The night they had sex, twice, during and after the shower. In the shower, it only involved exchanging mutual masturbation and blow jobs with each otherm Surprisingly, Ishigami had refused himself to cum inside her mouth and instead had ejaculated onto her chest.
Later in the bedroom, he had allowed Iino to ride his dick on top of him. Initially, she couldn't properly do the thrusting while she was above him due to having no experience in doing that particular position, hence he helped her by thrusting upward, and when she gradually got the hang of it, he had let her to continue riding him on her own, going up and down repeatedly until he came. Shortly after taking a break from the first round, they resumed sex in a few other positions,including the doggy style and missionary. The last position they did was where both of them were sitting at the same time while cuddling together, with Iino on top of him once again.
The couple had so much fun that night, and the intercourse at this time was perhaps much more exciting than when they first lost both of their own virginity to each other a night before. And of course, Yu wore condom that time and had made sure that it didn't break a hole after making love with her.
xxx
The next day, 7.56 AM
Yu was just on the way to his classroom when he saw a upperclassman hitting up on Koyasu on the staircase, asking her to become his girlfriend. She appeared to be troubled by his request while nervously fidgeting her hands, and could not bring herself to look at him directly.
"I see you are hesitating. Fine, I will give you some time to think about it until tomorrow," the man said while patting her on the shoulder when he quietly left, passing by Yu as he headed downstairs. Yu immediately decided that he had no business in their affair, hence he shrugged and continued his way to his class.
xxx
In the recess, he went to the nearest stationary shop to his classroom to buy a new scissor. While buying, he found out that Koyasu was not present for her duty to serve customer in the shop as she usually would, and instead saw his classmate Onodera working there.
"Wait, are you new here?" He asked.
"I am, but only for today."
Something definitely didn't felt right for Ishigami. Koyasu's absence and Onodera working temporarily just for the day was perhaps more than a mere coincidence. To confirm his intuition, he had asked again, "Are you just replacing someone for duty today?"
"Oh, you got it," she confirmed and nodded while leaning her head against her right hand. "Apparently she had asked me to help her doing her duty for today because she felt sick and needed some rest."
"So, did that person went home?"
"No, she didn't. Even if I had told her to return home and rest, she just wouldn't listen. She really is a stubborn senpai."
"Alright, I get it. Thanks, Onodera-san," he took the scissor he had just bou and exited the shop. Rei sighed and took out her phone upon receiving texts from her boyfriend to reply him.
A few minutes later, Yu had arrived to the rooftop and was just about to go and hide behind the water tank there so that he could play video games uninterrupted when he saw Tsubame leaning against the fence on the northeastern side watching the scenery.
So she isn't actually sick, but what is she doing here anyway? He thought in question. Initially he had remained uninterested in regard to her situation and proceeded to the place of hiding. Several minutes later, he took a break from playing his game and moved slightly a bit to outside of the water tank and looked around the area, only to find her still standing in the same spot and not going anywhere else.
What's going on? She is acting strange today... Yu thought, confused by Tsubame's rather odd behavior. Shortly after, he was reminded of the scene earlier where he saw a guy confessing to her, which had aroused his curiosity and he also started to desire to go and directly ask her about her problems. Before he went to confront her, he glanced left to right to make sure that no one other than her were around to see him. Seeing that it were just the two of them and nobody else in the area, Yu felt safe enough to approach her while calling her out, "Oi."
"Oh, it's you," she replied slightly surprised.
"I thought that you were sick," he said as he reached the fence to view the distant Mount Fuji alongside. "Didn't see you at the stationary while I was there just now."
"Oh... I did lied to them that I was sick but it's actually because I was having some sorts of a problem myself."
"About that guy confessing his love to you?"
"Wha-, how did you know?!"
Oh, so my guess was correct "You didn't see me back there? I was exactly on the staircase with you two when this happened."
Tsubame turned around and leaned on her back against the fence while looking down on her feets in worry. "I mean, Namikaze-san is a nice guy and all. But I don't think that he is the type of guy that I would like to fall in love with," she said.
"So you don't have any feeling for him, is that true?"
Tsubame nodded hesitantly, admitting that she didn't like him.
"Then just tell him that he is not your type, that's all," Yu bluntly stated, and she protested, "But I can't bring myself to do that!"
