A few hours after the five of them had started hanging out together…
Ayaka and Chiharu suddenly said—
“Hey, I’m getting hungry…”
“Me too—I’m starving!”
They made their complaint while looking straight at Yuzuru and Soichiro.
The two boys instinctively glanced at each other.
“I see.”
“That’s rough.”
At that, Ayaka and Chiharu openly showed displeased expressions.
Then the two of them grabbed the hand of the blank-faced Arisa.
“Hey, hey, Arisa-chan. You’re a little hungry too, right?”
“Don’t you fancy something salty?”
“Huh? Well… I suppose I can’t deny that, since we’ve been moving around a lot…”
Arisa didn’t seem to quite understand what Ayaka and Chiharu were getting at.
But for the two of them, whether Arisa understood their intention didn’t seem all that important.
They nodded their heads exaggeratedly, over and over.
“Right?”
“We’re hungry, aren’t we?”
Glance, glance.
They looked over at Yuzuru and Soichiro.
“You know, I think one of the qualities of a wonderful man is being attentive.”
“I agree. When a girl is hungry, a man who goes and buys something without even being asked—that’s wonderful, isn’t it? …Arisa-san, you think so too, right?”
“Huh? N-no… but that would be too much trouble…”
Finally realising what Ayaka and Chiharu were trying to do, Arisa shook her head and tried to deny it.
But the two girls cut her off, raising their voices in an obviously theatrical way.
“Aaah, even though his cute childhood friend is hungry.”
“And it looks like his fiancée is hungry too—what in the world should he do, I wonder?”
Yuzuru and Soichiro sighed.
First, Soichiro turned to Ayaka and Chiharu.
“…Fine. What should I buy?”
“Yakisoba for me.”
“I’d like takoyaki.”
Since Soichiro was going to buy something, Yuzuru had no choice but to go along.
Yuzuru turned to his clearly flustered fiancée.
“What about you, Yukishiro?”
“U-um… well…”
“I’m hungry too.”
When Yuzuru said that, Arisa placed a hand on her slender white stomach.
Then, with her cheeks faintly reddening, she shyly moved her pink lips.
“In that case… fried potatoes, please.”
“Got it.”
Just as Yuzuru and Soichiro turned on their heels—
“Ah, and drinks too, please!”
“We’ll be waiting over there!”
The voices of the childhood friends called out from behind them.
Yuzuru and Soichiro looked at each other and shrugged.
“Alright—they’re gone.”
“They sure are.”
After seeing Yuzuru and Soichiro off, Ayaka and Chiharu…
Closed in on Arisa.
“U-um… what is it?”
“Let’s have a little girls’ talk.”
“There are lots of things we want to ask you, Arisa-san.”
Arisa was practically escorted into a chair by the two of them.
Ayaka and Chiharu sat on either side of her, neatly boxing her in.
“So, Arisa-chan… honestly speaking, what do you think about Yuzurun?”
Ayaka asked her that.
Arisa let out a startled Eh?
“W-what do you mean…?”
“Do you like him—as a man?”
Chiharu asked directly.
Arisa’s skin flushed faintly red.
She shook her head vigorously from side to side.
“No way! …I don’t have romantic feelings for him.”
At Arisa’s answer, Ayaka and Chiharu tilted their heads.
“Yuzurun may be a bit sloppy at school, but if he dresses up he’s pretty handsome.”
“And I think he has an excellent personality as well. Is there something about him you’re dissatisfied with?”
Once again, Arisa shook her head.
“N-no… I do think Takasegawa-san is a wonderful man…”
Shyly, Arisa lowered her gaze.
After hesitating for a while, she said it clearly.
“But even so, romantic feelings are a different matter, aren’t they?”
“…Huh.”
“I see.”
Even if Yuzuru was a wonderful man…
That alone wasn’t a reason to fall in love.
It was the same for Ayaka and Chiharu—when it came to Yuzuru, they only felt friendship towards him as a member of the opposite sex.
So the two of them quickly backed down.
…Or rather, they should have.
“Then what would you do if Yuzurun said he liked you?”
“Fweeh!?”
Caught completely off guard by the sudden question, Arisa cried out in surprise.
Her pure white skin flushed bright red.
“T-there’s no way… that could ever happen.”
“I mean hypothetically. Wouldn’t you think about trying it—dating him, just to see?”
Grinning mischievously, Chiharu asked as Arisa shook her head over and over.
“I-I couldn’t do something so insincere! And besides…”
“And besides?” “And besides?”
Arisa let out a small sigh.
Then she spoke in a faint voice.
“There are women far more suitable for Takasegawa-san than someone like me… He’s such an admirable person, after all.”
With that, Arisa smiled.
But it wasn’t really a gentle smile.
It was more self-deprecating—almost bitter.
“Hmmm.”
“So that’s how it is.”
Ayaka and Chiharu seemed to have come to some sort of understanding.
While Arisa blinked in confusion, the two of them smiled.
“Sorry for asking something weird, Arisa-chan.”
“If it made you uncomfortable, we apologise.”
“N-no… it’s fine. …You’re Takasegawa-san’s childhood friends, right? It’s natural to be curious.”
Just as they were finishing that conversation—
“Hey, we’re back.”
“We grabbed some drinks too, so just pick whichever you like.”
Soichiro and Yuzuru had returned.
The three girls welcomed the two boys with bright smiles, as if nothing had happened.
