The atmosphere in the living room felt strangely tense.
Yukinoshita Yukino and Fujimiya Konomi each sat on opposite sides of the sofa. Though both were secretly sizing the other up, neither spoke first.
Sato poured a cup of water for Yukinoshita Yukino and placed it on the table. He glanced at the two girls with a rather complicated expression but did not sit down himself.
Instead, he silently stood nearby.
The situation had suddenly become rather headache-inducing.
Would something happen here?
After all, no matter how you thought about it, putting two beautiful girls in the same room gave off a distinctly ominous feeling.
"Thank you."
Yukinoshita Yukino softly thanked him before lifting her gaze toward the girl seated opposite her and calmly introducing herself.
She first nodded lightly out of courtesy. Then, with her clear and elegant eyes quietly fixed on Fujimiya Konomi, she spoke in her usual cool tone:
"Hello, I'm Yukinoshita Yukino, and I'm Nohara's... friend."
Friend, huh?
Fujimiya Konomi wore a gentle smile, looking just like an ordinary girl-next-door as she softly replied:
"Hello, I'm Fujimiya Konomi, Sato-kun's childhood friend!"
Childhood friend?
A faint glimmer flashed through Yukinoshita Yukino's eyes.
Back in the clubroom, she did vaguely remember Sato mentioning that he had many childhood friends.
Yes... many!
This guy really was something else.
Her gaze subtly drifted toward Sato, carrying an indescribable emotion.
Meanwhile, Fujimiya Konomi was also observing Yukinoshita Yukino closely, and the more she looked, the more surprised she became.
What an incredibly beautiful girl.
She praised silently in her heart without reservation.
Whether it was appearance, temperament, manner of speaking, or anything else, the black-haired girl before her was undeniably a true beauty.
Aside from her chest being slightly... unremarkable.
Fujimiya Konomi subconsciously puffed out her own chest a little and asked with a bright smile:
"So, Yukinoshita-san, what brings you here to see Sato-kun?"
Hm?
Yukinoshita Yukino immediately noticed Konomi's tiny movement. Her gaze sharpened ever so slightly, and something like disappointment surfaced in her heart, though perhaps it wasn't exactly disappointment.
Heh, so she's just as shallow as everyone else.
The cool beauty's already frosty expression became even colder.
Sato stood nearby without daring to speak, trying his best to minimize his presence and avoid getting caught in the crossfire.
At this moment, his heart felt utterly frozen.
Sure enough, his earlier instincts had been completely correct.
Whenever two beautiful girls appeared in the same room, the atmosphere would inevitably begin drifting in a strange direction.
This strange atmosphere was probably, maybe, possibly...
The legendary battlefield known as a love triangle.
For a moment, Sato couldn't decide whether he should feel relieved or terrified.
After all, he had once watched a magnificent masterpiece called School Days. Even now, he still remembered that sunset glow, along with Makoto's peaceful expression.
Those images were deeply etched into his mind.
Makoto had died far too tragically.
His death sent chills down people's spines...
But it also served as a warning to future generations!
Love triangles could literally get people killed!
...
Meanwhile, Yukinoshita Yukino placed several bags of cat food onto the low table before her.
Judging from the luxurious packaging alone, it looked outrageously expensive.
"I came to deliver cat food."
"Cat food?"
Fujimiya Konomi looked toward Sato in confusion.
At this point, Sato had no choice but to explain.
"I adopted two cats. One of them was picked up by Yukinoshita-san, but her apartment doesn't allow pets, so they're staying with me."
"Huh? Then why haven't I seen them?"
"You only just arrived, so it's not strange. They're probably out wandering around right now."
After all, cats were hardly creatures that stayed obediently in one place.
Maybe they were currently scouting the area in preparation for the feline invasion of Earth.
Still, looking at the bags of cat food in front of him, Sato genuinely felt a little surprised.
He raised his eyes toward the cool and elegant girl seated properly before him.
If he remembered correctly, it hadn't actually been very long since he mentioned the matter to Yukinoshita Yukino.
Yet unexpectedly, she had already prepared new cat food so quickly.
Should he say, as expected of a cat lover?
Thinking about it this way, the girl before him really did have a gap-moe side to her.
He honestly found it difficult to imagine what Yukinoshita looked like while petting cats.
Would she show the same delighted expression ordinary people did?
"Are you thinking something rude right now?"
Yukinoshita Yukino's gaze toward Sato suddenly sharpened.
There was definitely something strange about the way he was looking at her.
"No, I was just thinking you've really been thoughtful."
Sato replied calmly with a smile, without the slightest trace of nervousness on his face.
Yukinoshita Yukino looked at him suspiciously.
But Sato's gaze remained firm, without retreating even slightly.
After the two stared at each other for quite a while, it was Yukinoshita Yukino who became embarrassed first.
"T-That's good then."
Although her voice remained cool, a faint blush appeared on her face as she quickly looked away.
Hey! Hey!
This is a huge crisis!
Fujimiya Konomi screamed internally as alarm bells rang loudly in her head.
If they were really just ordinary friends, then no matter how you looked at it, she should've firmly insisted on it to the end.
And even if she couldn't keep insisting, she should at least have angrily said something in rebuttal.
But no matter how Konomi looked at it, the girl named Yukinoshita Yukino clearly seemed shy!
There was only one explanation for that kind of reaction!
This girl definitely had at least some feelings for Sato.
Meaning...
She was a potential enemy!
Just as Fujimiya Konomi was lost in thought—
Knock knock.
Suddenly, someone knocked on the door again.
Swish!
She instantly turned to look at Sato.
At the same time, Sato also turned to look at her.
Heh heh.
Fujimiya Konomi smiled sweetly at him, but her eyes narrowed slightly.
Go ahead and open the door.
I refuse to believe Chiba City actually has this many beautiful girls!