My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As Expected

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Her cool, fearless, cute, and slightly clever smile captivated me.

Wow, that's amazing... I thought to myself, letting out a silent sigh.

Not only me, but Komachi felt the same way. She didn't just sigh, she even clapped her hands.

"Oh wow~ No wonder he's a love master! It wasn't for nothing that Hayama-senpai dumped me! Wow!"

Komachi shouted, showering Iroha with compliments and praise. Iroha, flattered, tossed her hair back and proudly puffed out her chest.

"That's... huh?"

But she immediately sensed something was wrong and turned to glare at Komachi.

"Hey, how did Xiaomi know? Senior? Was it you? Did you tell him? Maybe we should just kill him."

"No, no, it wasn't my brother who said it, it was Senior Hubu who mentioned it when we were chatting! That guy likes to talk about things that nobody asks about~"

"I'm going to kill him."

"Kill them all."

Iroha's voice was different from Komachi's energetic voice; it sounded very cold.

I nodded in agreement, but my mind was completely on something else.

Every time I nod slightly, my gaze follows down to the plate in front of me on the table.

Halfway through eating the Amish country-style cake, it started to warp everywhere. Perhaps it was because it was baked so fragrantly that it deformed so easily.

It was supposed to be a perfect circle when it was baked, but it turned out to be a beautiful isosceles triangle when it was served to me.

Now it has become a distorted trapezoid.

The original triangle has been completely distorted.

There are no straight lines; no matter which side you trace from, they are all crooked and interrupted halfway, failing to become the shape I envision.

I tried to fix it, but pieces would fall off whenever I touched it with a fork, and it couldn't be restored to its original state.

"Should we be more aggressive when things are awkward...?"

I spoke to myself in a voice so soft it was almost inaudible.

There was no way to leave, and no way to give up.

I can't do anything, so what is it that I can do?

I kept thinking, and as a result, I got hungry and started craving sweets.

I picked up a fork and casually divided the twisted trapezoid into two large pieces.

Then he stuffed one of the pieces into his mouth and ate it in big bites.

The fragrant end melts in your mouth, and the sweet flavor spreads from the moist interior, filling your entire oral cavity.

Mmm, it's delicious, really delicious.

Even so, there is still one piece left.

The cake on the plate was much smaller than before, and its shape was no longer pretty.

However, the three ends approach each other, forming a new triangle.

I want it all. Sweet, sour, bitter, everything—I have to taste it all to the very end.

“…Yeah, you’re right.”

I nodded one last time, then suddenly lifted my head.

Then I saw Iroha and Komachi nod vigorously, and their voices overlapped.

"Right! Kill him!"

They clenched their fists with great enthusiasm and stared intently at me for some reason.

“…Huh?”

I blinked blankly and realized that Iroha and Komachi were both complaining about Tobe no Chika's situation for some reason.

Hey, why... what are they talking about...? The atmosphere makes me hesitant to ask, because they both seem really happy.

Rather, asking would reveal that I wasn't listening to them. So I decided to just say this for now:

"That's right!"

DB Bonus: Senior Three Chapter 2 4 - Several Reasons Why She Wants to Keep a Cat But Can't

After getting off the monorail, Yukinoshita and I strolled around Chiba Station in the evening.

There's still a long time before rush hour, and you can see many students and women on the streets. Soon, the area will be flooded with white-collar workers in suits.

Just a few weeks ago, you could still see newly enrolled college students dragging long lines to their welcome parties, holding up makeshift signs made of cardboard boxes, as if they were on a great migration. But now that spring is over and early summer is approaching, such scenes are no longer seen.

Therefore, Yukinoshita, who was only half a step behind me, walked ahead without any hindrance. As expected of a shop I frequent, there wasn't a trace of confusion in her steps.

We walked along the main road of the station, and just after we passed the five-way intersection, Yukinoshita suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong? Are you lost?"

"How could that be..."

I struck up a conversation with her, and she glared at me with narrowed eyes. She brushed aside the bangs that were hanging in front of her eyebrows, revealing a somewhat troubled smile.

"They arrived earlier than I expected. I'm wondering what to do..."

"Is that so... It's rare for you to make such a mistake."

I had completely left the details of the dinner date and location to her without asking any questions, but it was only after she mentioned it that I realized it was only evening, and a bit early for dinner. Normally, Yukino would have arranged the time meticulously, ensuring she arrived at the destination on time or a few minutes early. For someone as thoughtful as her, this kind of mistake was incredibly basic.

Is she a little nervous too...? Oh my god, it's such a contrast to her usual self, how adorable!

I made my own interpretation in my mind and nodded to myself, but the truth was not like that.

Yukino cast a cold gaze at me and said:

"It wasn't a mistake... I was just afraid that if I didn't do it, someone would run away."

I detected a hint of resentment and dissatisfaction in her tone, so I could only manage a dry laugh. Good heavens, Yukino is indeed very shrewd!

"Having plenty of time is good. How much time do you have approximately?"

When Yukino heard my question, she glanced at the time on her phone.

"About an hour."

"Well, what should we do then? Should we go home?"

I suggested going home almost unconsciously, but to my surprise, Yukino smiled slightly and nodded.

"Sure. Could you please take me home? And could you stay for dinner before you leave? My mom and sister will be coming too, though."

"Whoa whoa……"

Even if I make a casual joke, she'll immediately retaliate... I'm at my wit's end! No matter how many times I start over, all I can see is a future where I'll be eating with Yukino and her daughter! Good heavens, Yukino is indeed very shrewd... It seems there's no escaping it, even though I already knew it.

