Hearing Hayashi's words, Erina's face flushed red, but before she could even feel embarrassed, she realized something was off.
"Wait..."
Erina eyed the phone in Hayashi's hand suspiciously and couldn't help but ask, "What are you planning to do with that recording?"
"Isn't this prime blackmail material?" Hayashi replied with a completely justified expression, grinning smugly. "I'm keeping this to show Alice and Megumi Tadokoro when we get back to the Shokugeki world!"
Hearing this, Hisako immediately facepalmed: 'Oh my dear young master Hayashi, are you seriously collecting embarrassing moments like some group chat screenshots? Couldn't you just say "I want to preserve Erina's adorable side"?'
Are you trying to make the young lady blow her top?
"You—!"
Sure enough, Erina bared her teeth at Hayashi, flushing with anger as she snapped, "Delete it! Right now!"
Hayashi looked at his phone with reluctance and muttered, "Do I really have to?"
If it were just a normal cute video, Erina might have grudgingly allowed Hayashi to keep it. But what he'd recorded was the so-called "Midnight Horror Cat" blackmail material—only someone with a hole in their head would let him keep that!
"Delete it. Now!" Erina glared at him fiercely. "I'm watching you do it! And clear the recycle bin too!"
Hayashi clicked his tongue in annoyance—he'd planned to pretend to delete it and restore it from the recycle bin later. Who knew she'd see through that trick?!
Dammit, who taught that once-pure tsundere young lady to be so street-smart... Oh right, it was me. Never mind.
"Fine, fine, deleting..."
With great reluctance, Hayashi deleted the video in front of Erina and even emptied the recycle bin to eliminate any chance of recovery. Then, with dead-fish eyes, he glared at her and said, "Hurry up and start your performance!"
As he spoke, he secretly turned on his phone's camera again, aiming it at Erina while thinking, 'This time I won't tell you I'm recording. I'll keep it for myself.'
Erina's eye twitched. Hayashi's stupidity was almost convincing—like a grade-schooler who thought the teacher couldn't see them fidgeting at their desk. Hello? I can see you perfectly clearly!
I'm just choosing not to call you out on it...
Clearing her throat with slightly flushed cheeks, Erina steeled herself before letting out an extremely awkward "Nya."
Sabrina: "That was terrible! That nya was so forced!"
Hisako: "Agreed. At best, 40 out of 100."
Hayashi: "Couldn't you at least curl your hands like cat paws? Maybe tilt your head or something—"
Oh, so now you're giving notes?
Erina glared furiously at Hayashi, let out a fierce "Nya!", then turned away with a "Hmph!" and declared, "That's it! No more! Even if it's not good enough, I'm done!"
Full-on giving up.
Hayashi looked down at his phone screen, studying Erina's shy yet angry "ferociously cute" nya, then thoughtfully stroked his chin. "Hmm... I guess this works too, right?"
Meanwhile, Hisako clutched her chest as if struck by a Makankosappo, grinning deliriously. "A pouty, fierce young lady is also amazing!"
Sabrina glanced at the two who had already been defeated and shrugged helplessly, saying, "Fine, I'll count this as you passing."
Erina let out a slight sigh of relief, then declared with renewed vigor, "Come on! Next round!"
This time, she was determined to win and then mercilessly torment the others!
"Begin, begin—"
Hisako and Sabrina exchanged a look, both grinning as they started shuffling the cards.
...
...
In the second round, the winner was Sabrina, while the loser was Hayashi.
"Guh!"
Hayashi let out a mournful cry, staring in agony at the joker card in his hand as he muttered, "Why do I always end up with you?"
Sabrina, who had used her psychic powers to plant mental suggestions, blinked innocently before asking, "Hayashi, truth or dare?"
'Truth is absolutely out of the question—if some embarrassing past gets exposed, I'm done for!' Hayashi quickly made up his mind and declared, "Dare, obviously!"
"Oh, you're choosing dare too?" Sabrina furrowed her brows and mused, "Hmm, a dare... let me think..."
After pretending to ponder for a few seconds, she clapped her hands together. "Decided! You must choose one person among me, Hisako, and Erina to confess your love to—passionately!"
"Huh!?" X2
Both Hayashi and Erina couldn't help but exclaim in shock.
"Wait—" Hayashi sat up straight, visibly flustered. "Isn't this going a bit too far?"
Sabrina blinked again and said, "It's just for fun! As long as the person involved doesn't take it seriously, what's the problem?"
Hisako nodded solemnly, adding, "Yeah, it's just a game. You're not actually taking it seriously, are you, Mr. Hayashi?"
Reverse psychology—this was reverse psychology!
And yet, it worked like a charm.
