Maki stared at Takashi for a long time.
It took her a while to come back to her senses, and she turned her face slightly away. "D-Don't think that just because you gave me flowers, I'll forgive you."
Hearing this, Takashi knew that her anger had mostly subsided.
It wasn't for nothing that he had made a special trip to the florist before coming here.
Tsundere—he understood them well.
No one understood better than him how to appease a tsundere.
This was the wisdom he had gained from many dates.
At this moment, Takashi really had to thank Eriri for being a sparring partner in this regard.
Maybe giving flowers—especially purple roses—seemed a little too ambiguous, but if you asked him to find something more suitable in such a short time, he really couldn't think of anything better.
After all, he had only just started interacting with Maki and didn't know her preferences yet.
Gift-giving for girls was a science.
If you randomly bought something without understanding their tastes, not only would you waste money, but they might not even like it.
That was the definition of a thankless effort.
The reason he chose purple roses was that after scrolling through Maki's social media posts, he found that purple roses appeared the most frequently in her photos.
She might not necessarily love them, but at the very least, she wouldn't dislike them.
Whenever Takashi went on a date, he always did his homework.
He learned about their daily lives, hobbies, and moods from their social media posts. After all, girls rarely said outright what they liked—they made you guess.
Whenever they changed their profile picture, Takashi would wonder, "What does this mean? Is it just a whim, or is she in a bad mood?"
He made sure to understand their pet peeves and avoided stepping on landmines.
He memorized all of their birthdays, sending his wishes at exactly midnight, along with carefully prepared gifts.
He knew when they were on their periods, preparing brown sugar ginger tea, heating pads, and medicine before every date.
He checked in on them daily, maintained constant communication with his benefactors, and reminded them of his emotional value.
One thing after another, Takashi remembered it all.
If he only had a decent-looking face, how could he have stayed by Utaha and Eriri's side for so long?
Were either of them easy to deal with?
One was sharp-tongued, the other was a tsundere. In the 2D world, those traits were cute.
People would stay as far away from them as possible.
"Don't worry. I guarantee that today's date will leave Lady Shijo satisfied." Takashi stood at attention, then saluted.
"W-Who's going on a date with you!?" The moment she heard the word date, Maki bristled like an angry cat and huffed,
"At most, you're just my bag-carrying servant. Yes, that's right. This doesn't count as a date."
The more she spoke, the quieter her voice became, as if she were convincing herself.
People always liked to find excuses for themselves.
Takashi didn't mind and went along with her words.
"As the esteemed Lady Shijo's bag-carrying servant, do I at least get a meal? Any rewards?"
Maki let out a soft snort. "Don't worry. If you serve me well, there will be benefits for you."
"Then I won't hold back."
That was exactly what he had been waiting for.
Takashi picked up the tablet hanging beside the table and ordered a cappuccino, nothing else.
"You don't have to save money on my behalf."
Scooping a spoonful of molten chocolate lava cake Frappuccino into her mouth, Maki spoke casually, her tone filled with utter disregard for money.
Takashi wished that one day, he could be like her and treat money like dirt.
"It's not about saving money. I just want to leave room for better food later."
"Oh, that works too."
She went out to have fun, that was all.
Money? She couldn't care less.
After all, her allowance was so high that she couldn't even spend it all.
"Speaking of which, Maki, how are things going with Tanuma-kun? Any progress?" The waiter soon brought Takashi's cappuccino. He took a sip and asked.
The moment this topic came up, Maki let out a deep sigh, like a resentful woman locked away in a lonely chamber.
Even her Frappuccino lost its appeal.
"Something wrong?" Takashi asked, curious.
"It's not really a problem, it's just…" Maki hesitated, her face flashing with a bit of conflict before she finally spoke.
The matter traced back to a few days ago—
"Maki, I heard you were in the same class as Tanuma-kun back in middle school. Is that true?"
In the girls' locker room, Nagisa casually asked as she watched Maki change into her sportswear.
"Was there such a person in our class?" Maki looked genuinely surprised, as if she had never noticed Tanuma Tsubasa before.
In reality, she had been paying attention to him since middle school.
Nagisa, treating it as idle chit-chat, continued nonchalantly, "Yeah, Tanuma-kun told me himself."
'Did he notice me back in middle school?'
Maki was secretly overjoyed at the thought.
But then, out of nowhere, Nagisa added, "He even said he used to have a crush on you."
"But because you were too outstanding and your status was too high, he could only keep his feelings buried."
Finding out that her crush had once liked her too—that they had both hesitated, testing the waters, only to miss their chance—Maki couldn't control her voice.
Her tone sharpened with excitement.
"Maki?" Nagisa leaned against a locker, glancing at her with amusement.
"Could it be that... you like him too?"
Her gaze was as clear as dewdrops at dawn, seemingly able to see right through people.
Feeling as if her secret had been exposed, Maki quickly covered her mouth, avoiding Nagisa's knowing look, and suddenly burst out laughing.
"As if I'd fall for someone like him."
"I'm a direct descendant of the Shinomiya family, practically the heart of this nation."
"Do you think a tiger would fall in love with a mouse?"
"Only someone like you, Nagisa, would be interested in an idiot like that."
"And then, somehow, that line got back to Tsubasa's ears. He must hate me now."
As she spoke, Maki couldn't hold back her tears and buried her face in her arms on the table.
Takashi considerately handed her a tissue.
Maki took it, wiped her tears, and even blew her nose.
"Aren't you really going to regret not saying 'I like you'?" Takashi sighed.
All tsunderes were the same.
They could have won just by going all in, but instead, they insisted on being contrary.
Pushing happiness further and further away with their own hands.
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Check out the other translations too: [Mash-Up: Anything For Money]