In Masumi's understanding, wasn't Arisu an emotional deceiver?
On one hand, she had declared that if she became Student Council President, she wouldn't give any positions to Houtarou — appearing quite cold-hearted.
But now she's enthusiastic about dating him. Despite her cold words, she seems quite infatuated with him.
This contradiction seemed truly strange.
Nevertheless, after Arisu woke up, Masumi headed to the shopping district. She still needed to prepare the princess' breakfast.
The cafeteria was an option, but at this hour, there probably wouldn't be much left. The shopping district made more sense.
"Should I choose pancakes or a Mexican burrito…"
While passing by a store, she noticed Honami standing at the entrance, looking hesitant.
"I think you could find a friend, order different things, and then share half with each other." Masumi suggested.
"Ah... Kamuro-san." Honami quickly turned around, her expression somewhat embarrassed, "I'm still the same, having difficulty making choices…"
Masumi knew her — or rather, considered her a friend.
During the Island Exam, she had notified Houtarou to rescue Honami, who was punishing herself by standing in the rain.
She always thought this girl was different from others. Her somewhat absent-minded side was actually quite endearing.
"Could it be that Kamuro-san is also out today for Sakayanagi-san?" Honami asked.
"More or less." Although many people knew she was Arisu's dog, Masumi didn't mind the title.
It might not sound flattering, but when beating a dog, one must consider its owner. So her status had actually improved.
Hadn't she noticed that many other Class A students in this book weren't even worthy of having names?
{T/N: This is an inside joke. Laugh…}
"And you're hesitating between pancakes and a Mexican burrito, right?" Masumi said, "Then let's combine Sakayanagi's portion with yours. After getting them, we'll each give half to the other.
She doesn't have any special requests today, so it works out perfectly to share with you. After all, Oreki-kun didn't come to learn chess today."
"Oh, I see. Speaking of which…" Honami mentioned, bringing up Houtarou, "Oreki-kun seems quite busy today. The holidays are really something else. Some of my friends have already started dating. But I'm a bit surprised that he would go on dates with girls. I thought he wasn't very good at interacting with girls."
Oh... I see.
Love? Romance? Masumi didn't need such things.
Rather, during the Island Exam, she was almost tricked by Houtarou. She had buried that memory deep in the corners of her dark history.
Hmm? Wait a minute.
Date? Houtarou dating a girl... What date?
Isn't he currently reading books about love?
Masumi thought she had misheard.
But Arisu was difficult to please, so she needed to get breakfast first. Otherwise, breakfast would turn into lunch, and that little princess would criticize her again.
So Masumi got busy.
⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟
After the movie ended, Houtarou and the others followed Kikyō's itinerary.
Now he understood what a date was.
From the moment they met at 10 o'clock, Maya had held onto his arm. By the time the movie ended, she had progressed to holding his hand.
Since he didn't mind this contact, and considering this was work to compensate her, Houtarou didn't refuse.
The time reached 1 PM.
For lunch, they chose an Italian-style restaurant. As the compensating party, Houtarou naturally paid. He didn't mind; after all, he had plenty of money now.
Even if he didn't use his own money, he could use that sugar mommy senior's money.
Although he felt a bit sorry for the sugar mommy senior who was keeping him, Houtarou thought using the allowance to treat a girl was more than sufficient.
Afterward, they chatted for a while.
Maya was visibly nervous, frequently turning to Kei for help with conversation topics like Houtarou's future plans and hobbies.
Though their conversation flowed relatively well, Houtarou suspected Kei was playing matchmaker, as she occasionally fed Maya incorrect information about him.
One example was when Kei deliberately misled Maya into repeatedly offering him broccoli — a vegetable he disliked and had already mentioned to Kei.
However…
"Actually, I've been interested in fashion design lately." Maya said.
"Really? I've never heard you mention that before." Kei replied, genuinely curious.
"Well... the truth is, I don't want to continue studying after high school." Maya admitted sheepishly, "I'm not very good at academics. The thought of going from high school straight to university feels overwhelming."
She clearly wasn't fond of studying.
On this point, Houtarou actually agreed with her.
Education is merely a pathway — higher education can lead to better career opportunities, and the main purpose of a career is ultimately to earn money.
But if one already has money, why continue studying?
Of course, there's also the perspective that education helps develop skills and enriches one's inner world. This had led Houtarou to unusually consider pursuing higher education after graduating.
"If you want to enter your desired profession like design, continuing your education would be beneficial." Houtarou advised, "Schools teach essential fundamentals — from clothing pattern design to paper patterns and other aspects. Plus, the classmates you meet could become valuable connections in your future career."
"That's true…" Maya nodded, "Since Oreki-kun says so, I'll study hard."
She immediately appeared compliant.
Drawing from his past experience, Houtarou realized he might have unintentionally given Maya the wrong signals today.
Her gaze toward him now resembled Kei's all too closely.
Which meant... He might soon receive a second confession.
After lunch, they had originally planned to visit the aquarium together.
However, while passing by a small path lined with bushes, Maya exchanged a meaningful look with Kei.
"Ah... I just remembered I have something to do, so I'll go ahead." Kei said, immediately understanding the signal before promptly walking away.
⍟⍟⍟
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