"Any woman caught in Minami's sights is dood! Not a single one can escape!"
Futaba Rio stared at Yamada Ryo, who had just uttered such absurd words.
As a girl of science, Futaba Rio maintained her usual calm expression.
But the slight twitch at the corner of her mouth and her slightly widened eyes completely betrayed the storm raging in her heart.
Wait a second...
What the hell was this person even saying?
Did she even know what she was talking about?
Seventeen years old, never having truly liked anyone before, Futaba Rio—
Was now experiencing a worldview-shattering impact under the confident and unwavering words of Yamada Ryo.
And the most crucial part was—
"Even if things were really as you say..."
It had to be said, Futaba Rio was indeed a science-minded girl. With just one deep breath, she regained her composure and rationality, imdiately posing a counter-question:
"If I really did like Minami-kun, shouldn't that trouble you?"
"Trouble ?"
Yamada Ryo glanced at her, as if she didn't quite understand what she ant.
"Don't you also love Minami-kun?"
Futaba Rio's voice remained calm.
She hadn't forgotten that just yesterday, Yamada Ryo had confessed to Minami in the maid and butler café.
Logically speaking, if she also developed feelings for Minami, wouldn't Yamada Ryo feel an overwhelming sense of crisis?
After saying this, she lifted her gaze, expecting to see a flustered reaction on Yamada Ryo's face.
But—
"Why would I be troubled if you loved Minami?"
It wasn't the panicked expression Futaba Rio had anticipated.
Instead, Yamada Ryo looked at her with a mildly confused gaze.
And her next words left Futaba Rio utterly bewildered.
She was so caught off guard by Yamada Ryo's statent that she couldn't even respond imdiately. Coupled with the absolute certainty in Yamada Ryo's tone, her voice involuntarily weakened:
"Wait... if more people loved Minami-kun, shouldn't you feel more threatened? Because there's more competition..."
"Just sothing trivial like that?"
Trivial?!
This was just a trivial matter to her?!
Futaba Rio was stunned.
"Of course, it's trivial."
Yamada Ryo's voice remained indifferent. "If you end up liking Minami, that just proves he's the kind of excellent man who naturally attracts won. That's all."
"I..."
Futaba Rio opened her mouth.
"Or do you think otherwise?"
Yamada Ryo crossed her arms and lifted her gaze. "Who told you that just because you like Minami, he's obligated to choose you? Futaba-san, you might be getting a little ahead of yourself."
She raised a single finger.
"For all you know, in the end, it could be just you harboring a one-sided crush on Minami. Those kinds of won are the scariest."
"Hah?"
Wait.
Hold on.
"Why does this conversation suddenly make it sound like I have to like Minami-kun?!"
Futaba Rio shot up from her seat, her previous calm deanor as a science-minded girl utterly obliterated by Yamada Ryo's overwhelmingly aggressive words.
"Why are you so sure you won't fall for Minami?"
"Because I already have soone I care about!"
Faced with Yamada Ryo's relentless questioning, Futaba Rio raised her voice in emphasis.
"Oh?"
Yamada Ryo's interest was piqued.
"The person you care about— is he handso? More attractive than Minami?"
She asked.
"Well..."
Futaba Rio opened her mouth slightly.
To be honest, comparing any other boy in their grade to Minami in terms of looks was practically asking to be humiliated.
His graceful and striking features alone were enough to make girls stop him in the hallways just to ask for his contact information.
Just thinking about it made Futaba Rio instinctively shut her mouth.
"Then, does he have better grades than Minami?"
Yamada Ryo continued.
"Uh—"
First place in Shuka High. First place nationwide.
Just those two accolades alone made the answer obvious.
Even as a self-proclaid science prodigy,
Futaba Rio had no absolute confidence in beating Minami academically.
"So, tell again—why do you think you wouldn't fall for Shouji?"
Yamada Ryo genuinely didn't understand.
That guy excelled in every aspect compared to whoever this "soone" was.
"Because love isn't about those things!"
At this mont, Futaba Rio's voice faltered, completely lacking confidence. She looked like she wanted to bury her head into her chest, her face flushed bright red.
"But to like soone, that person still needs to have so kind of appealing trait, right? Are you really sure you love him?"
