Can't We Skip Dating?

Akira extended his hand.

Nanami placed her hand in his and pushed herself up. Though she staggered a little midway, she managed to stand.

"Hey, this is really pushing it," Jin couldn't help stepping forward. "There'll be more presentations later. But with how she is today…"

"Let Nanami go."

A soft but unmistakably firm voice came from behind.

Everyone turned in surprise and saw Mashiro standing quietly there, gazing seriously at Nanami.

Then, in her usual flat tone, she made a request.

"If it were me, I'd go. If Nanami wants to go, let her. Please."

Sorata and the others fell into hesitation.

But in truth, their opinions weren't that important. What mattered now was Nanami's will—and someone to take her.

Akira, nearly rough in his movements, supported Nanami as they headed toward the front gate.

He said casually, "Someone open the gate, or I'll see if I can kick it down."

Judging by his tone, it wasn't a joke at all. Jin had no choice but to hurry over and open the gate.

Akira swept his gaze across the worried faces, all hesitating to speak, nearly blocking his path.

He tossed out a quick, "If you're that worried, come along," then helped Nanami into the front passenger seat and fastened her seatbelt.

As soon as he finished speaking, Mashiro stepped through the crowd, opened the back door, and climbed into the car.

"Shiina…"

Gritting his teeth, Sorata followed suit.

Akira didn't even glance at the two in the back. After confirming the destination, he started the car. 

While driving, he said to Nanami, "Open the glove compartment in front of you."

Nanami did as instructed and found two packs of bread and a bottle of high-energy sports drink inside.

"If you haven't had breakfast, eat the bread. Sports drinks aren't really suitable for someone who's sick. 

They force your body into a heightened state and make your condition worse, but they'll give you some extra strength to get through this morning."

Without thinking, Nanami grabbed the sports drink. "Thanks. I'll pay you back—"

"It'll be deducted from your salary."

"Mm." Nanami nodded and tore open the bread packaging, taking a big bite.

This version of Nanami felt a little unfamiliar to Sorata.

The Nanami he knew was fiercely independent—so much so that she refused any helping hand, choosing to forge ahead through sheer will. 

But today, she had clearly arranged for Akira to pick her up, and had easily accepted the food and drink he provided.

She had always been a kind girl, gentle in nature. But today—more accurately, ever since Akira coldly criticized her—she had become like a fierce little lioness. 

Even her way of eating wasn't reserved, carrying the aggressive intensity of tearing into prey.

Sorata didn't know what had happened the day before, nor did he understand Akira's reasons for claiming Nanami was doomed to fail. 

But what he could tell was that something inside Nanami had changed drastically.

As for Mashiro.

She maintained her calm, emotionless expression as her gaze shifted to the window.

...

At the voice acting agency's entrance, Nanami drank about half of the sports drink, then put the rest in her bag.

Facing the others, she showed an energetic smile. "Thanks. I can handle things on my own from here. You all can go back."

Akira let out a snort. 

"If you want people who worry about you to worry less, the best way is to stay within their line of sight—not brush them off with pointless lines. Don't waste your energy on such trivialities. Go."

Nanami tried her best to accept the overly blunt but irrefutable reasoning. She gave a bow, turned around, and walked into the voice acting agency.

After a long silence, Mashiro finally whispered, "Nanami is burning."

Akira, who had been keeping a tight expression, finally relaxed a little. He habitually took out a cigarette and lighter. 

"Yeah. Now we'll see how long she can keep burning. She's young, so she won't burn out completely—but the firewood this time is a little lacking."

Hearing their conversation, Sorata finally began to understand a few things.

"What you said to Nanami this morning—was it intentional?"

Akira stepped aside and lit his cigarette. 

"What else would it be? A girl with average talent, a body broken from overwork, and energy spread too thin—if she can't burn herself up in a short period, how's she supposed to overcome this challenge in her life? 

Even that little genius behind you couldn't confidently say she could pull it off under the same conditions, right?"

Sorata froze. "So you did investigate us?"

Akira paused too, then realized what he was referring to.

Ah, right—he'd casually said Akasaka Ryuunosuke's name yesterday. Definitely suspicious.

"Yeah. Just assume I did."

It wasn't easy to explain, and Akira didn't feel like explaining. He had plenty of time, sure, but not enough to waste it on pointless chatter with just anyone.

"Then… you approached Nanami with a plan? Why?"

"Why else?" Akira tilted his head, giving Sorata a sidelong look. 

"It's not like she can bring me any benefit. So obviously—it's because I like her. I like strong and hardworking girls. Got a problem with that?"

"Uh… no, not at all."

Now Sorata finally understood Nanami's sense of discomfort. 

In a society where distance and euphemism were so deeply ingrained, Akira's direct manner of speaking really was shocking.

"I just wanted to ask… Your relationship with Nanami… It's not like… that Kasumi Utako-sensei situation, right?"

Even though Sorata stammered, and struggled to phrase it, Akira understood. His expression shifted slightly.

For the record, the last time he'd made that face was in a café while slamming Tomoya. 

In other words, he was already prepared to completely destroy Sorata's worldview depending on what came next.

But seeing that Sorata wasn't picking a fight and was just expressing normal concern, Akira replied in kind.

"Looks like you guys figured out who Kasumi Utako-sensei is. 

Yeah, she's been having some trouble lately. 

But I wasn't the one who caused it—on the contrary, I offered her some protection. That's all I'll say about that. Believe it or not, up to you."

"As for Miss Aoyama, I really do like her. I don't intend to ruin her. That's it."

Sorata once again tried to adapt to this blunt honesty and bowed awkwardly. "I misunderstood. Thank you for treating Nanami that way."

"…Hm?"

At that, Akira finally turned to look at Sorata directly, studying him carefully.

That gaze—like it could see straight through someone's soul—sent a chill down Sorata's spine.

"D-Did I say something wrong?"

"No feigned ignorance, no twisting of words, no hypocrisy… Truly unaware, and didn't do anything underhanded…"

Akira muttered as he recalled the plot and stared into Sorata's eyes. After a long while, he finally looked away and left Sorata with one cryptic remark.

"Tch… boring."

Sorata had no idea what Akira meant by "boring."

He just had a vague feeling… that if Akira ever found him "interesting," he might be doomed.

___

The only problem I have with this fic…

No bashing for Sorata.

Compared to Tomoya, Sorata is actually worse than him if you read the ln.

For those who haven't, let's just say Sorata is an insecure guy who dragged Mashiro down to his level.

At the very least, Tomoya learned programming to help the team.

Meanwhile Sorata corrupted Mashiro by making her addicted to sex.

Iirc, at the end Mashiro lost her world level talent.

___

Read 20 Advanced Chapters on p@ tr eon (.) com/HalflingFics 

Also, please point out my mistakes in the comment, thank you!

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Check out the other translations too

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