"Anyway, after this and that happened... the result is, we made up."
The next day after school, in the Literary Club activity room, Kuroha Akira dropped this bombshell on the half-surprised class president and the utterly flabbergasted Aizono Moe.
He skipped the process entirely. Just stated the result.
Which was exactly why they reacted the way they did.
Asato Hitomi recovered quickly—almost instantly, actually.
She stepped forward, took Kuroha Akira's hand with one of hers and Shirai Shiori's with the other, then joined their hands together with her own. A genuine, radiant smile spread across her face.
"That's wonderful! I knew you two would get along eventually."
Shirai Shiori's expression was... complicated.
After all, her relationship with Kuroha Akira had been on the verge of complete collapse just yesterday.
To suddenly announce they'd made up felt incredibly abrupt.
But it was true. Shirai Shiori no longer held any complaints against Kuroha Akira. In fact, she wanted to have even more in-depth communication with him. She shot him a friendly glance and offered a kind smile.
"Well... after we talked things through, I realized that Akira-kun really isn't a bad guy with ill intentions. I just misunderstood him."
"Is that so..."
She's already calling him "Akira-kun"... Asato Hitomi's internal alarms pinged softly. Their relationship seems a bit too good, doesn't it?
"As expected of Kuroha-kun." She tilted her head, her smile turning slightly teasing. "He's really good at winning over girls."
Kuroha Akira scratched his cheek, looking a little embarrassed.
Of course, he was faking it. Internally, he was quite pleased with himself.
Shirai Shiori is mine now! The biggest obstacle has been removed! From now on, the Literary Club is his territory!
But in front of the class president, he wouldn't act so brazenly. He maintained his humble facade.
"Not at all... It's also thanks to Shiori being so understanding. Otherwise, things wouldn't have gone so smoothly."
Shiori is indeed very understanding of "clothes," he added silently. Just not her own.
Asato Hitomi's eyes narrowed slightly, catching every detail in his words.
He's calling her "Shiori" now too. And Kuroha-kun's gaze toward Shiori is a little... perverted. Something definitely happened yesterday.
Her deduction clicked into place.
Shiori most likely took off her clothes. And she definitely showed her body to him. Otherwise, progress wouldn't be this fast.
After being honest with each other—physically and emotionally—the distance between their hearts had lessened, and their relationship naturally grew closer. Asato Hitomi understood this dynamic well. Although she felt a tiny twinge of jealousy, she didn't expose them. She still wanted to save her best friend's face.
"Eh? Eh eh eh?!"
The slow-to-process Aizono Moe finally snapped back to reality. She looked back and forth between the two, still in disbelief.
"What in the world happened?! I'm happy to see you two make up, but... why?!"
She didn't understand.
Just yesterday, they'd looked like sworn enemies. How could they be getting along harmoniously today?
Then Aizono Moe naturally thought of that perverted bet. She immediately turned to Shirai Shiori.
"So, Shiori... did you really... you know... prostrate yourself before Kuroha-san?"
She couldn't bring herself to say the word "naked." Just thinking about it made her cheeks burn. Aizono Moe was simply too shy.
Shirai Shiori also recalled what happened yesterday. A complex expression flickered across her face—primarily shame, followed by a strange sense of pride.
Because she'd fulfilled the bet! She hadn't become a coward!
"Mmm..."
Seeing that she was actually about to admit it, Kuroha Akira's forehead broke out in a cold sweat. He quickly interjected to cover for her.
"How could that be! Of course, we let bygones be bygones! Right, Shiori?"
Shirai Shiori snapped out of her recollection and realized she'd almost let the cat out of the bag. Fortunately, her reaction was quick. She forced a smile and hastily chimed in.
"Yes, that's right. After all, we're classmates and in the same club. There's no way we could stay so stiff forever, haha..."
But as she said this, Shirai Shiori felt incredibly guilty.
She had taken off her clothes. She had knelt—twice, even. She felt like she'd been possessed at the time, not covering anything, swaying in front of him like a perverted exhibitionist...
But he'd seemed to enjoy watching. His gaze had kept drifting to her chest and hips.
Although she'd been very shy at the time, looking back now, Shirai Shiori felt a little proud instead.
Because she was always around Aizono Moe—that super-sized competitor—she inevitably got compared. With such an obvious visual difference, she'd always assumed no boy would ever be interested in her small, flat figure.
But Kuroha Akira had helped her regain some confidence.
It seemed her body did have something worth seeing after all.
That also meant Akira-kun wasn't a "chest person"?
Hmph... good taste, then.
In that case, sending him her worn underwear had definitely been the right choice.
He would definitely use it when he got home. Just like she had done yesterday—unable to resist taking off all her clothes again on the bed he'd lain on, playing with herself...
Shirai Shiori couldn't help but savor the memory. It was the most exhilarating experience she'd ever had.
But perhaps she'd relaxed too much. That was probably why she'd wet the bed this morning...
She hadn't even done that during naptime in kindergarten!
This was pure black history. Something she absolutely couldn't tell anyone!
Still... sleeping naked was genuinely comfortable. She'd heard it was good for the body too. Anyway, no one could see her in her own room. Shirai Shiori decided to stop wearing pajamas to bed from now on.
She just needed to remember to use the toilet before sleeping. No more bedwetting...
Shirai Shiori drifted through those shameful yet happy memories from last night, her entire expression softening. To put it plainly—she looked absolutely dreamy.
On the other side, seeing that things had been resolved smoothly and her best friend hadn't been humiliated, Aizono Moe cried tears of joy. Her overdeveloped tear ducts left her eyes glistening.
"Is that so... That's truly wonderful... Shiori... Waaah..."
Aizono Moe's sobbing snapped Shirai Shiori back to reality. She showed a wry smile and reached out to wipe her friend's tears.
"Honestly, Moe, you're still such a crybaby... This is good news, isn't it?"
"Shiori~~~!"
Aizono Moe lunged forward and hugged her directly. The impact of her "chest-bumping" was too strong—it nearly knocked Shirai Shiori off her feet.
"Precisely because it's good news, I'm so happy I'm crying! Waaah... Anyway, it's truly wonderful!"
Kuroha Akira watched Shirai Shiori's face get almost completely swallowed by the greatly deformed "face wash" being squeezed against her. A certain work came to mind—Tawawa on Monday.
Aizono Moe could easily compete with the heroines from Himura's dairy. He kind of wanted to see the scene of her shirt buttons popping off. It would probably be spectacular.
"And! Thank you too, Kuroha-san!"
"Don't thank me so quickly, Aizono." Kuroha Akira's lips curled. "There's even better news."
"Eh?"
Aizono wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and once again showed a puzzled expression.
Kuroha Akira grinned and continued.
"I've already asked Shiori to help refine my light novel. Which means... that light novel will become a collaborative work between the three of us!"
To create a best-selling light novel, the Black-White-Love Triangle Alliance was thus formed!