"But you are going to reject him, right?!" His asked straightforwardly and briefly silencing her. A loud engine roar was then heard from above the sky, and the two of them looked upward to see a plane flying over, watching it passed by until it went far enough with its noise gradually getting weaker the further it flew away from them, allowing them to continue the conversation.
"I was going to reject him, but I could not simply bring myself to say things that might hurt his feeling..."
It was clear that Tsubame had a hard time to decide on how she was supposed to deal with the problem. She was too nice and kind to say hurtful things to anyone, let alone saying such words to the man she was going to reject. In spite of his cold-hearted attitude, her kindness and thoughtfulness had won her a praise from his heart.
She is a nice woman... He thought while a suppressed smile was spreading toward his left cheek. Had it been his three months younger self, Yu would not easily trust her for what she said. But throughout all of his encounters with her, Yu had never seen Tsubame actually showing her possible sinful sides, because she was always nice to everyone, including him, and even displayed her equally soft heart to the unpopular students.
This was the first time he had seen her being shy and vulnerable when she was under stressed in facing a problem, in contrast to her usually outgoing personality. Looking for a bit, he was reminded of how Iino had also looked that way before. The expression was similar, yet each gave off a different feeling for him.
"Senpai, are you popular with guys here?" He asked.
"You can say that. There are some that have attempted to chase me before."
"Then, have you ever rejected them before?"
"Well..." She thought for a moment, then replied, "All of the guys that have confessed to me were shallow. They just casually asked to go out with me, and I'm used to it. So it's easy to turn them down."
Oh, I remembered the other guy confessing to you before. Yep, he was being casual too. Yu had remembered that last time when he saw Tsubame being casually asked by another man on a date while on his way to the Student Council office.
"But this time, it's a totally earnest, heartfelt confession!" She anxiously exclaimed. "I feel like if I turn him down, things would never be the same again between us!"
"Hey, senpai. Chill, chill!" He asked, trying to calm her down, and she did when she sighed off mentally and then spoke softly again, "I would like to avoid hurting him if at all possible."
It might sound selfish to the person being rejected, but the person doing the rejection is also troubled by this situation. And if anything, people don't just reject the other simply because of dislike. They had thought about it, and made the conclusion that they were pretty much incompatible to become lovers.
"Alright, I'll help you."
"What, really?!" She asked while subconsciously walked two steps nearer toward him.
"But just this time, and that's it," he told her while tucking his hands inside the pockets.
"Never mind that, but how would you help?"
In the meantime, Ishigami had felt someone watching him from somewhere. And true to his instinct, he looked behind to see Iino and Osaragi watching them from the rooftop's entrance. Iino in particular, looked clearly discontented as she glared at him out of jealousy for talking with the other girl while Osaragi looked neutral as she normally would.
Shit, she must be misunderstanding us... He thought in concerned. Nothing scared the Ice King, except his girlfriend's wrath.
"Koba-chan," Iino called.
"Yes?"
"It seems like there's nothing to look around here, so let's go," Iino went into the entrance behind and left, with Kobachi following her. From the look of it, Yu could tell that she was furious, but had decided to not go after her, as he didn't want either Tsubame or Kobachi to know about their relationship. Well, he really needed to explain things to his girlfriend later on.
"Yu-kun, is everything fine?" She asked in concern, and he turned back to look at her with a soulless expression that had looked even more dead than it was just earlier, much to her surprise. But he assured her in a composed manner, "Nothing. Right, let's continue our discussion."
xxx
The main lessons had ended, and many students had left for home afterward, but many others had also stayed for the co-curricular activities. Since there was no club activity for the day, Iino would wait alone in one of the Disciplinary Committee's office as she usually would for Yu until he had finished working in the Student Council.
Now she was feeling irritated and impatient, apparently under stress of having the thought of seeing his boyfriend with another girl that midday. She had tried to calm herself by reading the light novel on her phone, but it didn't help to overcome her anger. She tried another method again by going to sleep on the comfy couch, but it didn't work also as she kept thinking about it. Maybe playing video games would help? She also tried this way but it quickly fell out of her favor.
That was when she realized that the only way to calm her soul was to listen to some "soothing" audio. This was the ultimate calming ritual that she utilized whenever she was in a bad mood and could not find the other way to relax herself. It was also her hobby, and she usually spent her free time everyday listening to it.
