“Um, what are you two doing…?”
Amane, who was still standing with her tray, tilted her head.
“What? Well, we’re on a da—”
Erina-san started to say, but then she seemed to notice me out of the corner of her eye, my face stiff as I shook my head.
…I mean, if I admit this is a date, then I would have lied to Amane the day before yesterday.
“Ah…”
She let out a small sigh and said,
“…I was just having him listen to Erina’s worries.”
Erina-san, you’re so kind…
“It’s not like I want to stir things up for no reason, even Erina has…”
Erina-san whispered so only I could hear. Oh, I see. I misunderstood you, Erina-san. …Wait, really?
“A consultation? I see. Um, then, am I in the way…?”
Amane couldn't move forward or back, she just stood there. I feel bad for her, I'm sorry…
“No, it’s fine! We’re done talking anyway! Sit with us!”
Erina-san invited her.
“U-Um… then, excuse me.”
Amane quietly sat down next to me.
“Amane-chan, you’re quite casual—or should I say, sharp…”
“W-What do you mean?”
“Nothing?”
The little devil grinned.
“Still… Konuma-kun, you come to Mac with anyone, don't you?”
Amane whispered into my ear before slurping her shake.
“Excuse me…?”
No, I mean, I’d come to Mac with anyone… Or is ‘coming to Mac’ some kind of slang?
This is totally unrelated, but when you look up English words in a dictionary, don’t they usually have ‘slang for XX’ at the end of most definitions?
“Amane-chan, did you come to Mac with Takuto-kun before too?”
While I was thinking about useless things, Erina-san asked Amane something strange.
“Yeah… I have, but?”
“Heeeh, when? How many times?”
“The day before yesterday, once…”
Amane pouted her lips.
In response, Erina-san gave a broad grin.
“Heeeh?”
“Uuu… I came after her on this one, so I can’t say anything…”
Umm, I’ll ask again: is ‘coming to Mac’ some kind of slang?
“So, Amane, why did you come to Mac? Couldn’t forget the taste of the shake?”
I casually changed the subject.
“Oh, yeah. I thought I’d write some lyrics.”
“Lyrics?”
“Yeah!”
Amane nodded with a smile and took out a somewhat thick notebook.
There was no title like ‘Composition/Lyrics Notebook’ written on the cover at all.
Heeh, a notebook…
…………A notebook!?
T-T-T-This is, perhaps, the real thing…!?
The Yuri Azuma inside my heart raised her head. ( ‘Hey, don’t keep me in your heart without permission’ )
“A-A-A-um, amane-san?”
“…Amane-san? Since when did you start calling her by her name?”
“Oh, yeah, it’s Amane…”
I felt like Erina-san was tilting her head beside me, and Amane was blushing in front of me, but that doesn’t matter right now.
“I-Is that, the lyrics, notebook…?”
“Eh, yeah, it is…?”
“Since when have you been using it? From the look of it, it seems quite weathered…”
Takuto Konuma, a member of a fictional appraisal team, examined the notebook with the magnifying glass of his heart.
“Since I started making music, so around seventh grade… I think…”
“Pinya…!!”
I almost screamed and managed to stop myself by covering my own mouth.
What the heck, bring out an item like this sooner! Well, of course she’d have one, that makes sense, but still!
What was there was the genuine article, without a doubt, a holy notebook, a Bible…!!
Azuma, I’ve finally reached it, the source of this notebook…!
“Takuto-kun, are you okay…?”
From the side, Erina-san peered into my face with concern.
“Eh, w-what is it!?”
“Well, you’re drooling…”
“Wh—!?”
I hurriedly wiped my mouth.
D-Dammit, I didn't realize that was happening.
“Sorry…”
Coming back to my senses, I bowed my head.
“No, it’s okay… I was happy…”
Amane squirmed. A strange atmosphere filled the air. What do you mean, you were happy?
“By the way, Amane-chan, you’ve been making music since seventh grade! That’s amazing!”
“No, it’s not that amazing…”
Amane acted humble, and Erina-san smiled brightly.
“Hey, hey, Amane-chan.”
“What… is it?”
Amane held her shake with both hands, her body stiffening as she looked at Erina-san.
I don’t know why, but she’s way too scared of Erina-san…
“The song you were doing at the training camp was really good! Erina loves that song!”
Erina-san said with a full smile.
“Huh? O-Oh, thank you…?”
Amane thanked her, looking somewhat taken aback.
Seeing this, Erina-san made a suspicious face.
“What’s with that reaction…?”
“No, I just thought Erina-chan was going to say something mean again…”
Amane-san is quite honest, isn't she?
“Geez, what do you think Erina is…?”
“I think you’re a mean girl…”
“Hah!?”
Erina-san stood up in anger. No, I don't think it's good for Amane to be pointlessly confrontational either, you know?
“Erina-chan, don’t pull my cheeks too! (Don’t pull them!)”
Erina-san and Sako both love pulling Amane’s cheeks. I guess they look soft. If Azuma or I did that, we’d probably faint, so we can’t. Taira-chan probably can’t either.
“Anyway, why write lyrics at Mac? It seems like it would be distracting…”
“Ah— no— well— um…”
Amane, released from Erina-san’s hands, rubbed her cheeks.
“…Why do you think?”
She turned the question back to me.
No, I’m the one asking… Also, I have no idea why you’re doing that bashful smile…
“Well, Amane has great concentration, so I guess it’s fine…”
When I muttered that,
“Ah!”
Amane let out an angry-sounding voice.
“Eh, what is it…?”
“Nnn!”
She started growling. Like an animal…?
“Um, Erina-san, what is Amane…?”
“Aaaah!”
Amane puffed out her cheeks.
“Eh, Amane-chan, what’s wrong…?”
“…Why is Erina-chan ‘Erina-san’?”
“”……Eh?””
Like, ‘O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo’…?
“You’re even in sync…”
Amane, who was becoming increasingly displeased by the second,
“I wonder what the difference is… Oh, maybe I should refer to myself by my name…?”
She muttered something nonsensical to herself and then stared intently at me.
“W-What is it…?”
When I asked timidly, Amane took a deep breath.
“Amane wants to drink some tapioca, you know~?”
She said in a sweet, coaxing voice.
“Huh? Are you making fun of Erina?”
Erina-san said, without drawing out the ends of her words at all.
“N-No! I was just jealous! Wait, my cheek, it hurts! It hurts!”
There stood a devil, expressionlessly pulling the cheek of an angel who had gone a bit too far.
…Well, this time, Amane was quite the devil herself.