A fatal proposition like "Where did I go wrong?"—that really ought to be a privilege belonging exclusively to girls.
And besides... besides...
She was clearly the one being bullied here.
Gazing up at Su Yuzu all aggrieved, the girl pressed her lips together as though she might burst into tears the very next second.
The little rabbit looked at Su Yuzu.
The bullying senpai... was nonetheless exercising an unreasonable privilege.
But... but...
For some reason, she didn't actually seem to hate it all that much.
Her slender waist was even faintly arching upward, as if to welcome it.
Of course, the little rabbit would absolutely never admit it—after all, she wasn't a real rabbit.
Th-th-this... at most it was just that her ankle had been caught by senpai, forcing her, with no other choice, into the motion of propping her body up.
Su Yuzu looked at the girl's watery eyes, in which tears seemed to be spinning round and round.
Did the little rabbit hate being treated like this by her?
[Ding——]
[Heart-throb: Saotome Yukina Favorability +1.]
[Favorability increase reward obtained: Maid's Fishnet Stockings (Damaged).]
[...]
Clearly—
The little rabbit did not hate being teased by her like this.
It was even... completely different from Lyudmila, who would first put on a coy, fidgety act, dropping a tiny bit of Favorability after being bullied before then climbing back up bit by bit.
The little rabbit didn't even bother to disguise it, didn't agonize over it in the slightest. Those beautiful, watery, rippling eyes all but had "Senpai, hurry up and bully me" written right into their depths.
It was at this moment that the young woman of the crepe shop, holding the crepes and orange juice Su Yuzu had ordered in one hand, gently rapped the tabletop beside them with the other.
Because the production method of the little rabbit's top-tier Favorability Gift—the 「strawberry cream crepes」—was completely different from the game, where you had to expend stamina farming a relationship-dog-food dungeon called the Gift House.
Here, you only had to pay a tiny bit of money to purchase it directly.
What's more... after gifting it to a girl, you could even receive double the money back as compensation.
So whenever Su Yuzu was going to Feed any of the girls, she would almost always bring them to the crepe shop here on the commercial street.
This place had practically become the designated gathering spot of the 'Su Yuzu Fan Club.'
Naturally, Su Yuzu had also become a regular customer of the proprietress.
The proprietress, who had once also been a Healing-type student of Keigunen Private Academy, understood as well... some of the 'bad habits' within the academy that had been brought about by a certain invincible healer.
So, out of goodwill, she didn't directly expose the little rabbit's predicament at this moment.
After the girl turned her gaze toward her, she lowered her brows and eyes and set down the crepes, the orange juice, and the milk, all of it.
At the seat on the inner side.
Su Yuzu slowly sat up straight.
But... she still did not let go of the girl's ankle.
On the contrary——
The girl's heel was propped up high by her.
Just like a dance pose, or a yoga pose.
And yet... the little rabbit still had to strive to maintain a seemingly normal sitting posture in front of an outsider.
It was precisely because the little rabbit was often put through training by Su Yuzu, and on top of that was a Healing-type Esper with hydro abilities, that her body was naturally supple to begin with.
Otherwise... by this point she had probably already gone so sore and aching that she'd cry.
Yet even so, teardrops still glimmered in the little rabbit's water-blue eyes, and her dainty, adorable toes had already curled up tight.
On any ordinary day she could do a full front split without any trouble at all.
But in her current situation, the little rabbit really did feel like she was about to cry.
She could only count herself lucky—or perhaps... regretful—that senpai had not yet been wicked enough to, at a time like this, take off the girl's shoe and then tickle the sole of her foot.
The little rabbit had a delicate, soft body, and she was also very ticklish.
If Su Yuzu really did that, the little rabbit would probably cramp up on the spot and tumble straight off the seat, curling up like a shrimp.
Su Yuzu merely, with an utterly solemn air... propped the girl's calf up on her own knee.
Then she pushed that portion of strawberry cream crepes over in front of the little rabbit.
"Eat up——"
[Ding——]
[Feed: Saotome Yukina Favorability +1.]
