Since Senpai had given ground, she'd gotten what she wanted, and she wasn't about to keep pushing him.
So—
Iroha Isshiki spoke up. "Given how sincere Senpai's being, I'll take two ice creams—no, three will do. Ten's not necessary."
Ten ice creams, she definitely couldn't finish. But three, right now, was just right—one for herself, one for Senpai, and then they'd share one together. Wonderful.
That scene—
Of course,
Iroha Isshiki knew the odds of that scene actually happening were slim. But slim didn't mean impossible.
If it really happened,
Iroha Isshiki felt she'd be happy for a whole evening.
"It has to be ten—no, twenty,"
"No, no, no, three is enough, three is enough,"
The two girls listening beside her figured Iroha Isshiki was insisting on three ice creams because the extra two were meant for them.
Even Yukino Yukinoshita thought so.
Otherwise, why insist on exactly three? If it were just Iroha Isshiki and Lin Ye, two would be plenty.
Though she didn't much care about the ice cream count, seeing that Iroha Isshiki was still thinking of her, Yukino Yukinoshita's dislike for this underclassman wasn't as strong as it might have been.
Well,
Toward this underclassman who kept eyeing her man, it wasn't that she felt no resentment at all—more often it was helplessness. And of course, when the girl clung to Lin Ye now and then, Yukino did get irritated.
But that was as far as it went. She'd more or less gotten used to it, adapted to it.
"Go on, what's the good news? I'm eating right now."
"Senpai's having a meal with Tachibana-senpai—I'm so envious! I want to join too."
Iroha Isshiki didn't hold back at all, saying exactly what was on her mind.
For Iroha Isshiki, this kind of nerve and boldness came easily.
In the war that was romance, you had to take the initiative when it counted—no hesitation, no compromise, ever.
Women who stayed reserved and shy could only watch other women make the first move and steal away the girl they liked—except, of course, when it came to someone on Yukino Yukinoshita-senpai's level.
An ordinary girl, even a fairly pretty one, who ran into a boy she liked and didn't take the initiative, had almost no chance of success.
Anyway, Iroha Isshiki got excited about going after whoever she liked—a girl chasing a boy was easy as pie, except when the target was this stubborn rock of a senpai.
"I'm hanging up."
"No, no, no,"
Iroha Isshiki immediately cut in, calling out, "The good news is I just got an important piece of information from Yukino Yukinoshita-senpai—this is absolutely good news for you, Senpai."
"Hm?"
Lin Ye waited.
Sitting across from Lin Ye, Rui Tachibana's eyes gleamed with a trace of curiosity.
She knew Lin Ye liked Yukino Yukinoshita, and that he still liked her even now.
Rui Tachibana also knew that trying to replace Yukino Yukinoshita's place in Lin Ye's heart would be extremely difficult, nearly impossible. But since she was already his girlfriend, she wanted to be as good to him as she could, to carve out more of a place for herself in his heart.
That was Rui Tachibana's mindset ever since becoming Lin Ye's girlfriend.
Her original way of thinking had changed completely, top to bottom.
"Yukino-senpai likes you!"
The moment those words left her mouth,
Everyone went silent.
On Iroha Isshiki's end, Yui Yuigahama's eyes went wide, and she instinctively wanted to blurt something out, but a look from Iroha Isshiki kept her composed.
That left Yui Yuigahama shaking Iroha Isshiki's leg to get her point across.
But Yui Yuigahama's hint didn't change anything about Iroha Isshiki.
Meanwhile Yukino Yukinoshita stayed calm, as if Iroha Isshiki's words hadn't affected her at all.
This made Iroha Isshiki inwardly marvel at Yukino-senpai's composure—even a line like that couldn't shake her, not the slightest reaction.
An ordinary person, like Yuigahama-senpai for instance, would absolutely have denied it on the spot. Only Yukino-senpai could take it this calmly.
With how cold and composed Yukino-senpai normally was, what on earth would it take to make her show a strong reaction?
Even Iroha Isshiki felt the urge, the desire, to see another side of Yukinoshita-senpai.
She even wondered if this was exactly the reason Senpai kept pursuing Yukinoshita-senpai so relentlessly, without giving up.
As for Lin Ye,
his first thought was whether Yukinoshita was about to reveal their relationship. Lately there'd been more and more going on, more and more rumors.
