"Why do we have to do a pointless quiz like this? I refuse."
Her beautiful, slender brows furrowed slightly. Yukino rejected the idea with a face full of defiance.
Yuu was about to agree, but he caught Yuigahama's smiling glance. He immediately shut his mouth as if it wasn't his business and began admiring the warm winter scenery outside the window.
To clarify, it wasn't because he was a henpecked husband afraid of the harmless Yuigahama. This was a form of respect for women—after all, a compatibility quiz wasn't a serious matter worth vehemently rejecting.
As for Yuigahama, she merely blinked her large, innocent eyes. She spoke to Yukino in surprise, using a Detective Conan-style tone:
"Are re re~ Yukinon, are you afraid of losing to us?"
That successfully provoked the prideful club president, who couldn't resist a challenge, to agree to participate.
"I didn't expect Yui-senpai to have such a cunning trick…"
Iroha shrank her shoulders. She looked at her with a shocked expression, as if seeing a Shiba Inu suddenly transform into a muscular man and shatter a rock with a right hook.
Yuigahama pretended not to hear. She raised both hands and announced with high spirits:
"Then, the first-ever Service Club Compatibility Quiz ver. Yuu-kun officially begins—"
The clubroom, about the size of a regular classroom, was divided into two areas.
One was the answerers' area behind a long table, and the other was the questioner's area in front of it.
Then, somehow, Iroha became the questioner, while Kanade, holding her now-empty mapo tofu bowl, sat in the answerers' position.
The scene felt oddly out of place, making people hold back silent mockery they couldn't voice.
"…Forget it. It's just a game anyway."
Too lazy to care about such trivialities, Iroha stood in front of the whiteboard. She looked at the participants using notebooks as answer boards behind the long table and made a final confirmation:
"Can I ask any question?"
Yuigahama was about to nod when Yuu spoke expressionlessly: "Of course not."
"Ask questions that a carbon-based organism can answer normally and that stay within moral and ethical norms. Got it?"
Under his oppressive stare, Iroha could only suppress the dark bubble that had just risen in her heart. She puffed out her small cheeks and nodded honestly: "Tch, I know… Do I seem that bad in senpai's eyes, only capable of causing trouble?"
Yuu didn't speak. He only sneered in response.
"Hmph… Fine!" Just as she was about to complain, Iroha's eyes suddenly sparkled. She turned, grabbed a whiteboard marker, and wrote several large words.
"Exactly. Let's make this the first question—What's senpai's impression of the adorable Iroha-chan?"
A brief silence fell behind the long table.
"…You sure?"
"Absolutely!" Iroha stared at Yuu. She grinned menacingly, showing her small canines. "Senpai, you have to answer seriously!"
"Don't worry. You ask properly, and I'll answer properly." Yuu smiled. His gentle, warm gaze reminded her of something, making her face flush unconsciously.
"Hah, why does it have to be like this…"
Though a trace of pity for Iroha appeared in her eyes, Yukino said nothing. She lowered her head and began writing her answer.
After the other two put down their pens, Iroha pointed at Yuu impatiently.
"Senpai, announce your answer!"
"Announce together?" Yuu looked at Yukino. She nodded. They raised their notebooks simultaneously.
[Trouble.] [Trouble.]
"Pffft!"
As if stabbed through the heart, Iroha staggered back a few steps, clutching her chest. She looked at Yuu in disbelief.
With her small mouth pouting sadly and tears welling in her eyes, she said, "Why… I've been so careful not to trouble senpai…"
"No, even if you say that…" Yuu glanced at the snack box placed in the corner of the long table.
"How many did you fill with wasabi today?"
"!"
Her pitiful expression froze instantly. Iroha averted her gaze guiltily.
"…Just one?"
"Why's there a question mark? Weren't you the one who made them?" Yukino pressed her brow as if suffering a headache.
"No, how should I put it… I just wanted to surprise the senpai I love! There weren't many either. It's not something to worry about, hahaha!"
Scratching her soft, ash-blonde short hair, Iroha laughed heartily. She quickly shifted attention to the other two's notebooks.
"So, what did Yui-senpai and Kanade-chan write? Let me see…"
[Sweet but slightly troublesome junior] and [A good person who'll eat mapo tofu with me even though she doesn't like spicy food.]
Iroha couldn't help complaining: "This Service Club is too in sync?! And Kanade-chan, that's senpai's impression of me, not yours!"
She flipped her notebook. Kanade blinked her golden-blonde eyes, nodding as if just realizing.
"Oh, right… Sorry, my mistake."
As for Yuigahama, after seeing the identical answers from the other two, she sighed with slight disappointment, though it wasn't unexpected.
"You don't just have to consider Yuu-kun's thoughts but also his personality to answer correctly one hundred percent…"
She muttered. But she wasn't too upset. On the contrary, she grew more excited—knowing her shortcomings meant the next step was to improve.
In fact, she suggested this game to figure out how to understand Yuu the way Yukino did.
Having known him longer, she shouldn't lose to Yukino as long as she found the key!
"Alright, both senpais get one point. The person with the highest score after five questions wins… Next question!"
Iroha thought for a moment. The corners of her lips suddenly curled into a sly smile.
She erased the whiteboard and wrote a line of round, cute, very JK (high school girl)-style words.
"What kind of girl does senpai like?"
Iroha puffed out her chest and raised her head. She looked at Yuu proudly: "A question any ordinary high school girl would care about, and it doesn't violate moral or ethical norms—how's that, senpai? You can answer this one, right?"
"Of course. I won't go back on my word." Yuu smiled kindly. He cupped his hands under his chin, his voice as soft as a spring breeze.
"Just, after the game's over, stand still and don't run. I have a few things to say to my adorable junior."
"Ugh!"
At that moment, Iroha, her face paling, recalled the fear of being dominated by this man and the humiliation of being treated improperly in the hallway.
"…Um, is it too late to change the question now?"
"Too late. Start answering!" Yuigahama spoke firmly, giving her no chance to back out. Her face was full of enthusiasm as she quickly wrote in her notebook.
Lamenting the misfortune about to befall her, Iroha ignored the faint hope in her heart. She slumped her shoulders in front of the whiteboard, waiting listlessly for them to put down their pens.
"Ah~ Done~ Alright, announce your answers."
With no trace of hope, the atmosphere instantly turned sluggish.
Yuu: [Little sister.]
Yukino: [The little sister he always talks about.]
Yuigahama: [Sora-chan! (Little sister)]
Kanade: [Mapo tofu or someone gentle.]