Chapter 372: Let's Be Girlfriends Together!
"I want to drink this one."
Shinomiya Kaguya pointed at the couple-limited bubble tea and spoke to the other two.
Sakurai Saki: "?"
Don't get it wrong — it wasn't that he thought she couldn't order it, he was just simply curious why she wanted to.
Fujiwara Chika: "?"
Chika-chan had absolutely no idea why Shinomiya Kaguya said that.
She hurriedly tried to stop her: "Kaguya-san, that kind of bubble tea is limited to couples, you know? If you're not a couple, you can't buy it!"
Of course Shinomiya Kaguya knew that — or rather, that was exactly her goal!
She wanted to share a bubble tea with Sakurai Saki.
"This one looks better than the others."
"…I think so too." Fujiwara Chika instantly betrayed her.
If she couldn't stop her, she might as well join in!
The next second, Fujiwara Chika said something that completely caught the other two off guard:
"Kaguya-san, let's go buy it together!"
Shinomiya Kaguya: "?"
Are you stupid or what? Two girls buying a drink meant for couples? You trying to do Yuri play with me?!
"That's not necessary, is it?" Shinomiya Kaguya smiled and said, "Isn't there a young man sitting right here?"
"Let Sakurai-san and me pretend to be a couple and buy it."
She had no yuri tendencies at all — her gender preference was perfectly normal.
Upon hearing that, Fujiwara Chika frantically shook her head.
Shinomiya Kaguya was the girl she adored most — her best friend.
And Sakurai Saki was the boy she liked the most, the one she planned to spend her life with after defeating Hayasaka Ai!
Fujiwara Chika would never allow her two wings to tangle with each other!
Therefore—
"No way, no way! Saki-kun already has a girlfriend, that wouldn't be right."
She actually brought up Hayasaka Ai right at this timing — something Shinomiya Kaguya hadn't anticipated at all.
You've got some nerve saying that…
Who's the one always cuddling with Sakurai-san in the student council room? Even deliberately putting on a show for everyone like she's afraid people won't notice her feelings.
"Fujiwara-san, it's just buying a cup of bubble tea. Ai-chan wouldn't get mad."
Shinomiya Kaguya thought Hayasaka Ai was a very magnanimous person.
Or rather, that was the calm composure of the official girlfriend, wasn't it?
"No! I really think she would get mad!"
So you do know! Shinomiya Kaguya glanced at Sakurai Saki, hoping for his help.
Sakurai Saki tilted his head, making a rare, cute expression.
At this point, all he could do was play dumb, right?
"Come on. Let's go." Fujiwara Chika stood up and pulled Shinomiya Kaguya, who was sitting beside her, toward the counter.
Kaguya resisted for a few seconds at first, but eventually gave in and followed helplessly.
The shop clerk noticed the two approaching.
"Hello, what would you like to order?"
"The new couple-limited one!" Fujiwara Chika answered immediately, as if afraid someone might say it before her.
"Uh…" The female clerk glanced at Chika, then at Shinomiya Kaguya.
Both girls were extremely pretty — could they actually be a yuri couple?
Then she looked over at Sakurai Saki sitting in the corner of the shop.
That handsome face, paired with an aloof aura that kept people at a distance.
Very quickly, she seemed to understand something.
"Excuse me, which of you is the girlfriend of that handsome guy? I'd like to give you two a blessing."
"Blessing?" ×2
Both Chika and Kaguya were equally stunned.
Why did this shop even have such a pointless service?!
Alright, fine — that could be set aside for now.
In any case, the question of who Sakurai Saki's girlfriend really was — that had to be decided right now!
Seeing the two fall silent, the clerk kept smiling and asked again:
"Could his girlfriend call him over here, please?"
After saying that and still seeing no response, a doubtful expression appeared on her face:
"Isn't he the boyfriend of one of you?"
Silence for several seconds.
"Saki-kun!!"
Fujiwara Chika chose to take responsibility for this.
Sorry, Ai-chan, but to help Kaguya-san buy bubble tea, this is a necessary sacrifice!
Shinomiya Kaguya hadn't even reacted yet.
Now she could only silently regret it.
Damn it, that damn 'cancer of earth'!
Sakurai Saki still didn't understand what was going on, only hearing Chika call out to him.
He stood up and walked over to the two of them.
"What's going on?"
"It's nothing." Shinomiya Kaguya hooked her arm around Sakurai Saki's, speaking gently:
"Darling~, the staff said she wants to give us her blessing."
The staff member looked at the scene before her—the pink-haired girl calling the boy, but the black-haired girl hugging him and calling him Darling… even though she encountered all kinds of strange customers every day, a situation this bizarre was still rare.
Could it be he's two-timing? Tch, why isn't he two-timing with me? When will I ever get lucky like that…
That ordinary-looking staff girl secretly felt jealous of Chika and Kaguya, but she still kept her smile:
"Excuse me, which girlfriend would like to receive the blessing?"
'Which girlfriend?' Sakurai Saki repeated in his mind, his face full of question marks.
"Kaguya-san… there's no need to go this far." Fujiwara Chika thought Kaguya was worried about her reputation.
Shinomiya Kaguya shook her head. "You don't need to take the loss for me."
"It's fine." Chika felt a bit moved.
"No, just to help me buy bubble tea, you don't have to go that far."
"Alright then." Fujiwara Chika sighed, chose to take a step back, and gently said:
"Then let's both be Saki-kun's girlfriends!"
For the first time in her life, she had both the person she liked and a friend she could be with for life. The two joys happening at once made Chika extremely happy.
Shinomiya Kaguya: "?"
Eh? How did it end up like this?
Shinomiya Kaguya still couldn't fully understand the behavioral logic of the mysterious creature known as Fujiwara Chika — she was completely unpredictable.
...
And so, after being 'blessed' by the store clerk,
The three of them carried their couple bubble teas and sat down in a corner of the shop.
Fortunately, there weren't many customers today, so the situation wasn't too embarrassing.
They sat by the window.
Shinomiya Kaguya held the special heart-shaped straw, but she couldn't feel happy at all.
If only Fujiwara Chika weren't here today.
Unfortunately, there was no "if only."
Shinomiya Kaguya inserted the straw into the large bubble tea, then gently sipped it.
A few minutes later.
"Kaguya-san, what's wrong? Doesn't it taste good?"
Fujiwara Chika noticed that Shinomiya Kaguya had barely drunk any, while she herself had already finished half of hers.
"It's nothing." Shinomiya Kaguya's voice sounded a bit displeased.
As she lowered her head, Sakurai Saki leaned slightly forward and bit the other end of the heart-shaped straw.
Huh?
Their eyes met. Seeing the face so close to hers, Shinomiya Kaguya's cheeks flushed red, and she gently took a few sips.
After two sips, Sakurai Saki sat back down.
"It actually tastes pretty good, why aren't you drinking?"
"Ayo! You sneaky bastard! I wanna drink too! I wanna share a cup with Kaguya-san too!" Fujiwara Chika puffed her cheeks in anger.
"Saki-kun, you clearly said you didn't like bubble tea just now!"
Sakurai Saki looked at Shinomiya Kaguya's blushing face and smiled faintly.
"I just suddenly felt thirsty."
"Even if you're thirsty, you can't drink a girl's drink!"
Fujiwara Chika scolded him with a serious face.
Shinomiya Kaguya watched the two of them talk, then quietly took another sip of her bubble tea.
So sweet.