Because of Miura Yumiko, rumors about him kept brewing at school, and recently he'd been getting close to Yukinoshita, so she'd started getting caught up in rumors too.
Whispers about her being "the other woman," some shameless homewrecker—there was no shortage of that kind of talk.
Yukino Yukinoshita was extremely popular at Sobu High, but that popularity came with plenty of jealousy and resentment too.
Now that unflattering rumors about Yukino Yukinoshita were circulating, quite a few people didn't mind pouring oil on the fire, letting her feel the full force of gossip.
So, putting together everything that had been happening lately, he figured Iroha Isshiki was saying this because Yukino had finally let something slip.
But those words left Rui Tachibana, Lin Ye's girlfriend, plunged instantly into a daze.
She tensed up, grew anxious, even a little scared.
She was afraid of losing Lin Ye.
Yes,
Compared to Yukinoshita, Rui Tachibana really counted for nothing in Lin Ye's heart. So this news—that Yukino Yukinoshita liked Lin Ye—would surely send her boyfriend spiraling into shock and joy.
So what was she supposed to do going forward?
What could she possibly do to keep her boyfriend from leaving her?
That thought filled Rui Tachibana's entire mind.
At that moment,
the pressure on Rui Tachibana was overwhelming, crushing.
The boyfriend she'd worked so hard to land—was he about to fly away?
"Senpai, are you excited? Happy? Thrilled?"
Three rhetorical questions in a row, revealing just how mischievous and amused Iroha Isshiki felt inside.
She just wanted to see that gap in Senpai's emotions.
The girl you like, liking you back—was there anything more joyful, more exciting than that?
Definitely not.
Iroha Isshiki figured Lin Ye would jump up in excitement right now, abandon his meal at once, and rush off to find Yukino Yukinoshita-senpai.
If that really happened, then she'd tell Senpai afterward that what Yukinoshita-senpai had actually said was that she liked "that type" of boy—not specifically him.
She wondered what kind of reaction Senpai would have then—would he want to beat her to death for it?
Iroha Isshiki got a little scared, worrying she might actually get beaten to death.
"Student Tachibana, why are you spacing out? Keep eating, eat more."
But what came through the phone were these words from Lin Ye, leaving Iroha Isshiki stunned, and the others with her equally dumbfounded.
Rui Tachibana, the one being urged to eat, didn't even know what to say.
How could he just tell her to eat more, out of nowhere?
She... did she even have the appetite to eat right now?
At that moment, Rui Tachibana's entire mind and body were consumed by what she'd just heard.
"Senpai, Senpai, Yukino Yukinoshita-senpai said she likes you!"
But still no answer from Lin Ye.
Rui Tachibana couldn't hold back and asked again. She desperately wanted to know the answer to this—she wanted to know how Lin Ye would react to being liked by a girl he liked.
"Lin-kun, Isshiki says Student Yukinoshita likes you,"
she reminded him to his face,
and felt the boy in front of her turn his gaze on her.
"You believe what Isshiki says?"
That single rhetorical question from Lin Ye made his attitude perfectly clear.
Yukino Yukinoshita frowned at that.
His reaction didn't sit well with her at all—it felt awful.
"Senpai, I—I'm telling the truth! Yukino-senpai really said it! I guarantee it, Yukino-senpai really did express a leaning, an intention, toward liking you,"
That explanation wasn't wrong, technically.
The key was what she'd left out.
"Is Yukinoshita there with you?"
II
"Looks like it, yeah—"
"Senpai... um..."
"Put her on the phone and have her say it again herself."
Lin Ye really didn't think Yukinoshita would go that far.
"Senpai, there's no way Senpai would say it again—it was already a lot that she let me pass it along,"
"Fine, I believe you. My answer is—"
Lin Ye drew the words out. "Her liking me isn't exactly something surprising, is it? After all, she's going to be my girlfriend. As my girlfriend, of course she likes me—that's perfectly normal."
That whole line of logic sounded completely airtight.
Iroha Isshiki froze, stunned.
For a moment she had no strength left to argue back.
"Whether or not she likes me right now, I'll make her fall for me eventually. So, Isshiki, your good news counts as good news after all—the ice cream's still on. Now then—"
"Senpai, Senpai—"
But Lin Ye had already hung up.
"Beep, beep, beep..."
