A week had passed since the courage test, and Aina Yoshiwara had finally begun to re-examine her feelings. A truly celebratory occasion... right?
"Sigh, but I have to help the shop prepare the ingredients for tomorrow tonight..."
In the Grand Blue hall, Yuu Miyazawa, wearing a headband, spoke with a troubled expression while his hands never stopped stir-frying. He looked over at Aina, who was practically kneeling outside the bar counter.
"Besides, these few days are peak diving season, so it's hard to find time during the day. And Uncle Toshio seems to have gone into a total state of retirement..."
"Onegai! Without Yuu... I...!"
"Aaah~ Aina, your head is just filled with thoughts about yourself!"
Despite his words, seeing that Aina looked ready to burst into tears, Yuu put down his utensils and called out toward the floor above: "Nanaka-san! Can you come down for a bit and help stir-fry dinner?"
"Coming—!"
Walking downstairs with a smile, Nanaka Kotegawa stepped off the last stair only to see Aina with her backside stuck high in the air. Her expression instantly turned to one of confusion.
"Um... Aina? What is this?"
"In order to show my absolute sincerity! This is my 'Three Visits to the Hut'!"
Jerking her head up, Aina Yoshiwara wailed loudly, sporting dark circles under her eyes. Her small face looked as if she had suffered some monumental grievance!
Seeing this, although Nanaka was curious about what the girl had gone through, she figured that if it was something unpleasant, she shouldn't poke at a sore spot since Aina wasn't offering details.
"Are we having wraps tonight? I might not be very good at making the tortillas..."
"No worries, the wraps are already prepared and in the basket. If you think they've gotten cold, just pop them in the microwave for a bit."
"..."
With her lips pouting, Aina watched as Yuu skillfully rested his hand on Nanaka's waist, then gave the older girl's head a light, affectionate "bonk" before untying his apron and fastening it onto her.
Aina narrowed her eyes, her envy visible to the naked eye. This intense "old married couple" vibe really struck a chord in her maidenly heart!
Moreover, by comparison, Yuu was already living happily with the person he loved, while she was still worrying over romance and even performing prostrating just to beg for help. Life was simply too unfair!
"Well, alright, Aina..."
Walking out from the open kitchen, Yuu Miyazawa stretched and reached out to turn Aina's head away from Nanaka and toward himself. "So, what's the problem?"
"Basically, it's a huge problem! I can't explain it in just a few words! So, please, you must come to my room tonight!"
"Hiss..."
His gaze instantly became suspicious. Yuu had initially thought it was some minor issue like running out of living expenses, but Aina had opened with a "come home with me tonight" invitation!
Was that right? That wasn't right at all!
Had Aina's wires gotten crossed again after not seeing her for a few days, and now she was setting her sights on him?
"Chotto matte!"
At that thought, he immediately frowned and reached out to block Aina's path to prevent her from getting any closer. With his other hand, he fished his phone out of his pocket to call Azusa-senpai. "I have some things I need to discuss with a friend!"
"Wait! You've got it wrong! For the time being, don't tell Azusa-senpai about this!"
This movement was all too familiar. Ignoring the arm blocking her, Aina Yoshiwara squeezed past with tears streaming down her face. Even though her small face was being squashed out of shape by his arm, she insisted on forcefully pressing down on Yuu's phone to end the call.
In fact, if possible, the fewer people who knew about this, the better. Especially "big mouths" like Azusa-senpai and Iori—she absolutely could not tell them!
This involved her private life, so it was a firm dame!
"Sigh, what could be so secret that you can't even tell Azusa-senpai? Fine, I get it! I won't call her!"
"Thank you... actually, the situation is like this..."
"Yeah, I think I have the gist of the situation!"
At 7:30 PM that night, in Aina Yoshiwara's small apartment, Yuu Miyazawa poked Aina's belly—which was bulging from eating wraps—and summarized: "What Aina means is that because you confiscated Kohei's games during the Tokyo trip, he's been coming here frequently to play video games, right?"
"That's a weird way to put it, but yeah, that's exactly it..."
Dissatisfied, Aina swatted away Yuu's "unclean" hand and sat up from her lying position. Her small face was filled with righteous indignation.
"It's my room, after all! Kohei comes over so frequently, it feels like how Yuu has taken up residence in Grand Blue!"
"Ah! That is indeed a very serious problem!"
