The tipping point

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Things were just swell as is. That's at least what Haruto thought about the situation. Ami doing his every bidding as long as he kept feeding her the attention she so desperately desired. He even caught himself having fun whenever they hung out to make more content. She obviously wanted a little more than just fun. Ami wanted an actual, committed relationship. Though he hated to admit it, with their recent development, she'd pretty much become the person he considered closest to him. Not the best of directions, Haruto aspired to be part of the popular clique. Sure, he came along with the "queen" of their grade, but they weren't friends. He just so happened to be approachable enough for her to nerd out over the stuff she didn't wanna share with her friends. Over time, Haruto had misunderstood his standing. He genuinely believed that he could fetch himself a girl of a similar caliber for some time.. The rude awakening came when he approached Fumiko as she was talking to her actual friends. The pure look of annoyance told him everything he needed to know about their relationship, and then some.
Of course, from Ami's perspective, Haruto's friendship with Fumiko was genuine and healthy. With no proper reference of how an actual friendship works, what he and the most popular girl had was just as real as anything.

With the big hit to his confidence, actually becoming committed with Ami showed signs of being increasingly more likely. Though actually going through with it and accepting her would be the same as accepting his own standing. Something which he still had his reservations about, being in partial denial of how people actually perceived him. But then again, what's wrong with settling for someone who actually likes you? She even had the potential to look sorta cute hadn't ruined her style for the sake of content. That stutter would get old soon, though..

The fact that he had started to see Ami as more than just a means to make money got him a little jumpy, especially when they walked around in public together. Her recent makeover seemed to have made her rather popular amongst a certain crowd. More specifically, the lanky, nerdy type that had become smitten with the E-girl trope. With her bright blue hair, colored contacts and collar she fit the bill perfectly. fortunately for Haruto, her poor posture and constantly-glued-to-the-ground gaze made her oblivious to this fact. If she found other means of getting attention, perhaps she'd ditch him for some virgin that put her on a pedestal and worshiped her.

Similar thoughts had been racing through Haruto's mind ever since the events at the beach. Ami very well could've cut all ties with him after that, a brutal reminder that she was her own person and didn't belong to him in any way. Thankfully she hadn't and their relationship was better than it'd ever been. Still, the reminder lit a fire under Haruto. A fire that eventually led to a proper confession of sorts. Out of fear of losing not just his sole source of income, but also his closest friend, he asked her out. Never in a million years would she tell him no. But the way she told him yes ..it could hardly be considered coherent. With her underlying difficulties stringing together sentences with minimal stuttering, any excitement or stress on top of that made her a mumbling mess. Her blushing cheeks and teary eyes made for all the confirmation he needed, but he still waited for her to properly convey her response. Frankly, he derived a sadistic type of pleasure from it.

Now, two weeks later, their relationship hadn't progressed much past the point of occasional pecks on the cheeks. Not because either one was afraid to take it further, but because Haruto purposely kept it there. His confession simply served the purpose of making sure she wouldn't go anywhere for the foreseeable future. He didn't actually intend to play the role of the doting boyfriend. Ami however appeared to be more than happy with their current situation. Sure, she would've LOVED some more intimacy and affection, but the relationship she now had was infinitely more than what she believed she deserved or would ever get. She'd be mad to even entertain the idea of wanting MORE. That didn't prevent her from trying to "sweettalk" Haruto by sending sexy pictures whenever she could. Some of which even made their way onto Onlystans, despite her giving strict instructions that they be for his eyes only.

The only question that remained now would be what Haruto decides in regard to the relationship. Does he keep stringing her along before dumping her for someone marginally better, or does he see something in her and settle?