Combos Need to Flow; Ultimate Moves Need Cheats

Utaha's beautiful eyes brimmed with emotion, and the corners of her lips kept rising. "That's true."

She had no idea she'd been completely outmaneuvered.

Because what she was thinking was that becoming friends with him really was a good thing.

After their conversation, she was even more convinced that she ought to visit Teacher Matsukaze and thank her for introducing Fushimi Makoto to her.

She also realized something else.

If Fushimi Makoto's talents went far beyond what he'd shown today, then...

She'd never be able to repay Teacher Matsukaze's kindness.

After school, Fushimi Makoto left the classroom as usual. He wasn't in a club.

He hadn't gathered enough members yet, so there was no hurry to apply to start a club.

When he reached the schoolyard, he immediately spotted Yukino and Nakano Ichika standing by the school gate.

Ichika kept looking inside, so the moment their eyes met, she waved at him with a bright smile.

Yukino stood to the side with her arms folded, her expression calm.

It looked like Ichika had called Yukino over.

Fushimi Makoto figured as much. Before he could say anything, Yukino got straight to the point. "Ichika would like to treat us to dinner today. I've already agreed."

"I don't mind," Fushimi Makoto said.

Ichika's smile widened. "You're probably not hungry yet, are you? Should we find a dessert shop and sit down for a while?"

Fushimi Makoto said, "I know somewhere better."

Both girls turned their attention to him. "Where?"

"You'll find out soon enough."

Twenty minutes later.

The three of them walked into a cat café.

Yukino was nearly captivated by the cats of every color the moment she stepped inside.

She couldn't take her eyes off them!

Ichika thought the cats were adorable too, but she asked, a little puzzled, "Fushimi, why did you bring us here?"

"If you want to pass the time, this is the best kind of place," Fushimi Makoto said deliberately slowly.

Ichika assumed he liked cats, so she didn't ask any more questions.

But Yukino was different.

Hearing Fushimi Makoto drawl, she fought back the urge to break into a smile, turned to him, and stared at his face with a perfectly serious expression.

Her eyes asked, Did you bring me here to win me over?

He definitely knew how much she liked cats.

With so many adorable cats, this place was practically heaven for her.

That was why she thought Fushimi Makoto was trying to win her over.

Under her utterly undisguised questioning gaze, Fushimi Makoto slowly said, "You're so annoying. I brought you here to help you relax."

Yukino: "?"

Ichika: They're speaking in code again!

Chapter 13: Combos Need to Flow; Ultimate Moves Need Cheats

Calling her annoying was obviously a joke.

But Fushimi Makoto wasn't going to admit that he'd understood the unspoken question in Yukino's eyes: Are you trying to win me over?

At least, not yet.

If he was going to use a cat café to win her over just because she liked cats, that would be far too simplistic.

He'd studied so many techniques. The only way to win Yukino over was with a combo—and the combo had to flow smoothly.

As for his secret ultimate move, that would require cheating: trial and error through the Time Loop.

Seeing how readily Fushimi Makoto denied it, Yukino couldn't help feeling suspicious.

The first time he'd told her about the Time Loop, he'd openly said, "I've tried to win you over many times."

She'd understood something then: Fushimi Makoto was a womanizer.

He seemed exceptionally talented in all sorts of ways, and he might even be able to handle her strict mother.

Even academically, she'd fallen behind him.

But more than any of that, she wanted to know exactly what Fushimi Makoto had experienced in the Time Loop, and whether anything like that would happen again.

Her curiosity was certainly stirring, but there was one thing she was absolutely sure of: We can be friends, but there's no way I'll let him win me over!

As a proud and exceptional girl, now that she knew Fushimi Makoto was going to try to win her over, falling into his "trap" would make her a fool, wouldn't it?

After the three of them sat down and ordered drinks, Yukino saw that Fushimi Makoto had no intention of explaining himself, so she devoted all her attention to the cats.

Ichika reached out to tease a Siamese cat, but her eyes were on Fushimi Makoto. "You were right. It really is a nice place, and perfect for passing the time."

She was making an effort to start a conversation.

Fushimi Makoto knew it, and played along. "I'm glad you like it."

His gaze settled on a woman sitting at a table farther inside.

A little girl sat beside her, holding a Rubik's Cube and happily playing with the cats.

That mother and daughter were the real reason Fushimi Makoto had come to the cat café today.

