"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
After calming down, Mio bowed to Sato in apology, her face bright red. Both her fair cheeks and her delicate ears were flushed.
"It's fine. I understand."
Sato looked at her helplessly as he comforted her. Honestly, what kind of situation even was this?
"Come on, come on. Sato already said he understands, so Mio, you don't need to apologize anymore, right?"
Ritsu casually patted Mio's shoulder as she spoke.
The anger that Mio had just suppressed immediately surged up again.
She shook her shoulder and threw off Ritsu's hand, glaring at her with furious eyes.
"Who do you think caused all this?!"
"Smack!"
"Sorry!"
Ritsu clasped her hands together and bowed her head in apology. Her movements were so practiced that it was obvious she had done this many times before.
Mio crossed her arms and complained while looking at Ritsu.
"The exam is coming soon. Ritsu, can you at least take it seriously?"
"Yes! I will absolutely follow Mio-sama's instructions. Study hard and improve every day!"
After saying that, Ritsu ran behind Mio and started massaging her shoulders, grinning mischievously.
"Hehe, how about this?"
"Honestly..."
Looking at Ritsu's shameless attitude, Mio had no choice but to give up.
"Hehe."
Seeing that she had successfully calmed Mio again, Ritsu proudly lifted her chin toward Sato and Yui.
Yui let out a surprised "Oh?" and gave Ritsu a thumbs up.
Is it over?
Is the daily skit of the Light Music Club finally over?
Sato raised an eyebrow. Seeing that the group had indeed settled down, he clicked his tongue slightly. By now, he was already used to it.
Perhaps this was the youthful comedy of the Light Music Club.
After joking to himself internally, Sato lowered his head and prepared to continue reviewing the manuscript in his hands.
It had to be said that Gokou Ruri reminded him somewhat of his own early days, when he was first starting out as the writing demon Miyabi.
After Golden Week ended, Gokou Ruri had sent him an entire manuscript of two hundred thousand words.
Although she wrote quickly, the quality of Gokou Ruri's work was quite good. In his opinion, it could at least be considered above average.
"Nohara-san!"
As Sato was reading the manuscript, a pair of feet appeared in front of him.
What he saw first was a pair of delicate white canvas shoes. Above them were slender legs in black stockings with graceful curves. Following those legs upward to the knees, the area above belonged to the territory of a pleated skirt.
Looking up, the girl known as the unattainable flower, Yukinoshita Yukino, stood before him.
Her figure stood there like a snow lotus blooming under the sunlight, radiating brilliance that drew everyone's attention.
Sato looked at Yukinoshita Yukino in confusion, then his gaze fell on the items she was holding.
The girls of the Light Music Club also secretly watched the scene.
Yukinoshita Yukino seemed completely unaware of their gazes.
This girl, famous throughout the private comprehensive high school, had delicate features like a painting and skin as pale as snow. Her figure looked slender and somewhat fragile, yet there was a firmness in her brows.
She placed the items she was holding on the table in front of Sato and said softly, "These are some cat food and cat litter. They're for Vanilla."
"Oh!"
Sato showed a look of realization and quickly said, "I already bought those things, so Yukinoshita-san didn't need to spend money on them."
"It's necessary."
Yukinoshita Yukino said it firmly, leaving no room for doubt.
"Regardless of whether Nohara-san intended to adopt the cat or not, Vanilla was ultimately the one I brought in. It was also because of me that Nohara-san ended up adopting her. So I cannot let Nohara-san bear the cost alone."
Sato could not help but smile wryly. The girl in front of him was truly the most serious person he had ever met.
"If Yukinoshita says so, then I'll accept it."
Hearing that, Yukinoshita Yukino's expression relaxed slightly. Then she looked at Sato hesitantly.
It seemed like the girl wanted to say something, but felt embarrassed to bring it up.
Sato looked at the hesitant girl with a strange expression.
Hesitation.
It did not seem to match her usual decisive style.
What could possibly make this girl feel so troubled?
Curious, Sato tried to keep his voice calm.
"If there's something else, Yukinoshita-san, you can just say it. If it's something I can help with, I won't refuse."
Yukinoshita Yukino stood there for a long time. Even she seemed embarrassed about it.
She pursed her lips, took a deep breath, and finally made up her mind. Her gaze gradually became firm.
"Nohara-san, can I come see Vanilla this weekend?"
Hmm?
"Yukinoshita-san hesitated for so long just for that?"
Sato could not help but grin.
Seeing how hesitant she had been earlier, he had been wondering what kind of difficult request it might be. He never expected it to be something this simple.
Judging by Yukinoshita Yukino's troubled expression earlier, it might even have been the first time in her life that she had made such a request.
"Is there a problem?"
Yukinoshita Yukino looked at Sato while forcing herself to remain calm. Although she felt a little embarrassed inside, her cool face showed no sign of it.
She knew that her hesitation earlier must have looked strange from Sato's perspective.
But for someone who had never made such a request to anyone before, who knew how much determination it had taken for her to say it?
It had taken even more resolve than when she moved out of her home to live on her own.
"Nah, of course not. As long as I'm home on the weekend, you can come anytime."
As he said this, Sato felt a little strange inside.
After all, this was the first time since entering high school that a girl planned to visit his home. But the one she was visiting was not him, it was his cat. That was pretty strange.
"Oh, right."
Sato looked at Yukinoshita Yukino.
"You probably don't know where I live, right? Should we add each other on Line? Then you can send me a message first."
Line?
Yukinoshita Yukino's body suddenly stiffened.
A feeling she could not quite describe rose in her heart.
It was a complicated emotion. Part excitement, yet also faint fear.
"Okay."
Yukinoshita Yukino did not hesitate for long. That was not her personality.
After pursing her lips and nodding gently, a faint glimmer of brightness appeared in her clear eyes.
Not far away, Hikigaya Hachiman stared at the scene in a daze.
Someone actually got Yukinoshita Yukino's Line number.
An achievement that no one in the entire second-year class had managed to accomplish for a whole year. No, it might even be something no one had ever accomplished before.
Are first-years this incredible now?
He was certain that if this news spread, Sato would absolutely become the public enemy of all the boys at the private mixed high school tomorrow.