I'll never be the only one left

　　Her heart pounding for no reason, Nino gripped the handle of the basket tightly.

　　"What is it? If it's okay, let it go! I-"

　　"The person who just took the carrot from me, was it you?"

　　"..."

　　"..."

　　The atmosphere fell into an empty silence again.

　　"...Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh?!"

　　Nino was stunned, after a while, she came to her senses, turned her head and glared at him.

　　"You were the hand that grabbed half of it and let go, making me almost fall? damn..."

　　--That is not true!

　　Nino was about to get angry a few words, but when she thought that the current mood was not suitable for doing such a thing, she quickly turned her face back and gave a cold snort.

　　"...Hmph, so what?"

　　"Seeing you are so good at picking vegetables, if you are free..." Shinichi took out his cell phone from his pocket, and turned on the screen to show her, "Can you help me choose the ingredients on it?"

　　"Food ingredients?" Looking at the ingredients on the phone, which were obviously used for making curry, Nino didn't have time to deal with her emotional troubles, and stamped her feet in panic.

　　"Asada Shinichi, you think this joke is funny?! Why do you want me to help you choose materials for the house? Choose yourself! Stupid! Dumb! Bean sprouts!"

　　Cursing three times in a row, Nino didn't know how to express her complicated emotions, and she was on the ambiguous line between being angry and not being angry. She could only vent her muddled emotions in this way.

　　Shinichi was silent, tilted his head pretending to be stupid.

　　"Ask why?"

　　It couldn't be said that he wasn't stupid enough to let her, who was clearly in a bad mood, go by herself, right?

　　Shinichi pondered for a moment, and a good reason came to mind. After rational judgment, it is no problem to say.

　　"Because you are here."

　　When Shinichi spoke, he couldn't help but laugh.

　　This line comes from the legendary 20th century mountaineer, George. Malory.

　　Someone asked him why he climbed a mountain, but he simply replied – Because mountains exist.

　　Even though Nino probably had never heard of this sentence, but just from the literal meaning, she should have known that he wanted to defuse the embarrassing atmosphere at the moment.

　　And his joking tone could also make her feel better to some extent – that's what Shinichi thought.

　　Then his eyes fell on Nino, and he realized something was wrong.

　　"Because me..."

　　Nino stared blankly at Shinichi for a few seconds, her cold face turning red again.

　　She looked around with a, and her legs became restless as if she would run away at any moment, but who knows what psychological struggle she was going through. In the end, she relaxed her tensed body, and her hand was in Shinichi's palm.

　　With the other hand resting on her chest, and looking away.

　　"I-I know... I'm here, I won't run away..."

　　Her voice was incredibly tame.

　　Holding her soft and boneless wrist, Shinichi maintained a smile, but was full of confusion in his heart.

　　(Nino, your expression is wrong.)

　　(Could it be... I said something wrong again?)

　　...

　　Life is always beautiful, once you try hard to do something, but the result is not what you imagined, then God will surely give you a better result.

　　This sentence doesn't apply to the current Shinichi, because he didn't try very hard to calm Nino down, and he didn't know if the result would be any better than he had imagined.

　　It had to be said that he had really only said those words to her for the purpose of maintaining good relations with her. Who knows what she misunderstood, not only was her mood suddenly good, it was even much higher than before.

　　——Only God can perfectly control one's life, but humans can't.

　　But fortunately, despite the unpredictable way of thinking of women, further developments were within Shinichi's expectation.

　　"See, the stem of this carrot is green, while the root is white. The contrast is clear, meaning fresh… This one is different, and the leaves are not moist. You can choose whatever you want. Throw it back and get another one."

　　Nino used this way to distract and distract her, and it was just a polite way of saying that she looked really good at picking vegetables.

　　But Shinichi didn't expect that Nino was so serious when she picked vegetables, and she was very professional, comparable to the group of aunts beside them.

　　The two walked through the many vegetable and fruit areas one by one. Along the way, Shinichi watches Nino choose skillfully. Not only was her efficiency not inferior to her long-term grocery shopping method, but the materials she bought were all too.

　　Obviously, she is a rich young lady. Even if she knows how to cook, she has to order ingredients directly from the Internet. How can she train such a level of vegetable selection?

　　Shinichi asked curiously, and Nino answered with a bit of pride.

　　"Do you think we were born rich? Before mother remarried, I would go to the market to buy cheap and delicious ingredients, and then I would cook it for everyone with mother."

　　"After mother died, I was responsible for all these problems. Otherwise, they would casually buy food like you, and they wouldn't know how to cook. "

　　Seeing that Nino was clearly complaining, but she was saying it so cutely, Shinichi couldn't help but laugh.

　　But their mother died...

　　Hearing about their family situation for the first time, Shinichi felt a bit depressed, and pretended to be relaxed.

　　"You will become a good cook sooner or later."

　　For some reason, Shinichi felt Nino staring at him again.

　　The two walk side by side. The list of ingredients his mother had given him had been purchased in full. Now Nino took the lead, selecting the items she wanted to buy.

　　"Give me your basket, don't your hands hurt?"

　　"It's a light wound. Shouldn't you give me your basket? My mother used to say that men who don't help women with baskets are braised pig's feet, though I totally disagree."

　　"Hmph, whatever you want."

After a brief debate, the atmosphere returned to peace.

　　To prove that he didn't have any strange intentions, Shinichi let go of Nino's hand in the corner, and very politely apologized.

　　Nino just nodded wordlessly, and when she turned around, she was back to the Nino that Shinichi usually knew.

　　Just an accidental touch of the wrist, made Shinichi feel like he was being scratched by a cat.

　　Chatting from time to time along the way, they bought all the things that had to be bought.

　　While waiting in line at the counter to pay the bill, Nino stared at the crowd in front of her.

　　"Like I said before, I want to do my best for the forest school, so I don't have time to take care of anything else."

　　"The midterms are coming up soon. Hope the others are studying hard, and Yotsuba too, I often see her troubled with questions she doesn't understand…"

　　"Ichika sometimes reads with a book in her hand, even though she doesn't tell me what she's reading… Miku too, mysteriously takes out an English textbook, maybe to check the translation? While taking notes, she looked at his phone, I don't know why she still manages to smile happily..."

　　"Everyone is studying hard, only me…"

　　Her eyes drooped slightly, and the side of her face was a little lonely.

　　But soon, Nino showed a proud smile that refused to admit defeat.

　　(No... Of course, I won't be the only one left...)

　　The speaking voice was very soft, but very serious.

　　"Even so, I won't study!"

　　"That is in the past, present, and in the future. I have to find a way to prove myself besides grades!"

　　Nino lifted her fingertips, pinched Shinichi's sleeve, and looked at him.

　　Her gaze was as hard and transparent as glass, yet fragile to the touch.

　　Like looking for answers, like looking for approval.

　　"So… You will be my partner, right?"

　　Nino's heart was pounding, full of hope and embarrassment.