Lunch break.

“Oh my goodness, Yamato-kun, you really love me so much, don’t you? No matter how much you love me, I’d be embarrassed if you said something like that to me in public.”

While eating lunch in the usual literature club room, Yuzu complained in a very good mood.

“…Whose fault do you think it was that I had to say such a cringy line?” As I sat in front of her across the desk, I glared at Yuzu with words of vindictiveness.

But the narcissist in a good mood widely smiled back at me as if she was invincible. “Probably mine? And it’s simply because I’m too attractive that Yamato-kun couldn’t contain his affection.”

“…Yup, just take it like that.”

It was pointless to fight an invincible enemy. I was already exhausted even before preparing for the school festival, which we had to start from now.

“Sorry, I’m just kidding. I know that Yamato-kun was properly backing me up. I’ll clean your ears later as a thank you.”

“No, thank you…”

I’d be more than happy to accept a more sensible thank you, but why did she keep making embarrassing suggestions?

“Forget about that, have you told Kotani that we’re going out again?”

Without that premise, my existence could not be a deterrent in their messy situation.

“Yes. We talked about it during recess. Not only to Aki, I told Sota and Keigo as well.”

So, did this mean that things were finally back to normal again?

I looked around to make sure no one was around, and then I put my lips near Yuzu’s ear.

“Did you get to the part where we’re a fake couple again?”

Even if we were found out to be a fake couple, it should still be able to contain the situation, but if possible, it would be more effective if they thought we were dating for real this time. However, Kotani and the others were not fools, and they wouldn’t be fooled so easily.

“No. I told her we’re really dating this time. Then she said, ‘Oh, I see, hm, I suppose that’s how it would be.’”

“Oh, is that so?”

It was a good thing that they didn’t doubt us… But what was this inexplicable feeling whirling inside me…?

What exactly do people think of us? I was coming to a slightly unpleasant conclusion, and Yuzu gave me a slightly serious look.

“Well, I guess I should gather a little more evidence that we’ve really started dating, just in case.”

“Y-yeah, I guess so. Um, I’m sure they’re actually doubting it in their hearts.”

It must be so. There was no way that they would really believe that lie, right? Surely. Probably. Maybe.

“By the way, what does the basketball team do for the festival?” To escape from reality, I decided to cut to the chase.

“Sota told me that the basketball team has been doing stage plays every year. I heard it was to gain confidence performing in front of crowds and nurturing their stage presence.”

“Huh. Well, it’s certainly something you need in basketball.”

Indeed, no matter how good someone was in practice, it would be meaningless if they couldn’t bring out their full potential during the actual match. Stage plays would be a good opportunity to see if a player possessed those qualities.

Nevertheless, there was one thing that bothered me.

“If we’re doing a play, does that mean…we’re going to be on stage too?”

My face heedlessly turned grim. I might have had it when I was an active player, but now I was the last person you’d expect to have that kind of quality. As a proud introvert, that was something I would like to avoid by all means.

“No, we’re in the background. Helping with the props. Well, we’ll probably participate a little during practice as an understudy, but we’re not going to be on the show.”

“Good. It would be unbearable if I had to be an actor, too.” At Yuzu’s words, I sighed and patted my chest, relieved.

“I wouldn’t mind being on stage, though. I’m not averse to that kind of thing.”

“…Sure looks like you’re cut out for this, girl.”

She was a smart girl, so she probably would easily remember her lines and she also possessed a strong stage presence. She could even be a first-class performer.

“Oh, so Yamato-kun, you also think that my cuteness is suitable for the stage?”

“That’s not what I was basing on, though.”

In a moment of my carelessness, a distorted interpretation was born in Yuzu.

“Don’t be shy. You’re right, my cuteness is suited for the stage. But Yamato-kun, you should have a little more of a sense of crisis. If I go out in front of a bunch of people, you’ll have more love rivals!”

“Who was it again who said that she wanted to tout herself as a loyal woman?”

Yuzu knitted her eyebrows as I frowned at her and attacked a sore spot.

“Damn it. I’d planned to make Yamato-kun fidget and make him care about me.”

“It’s a broken plan from the get-go.”

While we were talking like this, we both had finished our lunch. I put my lunch box away and looked at the clock; there was still quite a while until lunch break would end.

“We’ve got time, how about a game?”

I was curious about the continuation of the RPG I had started, so I invited her to join me, but Yuzu shook her head.

“That’s for another time. You have other things to do right now.”

“Things to do?”

I was not sure why Yuzu made a mischievous expression as I parroted her question, but then she pulled something out of her bag.

For a moment, I thought it was a pen, but it wasn’t. This bamboo stick with a curve like a cat’s hand…

“…An earpick?”

