Chapter 114: Confession? Can't Let That Happen
"Let's go!" "Mm."
The two left side by side, quickly disappearing around the corner of the street. Calm returned to the school gates.
Then—
Two sneaky figures poked their heads out from behind a nearby vending machine.
Karuizawa Kei was wearing sunglasses and a mask, a baseball cap pressed down low on her head, and a dark coat draped over her shoulders, wrapping herself up tightly. In this season, this outfit looked exceptionally suspicious; passersby couldn't help but steal extra glances at her.
Sakura Airi stood beside her, wearing a wide-brimmed hat and a mask, draped in an obviously ill-fitting long trench coat with sleeves so long they covered her fingers. She was huddled inside the garment like a startled little animal.
The two exchanged a look.
Previously, when Kiryuin Fuka and Katsuragi Keima went on a date, Kei and Airi had both tried to tail them at the same time and ran right into each other. Back then, they would still bother to make up an excuse when they met. Now, they didn't even bother much with excuses.
"Airi, you..." Kei looked her up and down. "Where did you get that outfit?"
"I... I bought it a while ago..." Airi said in a small voice. "I thought I might need it for winter..."
"It's summer right now."
"I know..." Airi lowered her head. "B-but this is the most inconspicuous clothing I could find..."
Kei sighed. She looked at herself, then back at Airi. Both of them were wrapped up like rice dumplings, standing under the summer sunset and drenched in sweat.
"Karuizawa-san," Airi whispered, "Are we... really not going to be discovered like this?"
"Of course not!" Kei said righteously. "We weren't discovered last time, either."
"Were we really not discovered...?"
"..."
Kei was silent for a second. "This time is different! This time we have experience!!" She clenched her fist to pump herself up. "Hurry up and follow them! They're getting far away!"
The two stealthily gave chase.
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The commercial district.
Katsuragi Keima and Sato Maya walked side by side down the street. Sato Maya was so nervous she didn't know what to say, so she could only steal glances at the person beside her. Keima kept his head down playing his game, his pace neither fast nor slow.
The atmosphere was a bit subtle. And about fifty meters behind them—
Karuizawa Kei and Sakura Airi were hiding behind a utility pole.
"What are they saying?" Kei craned her neck.
"I... I can't hear..." Airi whispered.
"Get closer?"
"We'll be discovered..."
"Then get closer!"
Crouching low, the two crept forward a dozen meters and hid behind a shop sign.
"What about now?" Airi asked.
Kei pricked up her ears. "Maya is talking... seems like she's asking what he likes to eat..."
"How did Keima-kun answer?"
"I can't hear... too far away..."
Airi thought for a moment and pulled something out of her bag. Kei looked down—it was a mini telescope.
"Where did you get that?!"
"I-I bought it a while ago..." Airi's face flushed. "Thinking it might come in handy..."
Kei looked at her, speechless.
'This person is way too well-prepared, isn't she?'
Airi raised the telescope and looked ahead.
"See anything?" Kei whispered.
"I... I see them..." Airi's voice was trembling. "Sato-san is laughing so happily..."
The stifling feeling in Kei's chest returned. "Let me see!"
She snatched the telescope and looked forward. Through the lens, she saw Sato Maya looking up at Katsuragi Keima with a brilliant smile. Keima was still playing his game, but he would occasionally look up to say a word or two. That image stung her eyes.
She lowered the telescope and was silent for a few seconds. Then she took a deep breath. "Keep tailing!"
The two continued to follow.
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.
.
In front of the game center.
Katsuragi Keima and Sato Maya walked inside. Karuizawa Kei and Sakura Airi hid behind the vending machine next to the entrance.
"They went in..." Airi whispered.
"We're going in too!"
"But... we'll be discovered..."
"We'll use a disguise!" Kei pulled a pair of plain-glass spectacles from her bag and put them on.
Airi looked at her. "...That's it?"
"What's wrong?"
"Karuizawa-san, those glasses... they're just clear glass, right?"
"Yeah."
"And you were already wearing sunglasses just now..."
Kei froze. She looked down at herself—sunglasses, mask, baseball cap, and now a pair of clear glasses added on top. This look was practically screaming for people to recognize her.
Meanwhile, Keima and Maya walked side by side. Maya was nervous, only stealing glances. Keima was playing his game. The atmosphere was subtle but not awkward—at least for Keima, as long as he had a game in his hand, it was the same everywhere.
Sato Maya, however, was working hard to find topics—she was even thinking about how best to confess.
'Sato Maya feels like the type who might just confess directly today.'
Beside her, Keima was calculating various possibilities in his mind. The worst-case scenario was that Sato Maya would confess to him at the end of the day. Such a thing could not be allowed to happen.
If he rejected her, her affection would surely hit a bottleneck. But if he accepted... then it would be a massive problem for the other capture targets. If he had a girlfriend, he couldn't interact with other members of the opposite sex as he pleased.
Being "single" was the best weapon. By not confirming a relationship with anyone, he could close the distance with everyone. After all, real life isn't like a game; you can't save and reload to take different story paths.
At this moment, the two arrived at the game center.
"Um... Keima-kun," Sato Maya plucked up the courage to speak, "what do you like to eat? We can go... later..."
She stopped mid-sentence. Because she saw Katsuragi Keima stop in his tracks. She followed his gaze and was also stunned.
In front of the game center entrance. A familiar figure was standing there. Long black hair, a cool face, and a slender build.
Horikita Suzune.
She was wearing a simple tracksuit, holding a basketball, and inserting coins into a shooting machine. Her movements were practiced, her expression focused, as if everything around her had nothing to do with her. The screen showed her score—312 points already.
