Even so, there were so many excellent scenes about her in the anime—why did they have to pick this one?!
She had thought the drama club were her fans, but now it seemed they were anti-fans!
No honor at all—this was deception, a sneak attack!
She, a perfectly normal, gentle "mom-type" JK—
Was this appropriate?
It wasn't!
She sincerely advised those anti-fans to reflect on themselves!
Stop putting on such nonsensical performances!
Soyo puffed up her cheeks in annoyance, secretly glancing at the boy beside her.
If it were any other time, seeing such an eye-darkening performance, she would at most blush and say something like, "Don't make fun of me!" or "How can a band member's struggles be called pathetic?" and let it pass.
But what if the performance on stage affected her image in Kamijou Mutsuki's mind and caused her "strategy" to fail?
However, to Soyo's surprise, neither Kamijou Mutsuki nor Mutsumi had even the slightest hint of a smile on their faces.
"Um…"
As if momentarily losing her senses, Soyo actually found herself asking—
"…Mutsuki-kun, isn't it funny?"
"..."
Kamijou Mutsuki had been watching the performance without much reaction, but after hearing Soyo's question, he almost couldn't hold it in.
"Wait—you're here to wreck the stage or something?"
Professional players are banned from participating!
"…Do you think it should be funny, Soyo?"
Kamijou Mutsuki looked at the girl beside him with a somewhat strange expression as he asked.
What, are you planning to compete with Wakaba-sensei for a career now?
If this keeps up, wouldn't Mutsumi end up becoming the second "Lady Sakiko"?
"…Of course not!"
Coming back to her senses, Soyo's face instantly turned red. What she had just said made it sound like she was some kind of comedic character, dissatisfied because she hadn't managed to make Kamijou Mutsuki and Mutsumi laugh.
"It's obviously not funny at all, okay?!"
The girl stammered as she tried to defend herself.
"It was clearly so sincere, so earnest—why would anyone think it's funny?"
"I think so too."
Hearing this, Soyo felt a brief moment of relief—but only for a moment.
"After all, it's just a clumsy imitation of Soyo-chan."
"If they want to move me, they're still far from it."
Mutsumi, sitting beside them, felt the same way. Although the scene itself was somewhat amusing, it ultimately wasn't her.
"Hey!"
Soyo's face flushed red with anger, her cheeks puffing up like an inflated pufferfish.
Seeing this, Kamijou Mutsuki couldn't resist—he reached out and poked her, deflating her instantly.
"Mm~"
Mutsumi finally understood why Kamijou Mutsuki liked doing this. Watching from a third-person perspective, it really was amusing—especially when the target was Soyo.
Even Mutsumi almost couldn't hold it in, though she quickly covered her mouth.
"Mutsumi~"
However, even though Mutsumi moved quickly, Soyo still caught it with her sharp eyes.
She immediately crossed her arms and said angrily,
"I'm ignoring both of you!"
In the end, Kamijou Mutsuki had to use snacks from a nearby stall to barely coax Soyo into forgiving them. However, the calm she had just barely regained didn't last long, because…
"Mutsuki, here…"
Seeing Mutsumi use a small fork to pick up a takoyaki and bring it to Kamijou Mutsuki's mouth, Soyo suddenly felt like her forehead was glowing like a lightbulb.
The snack in her hand instantly lost all its appeal.
Doing something this embarrassing in public—where did that innocent and pure Mutsumi go?!
Even if Kamijou Mutsuki's hands were indeed a bit occupied, that didn't mean they had to do this in front of so many people…
In short—this was absolutely unacceptable!
Soyo couldn't help but feel a bit frustrated. She stuffed a takoyaki into her mouth and chewed it fiercely.
No, this can't go on like this!
She had invited Kamijou Mutsuki here today to be the heroine, not to play the role of a losing comedic side character supporting the two of them!
However, Soyo also realized that if she didn't separate Mutsumi from them, there was no way she could "capture" Kamijou Mutsuki today.
After all, aside from her figure, she was completely at a disadvantage—whether in terms of relationship, status, or position.
Not to mention, trying to make a move right in front of Mutsumi, his fiancée, made even Soyo feel a bit guilty.
But what excuse could she use to get Mutsumi away?
Troubled by this, Soyo remained somewhat absent-minded as they continued wandering.
Until the three of them strolled past a stall related to a haunted house…
Wait—a haunted house?!
The lightbulb above Soyo's head lit up again.
She remembered being dragged by a friend to try this club's haunted house back in middle school.
It wasn't particularly scary, but it had a lot of tricks and a fairly complex layout.
Because of that, getting separated inside was completely normal.
Moreover, she had once heard friends chatting about how haunted houses were the perfect place for couples to grow closer.
Though she had also seen it in manga, Soyo figured it should be more or less the same.
As long as she could get separated from Mutsumi for a while, and take advantage of the haunted house atmosphere, wouldn't capturing Kamijou Mutsuki be as easy as flipping her hand?
With a plan forming in her mind, Soyo immediately smiled and suggested to Kamijou Mutsuki and Mutsumi:
"…I heard the haunted house at the school festival is pretty interesting. Want to check it out?"
Was Soyo the type to be interested in haunted houses?
The doubt in Mutsumi's heart deepened.
However, perhaps holding a similar thought to Soyo, she didn't refuse. Instead, she looked at Kamijou Mutsuki with expectant eyes.
With both girls expressing interest, there was no way Kamijou Mutsuki would spoil the mood.
Still, when he brought the two girls to get entry passes, they attracted astonished gazes from the surrounding young ladies.
A boy—bringing two girls?!
And not just any girls, but Soyo and Mutsumi, two of Tsukinomori's biggest stars!
Wait, he's Manager Kamijou?
…Oh, then it makes sense.
Even so, the girls remained extremely curious about the relationship between the three.
Some even secretly started taking bets on whether Soyo or Mutsumi was Kamijou Mutsuki's girlfriend.
Of course, there were also those who felt jealous.
Soyo (and Mutsumi) being close to a boy like that—no way!
At the very least, wait until after graduation, okay?!
After spending so much time walking around with the two of them, Kamijou Mutsuki had already gotten used to these kinds of gazes.
After getting the passes, he led the two girls to the haunted house entrance.
One could only say—truly worthy of Tsukinomori, a school for young ladies. All the festival attractions were free, even the haunted house.
At the same time, unlike the typical single-classroom setups in ordinary school festivals, this haunted house occupied almost an entire floor that had been converted for the attraction.
...................