His casual expression instantly turned solemn. Yuu sat cross-legged and nodded deeply, clearly feeling an immense amount of empathy for the analogy!
If the situation was as serious as Aina claimed, then Kohei was indeed going way too far.
Even in a Galgame, there's a weekly limit to how much you can grind favorability. How could Kohei conduct a 24/7 bombardment on a maiden!
"Ah... actually, the situation might not be that serious..."
Aina's gaze turned flat. She felt she had still underestimated the extent of Yuu's "occupation" of Grand Blue, but whatever—it wasn't much different!
"In short, Azusa-senpai definitely wouldn't be able to do anything against a piece of trash. Only a piece of trash can defeat another piece of trash!"
Once again, pathetic tears squeezed from the corners of her eyes. She scrambled forward a few steps to get close to Yuu, grabbing his hand and looking up with watery eyes as she made a sincere request: "Please! Please find a way to make Kohei disgusted enough to leave!"
"Aaah~ you've suddenly become quite mean..."
This was the first time he felt that Aina had actually become such a "scumbag." Yuu closed his eyes and let out a sorrowful sigh, wondering what the PaB club had done to a once introverted girl!
But since she had asked, he would definitely help. However, before officially beginning the "Kohei Ejection Operation," he had one question— "So, why don't you just tell Kohei directly? It's your house, after all~"
"That's..."
Her sore spot having been poked, Aina's gaze immediately began to shift, and she turned her head away in embarrassment. "Maybe it's because it's become a habit, so now I feel awkward kicking him out?"
"Eh?"
"I can't help it! Kohei started coming over here a long time ago!"
Shame turned into anger. In Aina's eyes, this couldn't be helped, especially since she had made a promise back in Tokyo that he could come over whenever he wanted to play.
Plus, back then, her heart was entirely set on Iori. She didn't view Kohei as a romantic prospect at all, so she naturally didn't think too much of it.
But it was different now! Now that it was clear Kohei liked her, how could she keep a straight face while facing the blondie who usually came to her house to play games?!
"What a troublesome woman..."
"Ha?"
"Nothing, I said Kohei is really going too far! He must be fiercely evicted!"
Under Aina's murderous glare, Yuu could only change his tune mid-sentence to avoid becoming her punching bag.
However, getting rid of Kohei was indeed no easy feat. They were both pieces of trash, and accordingly, they both knew how troublesome the other could be.
If he couldn't find the right medicine to hit Kohei where it hurt, it would be impossible to drive away the thick-skinned Kohei—whose skin was comparable to Kevlar—using simple methods!
"Hmm... when does Kohei usually come? To know one's enemy is to be invincible. At the very least, I need to observe his behavior patterns before making a plan, right?"
"That makes sense..."
Clicking on her phone to check the time, Aina paused for two seconds before answering: "Usually, it would be around this time—"
Ding-dong!
"Eek!"
Before she could finish her sentence, the sudden sound of the doorbell cut her off.
Her body jolted in shock. Without anyone asking, she quickly smoothed out the messy bed and tightly fastened the two buttons of her pajama collar that she'd undone because of the heat.
Even though there wasn't much to see on her "flat plains" even if the buttons were all open, the maidenly nature of her actions still made Yuu's lips curl upward.
Watching Aina tidy everything up before scurrying to open the door, he made a very fair assessment—
First! Aina definitely had no feelings for him. This was obvious from the PaB tradition of being unkempt; both Chisa and Aina were always in a "defenseless" state around him!
Now that she was starting to put up defenses against Kohei, it meant she had preliminary reassigned Kohei's position from "drinking buddy" to "romantic interest"!
Secondly...
"Coming, coming!"
Although Aina said she didn't welcome Kohei, her physical movements were honestly quite buoyant. In short, her body was being more honest than her mouth.
Who would have thought that such a good-looking kid would secretly hide a faint tsundere attribute!
"Kohei! You're here..."
She swung the door open. Aina herself didn't notice the hint of anticipation and welcome in her tone, but the person standing at the door was a bit different from who she expected.
"Hmm? Isn't Kohei that 2D blondie we've met?"
The expression on the visitor's face shifted from the bewilderment of having been called the wrong name to a cat-like smirk. Kiyoko Kamio twirled a lock of her side-ponytail and waved her hand, saying regretfully: "I'm sorry, though. It's Kiyoko, not Kohei!"
"Eh?"