"Wait a moment! If it's just hand-holding, then I could choose to hold hands with Yukinoshita-san instead!"
For a moment, Yanami, who was somewhat shy and flustered, had a sudden flash of inspiration.
"Sorry, our shop only recognizes BG."
The waiter said.
"How un-progressive?! Is there no sweet love between girls anymore?!"
Yanami protested.
"Go and tell our manager's fetishes." The waiter was unmoved.
"Is the fetish BG? That feels pretty normal..." Asakura said from the side.
"No, the fetish seems to be 'boy meets sky-falling girl' style."
That's a quite classic hobby; it feels like an old otaku who is at least thirty years old.
"Heresy!" Yanami, who had always been a childhood friend partisan, shouted loudly.
Then she was hissed at by an irritated cow cat.
"S-sumimasen..." The girl apologized to the cat in a trembling voice.
That black-and-white cat put its paw on her head, proudly making an expression that probably meant 'I forgive you'.
Yukino silently took out her phone to take a photo.
Although Asakura knew she was just being charmed by that cat which looked a bit arrogant, in a certain sense, it was also capturing Yanami's dark history.
So Asakura sent her a 'send me a copy later' look.
As a result, he was rejected by Yukino's gaze.
Then Asakura changed his look to 'are you going to defy me, who possesses the power of the life-saving favor?'.
Yukino's eyes held a few more traces of contempt, but she didn't continue to reject him.
"I say, are you two really a couple? I feel like those two over there have more of a boyfriend-girlfriend atmosphere." The waiter witnessed the eye contact between Asakura and Yukino and couldn't help but doubt.
"Exactly! Since our table is ordering the couples' set meal, why not just have Asakura and Yukinon do that kind of thing!"
Yanami, who finally escaped from under the cat's paw, said with her eyes brightening.
But then she subconsciously put her hand over her chest.
Clearly she had thought of a good idea, so why did she feel a dull sense of regret in her heart, as if she had done something stupid, along with a slight pang of pain?
Could it be that something was wrong with her heart? As expected, it would be better to go to the hospital for a full check-up after the summer vacation...
But now she had the bodies of four people, theoretically she should have four hearts, right? Even if one was broken, it seemed like it wouldn't be a problem.
Rather, if she went to the hospital, how to explain her weight, which was different from ordinary people, would also be a problem.
"I refuse." Without waiting for Yanami to figure out what was wrong with her heart, Yukino said coldly.
The gaze that was originally directed at Asakura with contempt now turned to Yanami, giving the girl an illusion that she was about to be frozen to death by that icy gaze.
"There's no need to be contemptuous to this extent, right?" This made it somewhat difficult for Asakura to explain.
Darn it, if Asagumo had also come, he wouldn't have to fall into this passive predicament of being pushed around like an item on sale at a supermarket.
"Don't misunderstand, I'm not contemptuous of Asakura-kun..." Yukino said seriously: "It's just that on this matter, I hope not to have such a playful attitude; if one always treats feelings so lightly, in the end, when true feelings are in front of one, they will instead become dull."
"It feels like Yukinoshita-san has become a love teacher!" Yanami looked at her with worshipful eyes: "I understand, I will properly cherish the girl's maiden heart!"
"...Clearly a fellow who has never been in a relationship." Asakura muttered in a low voice.
Yukino raised her chin proudly and refrained from commenting on his pettiness.
"Um..." the waiter standing by looked a bit awkwardly, "do you still want the couples' set meal?"
"Refund it for us..."
"We want it!" Before Asakura finished speaking, Yanami spoke first.
"You should recall what you said three seconds ago!" Asakura complained with a head full of black lines.
"That is that, this is this; they aren't the same thing and shouldn't be lumped together."
Yanami said matter-of-factly.
"Weren't you just calling her Yukinoshita-sensei?"
"Asakura-kun also calls Shizuka 'sensei,' but do you completely listen to Hiratsuka-sensei's words?"
"...Darn it, I can't refute that."
Asakura slumped onto the table and sighed.
The Yukino on the side showed an expression of wanting to say something but stopping, probably wanting to complain 'Isn't that too rude to Hiratsuka-sensei?', but after considering Hiratsuka Shizuka's usual behavior of barging into the activity room when things weren't going her way, the girl ultimately said nothing.
"So Asakura-kun, prepare yourself!"
"Why does it sound like you're going to use some ultimate move on me?"
Clearly he was Asakura 'prepare yourself', but instead it was Yanami who was taking deep breaths over there, looking as if she were silently cheering herself on and doing some mental preparation.
After that, the girl seemed to have made some kind of decision, reaching out her hand toward Asakura, while also saying in a small, somewhat shy voice:
"That... I might sweat a bit... when I'm nervous...!"
Before she could finish, her hand was grabbed by Asakura—in the form of interlaced fingers.
"Idiot, the slower the hand-holding, the more you'll care about the contact between skin and the senses will be magnified." Asakura said: "If you want to hold hands, just do it generously like this. Well, it's just hand-holding; don't friends often do this kind of thing?"
"This is definitely not the kind of hand-holding friends should have..."
The girl whispered to herself in a voice that was almost inaudible, feeling the warmth from the boy on the other side in her palm, unable to help but feel two patches of red clouds rise on her cheeks, and the scorching heat spread from the base of her ears to her neck.
She flusteredly lowered her eyelids, not daring to look at Asakura's expression, her thick eyelashes trembling slightly, staring fixedly at an orange cat by her feet.
The latter felt a bit creeped out by her gaze and after thinking for a moment, flipped over, exposing its belly to show submission.
Not knowing how much time had passed, Yanami felt her hand suddenly become empty; at the moment the warmth disappeared, the girl subconsciously wanted to chase after that sense of security and re-grasp the other's hand.
But her remaining reason still prevented her from making any extra moves.
"Alright, the couples' set meal will be out soon; if you're not prepared to eat, it will be counted as two meals." Asakura said nonchalantly.
"I know, I know."
The girl grumbled, but for some reason, she felt for the first time in her life that, compared to eating, holding the other's hand like just now was even more intoxicating...