's arms, while Eevee was being firmly held by Sabrina—this was to prevent the two little cuties from disturbing Hayashi and Erina.
After all, isn't this a common trope in romance manga? Just when the atmosphere between the male and female leads is perfect, right as they're about to confess their feelings, there's always one or two characters barging in—characters the audience would gladly stab to death—ruining the moment and resetting the confession progress to zero.
No, absolutely not! Sabrina even spread out her psychic powers, enveloping the entire train compartment to prevent any oblivious outsiders from knocking or barging in to interrupt Hayashi and Erina.
You could say… well… it was babysitter-level protection.
After gathering his emotions for a long time, Hayashi took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. However, he forgot about his current position with Erina, causing his breath to brush against her ear, making her limbs go weak.
What! What are you doing! What are you doing!
Y-you, why are you blowing on my ear?!
Erina's thoughts were already in chaos. Her brain felt like it had been thrown into a meat grinder, turned into mush, mixed with flour and paste, then reshaped and thrown back into her skull.
It wasn't working anymore.
After calming himself with another deep breath, Hayashi straightened his upper body, moving his head directly in front of Erina's face. Staring at the blushing young lady, he spoke in a trembling, distorted voice: "E-Erina!"
Startled by the sudden call of her name, Erina responded reflexively, like a student called on by a teacher: "Ah, yes?!"
Why did you just say that— Her sudden reply wiped Hayashi's mind blank. All the courage and words he had gathered from his deep breaths seemed to have been isekai'd away by her "Yes?!"
It was over—he couldn't remember anything! But the atmosphere was already at this point…
Say something, you have to say something!! The thought echoed in Hayashi's mind.
In his panic, he blurted out: "Go out with me—"
Meanwhile, Erina, who was mentally kicking herself for her earlier response, reflexively answered: "Okay—"
Hayashi: "Huh?"
Hisako: "Huh?!"
Sabrina: "Huh?!?!"
Erina, finally processing what just happened: "HUH?!?!?"
...
...
After Erina's mind went blank and she instinctively replied with "Okay—," Sabrina, taking Hisako's cue, immediately used her psychic powers to teleport herself, Hisako, Pikachu, and Eevee out into the hallway.
Hisako: "Nice one, Sabrina! Giving Hayashi and Erina plenty of space!"
Sabrina: "And avoiding any awkwardness from us being there!"
The two high-fived and cheered: "Perfect—"
After they left, the compartment was left with only Hayashi, sitting dazed on the bed, and Erina, who had wrapped herself in a blanket and curled up like an ostrich.
"Ahhh, I'm such an idiot, idiot idiot idiot—" Erina curled up under the blankets, clutching her head in silent anguish. 'Didn't I prepare myself mentally from the start? How could I still nod so carelessly?'
After much deliberation, Erina found the culprit.
'It's all Hayashi's fault, isn't it?' She gritted her teeth, her face filled with anger as she thought, 'If he hadn't suddenly called my name, I wouldn't have instinctively responded and then blanked out from nervousness!!'
Yes, that's right—no matter how you look at it, it's Hayashi's fault!
Unlike Erina, who was frantically shifting blame to ease her emotions, Hayashi's mind was currently engulfed in a whirlwind of thoughts—
'Did she just say "yes"?'
'Does that mean I have a girlfriend now?'
'Or was she just joking?'
'Is this one of life's three great illusions—that she likes me?'
Hayashi's mind was in chaos. Even though he had obtained the Interdimensional Gate, his twenty-three years of living as a "background character" had eroded much of his confidence—in his eyes, someone as radiant as Erina should stand beside an equally dazzling protagonist. How could she choose an unremarkable background character like him?
This doesn't make sense.
No matter how you look at it, it doesn't make sense!?
Utaha Kasumigaoka marrying Salaryman A and living happily ever after?
At this thought, Hayashi couldn't help but lift his head and glance in Erina's direction, calling out softly, "Uh, Eri... ahem... Erina—"
"!"