Just the dial tone.
Iroha Isshiki looked at Yukino Yukinoshita beside her. "Senpai, ugh... not even the slightest reaction."
Yes, in Iroha Isshiki's eyes, this thing she'd been so excited about hadn't stirred up even a ripple, leaving her with the feeling of a punch thrown at nothing.
"He's always like that. Isshiki, you'd better get ready to eat your ice cream."
"It's just one and a half, really, no big deal."
Why one and a half?
Iroha Isshiki caught the meaning in Yuigahama-senpai's eyes.
"Well obviously, one for me, one for Senpai, and then one shared between me and Senpai,"
Both Yui Yuigahama and Yukino Yukinoshita felt their mouths twitch, embarrassed by the little flutter of feeling they'd just had.
That had been pure, textbook wishful thinking on their part.
Fortunately, neither of them said it out loud—otherwise it would have been mortifying.
"What's wrong, is there a problem?"
"No problem,"
It was Yukino Yukinoshita who answered.
But that answer made Iroha Isshiki instantly realize there was, in fact, absolutely a problem.
The obvious displeasure was something she could still sense.
Iroha Isshiki's eyes flickered, and on second thought, she figured this was probably a misunderstanding.
Heh heh heh.
She felt a lot better—her joy built on someone else's misery, that was simply Iroha Isshiki's true nature.
"Senpai, tell me where Senpai is, would you? I can go find him. I want him to keep his promise—I want that ice cream, eating it together with Senpai."
"You can just ask him yourself,"
Yukino Yukinoshita repeated the same line.
Iroha Isshiki nearly cried.
But no matter how she pleaded, there was no way to make Yukino Yukinoshita change her mind.
Too hard,
Really, this was way too hard.
She'd just have to try contacting Senpai herself.
Or... maybe contact Hina-sensei, and through Hina-sensei reach her sister, Student Rui Tachibana, and indirectly find out where Senpai was.
This... didn't seem to have any problem with it at all, did it?
She perked right up, getting excited all over again.
She'd decided—that's what she'd do.
"Senpai, I... I'll end club activities early today,"
Yukino Yukinoshita agreed without even asking why.
Iroha Isshiki said goodbye to Yui Yuigahama once more, then left.
Soon, only Yui Yuigahama and Yukino Yukinoshita remained in the room.
"Student Yuigahama, your boyfriend ran off,"
"Uwah,"
Yui Yuigahama let out an embarrassed sound. "There's just the two of us now, don't tease me like that, Yukinon."
"It's the truth. Isshiki is your boyfriend, isn't she?"
"Not right now! I'm only that when Isshiki and I are actually together in the same place,"
Yui Yuigahama tacked on that qualifier.
"We're both in Chiba. That's the same place too, isn't it?"
"Yukinon's being mean,"
Yui Yuigahama wailed, on the verge of tears.
She wasn't about to let Yukino Yukinoshita keep teasing her.
So, unexpectedly, Yukino Yukinoshita kept going. "It's nice having a girlfriend, isn't it?"
Yui Yuigahama pursed her lips and pouted. "I don't want a girl—and an underclassman, no less—as my girlfriend."
The moment those words left her mouth—
Yukino Yukinoshita instinctively edged away, putting distance between them. "I'm sorry, Student Yuigahama. My orientation is normal. There's nothing abnormal about it at all."
Yui Yuigahama's eyes went wide, frozen in place.
What was happening, what did that mean?
This, this...
"I—I'm normal too!"
"Heh heh..."
Yui Yuigahama's heart took a direct hit.
The thing she'd worried about all along had finally happened.
She wanted to explain, wanted Yukino Yukinoshita to accept her, but in the end she couldn't get the words out.
She had no way to defend herself.
It was all Iroha-chan's fault. So infuriating.
"Spending your whole life with Isshiki sounds nice too—your days would be full of fun,"
At once,
Yui Yuigahama's face fell into despair.
If she really had to spend her whole life with Iroha Isshiki, her entire life would be nothing but "fun" from here on out—
The future stretched out ahead of her, pitch black.
Her life... hopeless.
"If it's really going to be like that... might as well just marry Student Lin together!"
Yukino Yukinoshita slowly typed out a string of question marks.
Had she... misheard something just now? Was she hallucinating? Because otherwise, what other explanation could there be?
...
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