Iino plugged her earphone into her phone and played the first audiotape. In the beginning, there was the sound of water slowly dropping, and as time went on, more and more waters had fallen to the ground from above the sky in a faster rate, forming the ambient noise of an heavy rain. Reaching the near end of the tape, the noise of the rain had gradually gotten weaker, and it reverted back to the slow dropping of water just like in the beginning.
When it ended, the second audiotape automatically played out. This time it sounded more intense than the last one, with some construction noises being played at the start, and then it transitioned into some random loud animal noises like cat meowing, dog barking and camel grunting. It was weird but Miko was apparently soothed by the audio for unknown reasons, as she expressed relaxation with a small smile on her face.
The third audiotape had been played and now it was a slow paced and emotional piano playing for a classical song. She listened while moving her head to the left and right side repeatedly in alignment to the notes, melody, tempo and rhythm. Being in the room alone while listening to the her favorite audiotape was her greatest freedom that she enjoyed. No one to come bothering her, and nothing to make her worry. It's just her in her own world, being able to freely do anything she liked to do.
Subsequently, the music had made her felt sleepy and sure enough, her eyes had closed on its own before she realized and she slowly lied her head onto her arms that were firmly rested on the table, descending into sleep in the process.
RING RING
The sudden phone call had given her a rude awakening as she jumped and gasped in shock. She picked it up to find out that it was Ishigami calling for her, and was once again annoyed. Answering the phone call with a audible groan, she asked, "What is it?"
"Hey, Miko-chan. Have you gone back home already? I can't seem to find you anywhere here."
"You idiot, I AM in the Disciplinary Committee's office that's in the same building block as our classroom!"
"Really? But the door was locked, and I've knocked for quite a few times already and no one answered. Just open the door for me if you are in there."
"Okay, okay. Just wait!" Iino hung up the phone call and took off her earphone, reaching to unlock the door for her Yu to enter.
"Ah, thanks for letting me in," he thanked her casually as he entered.
"Aren't you supposed to be working in the council's office now?" She asked in a irritated tone, looking at him with a grumpy expression.
"I am. But first we need to talk," he stated calmly. Iino tightened her lips, then crossing her arms as she angrily asked, "Fine, but what do you want to talk about?"
"Erm... First, let's sit on the table. Then we'll talk."
"Ugh," she groaned again with her eyes rolling away and walked from him to the table, with Yu following her soon after. The two of them sat down together, facing each other on the opposite end. She glared while he had remained unperturbed, with the atmosphere surrounding them getting increasingly awkward.
"You saw me with the other girl hours earlier, right?" He asked with no hesitation. In turn, she raised her eyebrows slightly, then crossed her arms once again as she looked to the other direction, staying quiet.
"Staying quiet won't help to solve the problem we are in, Miko-chan. Just talk to me directly, say your feeling out loud."
"Y'know, I was kinda angry with you..."
He remained quiet this time to hear what she was going to say next. A moment of delay later, she added, "I saw you were talking with the other girl while me and Koba-chan patrolled around the school earlier. To be honest, I was jealous and annoyed when I had seen this."
Yu nodded as he understood, and had felt himself responsible for angering his girlfriend, even though it was not intentional. That was the sole purpose of initiating the talk with her, to clear up the misunderstanding between them.
"I figured. And I would like to apologize for this. So I am sorry, Miko-chan."
"Sorry for what?" She asked in confusion. "I mean, were you trying to hit on her?!"
"Um, can you be quiet and let me talk first? I want to explain things to you."
"Oh, my bad... Go ahead," Iino agreed to not interrupt him anymore as she allowed him to give her an explanation. Yu cleared his throat and began, "So this woman was the one had her own issue that she needed help to solve with, and I just happened to arrive on the rooftop when she saw me there and reached for my help."
Hearing this, Miko had wanted to ask him on why she didn't find the other people to help her instead but before she did, she had remembered seeing just the two of them alone on the rooftop when she had gone to patrol that area, hence she held back the unreasonable question, and asked him a different one, "So, what did she need help with?"
"Someone had confessed to her, and she didn't know how to turn him down."
