After sending Hiratsuka Shizuka a message, Sato looked up and happened to notice Isshiki Iroha staring at the pile of love letters on his desk with a face full of disdain.
Seeing him look up, Isshiki Iroha asked, "Can I take a look?"
Sato's mouth twitched.
"Then would you let me read the love letters other people gave you?"
"Do you want to?"
Isshiki Iroha grinned mischievously at him.
"No."
"But I do!"
"Do you want to keep dreaming?"
Sato snatched the letters back from Isshiki Iroha and rolled his eyes at her.
At least have some self-awareness!
"Come on, let me see. It's not like you're going to accept any of them anyway!"
"How do you know I won't?"
Isshiki Iroha narrowed her eyes at him.
"Then let me ask you this. Do you like pretty girls or ugly ones?"
"What kind of question is that? Of course pretty ones!"
"How pretty?"
"The prettier the better, obviously!"
Sato looked speechless.
Wasn't that completely obvious?
Isshiki Iroha shrugged and put on an innocent expression.
"Then there you go."
She stretched out her fair, delicate hand and began counting on her slender fingers one by one.
"Let's see. You know Kasumigaoka Utaha-senpai from the third year, right? One of the famous beauties in our school."
"Mm."
Sato thought for a moment and nodded.
"Kasumigaoka-senpai has a cold personality. There aren't even many girls in the third year who can talk with her, let alone boys. So tell me honestly, what kind of relationship do you two have?"
Isshiki Iroha looked sideways at him.
Cold personality? Why don't I get that impression at all?
Sato rubbed his chin thoughtfully. He felt that Kasumigaoka Utaha acted pretty obedient around him. Sometimes her personality was even terrible. Not only was she scheming, she was also extremely sharp-tongued.
Cold and aloof did not exist at all, okay?
Stareeeee....
While he was thinking, Sato suddenly noticed Isshiki Iroha staring at him intently.
His expression immediately became subtle. After hesitating for a moment, he answered:
"Friends… probably."
Hmph! That suspicious hesitation!
Isshiki Iroha snorted inwardly, then raised another finger and waved it in front of him.
"Next is Yukinoshita Yukino from the second year!"
"She's even more aloof than Kasumigaoka-senpai. If Kasumigaoka Utaha-senpai still has a few girls she talks to, this one doesn't even have female friends she chats with!"
"No, she does."
Sato corrected her.
"Who?"
Isshiki Iroha looked at him suspiciously.
"Yuigahama Yui, and the others from the Light Music Club. Oh… and Hikigaya too."
Even though most of the time their interactions only consisted of "Mm," that still counted, right?
"Fine, even if she does have them. Then compared to them, who do you think talks more with Yukinoshita Yukino?"
"And don't lie. Be honest!"
I'm not some criminal being interrogated by the police.
Sato complained inwardly, then answered honestly:
"Me."
"Very good! That's another one!"
"What's your relationship with her?"
"Mm… friends."
Sato once again spat out those two words.
"Heh heh."
Isshiki Iroha crossed her arms and let out a cold laugh. The look in her eyes made goosebumps rise all over Sato's body.
Damn it! I'm telling the truth!
"Next!"
Isshiki Iroha slightly lifted her chin before continuing.
"This time it's Sawamura Eriri from the first year. Even though she gets along well with both boys and girls around her, she's never been alone with another boy before. Someone saw her together with you yesterday, so what's your relationship with her?"
"Partners."
Sato answered without hesitation.
They were comrades who galloped through the doujin world together!
Yezhi-sensei's scripts plus Kashiwagi Eri's artwork, that was one of the most famous combinations in the industry.
"Partners?"
Isshiki Iroha noticed the difference immediately and let out a puzzled sound while looking at Sato in surprise.
What was that supposed to mean?
But she was too lazy to pursue it right now and simply continued counting on her fingers.
"Moving on! First-year students Mio, Kotobuki Tsumugi, and Shouko! They're all famous beauties at Private Mixed High School!"
"Huh?!"
Sato opened his mouth in surprise. After recovering, he quickly asked, "Wait! Since when did they become famous beauties?"
"At this school, you're probably the only one lacking that awareness! They all have tons of admirers, you know!"
Isshiki Iroha looked at him strangely.
Are you genuinely unaware, or are you pretending?
"I know they have that kind of trait, but famous throughout the whole school sounds exaggerated, doesn't it? And as for admirers, how come I've never seen any?"
"It's not exaggerated at all! After the cultural festival, the girls from the Light Music Club became insanely popular!"
"And just because you haven't seen it doesn't mean they don't exist!"
"Then what about Shouko?"
"Shouko became popular because of that unique quality she had before!"
"So everyone's actually that famous around school?"
Sato suddenly felt as though the clouds had parted and he could finally see the whole chessboard clearly.
The club he had thought was completely ordinary was apparently famous throughout the entire school, and what made it famous was not the music, but…
Beautiful girls!
This was… this was absolutely wonderful!
"So now let's return to the original question!"
Isshiki Iroha waved the white and pink letters in her hand and declared confidently:
"Since you already know so many beautiful girls, why would you still be interested in these mediocre girls?"
As she spoke, she tossed the letters onto the desk with inexplicable flair. Pointing at the stack dramatically, she proclaimed:
"These things belong in the trash can!"
Sato's mouth twitched immediately.
"They're still my admirers. Don't say things like that right in front of me!"
"What admirers? They're just girls acting on temporary excitement! Besides watching the video, do they really know you? Do they know your personality? Know what food you like? Know how you dress?"
Isshiki Iroha argued righteously.
Sato: "…"
He glanced at Isshiki Iroha and suddenly asked:
"Do you know?"
"Hmph! Of course I do!"
Isshiki Iroha instinctively lifted her chin proudly.
The next second, her face suddenly turned bright red as she glared at Sato.
"You're trying to kill me here!"