“That’s not right, it’s way too suspicious, isn’t it?”
Momoka Aoi shook her head with a smile, her eyes filled with doubt.
“Yuuma, my IQ is fine. Don’t think you can fool me just because I usually act a bit ditzy.”
Momoka Aoi leaned against the wall, arms crossed, intending to have a long, drawn-out argument with Yuuma Tsugumu.
“So, I don’t really have a motive to lie to you either.”
Yuuma Tsugumu shook his head helplessly.
To be honest, he didn’t want to waste too much breath on this matter.
But since he had promised Akiba Sakura and wanted to prevent Momoka Aoi from spreading rumors, he chose to patiently continue.
“We went to the amusement park yesterday out of necessity. A relative’s kid was clamoring to go, so the two of us had to accompany the child.”
“Oh?”
Hearing this, Momoka Aoi narrowed her eyes.
‘Trying to fool me… With such a flimsy, full-of-holes lie? Yuuma, you’re still too green. If you two think you can hide things from me, ‘Momomoss,’ you’ve got a long way to go!’
“So that’s how it was. Looks like I really did misunderstand then?”
Momoka Aoi pretended to be convinced, scratching her cheek.
“My apologies then. I thought you two were already dating behind my back. Seems it really was just my misunderstanding, hahaha…”
“…”
Hearing this, Yuuma Tsugumu was stunned for a moment before replying calmly.
“That won’t happen. The two least likely people to become a couple are us.”
“?”
Momoka Aoi’s brow furrowed. She looked at Yuuma Tsugumu’s face, analyzing how much truth there was in his words.
‘Could it be they haven’t gotten together yet?’
“How could it be impossible? I’ve been with you guys all the way from elementary school. Your relationship has always been good, hasn’t it? If this were a manga, you’d probably be together already~”
“That’s all just manga plot. Real life doesn’t follow a manga script.”
Momoka Aoi wanted to keep probing, but she didn’t expect Yuuma Tsugumu to immediately shake his head upon hearing her questions, his tone so serious it made her pause.
“In short, Akiba Sakura and I are just childhood friends. We absolutely, positively will not date. No matter how you look at it, we’re not suited for each other.”
“…”
“It’s not that I’m being humble or anything. It’s precisely because I feel I’m completely unworthy of Akiba Sakura that I wouldn’t dare entertain any thoughts about her. She doesn’t have any feelings for me either. Plus, our…”
Yuuma Tsugumu paused as if remembering something, then sighed and continued.
“Anyway, it’s impossible for us to date.”
“…”
‘That’s unexpected. So that’s how it is.’
After hearing Yuuma Tsugumu’s words, Momoka Aoi felt a twinge of surprise.
‘Setting aside whether what Yuuma said is true or not…’
Recalling Akiba Sakura’s previous behavior, Momoka Aoi couldn’t understand how this guy could reach the conclusion ‘she doesn’t have any feelings for me.’
But one thing Momoka Aoi was now certain of.
‘Although a bit surprising, overall it’s not too different from what I guessed before. Sakura probably likes Yuuma. And Sakura is pretty and cute, a dream girl for boys. No boy could refuse a girl like that. But now it seems I was being a bit presumptuous.’
Momoka Aoi looked at Yuuma Tsugumu, the confusion in her heart growing heavier.
‘Yuuma, I didn’t expect you to be this impressive. Being secretly loved by such a cute girl without realizing it, and even setting up a ‘will absolutely not date’ flag in advance. Hmph, unless you two have some deep-seated grudge, otherwise… hehe.’
“Alright, alright, I understand the situation now. It really was my misunderstanding. Yuuma, I’m truly sorry!”
“It’s fine.”
Yuuma Tsugumu nodded, then shifted slightly outward, nodding towards Akiba Sakura, who was still standing by the low wall.
Seeing the signal, she hurriedly jogged over.
“How did it go? How did it go?”
“What do you mean how did it go? Really, Sakura, you could have just told me you went to the amusement park to accompany a relative’s kid! Why were you avoiding me?”
“Huh…?”
Akiba Sakura, having just run over, was a bit muddled.
For a moment, her brain couldn’t process things, but she quickly caught on.
“Ah, ah, you’ve got it wrong, Aoi! I wasn’t really avoiding you. It’s just that we both happened to be busy today, ha—ha—”
Akiba Sakura laughed awkwardly.
“…”
“…”
Well, that backfired.
Such an obviously fake statement left both Yuuma Tsugumu and Momoka Aoi momentarily at a loss for how to cover for her.
‘Who is this ‘dumb deer’ in front of me? Give me back the real Akiba Sakura!’
“Alright, alright! Since the misunderstanding is cleared up, let’s head back to the classroom!”
In the end, Momoka Aoi decided to just end the conversation.
“Mm.”
Yuuma Tsugumu was the first to step towards the stairwell.
As Akiba Sakura moved to follow, her hand was grabbed by Momoka Aoi.
Puzzled, Akiba Sakura looked back at Momoka Aoi behind her.
“Sakura, sometimes you really have it tough, huh.”
After waiting until Yuuma Tsugumu had walked some distance away, Momoka Aoi quietly left these words and headed straight for the stairwell herself.
“Wait, what???”
Akiba Sakura stood frozen in place, her mind inevitably starting to ponder what Momoka Aoi meant by that.
Meanwhile, Momoka Aoi didn’t choose to wait for Akiba Sakura.
She also descended the stairs, beginning to craft a ‘script’ tailored for Akiba Sakura.
‘Sakura, Sakura~ It seems you alone won’t be able to win over Yuuma. Let me help you!’
“…”
***
“…”
“I’m home!”
“Welcome back~”
Just as Akiha Shiori peeked out to look at Akiba Sakura, she saw the girl zip up to the second floor and dive headfirst into her room.
“Huh… Huh? What’s going on today?”
In her room, Akiba Sakura pulled out her smartphone, opened ‘O-Wei,’ and looked with satisfaction at the account she had spent two hours of sleep time perfecting for herself yesterday.
She had set a picture of cherry blossoms she took while mountain climbing two years ago as her O-Wei profile picture and used ‘See Cherry Blossoms in Leisure Time’ as her screen name.
She didn’t fully understand the meaning of the screen name.
She simply thought the name Akiha Shiori had suggested for her sounded nice, so she decided to adopt it.
‘My feed is too clean… Should I post something?’
Akiba Sakura frowned slightly, looking at her utterly empty feed.
‘A feed like this won’t attract any quality ‘Yellow Hair.’ I might even be mistaken for some gross guy!’
Akiba Sakura lay flat on her bed, holding her phone up, feeling troubled.
‘What should my first post be…?’
After much thought, Akiba Sakura decided to put the posting matter aside for now and first try out O-Wei’s features.
She shook her phone.
“Here we go!”
The phone vibrated once, and a sentence appeared first.
‘You and someone else in the same city registered in the same minute.’
‘That’s quite a coincidence?’
Curious, Akiba Sakura tapped on the sentence in the middle of the screen.
An O-Wei ID popped up, and a somewhat gloomy anime male profile picture came into view.
‘This profile picture gives off such an edgy teenager vibe. Let’s see the name…’
Akiba Sakura focused on this person’s screen name.
“Stree… Street Wild Wolf?”