"Did you see it?"
Suddenly, Yukinoshita Yukino, who was sitting in front of Sato, spoke. Her clear eyes were fixed intently on him.
"If I said I didn't, would you believe me?"
Sato looked at Yukinoshita Yukino's fair, beautiful face with a complicated expression. Her face remained calm and composed, as pure and spotless as fresh snow atop a mountain peak.
You did that on purpose.
His gaze conveyed exactly that.
Yukinoshita Yukino's expression did not change in the slightest. She remained as calm as ever, only lowering her head slightly to hide her eyes.
"Sato! What exactly did you see just now?!"
Ritsu suddenly walked over from not far away. She had already changed into her black-and-white maid outfit.
This one looked slightly different from yesterday's. Yamanaka Sawako had apparently taken it home and altered it again. Compared to before, it allowed for easier movement and was more suitable for performing.
Standing before Sato, Ritsu spoke in her usual carefree, boyish tone.
Yet her eyes kept darting away from his.
She somehow looked... timid?
A timid Ritsu?
A timid Captain Ritsu?
This was an entirely new version of her. Looking like this, she even seemed a little tsundere.
Sato slowly withdrew his gaze from Ritsu. His own eyes drifted to the side as well, avoiding hers.
"I saw... everything I was supposed to see, and everything I wasn't."
The scene from moments ago involuntarily resurfaced in his mind.
Even after all this time, it was still vividly etched into his memory.
Sometimes having such a good memory was a curse.
No matter how you looked at it, the ones who had suffered were the girls in front of him.
He hadn't been in the wrong, and he certainly hadn't minded the unexpected visual treat from a group of cute, beautiful girls.
But regardless, they were the ones who had drawn the short straw.
Ritsu looked at him in surprise.
She had expected him to make excuses.
Instead, he admitted it so straightforwardly.
"J... just don't let it happen again!"
In the end, she stammered those words with a flushed face before hurriedly turning around and walking away.
That seemed to settle the matter.
"...Sigh."
After Ritsu left, Sato let out a quiet sigh.
He still felt a little dejected.
After what had happened today, recruiting new members was probably out of the question.
He thought to himself.
Still, there was nothing anyone could have done.
Club recruitment had reached its fiercest stage over the past few days. The changing rooms were packed with students from various clubs waiting in line to change clothes.
Since the wait was so long, Mio and the others had decided to change here instead.
The original plan hadn't had any flaws.
But the one thing the world never lacked was unexpected accidents.
Even Sato couldn't have prevented something like this.
In the distance, the girls seemed to be quietly discussing something.
From time to time, one of them would glance toward Sato, only to hurriedly turn away with a blushing face the moment their eyes met.
Fortunately, aside from Mio, who remained bright red and kept her head buried against her chest, everyone else appeared relatively normal.
Thankfully, they had only been changing their outer clothing today.
Otherwise, if he had seen any more than that, there was no way this would have ended so easily.
"You seem rather happy."
Yukinoshita Yukino suddenly spoke again.
"What makes you say that?"
Sato looked at her in surprise, unsure why she had suddenly said that.
"Because the corners of your mouth seem to be turning upward. Are you smiling?"
Huh?!
Sato's heart skipped a beat.
He instinctively reached up and touched the corner of his mouth.
Am I smiling?
Seriously?
No way...
He looked at Yukinoshita Yukino in disbelief.
"Are they really?"
Could it be...
Was I actually happy about this?
"They aren't."
A trace of amusement, so faint it was almost impossible to notice, flickered across Yukinoshita Yukino's face as she looked at his utterly incredulous expression.
Then she answered in her usual cool voice.
"They aren't?"
"You... you tricked me?!"
Sato froze, staring at her with complete disbelief.
Since when had Yukinoshita Yukino learned how to joke?
Faced with his astonished gaze, Yukinoshita Yukino quietly lowered her eyes and silently looked away.
She turned her gaze toward the window, where the cherry blossom tree outside was in full bloom.
Pink petals drifted gracefully through the air.
For a moment...
Sato could no longer tell whether she had been telling the truth or lying.
"Senpai, I'm so sorry!"
Just then, Sato heard hurried footsteps.
As he turned around, he saw Hirasawa Ui suddenly stop in front of him. Her eyes were slightly red as she gave him a deep bow.
Snapping out of his thoughts, Sato quickly stood up and gently helped her straighten.
He spoke as softly as he could, trying to ease the girl's anxiety.
"This wasn't your fault, Ui. You don't need to apologize."
Ui looked up at him with glistening eyes.
She bit her delicate cherry-colored lips tightly.
Looking so pitiful, she resembled a fragile dandelion swaying in the wind.
She shook her head and lowered her gaze.
"No. If I hadn't made that mistake, Senpai and my sister wouldn't have ended up in such an embarrassing situation."
Sato paused.
She wasn't wrong.
Things really were awkward.
"It's alright. Everything's fine."
Without thinking, he reached out and gently patted Ui on the head.
The moment his hand touched her neatly combed, silky hair, he realized what he'd just done.
Ui looked up at him blankly.
"Sorry."
Sato awkwardly withdrew his hand.
He'd simply gotten used to doing that back in the countryside.
Those had been children he'd grown up with, practically younger siblings in his eyes.
His relationship with Hirasawa Ui wasn't nearly that close.
"I-It's okay..."
Ui lowered her head, her face bright red as she replied in a voice barely louder than a mosquito's buzz.
Now that was what real timidity looked like.
Seeing her like this, something stirred in Sato's heart.
To put her mind at ease, he smiled gently.
"Come on. Let's head over."
"Okay!"