Yamada Ryo pressed further, her voice steady.
Then, she dropped the ultimate soul-piercing question:
"Do you really love him?"
Her expressionless face, which never wavered under any circumstances, was now applying imnse psychological pressure on Futaba Rio.
And under that pressure—
Futaba Rio had no choice but to resort to her last resort.
She brought up the "red bean bun" incident.
At first, she thought this deeply sentintal and innocent mont would evoke so sense of romantic empathy from Yamada Ryo.
And indeed, Yamada Ryo's expression did change.
But—
It wasn't out of sentintality or empathy.
Instead—
"Pfft— A 130-yen red bean bun."
Clearly, expecting Yamada Ryo, a woman who relied on others to buy her als, to relate to "a maiden's delicate emotions" was a complete waste of ti.
Instead of sympathizing—
She covered her mouth and started laughing!
"..."
Futaba Rio's normally composed and graceful face turned beet red. Her fingers even trembled in frustration.
"What did Minami say about it?"
After laughing for a while, Yamada Ryo returned to her usual cold expression, as if the one who had just been laughing wasn't even her.
"...He told outright that this was nothing more than simple admiration between friends... that it wasn't even real affection."
Futaba Rio recalled their conversation in the science prep room and answered in a quiet voice.
"Then I agree. If Minami says so, then it must be true."
"..." Futaba Rio.
What... was this "Minami's little preacher" nonsense?
What did she an by "If Minami says so, then it must be true"?!
Futaba Rio had no idea how to even argue against that.
anwhile, Yamada Ryo casually glanced at her again.
She was genuinely curious as to why Minami found Futaba Rio interesting.
Because in her eyes—
This girl was nothing more than a hopelessly clueless idiot when it ca to feelings.
Falling for soone over a red bean bun?
What a joke.
What kind of rose-colored romance plot straight out of a light novel was this?
Compared to that, Yamada Ryo was much more realistic.
A red bean bun alone wasn't nearly enough to make her heart skip a beat.
But if soone handed her a red bean bun while pulling off a full 360-degree mid-air spin and landing perfectly on their feet—
Well, that might be interesting.
And Minami was exactly that kind of person.
He never played by the rules.
She carefully studied Futaba Rio,
And in the end, her gaze landed on her chest.
That impressively full chest.
In that mont, Yamada Ryo suddenly recalled sothing Minami had said during one of their study sessions about classical literary descriptions.
—As towering as Mount Fuji.
—As deep as Lake Tazawa.
"So that's how it is..."
She looked down at her own modestly raised chest and murmured in realization.
Huge(Dekai).
Way too big.
And the key point was—her fra was so petite.
If she were a guy, she'd probably fall for that too, right?
Hmm... yeah.
She could understand.
Minami really did have a good eye for won.
She gave a small nod of approval.
Just then, she heard Futaba Rio's completely defeated voice:
"If that's the case, then what about you, Yamada-san? Aren't you worried about competing with so many other girls for Minami?"
"There's nothing to worry about."
Yamada Ryo shook her head.
"I love Minami, and I want him to love too. But who he wants to date, or even how many people he wants to date—what does that have to do with my goal of making him love ?"
"I just have to follow my plan. That's all that matters."
"...I-Is that so?"
Futaba Rio was stunned.
Yamada Ryo's words were just too shocking.
Before she even realized it, she had been completely swept into Yamada Ryo's rhythm.
"Of course. That's how it is."
Yamada Ryo spoke with absolute confidence, her calm and steady tone adding even more weight to her words.
"I think... this is what love is."
"This is... love?"
Futaba Rio tried to understand Yamada Ryo's logic.
But the more she tried to process it, the more she realized—
Even though every single word Yamada Ryo said was in Japanese, when strung together, she couldn't make sense of it at all.
"If you can't even accept sothing this simple, then your feelings are definitely not real love. They're fake."
Yamada Ryo said this with a straight face.
Complete and utter nonsense.
But as long as Minami was always right, then all she had to do was follow his logic.
Whether what she said was right or wrong—
That wasn't her problem.
And sure enough, Yamada Ryo's words completely broke Futaba Rio's thought process.
So this was what real love was supposed to be?
"Then... does that an my feelings for Kunimi are just simple admiration and friendship?"
