She rolled her eyes but the flush on her cheeks deepened, and I could tell I'd hit a nerve.
Minami Shouko wasn't the type to back down easily, and she's also soone who moves with a plan. Simply because she wanted to find that genuine connection she was craving. But then again, she also wasn't used to being the one on the defensive. It was a rare sight, and I couldn't help but enjoy it a little.
"Okay. I'll tell you if you're that curious," She said, stopping just before the turn to where the conference room was located and turning to face .
Her posture was defiant, one hand on her hip as she attempted to look a little more composed.
"If you must know, the plan was to get you alone and… well, rattle you. I figured if I could throw you off your ga, make you slip up, I'd get a better read on who you really are. All that mystery around you was driving up the wall."
I raised an eyebrow."Rattle , huh? That's impressive, to say the least, if ever you had succeeded. But what exactly were you gonna do to achieve that? Stare down with that scary senpai glare of yours?"
She huffed, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear before letting out a soft giggle. She's like this kid who proudly presented her built sandcastle to her mom.
"I had… thods. A few well-placed questions, maybe so subtle pressure by saying I'll expose your secrets. Things to get under your skin. Sothing like that. If all of that failed, I'd show myself and maybe… seduce you? But clearly, I underestimated you. You didn't just dodge the trap. You turned it around on ."
At the end of her sentence, Minami Shouko looked deflated and I couldn't help but reach for her cheek and pinch it to cheer her up, "I see. Good plan. Too bad it doesn't work against ."
The playful pinch coaxed a surprised squeak from Minami Shouko. Her hazel eyes widened, making her composed facade crack and revealing a mix of embarrassnt and indignation.
She swatted my hand away, her lips pursing into a pout that was more endearing than intimidating.
"Onoda-kun!" She huffed, rubbing her cheek as if I'd done so grievous harm. "You can't just do that! What are you, a kid teasing his crush on the playground?"
I tilted my head innocently, acting like I had done nothing wrong. "Maybe I am. You're adorable like this, senpai. I like it. But of course, all this is to keep you on your toes. Can't let you get too comfortable thinking you've got all figured out."
She crossed her arms and sighed. "Oh, please. I'm not even close to figuring you out and that's the problem. You're like a puzzle with half the pieces missing and the other half from a different box entirely. And it keeps on changing every day. Every ti I think I've got a handle on you, you pull sothing like this."
She gestured vaguely at , her hand waving in the air as if to encompass my entire existence.
"Is that really the case with ? You know I'm also like an open book to my girls." I said as I stepped closer to her and Minami Shouko instinctively retreated but her back was already against the wall. "In your case, though, senpai, you're not an open book. All that scheming, those pranks, the whole 'expert manipulator' vibe. Even after getting you to agree with , you're still as much of a puzzle. Maybe that's why we keep circling each other like this."
Her smirk faltered, and she looked away for a mont, her fingers tightening around the papers she still held. Luckily for her, the hallway was currently deserted. The distant chatter of club activities was muffled by the walls.
And from one corner, the late afternoon light spilled through the windows, casting long shadows that danced across her face, highlighting the faint flush that had yet to fade.
"Circling, huh?" She murmured, glancing down as if she were looking at herself in introspective. "You make it sound like we're playing so kind of ga. But… I don't know, Onoda-kun. Sotis I wonder if I'm just chasing shadows with you. Like, what's the point of all this back-and-forth? Am I trying to prove sothing to you, or myself?"
The shift in her tone was surprising. It almost caught off guard.
It's not like we're doing this back and forth every day, but then again, each ti we did, I sohow kept unraveling her. And yesterday, we even played that ga where it ended with carrying her.
From an outside perspective, it could be seen as us flirting with each other. But for Minami Shouko, who had yet to truly connect with soone wherein she could spill all her thoughts, that was a new experience.
At the mont, Minami Shouko reminded of Sachi's vulnerability earlier, the way she'd laid bare her admiration and her doubts. And just like with Sachi, I felt that sa pull to et her honesty with my own.
I set the stack of papers down on a nearby windowsill, freeing my hands. One went to her face and the other to her waist as I pressed closer to her, almost pinning her to the wall.
"Senpai, you don't have to prove anything. Not to , not to anyone. You're already soone who stands out. Sharp, resourceful, and yeah, maybe a little manipulative, but in an oddly charming way. You don't need to chase shadows to get my attention. You've had it since that letter. If anything… this should be the ti for you to chase after the connection you're seeking. Not just from . You have followers waiting for you, right? Treat like this lighthouse you can return to if you sohow lost your way or you think you've failed at connecting with soone."
Her eyes snapped back to mine, wide and searching, as if she was trying to gauge whether I was teasing or serious. "You're doing it again. Saying stuff like that with that… stupidly sincere face. It's not fair."
"Not fair, huh? I told you. I'm just being honest, senpai," I said, echoing the sa line I kept using to most of my girls. I can't help it. I can only be stupidly honest about things. Even if it ant that not everything can be solved just by being honest.
My hand lingered on her cheek while my thumb brushed lightly against her skin, tracing her lips. anwhile, my other hand rested gently on her waist, keeping her close but not to the point of zeroing our distance.
Minami Shouko's gaze softened, her usual sharpness dulled by a flicker of uncertainty. She didn't pull away, though, and that alone spoke volus. Her hands, still clutching the papers, hovered uncertainly before one of them reached up, her fingers brushing against my wrist as if to ground herself.
"Honest," She repeated. "You're too good at this, Onoda-kun. Making people feel like they're the only one in the room. I bet you say that to all your girls, don't you?"
I chuckled softly as I nodded. "Maybe I do, but that doesn't make it any less true. You're not just one of the crowd, senpai. You're Minami Shouko, the girl who tried to outsmart with a fake love letter and made solve those harmless prank cases, yet you still managed to walk away with my respect. That's not sothing I give out lightly."
Her lips twitched into a small, satisfied smile, but I could tell from her eyes that she was still observing , looking for any hint of flippancy.
After finding nothing, she let out a shaky breath, her shoulders relaxing slightly.
"You're impossible," She said again but this ti it sounded less like a complaint and more like an admission. "I don't know how to deal with you, you know that? I keep trying to keep up, to stay one step ahead, but you… You just keep pulling the rug out from under ."
"Then stop trying to stay ahead," I said, my voice low and steady. "You don't need to outmaneuver , senpai. Just be you. That's more than enough. And I like that part of you."
Upon saying that, I took a step back and pulled my hands off of her, leaving her flustered and wanting.
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