"Huh?!" Iino's mouth gaped in disbelief, and forcefully demaded his explanation again, "That is a silly excuse to ask for your help. Mind giving me an explanation again?!"
"Mah, so she told me that someone had given her the kind of confession that she was difficult to 'no' to. And she wanted my help to suggest her the ways to reject the guy without hurting his feeling."
"But, you know. I have seen boys also hitting on her numerous times before since middle school, and she was able to turn them down fairly easily."
"That was because the other boys had been CASUALLY confessing to her," he quickly replied to correct Iino's statement. "She said that they were like, "Yo, let's hang out sometime," and that was the kind of confession that she had gotten used to. But this time it was different. That guy had given her the confession that pretty much came from the bottom of his heart, like he had wanted to date her for real instead of playing around."
"Oh, so that's how it is..." She nodded for a few times while touching her chin subconsciously after having been convinced by Ishigami. "So with the boy that she doesn't like giving her his genuine confession, it must have been really hard for Koyasu-senpai."
"Yep, that's pretty much it. I didn't even want to talk to her in the first place, but you know how the rest had played out afterward. So do you trust me now?"
"Yeah, I know now that I was misunderstanding. And I'm really sorry for being unnecessarily angry with you. It's just..." Iino paused as she was unsure of what to tell him next, but he said the following to finish her sentence, "You were feeling uncomfortable when seeing me with another girl, right?"
"Ah, that! You know, I'm sometimes quick to anger, and I easily get salty especially when I see someone I love hanging around with other girls, even if it was purely due to business," Iino admitted in her blushing face while she was fidgeting. Looking at her, he had thought that she looked really cute when she was being shy, with a grin spreading across his face without him knowing.
"I know how you feel, Miko-chan. I do understand that kind of feeling. It kinda hurts when it does happen, right?" he stated as he had tried to relate to her. "But I am not the kind of guy that would want to do something shameless to hurt his girlfriend's feeling."
It was the truth, Ishigami would never hurt Iino in any way. In fact, from the time they both had started being together, he had been the one worrying that she would pull a knife onto his back instead if she had gotten bored of him in the near future, despite that she had displayed her loyalty to him as his girlfriend so far. Humans are easy to learn, yet hard to understand, and he could not be fully certain that she would still love him forever as time went by.
But regardless, he would be preparing for the worst if it were to happen someday in the future. As for now, the least he could do was to enjoy every single moments he shared with Miko while they were still together.
"I love you, Miko-chan," He reached to grab both of her hands and held them together on the table while staring at this pretty face of hers. "That's why it's only you living inside my heart, no one else."
Miko felt emotionally touched by his short but heart warming speech, so much so that her tears began falling like a waterfall and as she realized, she tried her best in suppressing her sobbing and rubbing those tears off while complaining, "My goodness, why am I crying in front of you? This is so embarrassing..."
"Alright, now that I have settled things with you, it's probably time for me to return to the Student Council for work: he stated as he stood up from the chair. Seeing her still tearing up, he approached to her side and crouched down, then placing his hands on her shoulders as he comforted her.
"There, there, stop crying for now. Otherwise, those tears are going to ruin your pretty face."
Immediately, she hugged him, placing her head over his right shoulder as she continued sobbing quietly. Surprised at first, he then returned the hug while patting her back, like a father consoling his crying daughter.
xxx
Ishigami returned to the office to find both Kaguya assisting Miyuki on his paperwork. He had knocked on the door while greeting both of them to declare his presence.
"Oh, hey there, Ishigami-kun" Kaguya greeted back sincerely. Seeing her no longer having her arm cast on, as well as noticing how her hair had now been tied with a ribbon, he asked, "Oh, Shinomiya-senpai. I see that you have recovered."
"Of course, and it's such a relief to have my arm being freed from this uncomfortable cast," she stated.
"And your hairstyle has changed too," he commented, to which she also replied with a chuckle, "Ara, I have tried myself with different kinds of hairstyles before, and found this to be the most suitable one. That's why I have decided to stick with this hairstyle from now on."
He nodded as he agreed, "It does look pretty nice for you." And you look a lot less threatening with this hairstyle Yu thought as he recalled on how menacing she appeared to be without the hair ribbon before.
"Anyway, I'll be continuing my work here."
