Chiaka's whisper shot out like a laser as she suddenly grabbed Kaito's sleeve and dragged him behind a pillar near the escalator.
"What's going on?" Kaito muttered, half-tripping over his own feet.
Chiaka peeked out from behind the column like a spy in heels. "I just saw Miyuki. She's here. With her boyfriend."
"So?" Kaito said. "She knows we're out."
Chiaka turned slowly with the most serious face imaginable. "If she sees us together in a mall? She'll never let us live."
Kaito blinked. "Oh… right. The teasing."
Chiaka nodded. "We'll be memes by dinner."
Kaito sighed. "Alright then, lead the way, Miss Mission Impossible."
They snuck into the nearest shop—which happened to be a bright and glittery cosmetic store.
Chiaka instantly transformed from spy to fashionista. "Ooooh! Lipstick!" She practically skipped to the counter and began testing shades on her hand.
Kaito kept peeking toward the entrance, on high alert. "Quickly, before we're spotted."
"Oh come on, this is serious business," Chiaka said. Then, without warning, she leaned closer to Kaito, dabbing a soft coral-pink lipstick with her finger and smudging it onto his cheek.
Kaito jolted. "Wha—?!"
A shop assistant, watching them with a smile, walked over and chirped,"Aww, you two are such a cute couple! That shade suits her, by the way!"
Chiaka's eyes widened. "Eh?! N-no no, we're not—!"
The words collapsed into a shy stammer. Her cheeks turned red—deeper than the lipstick she was testing.
Kaito, frozen like a statue, turned to her with a barely hidden smirk.
Chiaka grabbed his hand. "Abort mission!"
"What—"
"Just run!"
And they dashed out of the shop like they'd just robbed it.
Outside, panting and hiding behind a fountain, Chiaka covered her face with her hands.
"She thought we were a couple. A couple!"
Kaito wiped his cheek. "Well… I guess you did smear lipstick on me. It kinda looked…"
Chiaka peeked through her fingers. "Don't say it."
"...Romantic."
"Kaito!!"
He laughed softly. "Hey, it was the shop lady, not me."
Chiaka groaned and bonked her head lightly on the fountain edge. "This is a disaster."
"And it's only 2 PM."
Moments later, as they navigated the food court—
"FREE MOCHI?!" Chiaka shouted, eyes sparkling.
There was a promotional stall offering colorful mochi samples on tiny toothpicks.
Before Kaito could even say no, she was gone—already chewing something fluffy and purple.
"You have to try this!" she said with puffed cheeks. "It's grape mochi, but like, sweet-sweet not medicine-sweet."
Kaito hesitated, then gave in and tried one. "...Okay. That's criminally good."
Chiaka picked up another. "I'm starting to forgive the universe for what happened back in that store."
"Glad food healed you so fast."
"Oh no, I'm still humiliated. But now I'm humiliated with mochi."
They both chuckled—until a familiar voice called out—
"Kaito?"
He turned stiffly.
Standing nearby was Yui, their classmate, holding a shopping bag and blinking at them.
"Oh! Yui! What a surprise!" Kaito shouted a bit too loudly.
Yui tilted her head. "Why are you… hiding behind a mochi stand?"
Chiaka straightened, brushing imaginary dust off her dress. "Hey there."
Yui's eyes widened. "Wait… aren't you Chiaka-senpai? From the literature fest?"
Chiaka smiled politely, cheeks slightly red again. "Yep. That's me."
Kaito quickly added, "Totally random encounter! She, uh, just loves free food too."
Yui looked between them. "You two didn't come together?"
Kaito laughed nervously. "Nope! Just bumped into her right here. Haha. What are the odds, right?"
Chiaka nodded too fast. "Y-Yeah. Mochi brings people together… by accident!"
Yui raised an eyebrow. "There's lipstick on your cheek."
Chiaka turned red again. Kaito looked like he wanted to sink into the floor.
"Sample-testing incident!" he blurted. "She sneezed. Chaos happened. Long story."
Yui slowly stepped back. "...See you around, then."
As soon as she left, the two slumped behind the mochi cart again.
"She definitely thinks something's going on," Kaito muttered.
Chiaka groaned. "This day is cursed."
Kaito glanced at her. "You know… for someone who's supposed to be the Madonna of our uni, you're very dramatic in public."
"I'm a layered person, okay?" she mumbled. "Like mochi."
He chuckled.
They found temporary refuge in a home décor store filled with artificial plants.
Chiaka sat cross-legged on the floor between two fake ferns. "I might live here now."
Kaito sat beside her. "We could start a new life. Get plastic leaf jobs."
Chiaka smiled faintly, glancing at him. "Hey… thanks for putting up with all this chaos."
"I mean," Kaito shrugged, looking away, "it's not all bad."
There was a pause.
Then—
"MY, MY, MY~!"
Both their heads snapped up.
Standing a few feet away with a smirk that could melt steel was Miyuki.
"Well well well," she said, crossing her arms. "Shopping. Lipstick. Hiding. Mochi. Suspiciously couple-like behavior. Anything you two wanna confess?"
Chiaka jumped up, flailing. "Miyuki! It's not what it looks like!"
"It looks like you're dating my brother in secret and pretending this is all some coincidence."
"IT'S NOT A DATE!" Kaito cried.
Miyuki ignored him and pulled out her phone. "Oh, by the way… I might've entered your names into a little giveaway while you were busy eating mochi."
Both their phones buzzed.
They looked.
"Congratulations! You've won a free couple's mochi box! Please collect at Counter 4."
Chiaka: "No."
Kaito: "Absolutely not."
Chiaka turned to Kaito. "She's evil."
Kaito nodded. "100%."
Miyuki winked. "Mind to explain me the situation?"