"H-Horikita-san?!" Sato Maya's eyes widened, her voice changing pitch.
Keima pushed up his glasses. "...Suzune."
Horikita Suzune threw the last ball and turned around at the sound. Seeing the two of them, her expression didn't change at all, remaining as cold as ever.
"Katsuragi." She nodded, then looked at Sato Maya. "Sato."
"Horikita-san, why are you here?" Sato Maya asked in disbelief. Horikita Suzune was actually playing games.
"Practice. I come every day."
"Every day?!"
"Mm. You mentioned last time that shooting hoops helps improve focus." She paused. "I've kept it up for a month now."
Sato Maya's mouth hung open, speechless.
In fact, that was exactly it. Ever since Katsuragi Keima had tricked her by saying playing games could improve grades, Horikita had treated it as a form of training.
Although she still biologically rejected Galge...
However, today Horikita was thirty minutes later than usual; normally she would have finished and left by now. It was as if she were intentionally waiting here for them to arrive.
[1st Place: Katsuragi Keima - 511 points] [4th Place: Horikita Suzune - 407 points]
He pushed up his glasses. "Fast progress."
Horikita nodded slightly. "My goal is you."
Sato Maya listened to this exchange with a very complicated heart. Her carefully planned first date had run into the class overachiever before it even started. And this overachiever practiced here every day with the goal of surpassing her date. What was the situation here? Was this really a coincidence?
"..." She asked cautiously, "Horikita-san, how much longer are you going to practice?"
Horikita checked the time. "Twenty more minutes."
"Twenty minutes..." Sato Maya breathed a sigh of relief. "Then we'll wait..."
"But I can finish early today." Horikita put the basketball away. "Someone asked you out?"
The question was direct. Sato Maya's face turned red instantly. "W-we're just..."
"A date." Keima said it for her.
Sato Maya's face turned even redder. Horikita glanced at him, then at Sato. Her expression remained cold. But the corners of her mouth seemed to tilt up just a tiny bit—so subtle it was almost imperceptible.
"I see. I won't disturb you." She put the basketball back on the rack and grabbed a towel to wipe her sweat. "But Katsuragi, for next week's exam, I won't let you take first place."
"Oh."
"Oh?"
"Good luck."
Horikita stared at him for two seconds. Then she turned to leave. After a few steps, she stopped and tilted her head. "Sato."
"Yes?"
"Nothing."
Horikita seemed like she was going to say something, but ultimately didn't. Having said that, she continued forward, disappearing into the crowd of the commercial district.
Sato Maya stood there for a few seconds. Then she turned to Keima. "Keima-kun, was Horikita-san about to say something just now?"
Keima had already lowered his head to continue his game. "I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"She has always been difficult to understand."
Sato Maya thought about it and felt it made sense. But her heart suddenly felt a lot lighter.
Horikita practiced here every day to surpass Keima. What did that mean? It meant Keima was important to her. But not that kind of "important." It was the "I must win against you" kind of important. Just a rival. Not a love rival.
Sato Maya breathed a sigh of relief, her smile returning. "Then let's go play!"
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Not far away, Karuizawa Kei and Sakura Airi were crouched down, hiding behind a row of claw machines, peeking toward the basketball games.
Katsuragi Keima and Sato Maya stood before the machine. A familiar scene played out again. Keima inserted a coin and started shooting. His movements were fluid, the balls entering the net one after another. Sato Maya watched from the side, her eyes sparkling.
"So amazing..."
Keima finished a round and turned to her. "Want a try?"
"I... I'm not very good..."
"Try it."
Sato Maya stood before the machine and picked up a ball. She threw one. Missed. Threw another. Missed again. She laughed bashfully. "I'm really not suited for this..."
Keima stepped behind her. "Raise your hand a bit higher. Use your wrist." He demonstrated the motion. Sato Maya followed suit. This time, the ball went in.
"It went in!" she hopped up excitedly.
Keima pushed up his glasses. "Keep going."
The two hiding behind the claw machine watched this with complex feelings.
"He's teaching her to shoot..." Airi whispered; what had happened before was practically repeating in her heart.
"He's standing right behind her..."
"She looks so happy..."
The two fell silent. Suddenly, a voice rang out from behind them.
"Yo, aren't these Kei and Airi?"
The two whipped around. Hasabe Haruka was standing behind them with a bag of snacks, looking at them with a smile. Matsushita Chiaki stood beside her, a meaningful smile on her lips.
"Ha-Haruka?!" Kei's eyes widened. "Why are you here?!"
"Just passing by." Haruka shook the bag of chips. "But you two, what are you doing here?"
"W-we..."
"Stalking God?" Haruka said it for them.
Kei's face turned red instantly. "W-we are not!"
"Is that so?" Haruka tilted her head. "Then why are you squatting here? Counting floor tiles?"
Matsushita Chiaki laughed. "Kei, stop pretending. We saw everything."
"Saw what?"
"Saw you following them all the way from school," Matsushita Chiaki said. "You were following quite seriously."
The faces of both Kei and Airi were completely red. "W-we just... just happened to come to the game center too..."
"Happened to?" Haruka raised an eyebrow. "Happened to be wearing disguises? Happened to be hiding behind a claw machine? Happened to be staring at God?"
Kei was speechless. Haruka sighed. "I say, you two, if you care, just say so. What's the use of hiding here and peeking?"
"I... I don't care..." Kei said in a small voice.
"Really?"
"Really..."
Haruka stared at her for a few seconds. Then she laughed. "Fine, if you say you don't care, then you don't."
Kei looked toward the entrance; Horikita Suzune had already left. Horikita probably hadn't noticed them, right?
But... was Horikita really only here for that reason? Kei wasn't sure.
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