"Oh, okay. If you need anything, you can ask either me or Shinomiya here for assistance."
"I will, thanks kaicho," Ishigami said and proceeded to sit on the couch and took out his new laptop to start working while Miyuki and Kaguya resumed their discussion.
Meanwhile just outside of the Student Council's building, Momo was hiding under a nearby tree smoking her cigarette. Apparently, she was not playing her phone because she was recharging it with a power bank at the moment. Thus, all she did was just smoking while chilling around to kill time.
"Yo," a masculine voice abruptly called her from out of nowhere, but she managed to not flinch and turned to see Uchida walking toward her as he waved his hand at her in greeting.
"Uchida-senpai, wassup?"
"Have you finished doing your report to be able to chill here?"
"Yeah, and I got nothing else to do," she stated while continuing to smoke.
"I am kinda surprised to see such a lady like you smoking cigarette for the first time."
"So, got a problem with that?" She replied in a noticeably irritated tone with a glare directed to him.
"Nah, but I mean, have you been smoking for a long time?"
"I have been smoking since I was about fourteen."
"You know, I am not entirely against you smoking or stuff like that. But I will actually be happy if you can just stop doing it altogether."
Momo paused for a moment as she glanced at the cigarette she was still holding, then back to Hinata as she asked, "Well, it's a bad habit that I've gotten used to. So it would be tough for me to stop smoking."
"Yare, yare, I've figured this would be the case. Mah, if you want to continue this kind of habit, I am in no position to stop you whatsoever," he stated while tilting the tip of his hat downward, then turning away to have his back facing her as he was about to leave while adding, "But just want to tell you here, smoking is really bad for your health. As your former President and also your fellow Student Council members, I genuinely care for your well-being here."
Momo's eyes widened in surprised with her fingers accidentally dropping the cigarette as her eyes then followed to look at it falling to the ground. Hinata waved his hand without turning to face her again at the moment he walked to the student council's building, "So, see ya."
She watched him slowly walking away until he had disappeared out of sight. She held her right hand onto her heart-pounding chest and blushed shyly, having been baffled by her senpai telling her that he cared for her for the first time ever, as if something powerful had awakened inside of her feeling that she could not describe.
What is this feeling... W-why do I felt so awkward here?
Remembering her strict honor as a Yakuza, however, she tapped her cheeks to snap herself out and straightened up, then displaying a very serious look on her face in an attempt to stop herself from showing any sign of vulnerability despite that no one was around to see her. She looked at the fallen cigarette again and grunted in annoyance, muttering, "That is a waste of cigarette."
She pulled out yet another one and was just about to lit it with her lighter when she recalled Hinata's advised against her smoking. Heeding his words, she held herself back from smoking and put the cigarette back inside the pack and kept it in her handbag.
xxx
After the student council activity had ended, Yu met Miko again in the committee's office and both changed into their casual clothing and also put on their makeup there. Later, they sneaked out of the school through the gate from the parking lot to avoid being seen by the others and went on another date together where they visited a shopping mall nearby the school and first played baseball there. Initially, the two of them were unable to properly swing their bat to hit the ball and had gotten strike and foul ball for several times. Eventually, Ishigami had gotten the hang of it and successfully scored a little over 100 points, even managing to score one home run in the play whereas Iino still struggled and could not even hit a base for once.
"Ah, this is infuriating!" She screamed and rage quitted the game, with Yu smirking as he stood by and watched.
"What are you smiling at, are you mocking me?!" She angrily asked as she felt offended when seeing him smiling, to which he replied, "I wasn't. Well, let's get something to eat. Say, where do you want to go?"
She looked at him while pouting, then looked to the other direction as she grunted, "Hmph, anywhere would be fine!"
Later, they appeared sitting on the wall mounted table in a small ramen restaurant nearby the baseball court as they waited patiently for their ramen to arrive.
"Here is your tea," the server said while placing their herbal teas on the table for them, and Yu proceeded to thank her politely
"Neh, Yu-kun. Do you want to take a picture together?"
"Sure," he agreed to her request and struck a pose with Iino as they took a selfie together. After that, they went to check the photo they had just taken.
"I think it's good looking already," he said. "But don't share it anywhere online."
"I won't, don't worry. Care for one more pic?" She asked for another selfie again, and he nodded with a small grin. They struck a different pose this time, with Iino pinching his left cheek while he placed his palm on top of her head.