The girl under the blankets jolted, then squirmed for a while before poking her head out slightly from the gap, replying in a hesitant voice, "Wh-what is it?"
"It's just... about earlier..." Hayashi lowered his head awkwardly, his thumbs fidgeting to ease his nervousness. "Were you joking with your answer? Just teasing me?"
"Hah?" Erina's head popped out in shock, her eyes widening as she stared at Hayashi. "Do you really think I'd joke about something like this!?"
Under normal circumstances, Erina would have been too flustered to think straight and blurted out something like, "O-of course I was joking! How could someone like me ever fancy someone like you?"—thus missing her chance with Hayashi and regretting it for the rest of her life. Some twisted folks would be thrilled, right?
Unfortunately, her anger currently outweighed her embarrassment. Combined with her already frayed nerves, Erina had now entered a full-blown rage mode.
"N-no—" Hayashi quickly shook his head, flustered. "I mean... well... you're the heiress of the Nakiri Family, right? Aside from the Interdimensional Gate, I'm just an ordinary nobody. So you agreeing to my confession... no matter how you look at it, it doesn't make sense, does it? Or is it because of the Interdimensional Gate that you—"
"What are you even thinking?"
Erina was so furious she forgot to be shy!
She jumped down from the bunk and stormed over to Hayashi, demanding, "Are you saying I'd trade my feelings for personal gain?"
"No, no, that's not what I meant—" Hayashi floundered as he explained, wearing a pained smile. "I just don't understand myself—what about me could possibly attract you?"
"So that's what you're hung up on?" Erina tilted her head in confusion, placing her hands on her hips. "How would I know something like that?"
Hayashi was dumbfounded. "Huh? You don't even know why you like me?"
"If I could explain it clearly, that would be weird!" Erina declared matter-of-factly, staring straight at him. "Liking someone is just this inexplicable thing!"
Liking is liking. If you could list out every reason for your affection one by one, wouldn't that turn love into some kind of exam? Would that even be genuine love anymore?
Hayashi rubbed the bridge of his nose and asked quietly, "So... you agreed out of your own will, right?"
Still riding the tail end of her earlier anger, Erina boldly declared, "Yes! I'd never compromise my feelings for the sake of gain! If I didn't want to, no one could make me agree!"
SMACK!
As soon as the words left her mouth, Hayashi suddenly raised both hands and slapped his own cheeks with such force that Erina jumped in surprise.
"Wh-what are you doing?!"
"Slapping some sense into myself!" Hayashi rubbed his stinging cheeks, grimacing. "No matter how you look at it, I'm a 23-year-old responsible adult man. It's just wrong that I'm being comforted and enlightened by a 15-year-old girl like you!"
Erina was genuinely startled by his actions. Seeing the vivid red handprints on his face, she stammered, "Th-there was no need to go that far, was there?"
"This is my self-punishment!" Hayashi continued massaging his face. "Erina-chan, the truth is... I've always had pretty low self-esteem. I could never imagine someone as radiant as you—a literal heroine—would ever like someone like me."
Why had Hayashi initially set his sights on Megumi Tadokoro? Aside from Erina's initially difficult personality, it was mostly because Hayashi thought a "country girl" like Megumi might be more suited to someone like him! But life is unpredictable—who could have guessed Hayashi would ultimately form a bond with Erina?
"I've always been content with slacking off because I thought I could never measure up to anyone, so it didn't matter if I stayed mediocre—" Hayashi looked at Erina standing before him and smiled bitterly. "But now... I want to really put in the effort!"
Otherwise, wouldn't he be letting down Erina's recognition of him?
"I, uh..." Faced with Hayashi's sudden openness, Erina instead looked flustered. She unconsciously twirled a lock of hair around her finger. "S-so, what are you saying?"
"I'll strive to become a man worthy of you!" Hayashi stood up, looking straight into Erina's eyes with determination. "So, Erina... will you go out with me?"
Erina: "Mmm—"
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