"So Renako picked out glasses with you the day before yesterday? Sorry, I had modeling work that day, otherwise I should've joined you too."
Oozuka Mai's opening words didn't directly address the main subject of the "tug-of-war" between her and Amaori Renako.
Instead, she brought up the glasses incident from the previous day, which had happened by chance.
However, to Asakura Mio, whose yuri-senses were running at high speed, Oozuka Mai's words clearly carried a subtle, unspoken "jealousy" over the fact that she had gone shopping alone with Amaori Renako.
"N-No, it wasn't like that!"
Asakura Mio hurriedly waved her hands, her cheeks slightly warm, her explanation stumbling a bit.
"It wasn't like I specifically asked Amaori-san to pick the frames… I just mentioned it offhand, and then Amaori-san got really into it, so that's why… Anyway, just this once! It won't happen again!"
Her voice grew softer as she spoke, and the final "just this once" sounded almost like a vow.
Yet, it was undercut by the undeniable fact that she had indeed bought the pink frames Amaori Renako picked out, making her feel particularly guilty and lacking conviction.
"I see, so that's how it was."
Oozuka Mai gave a slight nod, her tone betraying little emotion.
"Huh?"
Asakura Mio was taken aback, her heart giving a little lurch.
So… Amaori-san hadn't volunteered the details to her? She had confessed all on her own?
Darn it! Faced with a beauty on Oozuka Mai's level, she really did lose her composure easily! If only she'd been more vague and dodged the question!
"N-Nothing! Actually… it's a good thing you couldn't come along, Oozuka-san!"
She quickly tried to recover, attempting to change the subject, even getting a bit flustered with her words.
The moment she said it, she realized how it sounded and hurriedly explained.
"I-I mean, I don't really like being stared at too much… If you had been with me at the glasses store, we'd definitely have been gawked at by everyone coming and going! That would've been awful for me!"
"So, having only Amaori-san with me was actually for the best, or even… well, going alone would've been the ideal, really!"
"As for the glasses—see, they're already fixed and replaced, so there's no need to talk about what happened before!"
She pointed to the new glasses on her face, trying hard to sound light and natural.
Oozuka Mai listened quietly to her somewhat flustered explanation, then suddenly spoke softly.
"Being able to speak your mind so directly… that's quite admirable in its own way, Asakura-san."
Before Asakura Mio could fully process the meaning of that comment, Oozuka Mai shifted gears, her tone taking on a curious, probing note.
"Earlier, when Renako was talking to me, she very naturally referred to you as 'Mio-chan'… But, Asakura-san, you seem to consistently call her 'Amaori-san.' Aren't you two friends already?"
"Normally, wouldn't using first names be more intimate?"
Asakura Mio fell silent for a moment, her fingers unconsciously tightening on the edge of her lunch box.
Finally, she offered a reply that sounded awkward and hardly a sufficient reason.
"It's just… I personally dislike the feeling of having to use first names as proof of a close relationship. If a friendship needs that kind of formal gesture to validate it… then maybe it isn't all that remarkable to begin with."
She lowered her eyes, her voice soft but carrying a certain stubbornness.
"…That's a novel way of putting it."
Oozuka Mai seemed slightly surprised, tilting her head. Asakura Mio, not wanting to dwell on the subject, quickly steered the conversation back.
"It's just my own peculiar thinking! So, Oozuka-san, didn't you have something important to discuss regarding Amaori-san? Please don't waste any more time on trivial matters like this concerning me!"
"You're right."
Oozuka Mai nodded amiably. Then, her expression sobered slightly, the ever-present smile in her eyes fading into something more serious.
And then, she dropped a bombshell, her tone as casual as if she were discussing the weather:
"Then I'll ask directly—Asakura-san, you already know about me confessing to Renako, don't you?"
Asakura Mio's eyes widened instantly, her mouth slightly agape, as if someone had hit the pause button.
For a moment, she was completely speechless.
She never expected Oozuka Mai to bring this up so directly, so suddenly, without any warning.
Seeing her reaction, Oozuka Mai let out a soft laugh and explained.
"Don't misunderstand. Renako didn't tell me. But since meeting you, she's occasionally shown expressions and reactions completely different from before."
"Renako… she isn't entirely comfortable with the atmosphere when she's with all of us, I think she might have mentioned that to you. And when she has things weighing on her mind, she probably can't help but want to talk to someone."
"That person wouldn't be any of us, so the most likely candidate would be you, Asakura-san, whom she's somewhat categorized as being 'the same kind' as her."
Asakura Mio was dumbstruck.
It seemed… Oozuka Mai's confession was far from a casual whim.
She truly understood Amaori Renako well enough to keenly notice those subtle changes even Renako herself might not have noticed.
Without keen observation and deep understanding, she couldn't have pieced it together from just those clues.
Amaori Renako really wasn't the type to proactively broadcast her private affairs. Even when she'd let slip to Asakura Mio that someone had confessed to her, she'd only accidentally revealed Oozuka Mai's name in a moment of panic.
Asakura Mio had long since realized this; in fact, it was partly because Amaori Renako was like this that she was willing to be friends with her.
So she never imagined Oozuka Mai could have discerned it all from the sidelines.
"Amaori-san didn't directly tell me it was you either, Oozuka-san… I'd sort of guessed a little bit before…"
She admitted honestly. Oozuka Mai, however, suddenly leaned forward slightly, her gaze focusing intently on Asakura Mio's face, and asked the question she really wanted to know.
"Then," how does Asakura-san view this matter? I'm referring to Renako's response of 'wanting to remain friends,' and the… methods she's come up with to achieve that."
"M-Me?"
Asakura Mio flustered at the question, instinctively trying to distance herself.
"That's Amaori-san's own decision! I didn't offer any opinions at all!"
Oozuka Mai shook her head gently, explaining patiently.
"That's not what I meant. I wanted to ask, from your personal perspective, Asakura-san, how do you view Renako arriving at this way of thinking?"
"I have enough confidence in myself that I will ultimately make Renako fall for me, that we will become lovers, and that she will undoubtedly like me just as much as I like her. However—"
She paused here briefly, a complex, hard-to-read emotion flashing in her eyes, something like helplessness, or perhaps a hint of bewilderment.
"She told me this morning… 'When I'm with Mio-chan, I feel more relaxed and happy than at any other time. If I could make you, Mai, understand the beauty of this kind of friendship I share with Mio-chan, perhaps you wouldn't be so fixated on becoming lovers anymore.' Something along those lines."
This… idiot! Why did she have to say something so embarrassing and easily misunderstood!
Asakura Mio felt her scalp prickling, goosebumps nearly rising on her arms, her toes curling involuntarily inside her shoes.
Oozuka Mai's gaze remained fixed on Asakura Mio's face, her tone calm yet carrying a distinct sense of inquiry.
"So, I can't help but wonder if Asakura-san's very existence might be the… source… that has suddenly given Renako such a strong belief in 'friendship,' to the point she's attempting to use it to 'counter' romantic feelings?"
--+--