"Alright, done," she said after taking the selfie and checked the picture along with him. At the same time, a familiar voice had emerged from a close distance behind them, "Let's eat here, shall we?"
Hearing the voice, they both instinctively turned behind and was absolutely surprised to see Osaragi approaching them with another woman following.
"Ah, it's been a while since the last time I ate ramen," the unknown woman stated while smelling the scent of the ramen from the kitchen in content. Osaragi quietly sat on the seat just beside Iino along with the woman, apparently didn't spare a glance to notice her best friend was here as well. Iino on the other hand, slightly trembled in nervousness.
"I guess she didn't noticed us, because of our disguises," Yu whispered to her right ear, and she replied, "I know, but it's still embarrassing when she was just right around with us while we were dating!"
He sighed while tilting his fake glasses upward, then reaching to whisper into her ear again, "There's nothing we can do here, but as long as she didn't recognize us, we would be fine. For now, let's be quiet. We don't want her to feel suspicious of us."
Agreeing to his suggestion, she nodded for a bit, and they both stopped talking to each other to avoid arousing her suspicion toward them.
"Here's your tsukemen, young lady," the server said while giving her two bowls of tsukemen noodle and a soup, and Iino started eating while her eyes were secretly directed toward her best friend without Osaragi's knowledge. The server then proceeded to take orders from Osaragi and the woman. "And you two there, what would you like to eat?"
"I would like a bowl of ramen char shiu, please!" The woman said in an outgoing tone, then turned to ask Kobachi, "Osaragi-san, what would you like to eat?"
"One chicken ramen, please," she asked in a gentle tone, and the server took note, "Alright, one ramen char shiu and another one ramen chicken... Just wait, I'll be getting them for you soon!"
The server dashed into the kitchen after taking their orders. Meanwhile, Osaragi and the woman continued talking to each other, with Yu and Iino quietly listened.
"Mizuhara-san?"
"Yes?"
"I was wondering if it's okay to also order some sushi with you paying for me, since I have no money left in my purse now."
"Oh, sure thing! But the next time you come to visit me, I'll charge you with the extra fee as compensation."
"Alright, I-"
"Wait, wait, wait!" The woman asked while shaking both of her hands at her in denial as she laughed awkwardly while admitting, "I was just joking, you don't have to repay me though! I'll still charge you for the usual fee."
"Allow me to pay you for the extra fee, Mizuhara-san."
The woman paused, and Osaragi added, "I dont like to feel myself owing to the person who has helped to get me back on my foots."
Mizuhara smirked and replied, "Well, if you insist, then you'll have to pay for the extra fee with the amount of sushi you are going to buy."
Osaragi nodded in understanding and called the server, "Um, miss? I would like to make one more order."
"Coming!" The server rushed into the counter while bringing along a pen and a notebook. "So, what would you like to eat?"
She looked on the menu for a while, then showed the server as she pointed her finger at the meal she wanted on the menu, "I want to order this set here."
"Okay, is there any more?"
"No, that's it."
"Alright, got it!" The server returned to the kitchen soon after, and Osaragi informed Mizuhara, "That set alone costs 310 yen, so I'll repay you the amount along with the appointment fee the next time I come to visit you."
"Understood, and you are getting half of the price discount!"
"Eh, how so?!"
"For being a good kid, that's what you are being rewarded for!"
Osaragi stuttered while trying to protest, "M-Mizuhara-san, y-you don't have to..."
Before she could finish talking, Mizuhara abruptly placed her hand onto Osaragi's shoulder, with her face displaying a warm smile that made Osaragi felt mentally assured. "Osaragi-san, it's okay to accept other people's offerings, especially when the person is willing to give you something they considered as valuable because they genuinely care about you. So don't be so shy to just take whatever is being offered to you. (Slow-paced and serious tone) But feel free to reject anything that's totally not for your own good, okay?"
Osaragi swallowed, and nodded. Mizuhara giggled mischievously and said, "Alright, since you have agreed, that means we have settled down your debt."
"Here's your ramen, boy," Yu's ramen had just arrived, and he also started to quietly eat his food while continuing to eavesdrop on their conversation.
