Chapter 93

After a few dozen minutes of back and forth, Eri managed to drive the monster Makimaki out of the room. She sat on the bed, staring at the blank wall, lost in thought.

If only she could grab her smartphone and immediately confront Yuki with “What the hell is this pickup thing?” But that action would be dangerous.

Probably, it’s best to assume that eighty percent of what her sister said is a lie.

Because that’s just the kind of person she is. If you keep a cool head, you won’t be deceived. Probably.

Even so, it’s hard to imagine Yuki being all gung-ho about picking up girls. It’s impossible.

But the fact that they exchanged contact information is undeniable.

(Could it be that he’s just being more outgoing during the summer break…?)

Since the start of the summer break, Eri hasn’t even seen Yuki, let alone contacted him.

Even on the day right before the summer break, when she tried saying in the classroom, “Summer break, huh? We won’t see each other for a while, I guess,” he only replied with “Yeah,” without any special reaction.

Perhaps it was a mistake to flatly call him the “seatmate killer” the other day.

If she does that, there’s a high chance he’ll brush her off, saying something like, “I don’t talk to the seatmate killer no matter what.”

(Has this already reached a dead end? No, but wait… it’s summer break…)

She closed her eyes and twisted her neck, thinking hard.

Pok pok pok ching. Eri had an idea.

(Summer break means no school. Not seatmates. So, not the seatmate killer… hah, no problem.)

This way, by using a bit of wit to deceive, everything will be fine.

She could almost hear a voice praising her, “How clever of you to think of that!”

Just then, her smartphone, which was lying on the side, vibrated with a message from Mizuho.

“Yuki-kun is feeling lonely.”

“Why don’t you come over to my place!”

(I see, I see… Hehehe, you’re completely transparent to me…)

Her cheeks relaxed into a smile.

Even without her doing anything, Mizuho would pass her the ball like this.

After all, they were supposed to be fake boyfriends and girlfriends, so they couldn’t completely avoid contact.

(But that guy has probably forgotten about it already…)

Recently, there’s been no sign of him trying to act like a fake boyfriend. What’s with his natural behavior?

Because of Yuki’s attitude, Eri even has a hunch that Mizuho might already know about the fake relationship.

(If that’s the case, then this pickup thing… It’s still okay because it was her sister, but this is complete cheating, right? How does he plan to explain himself?)

She needs to confirm this and more.

Actually, she was waiting for an invitation to come over and play, but nothing happened, and she felt lonely.

“It’s probably the seatmate killer thing that’s the problem, I guess…”

Her goal is to get out of the “seatmate killer” label.

Now, when she’s not associated with the seatmate, is the perfect opportunity.

Eri rolled over on the bed and started composing a reply to Mizuho: “You’re really something, you know…”

---

A few days after the day she went out with Keitaro, in the afternoon.

Yuki was watching TV on the sofa in the living room when the doorbell rang.

Without moving, he kept his eyes on the TV, and Mizuho, who was lying next to him playing a handheld game, lifted her head.

“Aren’t you going to answer it?”

“It’s probably just a salesperson.”

“Hmm,” Mizuho muttered, then went back to her game as if she didn’t care. Yuki, too, continued to focus on the TV.

The show currently on was a foreign TV drama.

Originally, it was a video streaming service that Mizuho’s father had subscribed to, but since she was busy with games, Yuki started watching it, saying it would be a waste not to, and he got completely hooked.

He was watching a detective suspense series with special abilities, and it was at a crucial point at the end of the season.

The doorbell rang a few more times, but neither of them reacted, and the sound eventually stopped.

Then, unexpectedly, Mizuho’s smartphone, which was rarely used, started vibrating.

Mizuho’s phone usually only moved for game notifications, but it seemed to be receiving a call.

Mizuho looked at Yuki with a “Huh?” expression, then cautiously reached for her phone.

“Oh, right.”

As soon as she saw the screen, she stood up as if remembering something, and left the living room with her phone in hand.

Shortly after, a familiar voice was heard yelling from the entrance, and Mizuho returned with someone.

“Ta-da! Eri-chan is here!”

A shadow suddenly leaped forward, and with a full smile, Eri made a double peace sign at Yuki.

Yuki took his eyes off the TV and glanced at her.

“Oh? Eri’s here. What’s up?”

“Why are you here? It’s you…”

“Oh, sorry, I can’t see the TV from here.”

Eri quickly looked at Yuki twice, then seemed to be about to say something but backed off.

Instead, she moved closer to Mizuho and started whispering in her ear.

“Hey! You don’t seem at all lonely!”

“Haha, it’s a joke, of course.”

“Hey!”

Eri, speaking in a low, threatening voice, grabbed Mizuho and started roughhousing with her.

It seemed Mizuho had called her over on her own.

Yuki ignored them and focused on the TV, but their loud laughter was too distracting.

“You two are close, but I can’t hear the TV. Be quiet.”

“Yui-chan was feeling lonely without Yuki-kun.”

“W-What?! N-No, that’s not true! What are you saying on your own?!”

“Then why did you come?”

Mizuho asked Eri with a sly smile.

Eri’s mouth moved slightly, as if to say “This brat…” but even Eri wouldn’t say such a thing to a younger middle schooler.

Eri, who was slightly red-faced, averted her gaze.

But she quickly looked back with a strong expression, cleared her throat dramatically, and started again.

“Ahem, well, um, more importantly! The other day, I overheard a rather unsavory rumor.”