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“You know, Naoto-kun...Kanji-kun is very interested in you.”
Rise leans in for extra effect. Yukiko watches in secondhand embarrassment as Naoto flinches and backs away, pulling her towel tighter in a futile attempt to escape.
“About Tatsumi-kun...” Naoto starts, trailing off.
She can’t even look Rise in the face. Yukiko doesn’t blame Naoto; Rise had already groped her just a minute ago (“your skin is so nice, Naoto-kun!”—copping a feel is that simple, apparently). And to make things worse, since this was all happening at the Amagi Inn, Yukiko felt personally responsible.
“I’m afraid I simply do not have the time,” Naoto continues. “Between the investigation and—”
“That’s what Yukiko says when she gets asked out,” Chie interrupts. “It means she’s telling the guy to screw off.”
Yukiko shoots Chie a dirty look. Rise hums. Naoto goes red like a tomato. Nanako, who really should not be listening to any of this, giggles at Chie’s crass wording.
“I’m sure that’s not what Shirogane-kun meant,” Yukiko deflects.
Yukiko can never bring herself to stay angry with Chie for long. Still, she would have been perfectly content to sit this one out. These conversations always stir up thoughts and feelings that she’d rather not—and can’t afford to—entertain.
Naoto coughs. “Of course not. Tatsumi-kun is a colleague, and a perfectly fine person. But I have no interest in such matters at the moment.”
“It’s okay if you don’t like him back,” Rise replies, cool as a cucumber. “You can be honest about it. You’re not rejecting him as a person, you know? But, remember, it’s okay if you do like him. I’m just saying.”
She adds a little wink. Naoto gulps audibly.
“So, who is your type, Naoto-kun?” Rise presses.
Naoto looks down. “Absolutely no one!”
“Ooh, I’ve got a better idea,” Rise suggests. “Why don’t we rank the guys on the team? Maybe that will help Naoto-kun decide.”
“You’re so bad!” Chie exclaims. Her giggling says otherwise. “We really shouldn’t do this, but…”
“Okay, well, obviously, Senpai is at the top of the list,” Rise swoons.
“Of course he is!” Nanako beams. “Big bro is the best.”
No one else bats an eye at Nanako’s contribution. Yukiko frowns, and with Naoto effectively K.O.’ed by sheer humiliation, she’s starting to suspect she’s the only sane one here.
“He is kind of a dreamboat,” Chie adds. “Especially when we’re training. He unbuttons his shirt and you can practically see everything. He’s like Bruce Lee.”
“Chie, you shouldn’t speak so loudly,” Yukiko warns.
It’s true—anyone could be listening in on them, including the guys. But hearing Chie talk like this gets under Yukiko’s skin in all of the wrong ways. She’s aware, in a clinical sense, with that rational part of her brain, that Yu is handsome, smart, kind, and all of those things that a girl is supposed to want in a boy. There’s no reason that Chie wouldn’t be interested in Yu. (Or Bruce Lee, for that matter. Yukiko doesn’t know much about Chie’s kung fu movies.)
Anyway, Yukiko knows very well that she has no right to tell Chie who she can and can’t like. She just wishes Chie wouldn’t gush so much about how amazing her latest crush is.
“Oh, come on, Yukiko-senpai! You were all over him at Club Escapade,” Rise teases. “Don’t you remember?”
“No,” Yukiko answers flatly. At the very least, she’s telling the truth about that .
“You were at a club?” Nanako chimes in.
“—this is not an appropriate conversation for Nanako-chan,” Naoto interrupts, and Yukiko is relieved that she’s still got some of her smarts left. Yukiko does not want to be the only sane one left in the now-entirely-too hot springs. She’d never last.
“Oops!” Rise says. “You’re totally right. Let’s stop talking about Senpai that way. We can all agree he’s number one, anyway. The real fun is ranking everybody else. Nanako-chan, promise not to tell anyone about this?”
Nanako nods eagerly. Rise is, very deliberately, missing the point. Yukiko feels utterly defeated.
“Okay, since we’re swearing to keep all of this a secret,” Chie starts. “When Hanamura first moved here, I thought he was pretty cute”—cue some very raucous giggling—“oh, come on! I was just gonna say that his personality ruins everything! He’s, like, at the bottom of the list!”
Unlike Yu, Yosuke is barely a threat to Yukiko. Chie doesn’t exactly care much for him—but she gets that sinking feeling at the pit of her stomach again. She can’t explain it.
“He just needs a little more self-confidence. That’s why he acts the way he does, you know? And it’s not fair to compare him to Senpai, anyway,” Rise swoons.
“He and Narukami-kun might as well be a couple. They’ve been quite close lately,” Yukiko says, out of nowhere.
Rise and Chie gasp, and Yukiko surprises even herself. She has no idea where that came from. When she looks over to Naoto, she catches Naoto peeking back at her from the corner of her eye. If she had to guess, she’d say that it’s a look of curiosity.
“If that’s Yu-senpai’s preference, what a disappointment,” Rise sighs. “I think Yosuke-senpai might have something to hide, though. Just a feeling, you know?”
Yukiko swears Rise is looking at her just as she says that.
Chie perks up. “If you ask me, I think Hanamura is just a little too defensive. But, hey, wait, we agreed not to talk about Yu-kun!”
“Okay, well, Kanji-kun is very sweet,” Rise says, redirecting the topic. “He loves his mother, and he’s a gigantic softie.” She’s not looking at Naoto, but it’s obvious what she’s trying to do.
“Kanji-kun would make a great sparring partner, too. It’s the best of both worlds,” Chie muses. “Yukiko, would you go out with him? You’ve known him forever.”
“I—I can’t answer that,” Yukiko stutters.
“It’s just us girls here! No need to be embarrassed,” Rise replies. “Anyway, Naoto-kun, what about Teddie? Are you into romantic European boys?”
“This is entirely unprofessional, and I cannot answer that,” Naoto chokes, echoing Yukiko.
“Is it because you like girls?” Nanako asks.
Everyone is silent.
Rise’s eyes go wide, like she’s having an aha! moment. She looks over at Yukiko, who is nothing short of mortified, then over to Naoto, who is absolutely horrified.
“Okay, how about this? Let’s rank the girls on the team...”
Now Yukiko is really praying that nobody is listening in on them.