"Exactly! From my perspective, the one you should really be choosing is Minami!"
Since Minami was interested in Futaba Rio,
Then obviously, Yamada Ryo had to help out.
She leaned in close to Futaba Rio's ear and whispered:
"Co on, say it out loud! The one you choose is Minami!"
"Huh? I... I choose... Minami?"
"That's right! You should be choosing Minami!"
By this point, Futaba Rio was completely lost in Yamada Ryo's extrely confident nonsense.
And this continued—
Until Minami walked into the restaurant.
"The one I choose is Minami!"
"That's right! A little louder!"
"The one I choose is Minami!"
"One more—"
"..." Minami.
Seeing Yamada Ryo pressed up against Futaba Rio's side, whispering in her ear like a devil weaving a hypnotic spell,
Minami finally couldn't hold back anymore.
"What the hell are you two doing?"
The mont he spoke, Yamada Ryo imdiately turned her head.
Expressionless, she waved him over.
When Minami approached, she finally tilted her head up to look at him.
Even without changing her face, Minami could feel the slight air of self-satisfaction around her.
"Praise . Co on, Minami, praise . I helped you take care of Futaba. Your harem plan has gained another mber."
"..." Minami.
"Took care of Futaba?"
"Harem plan?"
Ignoring the endless number of things wrong with that statent,
Minami simply looked at Futaba Rio.
And imdiately, he almost lost it.
The once intelligent and refined science girl now had a blank expression.
Her eyes were hollow, like soone whose entire worldview had just been shattered.
She even continued muttering unconsciously to herself:
"The one I should choose... is Minami."
"..."
Minami looked at Futaba Rio.
Then at Yamada Ryo.
Pinched the bridge of his nose.
A headache. A serious headache.
Yamada Ryo's ability to derail conversations was sothing he had experienced way too many tis.
Futaba Rio had probably been completely led astray by her bizarre logic,
Which resulted in... this.
How did these two even et, anyway?
There was no other choice.
Minami had to snap Futaba Rio out of it.
No need to go into the details—
But after about ten minutes,
Futaba Rio finally returned to reality from the terrifying depths of Yamada Ryo's mind manipulation.
And when she did, she looked back at Yamada Ryo—
With undisguised fear in her eyes.
Because this woman was truly terrifying in every sense.
What started as a simple conversation about the difference between admiration and love—
Had sohow turned into 'I love Minami the most.'
The topic shift was so fast that even Futaba Rio had been dragged into it before she could process what was happening.
And now, when she saw Minami's handso and elegant face,
She unexpectedly felt a sense of relief.
"Minami-kun..."
For so reason, his presence cald her down.
But then she quickly realized—
And was thoroughly confused by that feeling.
Why...
Why did seeing Minami make her feel at ease?
She was already unsure about her own emotions, and now, noticing this reaction made her even more unsettled.
But Minami didn't seem to notice her emotional shift. He simply nodded and asked:
"I already heard what happened. You ca to see Ryo to talk about the difference between admiration and love?"
"Ah... um, yes... Sorry, Minami-kun."
Futaba Rio apologized.
Going to soone else to discuss the sa topic Minami had already talked to her about—
It was, admittedly, a bit rude.
But Minami didn't mind. In fact, he spoke up on his own.
"Honestly, your reaction is pretty similar to teenage boys."
"Teenage boys?"
"Yeah."
Since this ss was Yamada Ryo's fault,
Minami figured it was best to explain properly.
"Teenage boys tend to overthink things. If a girl talks to them a couple of tis, they start wondering, 'Does she like ?' That misunderstanding leads to a kind of surface-level attraction—an impulsive, heat-of-the-mont desire to pursue the girl."
"...?"
Futaba Rio furrowed her brows.
She felt like she understood.
But also... didn't.
"It looks like you still don't quite get it. In that case..."
Minami thought for a mont,
And decided to use a skill he normally wouldn't.
Under the eyes of both Futaba Rio and Yamada Ryo—
Minami smiled.
The next second.
Yamada Ryo's knife and fork slipped from her hands.
Futaba Rio's coffee spilled over her fingers.
Even a passing waitress suddenly froze mid-step.
Everything—
Fell into silence.
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