After deciding to give up, I became popular

"Although I think you're cute when you're innocent, I still prefer... that version of Shiina..."

"That time..." She was thinking about what happened 7 hours ago.

Her face flushed, feeling teased, she fought back.

She leaned forward, getting close to his face, a few strands of her loose hair falling on Kanade Natsukawa's face. Then she leaned in a little more, her pink and delicate tongue lightly touching the corner of his lips, before he suddenly picked her up, flipped her over, and pinned her down.

"No!"

"Hmm?"

"I want to be on top this time! I don't want to lose to you again!" Shiina said, puffing out her cheeks, her eyes fluttering. Although she felt very shy inside, she had gotten used to it over the years and wasn't as resistant.

"Oh?" Kanade Natsukawa was taken aback for a moment, but then a teasing smile appeared on his lips. "Then you won't have the strength to get out of bed until tomorrow..."

"I, I'm not afraid of you..."

"..."

---

The next day was the university graduation season and also the Qixi Festival (Double Seventh Festival, Chinese Valentine's Day).

Kanade Natsukawa and Mahiru Shiina chose a Chinese-style wedding, held at dusk.

It was partly to commemorate his past life, and partly to say goodbye to the past of this life.

Because it was an elopement, there was no concept of a wedding procession. The two had met 7 years ago in high school, and had been together ever since, for exactly ten years.

With university almost over, Kanade Natsukawa had become a somewhat well-known writer, often writing short stories for various publishers, earning a decent amount. Shiina, on the other hand, had opened a bakery, and because of her excellent skills, her business was doing well. Kanade would also go and help out when she was busy.

Their lives were stable, and they relied on each other.

Perhaps they had stumbled through occasional bumps and storms along the way, but these difficulties had long been overcome, and now they had truly achieved a happy ending.

Kanade Natsukawa also invited former classmates, university friends, and fellow enthusiasts, etc. Although Shiina had few friends, she still had a few close ones, all of whom she invited.

Wearing a red robe, with a red flower pinned to his chest, the festive atmosphere coexisted with a sense of humor.

In order to escape the shadow of their parents, the two had long since left the metropolis of Tokyo and moved to a more remote town.

Because this wedding adopted a Chinese style, it aroused a lot of talk among the locals, and coupled with the fact that the two were quite well-known here, it also attracted a lot of attention.

But it didn't matter. After all, this was a once-in-a-lifetime event, and there was no such thing as too much ceremony. Even if people they didn't want to see came to their door, he could just run away with Shiina again.

So, with Katou's support, Shiina's petite and lovely figure appeared in front of Kanade Natsukawa. She wore a red cloth over her head, completely covering her face, her shiny long hair softly tied behind her, wearing a straight-skirted red robe made of cloud-patterned brocade.

Kanade Natsukawa reached out and took her soft little hand.

"I can't see anything... I'm leaving it all to you."

"Of course, leave it to me, along with the rest of your life."

And so, he led her hand across the red carpet, all the way to the hall, where the wedding ceremony officially began.

During the emcee's introduction, Kanade Natsukawa always gazed tenderly at the petite girl beside him, and Shiina's hand gently grasped his hand, her fingertips playfully playing tricks in his palm.

The hall was full of guests, constantly whispering to each other, not only curious about this alternative ceremony, but also sending sincere blessings to the newlyweds.

Kanade Natsukawa vaguely looked at every corner. Katou was also sitting at the wedding banquet table, noticed his gaze, and nodded and smiled at him, with her usual warm smile.

But for some reason, Kanade Natsukawa always felt that her eyes seemed a little dim, even with a hint of loss. Was he imagining things?

When he was young, he had indeed thought about confessing to Katou, but the day before that, the petite angel firmly opened his door, even though she looked so timid.

Not at all like the usual gentle and proud Shiina.

"Kanade, I like you... Could you, maybe, like me a little too?"

The usually elegant and gentle girl was so nervous that she was about to cry.

Kanade Natsukawa had never been good at rejecting people, especially in that kind of environment. After hearing her tearful words, perhaps his mind was also confused at the time, and he just hoped that she would stop crying, so he coaxed her and agreed.

But he understood that he should try to treat this relationship well. At the time, he didn't know if he still liked Shiina, but in the long period of time they spent together later, he realized that he never wanted to let go of Shiina's hand anymore.

As for Katou... his "like" for her disappeared after he realized he had fallen in love with Shiina. His youthful joy was actually very naive.

Later, he realized that it was a sense of seeking recognition and understanding.

But in fact, everyone's love is very naive, but this is precisely the essential energy to get through the long and boring times.

The emcee's announcement stopped, and after a brief pause, his voice rose again.

"Bow to heaven and earth!"

"..."

"Husband and wife bow to each other!"

So the two of them turned around at the same time. "Okay, now bow your head."

Shiina bent down, lowered her head, and her little head touched his forehead very, very lightly.

At that moment, the originally silent guests burst into laughter, applause, cheers, as noisy as a night market.

However, the next step was not to send them to the bridal chamber. Kanade Natsukawa reached out and gently lifted the veil on Shiina's head, took her hand, and looked down at her.

The elegant and gentle Shiina, who could always handle everything in an orderly manner, the cute but occasionally slightly black-bellied classmate, suddenly became incredibly shy at this moment, clutching the corners of her skirt, her cheeks like the red glow of the sky.

"I'm going to kiss you," Kanade Natsukawa winked at her.

Shiina's eyes were red, and she tiptoed and hugged him tightly.

