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“(He looked at me… Kanata looked at me in such a super revealing outfit… So, the one that showed my shoulders wasn’t the revealing one… Even though I expected it to be about like this, since I felt cool air all over my body back then, you know. I was so embarrassed that he saw me in this, I lashed out at him more harshly than I should have. I know he isn’t some pervert… Gah… I need to apologize…¹ But will he forgive me? I’m sure he’ll get angry…)”

Sakura mumbled to herself, still in her underwear, while burying her face in the clothing she’d worn earlier.

“Sakura… you’re taking pretty long, did something happen? It’s been a long time since you were able to use your eyes… did you get lightheaded?”
“Ah… I-It’s nothing! I was just looking at the bath for a bit!”
“Alright, that’s good to hear.”

Kanata, who was standing outside in front of the door to the changing room, sighed in relief. On the other side, Sakura’s feelings of guilt only worsened.

“(What should I do…? I’m the worst. To begin with, no matter what I say to Kanata, he never gets very angry. It’s always just me treating him harshly! What do I do… oh, what should I do? Even assuming my face looks nice, with that personality of mine… I feel ashamed for thinking even for a moment that Kanata might go out with me… After all, rather than me, he should have someone more worthy of him, someone with both good looks and a nice character…)”

Sakura continued her monologue, while burying her face in the clothing again. Kanata grew worried, since she still hadn’t left the room, even though several minutes had passed since he had checked, whether she was fine.

“Sakura…? Are you really alright? Nothing happened?”
“Eh… uhm, yeah, I’m fine… can you please wait a bit longer?”
“Understood, but if anything’s wrong, just tell me, will you?”

Sakura quickly changed into her original clothing and left the changing room, so she wouldn’t cause Kanata any further worries. He was shocked when he saw her reddened and teary eyes.

“W-What’s wrong!? Did truly nothing happen?”
“Y-Yeah… I’m fine, everything’s alright… Erm… I’m just so happy that I can see…”
“Is that so… You’re not in shock or anything? Still, I’m sorry, Sakura.”
“Huh…?”

Sakura grew perplexed at Kanata’s sudden apology. She didn’t think he had done anything wrong, so her confusion only grew.

“Erm… I probably could’ve acted with more tact.”
“Ah… n-no. It’s alright. On second thought, it’s a good thing that you were the one who saw me like that. After all, we’ve seen each other naked several times, haven’t we…?”
“That was almost 10 years ago, you know?”
“Well, I guess. At any rate, let’s put this matter to rest. I went too far when I called you a pervert, so I’m sorry too.”

Sakura was inwardly relieved that she somehow managed an apology. In hindsight, mentioning the story about both of them being naked might have been unnecessary, but she was glad that she had managed somehow.

“Then, should we go check in at Mr. Loukis’ place? After that, we can look around town.”
“Oh… please wait.”

Sakura stopped Kanata, who had gripped her hand lightly and was about to teleport.

“What’s wrong?”
“Uhm, couldn’t we go to the city first?”
“Hm… well, that’s fine. Let’s do that, then.”

Sakura’s thoughts were the following:
If they went to the castle first, they’d likely send several soldiers with them, when they looked around town. If given the choice, she’d prefer it being just Kanata and her, which would make the time together with him feel like a date. From her perspective, it was somewhat of a selfish indulgence.

“There’s also cafés and other establishments… If we want to, we could probably dine out for lunch and dinner. In that case, we can also go to the castle tomorrow, I guess.”
“Ah… uhm, Kanata. I’d like to cook today’s dinner! Look, I wasn’t able to make it yesterday because I couldn’t see, so…”

She wouldn’t let this opportunity get away. She truly wanted to make the most of her time together with Kanata. In her mind, she was convinced that it would be better to give him more space, once they returned to Earth.

So, it was now or never… or so she thought.

“That’s true. Gotcha… Heh-heh, should I be looking forward to it?”
“Yeah, you absolutely should! It’s my way of thanking you for always taking care of me, so… I’ll do my absolute best.”
“Understood. Then, let’s get out of here already. It looks completely different from Japan, you know? Kinda feels like taking a trip overseas.”
“Alright.”

The two kids decided to forgo the use of teleportation, as they made their way outside. While they did that, Kanata was surprised by Sakura linking arms with him, even though she should have been able to see now.

“Sakura? We don’t need to do this anymore, since your eyes are working again, you know?”
“Erm, that’s true. But I got used to this… I’d like to keep it up for some time. Oh… but if you don’t like it, I can stop.”

Sakura hurriedly untangled her arm from his, but he took her hand right afterwards. From an outside perspective, they merely looked like two kids flirting.

“Well, then let’s get used to it, little by little.”
“You… you’re right! We’ll get used to it over time, won’t we…?”

Since they both avoided at each other’s faces, neither of them noticed that they were both blushing fiercely.

1. I guess it’s nice that she’s at least self-aware.