"Mizuhara-san, may I ask why you are being so nice to me, even though I am just your patient?" Osaragi asked. After taking a sip of her herbal tea, Mizuhara glanced at her, then stared at the tea on her cup as she pondered.
"Let's save that for later when we finished our dinner here, okay? I mean, I feel a bit uncomfortable to talk about it since it's going to be a sensitive topic and not to mention that there's strangers around us who could be listening."
"Oh, alright..."
With the couple's presence, Mizuhara simply could not openly talk to Osaragi about the topic that she deemed to be sensitive. As someone who was prone to become curious of any touchy subject, however, hearing her saying this had only induced Iino's interest to know about it. And if she really wanted to know, she should revealed both Yu and herself to the two of them as Osaragi's friends, and that would possibly convince Mizuhara enough to comfortably share her story with them. But then she remembered what she and Yu had discussed before about that even though Osaragi would help to keep their relationship as a secret if she were to know, the knowledge of Yu and Miko's relationship as a couple would only hurt Osaragi's feeling and make her jealous, because of Osaragi's experience as a rape victim and her deep desire to fall in love with someone who can truly understand and value her other than using her for their own pleasure.
FLASHBACK
"So, we should avoid letting Koba-chan know about our relationship as well?"
Yu shook his head, and replied, "We'll wait until the time when she finally get a boyfriend. Or we let her know by accident when that really happened. Otherwise she might get sad to find herself still single while her best friend has already been taken."
Flashback ended
Miko managed to control the urge to expose herself to Osaragi, and could do nothing other than eating her dinner and continuing to listen to their conversation without interrupting.
"So, where we going next, Haru-chan?" Ishigami asked Miko, this time speaking in a higher pitched, outgoing tone as he had to play his character as 'Tomoe Nobita'. At first, Miko didn't respond as she didn't realized he was calling her by a fake name and was busy listening to her friend's talking at the same time. "Haru-chan?" He called her for the second time while gently touching her arm with his elbow.
"Eh, were you calling me?"
"Yeah, I was and you didn't give me a response. Were you spacing out, Haru-chan?"
"Uh... I-I was, maybe... So what did you just said?"
"Mah, I was asking if you plan on going somewhere else after dinner?"
"Uhh... I can't think of anything. Perhaps, we can take a walk around the mall, see if we can find anything interesting around here."
"Oh, alrighty then," Yu nodded with a friendly smile that he faked.
Osaragi was drawn to Iino's voice, prompting her to look at her and upon close observation, Osaragi thought that she looked oddly familiar, but still could not recognize her due to Iino's perfect disguise. Iino turned her head around to see her best friend staring at her. Upon making eye contact, they ended up creating an undesired awkward situation between them.
"Um, is there anything?" Iino pretended to ask while desperately trying to keep her composure.
"Nothing, I'm sorry," she apologized with a slight bow and avoided looking at her anymore. Iino felt relieved that she was be able to narrowly avoided herself being recognized by her best friend, and secretly rebuked Yu in her heart Dammit, I thought that we had agreed to keep quiet to avoid suspicion!
Sorry for not telling you first, Miko-chan. But staying quiet would also make her feel weird Yu thought, wanting to apologize to his girlfriend for his action.
"Who is it, someone you know?" Mizuhara asked, to which Osaragi shook her head and denied, "No, not really."
Iino proceeded to quickly eat all of her noodles and then finished her meal by drinking her entire soup. After that, she sighed in satisfaction and said, "That was so good!"
"Woah, that was fast, Haru-chan," Yu complimented while clapping slowly, still playing his character.
"Ah, I am always a fast eater," she stated. Seeing him finishing his ramen without drinking the soup, she asked, "And you, aren't you going to finish that soup too?"
"Nah, I am not fond of drinking soup myself, but you can have it." Yu had offered to let Iino drink his soup for him, and she was just about to accept it when she remembered No, I can't! Koba-chan knows pretty well that I always drink soup right after eating noodles. And if I were to do that right now, she'll really become suspicious of us for sure!
Hesitating, she declined, "I am actually full, so I-I can't..."
"Oh, okay. Then, let's get going," Yu replied, then stood up from the chair and proceeded to leave the money on the counter for payment, "Thanks for the food!"