[Favorability increase reward obtained: Large Bottle of Stamina Potion.]
[Ding——]
[Iridescent Rhapsody: Saotome Yukina Favorability +3.]
[Favorability increase reward obtained: Proper Rabbit Feed.]
[...]
She had absolutely no idea just what wild fantasies were running through the little rabbit's little head in a situation like this, such that the girl's Favorability could still keep climbing up and up without stopping.
Although... after having crossed the great threshold of Dependency.
The little rabbit's Favorability had already been stuck at 99 - Attachment 「Severe」 for a very long time.
And what's more... unlike the bright, vivid red of Sister, Kujou Katora, Ms. Unohana, or even the little cat.
The color of the little rabbit's Favorability was, surprisingly, a tender pink, much like Lyudmila's.
By now, Su Yuzu had more or less come to understand just what the colors of Favorability actually represented.
It was nothing other than the kind of relationship between Ms. Unohana and Yamabuki Nanako, or perhaps... Sakura Renxin and Tennoji Jurei.
But.
Su Yuzu looked at the little rabbit's Favorability epithet, as well as those strange, unpresentable Favorability Gifts.
Su Yuzu really didn't understand it.
And what's more, she couldn't help but seriously start mulling over the matter of the Saotome family's upbringing.
If you said that Kujou Katora was because, within the heart of every sadist, there's actually a masochist hidden away.
Lyudmila looked all wretchedly masochistic because of Saint Michael's upbringing and her birth—the ascetics of the 「Holy Royal Court」 Inquisition all took suffering as their joy.
And Sister Mai was merely a case of being influenced by what she'd constantly seen and heard.
Then... the little rabbit...
Su Yuzu looked at the color of Saotome Yukina's Favorability.
Probably... it was simply because of a pure, simple rabbit's nature.
"The time arranged with Teacher Chiyo and the others is the day after tomorrow, eight o'clock in the morning." Even while clearly still propping the girl's calf up on her knee, Su Yuzu even wickedly... raised it up by just that little bit more.
The little rabbit's movements made it look as if she wished she could just lean her whole body backward and lie down flat.
But... when faced with the crepes and orange juice Su Yuzu pushed over, the little rabbit again had no choice but to, with great difficulty... arch forward, trying to tip her body down just a little—only to then feel that the space between her knees was already unbearably sore.
The Saintess to one side kept her eyes on her nose and her nose on her heart, pretending she hadn't seen a single thing.
She knew that the one playing dead and getting bullied was merely her own adorable roommate.
If she worked up the courage... she could probably deliver a double kill.
Only... Lyudmila, looking at the milk Su Yuzu had pushed over in front of her, fell into a long bout of contemplation.
After silently glancing at the little rabbit beside her, Lyudmila cupped the cup of milk in both hands and gulped it down, glug glug.
"When the time comes, I'll go to the entrance of the Healing-type dormitory to pick you up." Su Yuzu continued, still smiling as she spoke.
"Okay... okay..." The little rabbit's voice had even taken on a slight sob.
"You can pack a little extra luggage." Su Yuzu continued reminding the little rabbit. "I'll help you put it all away when the time comes."
Although~
She actually knew, too, that given the little rabbit's current state, she probably couldn't take in a word of any of this.
But didn't the little rabbit still have a perfect roommate here as well~
Su Yuzu glanced at Lyudmila.
Lyudmila thought Su Yuzu was finally about to make her move on her, and immediately lowered her head, cupped the cup of milk, and played ostrich.
"Any other questions~" Su Yuzu leaned her body forward, looking at the little rabbit.
Along with Su Yuzu's forward-leaning motion, the little rabbit's toes were nearly pressed right up against Su Yuzu's shoulder.
"No more..." The tearful girl was finally on the verge of snapping under the strain. "Waaah——!"
"No more!!!"
[Ding——]
[...]
Su Yuzu looked at her own Material Inventory.
Even though she clearly put on such an aggrieved-looking face, in the end... deep down she seemed to like it quite a lot.
____
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