Kanade Natsukawa put his arms around her slender waist and kissed her.

---

At the guest table, Kanade Natsukawa held a glass of diluted white wine and went around toasting each table.

First was his best friend, Mr. Hachiman Hikigaya. This guy's face looked very strange, half like he was blessing him with happiness, and the other half like he was cursing him to "explode, you normie."

"Can't you smile a little more?" Kanade Natsukawa complained. "What about the eyes I gave you before? Why don't you wear them? They can increase your appearance by 1000 percent."

"Today's the protagonist is you, what's the use of me improving my appearance?" Hikigaya retorted. After not seeing him for a long time, he still loved to complain so much.

"Whatever," Kanade Natsukawa shrugged, thinking that he might still not be used to being in the limelight. He probably hadn't worn them much since he gave them to him.

"But if you can't find a girlfriend, don't set your sights on other people's daughters, you creepy uncle."

"!!! Be serious!" Hikigaya wanted to curse something, but Kanade Natsukawa had already gone far away, so he had to mutter to himself in place.

"Damn it, if I hadn't met this guy in the first place... no, never mind - it definitely wouldn't be as good as it is now..."

"Be happy, you bastard..."

After passing by Hikigaya, he greeted Hakuin Miyuki and Tanuma Tsubasa, etc., and after toasting all the guests, he noticed Katou in the corner, sitting alone in an empty seat, holding a cake in her hand, with wine on the side. Shiina happened to go to the bathroom, so Kanade Natsukawa walked up with his glass.

"Congratulations to you and Mahiru, be sure to be happy." Katou picked up her glass with both hands, stood up, and gently touched Kanade Natsukawa's glass, tilted her head back, and gulped down the full glass of white wine.

Kanade Natsukawa was frightened, he remembered that this guy could fall over with just one glass of beer.

"Are you happy today, Kanade-kun, it's been 7 years, finally there's a result." Katou gently wiped the corner of her mouth, her eyes bright, probably choked, her eyes were slightly red and constantly flickering.

Shiina came out of the bathroom, saw Katou, and trotted over to hug her, gently tiptoeing.

"Give me a kiss."

Katou lowered her head and kissed her little face, and then Shiina pecked her once, and then Katou whispered, "Mahiru and Kanade-kun must be happy in the future, a hundred years of happiness together!"

"Mmm-hmm!" Shiina's smile bloomed, probably the happiest that Kanade Natsukawa had seen since he was with her.

After chatting for a while, Katou left on the pretext of having something to do, and he once again took Shiina's hand, pulled her to a quiet place to sit down, took out a tissue and gently stroked her little face, his voice very light, but full of satisfaction and happiness.

"Wife?"

"Hmm...? Say it again!" The girl's eyes were happy and excited.

"Wife!"

"Husband!"

Shiina pounced into his arms and hugged him, and he picked her up and sat her obediently on his lap.

"In the future, let's walk together until our hair turns white, will you stay by my side, Mahiru?"

"Kanade too, you have to stay with me like this."

"Then it's a deal."

"Mmm-hmm!"

The girl's tears suddenly fell, tears containing joyful emotions, as bright as diamonds.

Opening his eyes, he saw an unfamiliar ceiling.

Kanade Natsukawa sat up, squinted his eyes slightly, stretched his waist, and yawned several times before he woke up a bit.

After getting dressed, he hadn't walked a few steps to the living room when the delicate figure of his girlfriend appeared before his eyes.

After deciding to live together, he and Megumi moved to this apartment together, and it's been almost two weeks since then, and the two have been living a sweet and greasy life -

"What kind of bento are you going to make today?"

As he spoke, Kanade Natsukawa's hand had already wrapped around his girlfriend's waist, and then he leaned his head over, burying it in her hair, gently smelling the sweet fragrance emanating from her body.

"There's fried chicken cutlet and fried egg." Megumi replied softly, tilting her head slightly to look at him, her bright brown eyes twinkling with starlight. "Don't you want to rest a little longer? You slept very late last night..."

However, the answer she received was the restless hand around her waist.

"..."

Even the mouth that was supposed to say something had other bad intentions at this time.

"Don't mess around, the knife is very dangerous."

So she had to tilt her head slightly, making a somewhat resistant look, but she didn't expect to cause the other party's pitiful expression.

"Megumi doesn't love me anymore! We were clearly loving each other to death last night..."

"Go brush your teeth first, we can eat soon." Katou Megumi interrupted him softly, her usually calm face couldn't help but become green and shy.

Although she had gotten used to it a bit these days, she would still feel a little shy.

"You're still嫌弃me, aren't you?"

Katou Megumi: "..."

For some reason, I always feel that Kanade-kun likes to撒娇more and more after living together, but she doesn't hate it.

So she shook her head slightly, as a response to him.

"I don't believe it, unless you take the initiative to kiss me."

"..."

So she had to tilt her head slightly, preparing to peck his lips lightly, but she didn't expect to be caught by the handle all of a sudden, and then there was a long drive straight in, and the city was breached.

"Goo..."

"..."

"Woo woo woo..."

"What's wrong?" Kanade Natsukawa blinked and conveyed this information to the lovely person in his arms.

"Hand..."

"Oh, it's the hand～" Kanade Natsukawa immediately understood what his girlfriend meant.

So he began to earnestly display the skills he had been diligently learning these days.

"Mmm..."

After trying for a long time, he finally heard a faint娇俏voice from Megumi's mouth, accompanied by a slight tremor and 滑腻 touch from the palm of his hand.