"Let's just find somewhere to kill time..."

"Okay, let's do it that way."

As we were talking, we started looking around.

At that moment, my eyes met those of Yukinoshita.

"W-What do we do? Where do we go?"

"Anywhere is fine with me..."

I stammered as I asked Yukinoshita the question, and she lowered her head in embarrassment.

Then, we fell silent...

We stared at each other, unable to think of anything to say, and sighed with a smile.

Wait, wait, could this be the legendary thing? A classic tactic to test a man's taste by replying "anywhere is fine" when asked where he wants to go.

No, Yukino wouldn't do something so troublesome... But thinking about it, this person is troublesome to begin with!

Therefore, I can only use all my wisdom to deduce the most perfect answer.

Okay, now for Hachiman's question. Where do girls usually choose to spend their time?

I thought about it for a while, but a super-high-performance AI like myself can only come up with answers like, "It's really exhausting for guys to frantically search for good food on Tabelog when they're out with a girl." Note, do you think you're playing "Seaman the Mermaid"? Is this AI named Hachiman actually short for "self-righteous idiot"?

Note: Tabelog is Japan's largest food review website.

Note: In Japanese, the Romanized form of "self-righteous fool" can be abbreviated to AI.

If I were alone, I could kill time anywhere, like grabbing a bite at a nearby ramen shop, browsing in a bookstore, or playing on my phone in the convenience store's rest area. But since it's just the two of us, Yukino, I don't want to be too casual.

In situations like these, what do men and women do? I can manage to keep the atmosphere relaxed and pass the time in a lighthearted way, but it's really difficult for me to choose a trendy place.

Starbucks? Go to Starbucks? Is Starbucks all you need to do? But wouldn't it be incredibly embarrassing to order the wrong thing at Starbucks? However, at my level, my mental fortitude is exceptionally strong. I dare to order only a medium iced coffee at Starbucks, so I certainly won't embarrass myself.

However, I usually look down on those "creative jerks who sit by the window at Starbucks, banging on their MacBooks and radiating the atmosphere of remote work," so choosing Starbucks in this situation feels like a loss. But if that's the case, then you've already lost if you think Starbucks is trendy... Trendy people don't think Starbucks is trendy, that's a little-known fact.

It took me about 0.2 seconds to engage in a super-fast thought process that would surprise even baseball batters in manga. I nodded to myself, muttering to myself. At that moment, Yukinoshita tilted her head, looking incredulous.

"What's wrong?"

"No... I'm thinking about where to go..."

"Anywhere is fine with me..."

I said this because I wanted to leave the decision to her, but she gave me another troubled smile and repeated what she had just said. I knew she meant for me to decide, but that's where the problem lies.

"That's true, but just randomly picking a place based on my preferences doesn't feel quite right... Wouldn't it be better to choose a more suitable location? Don't you think?"

Upon hearing what I said, Yukinoshita paused for a moment, blinked a couple of times, and then suddenly burst out laughing, covering her mouth and turning her back.

Hey, what's wrong? What happened? Did I say something funny? Did I mess up again? I looked at Yukinoshita uneasily and found that her shoulders were trembling.

"...Um, Ms. Yukinoshita?"

Had I tickled her funny bone again...? Thinking this, I struck up a conversation with Yukinoshita. She let out a small sigh, suppressing a laugh as she turned around. It seemed genuinely funny; she wiped her eyes and smiled, a faint smile still lingering on her lips.

"So you do think about these things too."

"No, it's not what you think... I just felt that since we needed to find a place to rest anyway..."

Being pointed out by her like that was incredibly embarrassing.

To hide the flush on my face from embarrassment, I scratched my cheek and muttered something, which made Yukinoshita chuckle softly.

"I'm sorry, really, anywhere is fine."

"Is that so...? That's good then. By the way, really anywhere is fine? Aren't you testing me? I'm taking it seriously, aren't I?"

"How could it be a test? What could you possibly be testing with something like this?"

When Yukinoshita heard my uneasy question, she replied somewhat speechlessly.

No, there are people like that in the world who use such things to test a man's taste. I'm referring to that adorable, scumbag woman named Isshiki Iroha.

My thoughts were probably written all over my face. Yukinoshita toyed with her black hair that fell to her chest and said softly, as if in defense:

"I'm not testing you... It's just that I'm not very good at killing time, so I'm a little unsure what to do... Um, I'd be embarrassed if I said something weird."

After speaking in a low voice, she looked up at me, as if trying to read my expression.

Her tone was different from usual, full of childishness, and her endearing attitude was very cute, which made the corners of my mouth involuntarily relax and turn up. In order to get away with it, I quickly and secretly covered my mouth.

I'm afraid both Yukinoshita and I have very little experience in this area. So even things we didn't pay much attention to before, we now care about a lot.

For example, they might be concerned about saving face or trying to appear strong. Or they might choose to remain silent for fear of saying the wrong thing.

This change might be proof that the relationship has changed. Thinking about it this way, I can't help but think that these minor disagreements are actually quite nice.

It's no use trying to act tough or cool anymore.

His pathetic nature was exposed throughout the year, and even if he wants to salvage his image now, he will inevitably slip up sooner or later.

And I also know very well that Yukinoshita is actually quite useless.

So let's make it more relaxed and casual.

"Then let's go to that Midea store."

Note: Coffee shop name