"Ayase, do you have something on your mind lately?"
"Ah?"
"It's not good to be too blunt, hmm, if I had to describe it, I just feel like lately, Ayase, you look like… should I say 'a girl in love' or 'a newlywed wife'… In short, that kind of feeling."
"Kirino, that's not very subtle either."
Two girls who looked like middle schoolers walked down the street, seemingly on their way to school.
The fashionable girl with brown hair said: "So you admit it? A girl in love?"
"Unfortunately, I don't have such thoughts—" The other girl with long black hair calmly replied: "I'm not interested in impure heterosexual relationships until I graduate from high school."
If it were usually, Kosaka Kirino would probably just say something like 'As expected of everyone's honor student~' and let it pass, but these past few days, her friend has been acting really strangely, so this time she didn't let the topic go so easily.
"But these past few days, Ayase, you've indeed been a bit strange. You're always distracted, and you often check your phone, as if you're waiting for someone's message…"
Actually, she also often looked at that somewhat eerie snake bracelet, but Kosaka Kirino thought about it and decided not to say that out loud.
"Yes, I do have someone I care about."
To the girl's surprise, Aragaki Ayase didn't defend herself but answered very seriously.
"Eh? Eh eh—! Then I wasn't wrong at all?!"
"No, Kirino, you're mistaken."
Aragaki Ayase shook her head: "I have no romantic feelings for that person at all."
"Oh, is that so?"
"That's right, in fact, it's fundamentally impossible to have romantic feelings for them."
Aragaki Ayase said with conviction.
Seeing no hint of pretense or joking on Ayase's face, Kosaka Kirino couldn't help but feel that she might have been overthinking.
Perhaps the person Ayase was talking about was just her father? After all, Ayase's parents always seemed very busy, and maybe her uncle just happened to have some free time recently to spend with Ayase, which would explain her strange behavior.
Thinking about it that way, bringing up romance right away was indeed a bit insensitive of her, after all, father-daughter marriage plots are relatively rare even in Gal games~
Kosaka Kirino, a master of H-games (specializing in sister-type characters), thought to herself.
"I'm sorry, Ayase, I was too rude."
The girl apologized sincerely: "To casually talk about romance and such, you must really value that person."
"Mm."
Aragaki Ayase nodded, her face adorned with a brilliant smile that even the vibrant flowers by the roadside couldn't compare to. Kosaka Kirino felt that her current smile was far more beautiful than her professional smile when she was a magazine model: "If I had to describe what kind of feelings I hold for that person, then it is undoubtedly…"
It should be something like reverence, right? Just like herself, although she doesn't talk much to her dad normally, she still feels a certain pride towards her father who is a police officer. Kirino thought.
Of course, it was impossible for her to say it out loud, even if her mouth were torn apart, she wouldn't say it. In contrast, Ayase was completely different.
Kirino looked at Aragaki Ayase, feeling a hint of envy towards her best friend's almost perfect outward demeanor.
She usually had a dignified appearance, and her personality was so upright that she spoke her mind, it was truly…
"Undoubtedly, it is 'faith'!"
It was simply too terrible.
"No, no, no, Ayase, wait a minute, in some sense, this is even stranger than romance, isn't it? Are you really not influenced by some strange religion?"
"What are you talking about, Kirino? How could I believe in such nonsense?"
"You, you're right…"
"I just deeply realized that gods truly exist."
"Isn't that already a complete collapse?!"
Kosaka Kirino grabbed her friend's shoulders and shook her vigorously: "Wake up, Ayase, whether it's happiness or science, they are all things held in your own hands!"
Aragaki Ayase didn't resist, only a faint smile played on her lips, letting the other person shake her back and forth. Passersby who saw this scene all showed warm smiles—after all, from an observer's perspective, it was just two beautiful girls playing and joking around.
At this moment, an old Ford car slowly glided from the side of the road and gradually stopped beside the two.
"Although I apologize for interrupting your interaction, Ms. Aragaki, could you spare a moment?"
The driver of the classic car rolled down half a window and said to the two: "I have something I'd like to ask for your help with."
"Sorry, we still have to go to school."
Kosaka Kirino subconsciously shielded Ayase behind her, looking at the other party cautiously.
However, the light inside the car was a bit dim, and with half the window blocking the view, although she felt the other person seemed somewhat familiar, the girl couldn't recognize the person inside the car.
As a beautiful girl who was scouted by a fashion magazine to become a model in middle school, Kosaka Kirino was already used to being approached by strange men on the street.
According to the verbal teachings of the senior models at the magazine agency, the best way to deal with such approaches is to ignore them, no matter what the other party says.
As a result, just as she was about to pull Ayase away, she found that no matter how hard she pulled, she couldn't move her.
"Ayase?"
Kosaka Kirino looked at her friend. In the past, she had been even stricter than herself in adhering to the principle of ignoring pick-up artists, and should have been even more unyielding, but today seemed a bit different.
"I'm sorry, Kirino—" Aragaki Ayase showed an apologetic expression, she gently let go of Kirino's hand: "I have something to talk to him about, you go to school first, I'll catch up very soon."
Kosaka Kirino showed a bewildered expression, as if she had been backstabbed with a super effective move, but then she immediately realized something.
"Is that him? The person you care about!"
Although Aragaki Ayase did not answer her question, from the girl's attitude, it seemed she had tacitly agreed with Kosaka Kirino's statement.
So, the brown-haired girl first gave the classic car owner a somewhat fierce, yet childish, look, then turned back and earnestly pleaded: "Don't be fooled, Ayase, he's not even driving a Benz."
(Note 2)
"Don't worry, I don't have any bad intentions."
The owner of the classic car, who didn't even drive a Benz, showed a hearty smile.
"People with bad intentions always say that!"
Kosaka Kirino rushed forward valiantly.
"It's just that for some reason, I need a kiss from Ms. Aragaki."
"Your bad intentions are so obvious you're not even trying to hide them anymore!"
Kosaka Kirino was furious, "Don't think that saying something like that with such a cheerful attitude makes you not a pervert! Ayase would never agree to such a disgusting request!"
"I can."
"Ayase—!"
Kosaka Kirino's defeat was utter.
☰