"Ah, thank you. Please come again next time!" The same server from before went to the counter to collect his money. Soon, he had left the restaurant with Iino while Osaragi were looking at them again, thinking I could have sworn that I saw that girl before.
"What's the matter again, Osaragi-san?"
"Nothing," she replied while continued looking at them. Meanwhile, the couple were walking together around the shopping mall's complex when suddenly Yu had received a text from his sister on LINE, and he looked at the text to find the photographs she had taken in her trip to England with Hayate. Shortly after, she sent following message, "Hi, my dear little brother! Have you been doing well lately while I was gone? You know what? I have actually bought some souvenirs and new clothing for you that I can't wait to show to you when I get back home! Oh yeah, I have also bought some delicious snacks that I would like you to try as well!"
"Yu-kun, what's the matter?" Iino asked when she noticed Yu looking at his phone.
"Well, it's just me sister sending me texts. Wanna look at the photographs she had taken in England?"
"Nah, not right now. But I'll be glad to look at them with you once we get home."
"Sounds good, we'll do that later," Yu replied, at the same time Asuna sent him another text again, "I'll be home by 7 PM tomorrow. So be sure to give me some surprises when I return!"
Yu smirked and shook his head slightly, then put his phone into the pocket to concentrate on the road. "I was thinking, maybe I'll introduce you to my sis in the next month or so."
"Eh, why not right now?"
"Well, I simply need to wait for the right time."
Iino pouted in displease, complaining, "You know, sometimes I felt really tempted to let a few people to know about our relationship though. And keeping things in secret don't sit well with me. So why don't you at least tell your sister about it right now? I have met her once before and thought that she seemed nice enough to be able to accept our relationship without overreacting or having any sort of objection."
"Alright, fine. I guess I'll have to comply with your request to avoid making you angry," Yu said while sighing quietly. "How about I tell her tomorrow when she comes back?"
Miko hesitated, then agreed to his suggestion, "I guess tomorrow can..."
"So, are you free tomorrow night?"
"Why you ask? You do know that I am mostly free at any time."
"Then, come to my house around six."
Again, she hesitated, but agreed nonetheless, "O-okay..."
"Yah... My sis did asked me to prepare some surprises for her when she gets home. So I guess you might be the right choice for this."
"Yeah, and with that, we can just help carry your stuffs back to your apartment straight away."
"Yep," Yu nodded in response. After a short silence, he told her, "Back then, I've found myself causing an embarrassment for both you and Osaragi-san, and because of that I would like to apologize. So I'm sorry..."
"Geez, just what were you thinking though? Didn't you just told me to be quiet so that we both don't attract her attention?"
"Well, I had just thought that she would also get suspicious if we did kept quiet, since she must had seen the two of us talking when she had just arrived at the restaurant. I mean, either way, she would still react though."
"Oh, that kinda makes sense..." She said in a small grin upon realization. Stumbling upon a bookstore, Yu stopped and pointed his finger at its direction, asking Miko, "Hey, Miko-chan. You said that you wanted to buy a new novel, right?"
"Uhm, yeah."
"Wanna go and check it out?" He asked, and Iino agreed with a slight nodding, "Of course, let's go."
Entering the bookstore, the couple found the place to be rather quiet as there were not many people visiting at the moment. They first stood at the entrance as they briefly looked around.
"So, I would like to buy some revision books," Iino said, and Yu proceeded to also tell her, "Oh, then I'll check out the manga section."
"Manga? Can't you also buy revision books for yourself in order to study? It's way more beneficial than reading manga though."
"Well, reading manga is one of my favorite pastime hobbies. Besides, we have just finished our first term exam, so there's no reason for me to continue doing revision until the next exam."
"Eh..." Iino groaned and frowned upon him, then crossed her arms as she said, "Well, I guess it's up to you. I'm going to check out the revision books they are selling."
"Same here. I'll look for you when I'm done," Yu said. The two of them then went separately to each look around the different sections in the bookstore. Reaching the manga section, Yu glanced at the bookshelves to search for any interesting manga that he could buy. As he found one, he drew his left hand toward one of the books on the shelf at the exact same time when Tsubame had appeared unexpectedly to also grab it, resulting in the two of them touching each one of their hands by accident.
Ishigami Yu and Koyasu Tsubame froze in placea, looking at each other in surprise.