During the Time Loop, he'd accidentally discovered that they often visited this café.

The woman's husband was the person Mrs. Yukinoshita wanted to work with, but the business deal between their families hadn't been finalized.

More importantly, the woman wasn't an ordinary housewife. She had a great deal of influence over business matters.

Fushimi Makoto recalled the information he'd gathered during the Time Loop and came up with a plan.

"Fushimi, I heard someone say today that you went to lunch with the famous upperclassman Kasumigaoka?" Ichika asked.

Fushimi Makoto looked away from the woman and back at the girl's lovely face. "Yeah. She wanted to talk to me about something."

Ichika didn't press him. She seemed to absentmindedly rub the cat's belly as she murmured, "Upperclassman Kasumigaoka is a rare beauty."

Hmm?

Yukino had been contentedly admiring the adorable cats, but when she heard that, her brow furrowed.

That was some unmistakable flirting.

And a pretty amateurish attempt, too.

Yukino couldn't be bothered with such a boring topic.

Still, she did want to see how Fushimi Makoto would answer.

Fushimi Makoto remained perfectly calm. He was even looking at the cats.

When a pretty girl suddenly brought up another pretty girl in front of you, there was probably more to it than that.

He could guess that Ichika wanted to find out what his relationship with Utaha was, and perhaps tease him about it.

But he chose to leave her hanging.

Five seconds passed.

Ten seconds passed.

Fushimi Makoto acted as if he hadn't heard her, his attention fixed on a Ragdoll cat nearby.

Ichika finally couldn't stand it. She waved her hand in front of his face, and when he turned around, she asked with a hint of reproach, "Didn't you hear what I just said?"

To her surprise, Fushimi Makoto replied, "I heard you."

Ichika blinked. "Then why didn't you answer?"

Yukino paid a little more attention too.

Fushimi Makoto countered, "You brought up Kasumigaoka out of nowhere. Do you want to meet her?"

Ichika curled her lips into a sly smile. "What if I do? Would you introduce us?"

"Sure. I'm sure Teacher Matsukaze would be happy to see everyone getting along."

"Huh?"

Ichika's smile turned to bewilderment.

Why had he suddenly brought up Teacher Matsukaze?

Was there some special meaning behind that?

Ichika instinctively started thinking it over.

Yukino, sitting beside her, remained unmoved.

Just as I thought. Ichika has some skill, but only a little.

As an onlooker, Yukino could see it all very clearly.

Fushimi Makoto hadn't rushed to answer, and Ichika had been the one to give in and ask him about it.

From that moment on, the initiative had shifted.

Then Fushimi Makoto had casually tossed out the name Matsukaze Mayu, drawing Ichika's attention elsewhere and weakening her earlier urge to joke around and fish for information.

Yukino remembered how the students in her class who liked games often used a certain term: "combo."

What Fushimi Makoto had just done was a short combo to take back control.

And Yukino thought he probably had another move.

The next second, she heard Fushimi Makoto ask, "By the way, Ichika, what works have you appeared in so far?"

"Huh? Why are you asking all of a sudden?" Ichika looked a little embarrassed.

She was only a bit-part actress at the moment, and only occasionally got a small speaking role.

Fushimi Makoto seemed to be thinking it over. "It just occurred to me that if you've run into any problems with your acting, we could talk about them."

Ichika looked up at him in surprise. "You know about that too?"

"I studied it for a while," Fushimi Makoto answered.

You studied that too?

Yukino raised an eyebrow.

Just as she'd expected, Fushimi Makoto's combo had left Ichika with no control of the conversation at all. He was even steering her thoughts now.

Yukino really wanted to ask Fushimi Makoto: Just how many things have you studied, and how many girls have you tried to win over?

But the words reached her lips, and she swallowed them back down.

Fushimi Makoto had once said to her, "Is it really so hard to admit that you care a lot?"

Those words had made it impossible for her to concentrate on reading that day.

If she asked him now, wouldn't that just make him happy again?

Yukino didn't want to make him happy.

For the rest of their time there, Fushimi Makoto and Ichika talked about acting.

Yukino listened for a while too, and realized Fushimi Makoto hadn't been lying. He really knew his stuff.

Just look at Ichika's sparkling eyes.

To her, Fushimi Makoto had probably become a treasure trove of knowledge.

Yukino turned her attention elsewhere and wondered: Did this guy really bring me to the cat café today just to pass the time?

She fell into thought.