"Hah? Of course not!" At this moment, Hayashi's mouth was the only part of him that remained tough. "A passionate confession? Big deal! I'll just—"
"Hold on!"
Just as Hayashi was about to pick Hisako to get it over with, Sabrina suddenly raised a hand to stop him.
"I think letting you choose who to confess to isn't fair," Sabrina said, wagging a finger. "How about we decide by drawing lots? Unless... you're scared?"
"Scared!? Why would I be scared!?" Even if cremated, Hayashi's mouth would remain intact as he stubbornly retorted, "Fine, drawing lots it is! Bring it on! Who's afraid of who?"
'He took the bait—' Hisako and Sabrina exchanged another glance, their lips curling into knowing smiles. Meanwhile, Erina, who had been watching them, suddenly felt a sense of foreboding.
Erina narrowed her eyes suspiciously. 'That look on their faces... are they planning something big?'
About fifteen seconds later, her suspicions were confirmed.
Hisako unfolded the slip of paper in her hand and announced with utmost seriousness, "The person you drew is... Erina-sama—"
Hayashi couldn't help but glance at Erina, who happened to be looking back at him. Their eyes met for a fleeting moment before both quickly averted their gazes, as if electrified.
'Here it comes—'
Sabrina couldn't help but flash the shameless grin of a gossip-loving spectator. She was practically itching to bring out cola, chips, melon seeds, and spicy strips to enjoy Hayashi and Erina's awkward romantic comedy, wasn't she?
'This kind of bittersweet romantic comedy is exactly what makes things interesting!'
Under the delighted gazes of Hisako and Sabrina, Hayashi looked at Erina with a tense expression, while Erina herself kept her eyes darting around as she lowered her head, completely thrown into disarray.
'What do I do, he's going to confess to me—'
'E-even if it's fake, it's still a confession—'
'Calm down, Erina! You need to stay calm—'
'This is fake, fake! Don't take it seriously!'
After taking deep breaths over and over, Erina finally managed to calm down a little.
'Bring it on!'
She was ready!
…Probably.
Meanwhile, Hayashi was just as nervous, his palms practically sweating.
Damn it, this was a confession, okay? The first time in his twenty-three years of life that he'd ever confessed to a girl! His first time ever!
Even if it was fake.
But he was still so nervous!
'My heart's beating so fast—'
Hayashi couldn't help but take a sip of water from the table, trying to steady himself…
No good. Absolutely no good!
He was so nervous he could die!
'This agonizing, heart-stopping tension… Perfect, just perfect…' Hisako bit down on her handkerchief, tears welling in her eyes. This was exactly the kind of maddening, ants-crawling-all-over-your-skin scenario she'd been hoping for!
Seeing how tense Hayashi and Erina were, Sabrina and Hisako didn't rush them. Instead, they exchanged knowing glances, watching eagerly with anticipation for what would happen next.
With no choice but to push through, Hayashi stiffened his neck and went for it!
"Ahem."
He cleared his throat, then looked at Erina with utmost seriousness and said, "Uh, well, Erina…"
"Y-yes?!"
Hearing her name called so abruptly, Erina instinctively straightened her back, flustered as she turned to look at Hayashi. Her nervous demeanor only made Hayashi's heart scream in despair.
'Gah, my dear Erina, why are you so tense—'
'You're making me even more nervous now!'
Hayashi felt his heartbeat, which he'd barely managed to steady, start racing again. Even though this was just a "playful dare," he couldn't calm down at all.
His face was burning!
Dammit, get a grip! Hayashi, twenty-three years old, virgin, zero romantic experience!
It's just a dare where you have to confess to a girl! Why are you so worked up?!
Pathetic!
After mentally berating himself, Hayashi was dismayed to find that it did absolutely nothing to ease his nerves. He was still just as tense as before.
Shit! He was done for!
Hayashi pressed his lips together, then pinched his thigh under the table, forcing out the words in a stiff voice: "Um, Erina, I… I lo—"
"Lo—!"
Hisako and Sabrina's eyes widened instantly, staring at Hayashi with bated breath, waiting for him to finish the sentence.
"Lo…"
Hayashi felt like his tongue was tied in knots. Normally, when joking around with his idiot online friends, he could spout cheesy lines like "I love you, baby, mwah!" without a second thought. So why couldn't he muster even a single smooth line now?!
Hisako: 'Say it! Say it! I'm dying of suspense—'
Sabrina: 'Ugh, it feels like ants are crawling all over me! I can't take this—'
Under their expectant, impatient gazes, Hayashi finally shut his eyes, opened his mouth, and blurted out with all the courage he could muster:
"I love you! Go out with me!"
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