It was definitely that thing you use to clean your ears.

“Yes. I said I’d do it for you. Here, come here.”

She patted her thighs and called me over.

“…I thought I already said you don’t have to do that earlier.”

When I backed away from her, Yuzu’s lips pouted.

“What? I just wanted to thank you.”

“Remember how you couldn’t even get past the lap pillows before?”

The memory of our defeat against embarrassment despite taking on the challenge at the moment came back to me.

Yuzu also remembered this, and although she turned a little red, she showed no sign of pulling away.

“Then is then, now is now. We’ve been through a lot of boss battles and I’m sure we’re a lot better than we were back then. Now we can do this!”

“I wonder if we killed the boss…”

I only remembered hunting slime all the time.1

“We did. So, hurry up. H-U-R-R-Y!”

Yuzu patted her own thighs again, gesturing to me to come over.

She showed no sign of dropping this matter… Even if she did, I could see we returning to that homemade bento situation again; I heaved a sigh and decided to simply give in.

“Okay…then.”

“Yes. Come here!”

I made up my mind and sat down in the chair next to Yuzu and slowly rested my head on her thigh. The feel of her soft thighs and the temperature of human skin naturally increased my heart rate.

“U-uh, this is embarrassing, after all..” Yuzu stuttered.

“Uh, do you want to stop?”

“No, I won’t.”

“O-okay.”

We immediately started to falter. We hadn’t made any progress at all from before.

“Al-alright! I’ll clean your ear! Phew…I’m getting a little nervous and my hands are starting to shake.”

“Hey, I’m hearing some really scary words.”

“Oh, don’t move. It’s dangerous.”

I tried to slip away, but Yuzu held my head. Now we had come to this point, I could only pray that Yuzu wouldn’t make a mistake.

“Here we go!” As soon as she said it, the earpick touched my ear.



It felt strangely ticklish and sent a chill through me—totally unlike when I did it on my own.

“How do you feel? Does it feel good?”

“It kind of tickles.”

Physically, yes, it felt ticklish, but also psychologically. Like when imagining I was submitting myself to Yuzu while I stayed limp here, or that my consciousness was focused on Yuzu’s thighs instead since I couldn’t move a muscle.

I hadn’t realized how having your ear cleaned could feel this embarrassing.

“Okay, here’s what I think it looks like. Okay, finally…woo.” I thought Yuzu said something, but then she actually blew in my ear.

The chilling ticklishness reached its peak; I instantly sat up while covering my ear.

“Y-you…!”

Whoa, my ears are burning. It looks like it flushed red from what she did just now.

“Haha. I just felt like pulling some pranks on you. Sorry.”

“Um, it’s okay…” As my energy was being gobbled up by embarrassment, I backed away from Yuzu for a bit without blaming her further.

Yuzu tilted her head, puzzled by my reaction.

“Oh? You don’t react that much, Yamato-kun. Oh, you like that?”

“N-no, of course not!” I frowned and glared at her, but Yuzu didn’t seem to be affected and for some reason, she held up her phone screen to me.

“Really? But you look like you felt good in this photo.”

When I looked at the screen, there was a photo of me on Yuzu’s lap while she cleaned my ear.

“Hey, when did you take that?”

“Just a minute ago.”

What a blunder..! I was so busy trying to hold in my embarrassment that I didn’t even notice the shutter sound at all.

“Delete that!” I reached out to pick up Yuzu’s phone, but she ducked out of the way.

“NO-WAY! I told you before, didn’t I? We should show Aki and the others proof that we’re dating properly.”

At those words, my face went pale. “You’re not going to show that photo to someone, right!?”

“Of course, I will!”

She’s a demon!

“If I don’t send this picture, there might be suspicion again somewhere else. That’s not in Yamato-kun’s best interest, is it?”

“That’s…right, but…”

“Then shouldn’t we show this loving photo of us to Aki?”

“That…but still…”

Aside from the fact that I felt insanely embarrassed, Yuzu was so right on the money that I couldn’t think of a single argument to counter her..

“Don’t worry, it’s no big deal to send this photo. It’s no secret that Yamato-kun loves me. I mean, you also openly said that lovey-dovey statement while we were in class..”

“That only happened because of you, okay?!”

However, it certainly felt like there was nothing more I could do to fix the situation. My ‘declaration of love for Yuzu-chan’ was already a well-known fact among our classmates; sending this kind of shameful photo to  Kotani and the others—who actually knew our circumstances—would only leave an impression which I’d rather not let them have.

“So I really have no one on my side…?”

“You have me, right?”

“You’re the worst enemy I’ve ever had!”

—My shout proved to be futile as the ear-cleaning photo was sent to Kotani’s phone a short few minutes later.