Chapter 44
The gentle clink of cutlery and the soft chatter of nearby tables filled the cozy interior of the maid café. Warm light filtered through the lace curtains, bouncing off pastel-painted walls and the frilly uniforms of the maids moving with practiced grace. A faint melody played in the background, a sweet, nostalgic tune that almost felt like it belonged in a slice-of-life anime. Amid this quaint, lively setting, Kokoro and Sakura quietly enjoyed their meal—well, somewhat quietly.
Kokoro took a sip of his melon soda and leaned back slightly, his expression turning more thoughtful than usual. He set his glass down and looked across the table at Sakura, who was busy cutting her fluffy omurice, the ketchup drawing of a heart already half-ruined.
"I think... I understand now," Kokoro said, voice calm but serious. His silver eyes reflected the soft lights of the cafe, but there was a rare depth in them that made Sakura look up. "How you came to like her, I mean. It wasn’t some shallow impulse. You went through something... big. And she just became important to you in a way that others wouldn’t understand."
Sakura blinked. The honesty in Kokoro’s tone caught her off guard. He continued, his voice dipping low so that only she could hear over the bustle around them.
"But... have you ever thought about what happens if she rejects you?" Kokoro asked gently. "What if, by confessing, you end up changing what you already have with her? Breaking something good, just because you wanted something more?"
His words weren’t said with cruelty, but care. It was the kind of question that could only be asked by someone who had thought it through himself. Someone who knew what it meant to treasure a bond too much to risk it.
Sakura stopped moving her fork. The air between them hung suspended in that moment, her dark eyes reflecting a quiet storm of thought. For a long breath, she just stared at her plate, her chest rising and falling as she mulled over Kokoro’s words.
Then she slowly looked up and smiled, not brightly, but with a strange sort of resolve.
"Even if she does reject me," Sakura said, her voice steady, "what matters most to me... is that I tell her. That I don’t bottle it up and carry it around like some secret weight. Naomi’s already dated a few girls from her school. She’s even told me how a bunch of them confessed to her—like, it’s a normal thing for her."
Kokoro choked on his omelette.
Coughing and patting his chest, he looked at Sakura wide-eyed. "Wait. Wait. You’re telling me your stepsister is already... experienced?"