Miku gazed at his face and tilted her head uncertainly.
"Are you sure?"
"Don't hesitate; it'll be very painful." Shinichi explained patiently.
"Compared to fixing appearance, the most important thing in giving a gift is to symbolize your heart and memories. Even if you make it more beautiful, you can't change the mood when choosing a gift. Isn't that futile?"
"Oh~ That makes sense..." Miku nodded in understanding, then stared straight.
"Just like when you gave a hairpin to Ichika?"
"..."
Shinichi's face stiffened a bit, realizing that Miku was referring to the hairpin he gave to Ichika when she went on a date during summer vacation.
He just didn't expect her to bring it up this time.
After internal struggle for less than three seconds, Shinichi nodded firmly.
"Yes! That's it!"
Being a coward won't accomplish anything. To be a man, the best way to overcome fear is to face it.
Shinichi encouraged himself with a few words, then responded to Miku's innocent gaze with a deathly expression.
"If that's the case, it's even" Miku nodded and said gently.
"..."
Shinichi was surprised; Miku's reaction was very much like her style, and he truly didn't know what she was thinking.
She wasn't speaking now but staring into the distant night sky with confusion.
The atmosphere became silent; both held the gifts they wanted to give each other, yet they were unsure whether to share them or not.
Shinichi thought for a moment and broke the silence.
"Miku, please tell me what I said earlier."
"What?" Miku turned with a puzzled look.
"Just replace the hairpin with me, and the glasses with a bracelet." Shinichi asked. "Tell me, I just came up with a good answer!"
"Well then..." Miku gathered courage and asked word by word.
"Is it more important that I look good, or the bracelet looks good?"
After she finished speaking, she realized that this was more embarrassing than she imagined.
How could the person in front of her say such things without changing his expression?
Is this what they call a strong person who has fought countless battles without defeat and no longer knows what shame is?
No, it's clearly because his sense of shame is in an unfamiliar place...
As Miku turned away, her face slightly red.
Shinichi lowered his voice and spoke affectionately.
"Everything is important to me. But the most important thing is... you, Miku!"
"..."
Miku watched the proud expression on his face, and her heart was filled with doubt.
Instead of emotionally embracing him, Miku now wanted to scold him loudly.
So—
Can you say disgusting things? What's wrong with your sense of shame?
△
"Are you kidding? No, of course not. Didn't I just say that? That was the last joke today."
Shinichi patted his chest, his face serious and affectionate.
"Although I said it to lighten the mood, these are also my sincere words. If there's any lie, let your father drown me in Tokyo Bay!"
"Hmm~..."
Bombarded repeatedly by disgusting attacks, Miku covered her face.
"Shinichi, please stop talking... If you keep talking, I'll die."
Shinichi looked at her with a little concern, but this time, he didn't know what was wrong with his body, so he said a few pitiful words.
Shortly after, with the help of the cool night breeze, Miku finally calmed down.
Although the blush was still on her face, her sense of shame had greatly healed.
She suddenly understood Shinichi's feeling of wanting to jump off the roof when he was on the roof.
The phone vibrated, Miku took it out and clicked on the message, then unconsciously looked up.
"What's wrong?"
"Nino is asking about my whereabouts and whether I need a ride."
Shinichi looked at the bracelet on her hand, "Although it's not Christmas, let's quickly exchange gifts. After exchanging, it's time to say goodbye."
"Um, as a memento of our date." Miku chuckled and replied to Nino's message first.
[I'll be down soon. I'll come up after talking to Shinichi.]
After typing the message, she thought for a moment, inadvertently deleted that sentence, rearranged the message, and sent it again.
[I'm almost there. Don't worry about me. I'll go up by myself.]
She put her phone back into her bag, looked at Shinichi, took glasses out of the box, and there was more anticipation in her eyes.
"Can I help you put it on?"
"Okay, then I'll trouble you."
Miku heard another message from her bag, but at the moment, she was busy putting glasses on the person she liked, and no matter who sent what message, she didn't care.
Shinichi slightly bowed, brought his face closer, and closed his eyes a little.
"Come on, this is my first time (wearing glasses), so please be gentle."
When Shinichi said this, Miku was attracted to his lips and almost poked her eyes.
"No, don't say something that will cause a misunderstanding..."
She bit her lip, blushed, and still didn't have the courage to kiss him now, so she helped him put on glasses and then stepped back a few steps with her hands behind her back.
Shinichi opened his eyes, held the mirror frame, and smiled.
"How is it?"
Miku stared at him dazedly, then took out her phone, took a photo, and laughed very satisfied.
"Precious CG obtained..."
"Does this mean it looks good? It's fine." Shinichi reached out towards her.
"Your turn, give me your hand."
"Um."
Miku placed her palm in his hand, calmly watching as Shinichi put the bracelet on her wrist and fastened the clasp.
"It fits perfectly."
Shinichi nodded in satisfaction, Miku pulled her hand back, like a child with a new toy, curiously looking at her wrist from every angle.
The more she looked, the more she felt certain emotions slowly stirring, and Miku said uncontrollably.
"I always felt that the bracelet was more like a symbol of love than the glasses..."