Cucumber Fairy Nakano Ichika

"I haven't watched it, so I wouldn't know. It's probably average, since hardly anyone around me talks about it."

"Exactly."

"Exactly what?"

"Only someone from the Occult Research Club could have taken such a beautiful picture of you."

Yumiko blinked, then couldn't help laughing. "I've noticed you're pretty good with words."

She was clearly interested now. She rested one hand on Fushimi Makoto's desk and leaned forward, her waist bending as her hair tumbled down. The pleasant scent of it wafted toward Makoto.

"When do you have club activities? I want to visit your club," she said.

Nakano Itsuki frowned as she listened beside them. Shouldn't someone be more polite when asking to visit a club?

After all, there were other people in the club. Who could guarantee that an unexpected visitor wouldn't disturb everyone?

But Yumiko hadn't thought about any of that.

She wanted to visit Makoto's club, and since she considered him a friend, she simply said so.

"Our first club activity should be this Saturday," Makoto replied.

"In the afternoon, right? I'll come by and hang out, then. It's a plan."

"Sure."

Makoto agreed, then brought up another topic. "By the way, what did you think of the photos I sent you last time?"

"They were amazing! I think you could charge for your photography. You could definitely make money that way."

At the mention of the photos, Yumiko's beautiful face lit up with a smile.

She'd noticed Itsuki listening in, but didn't pay her any mind.

At that moment, Makoto was what mattered more to her.

She was interested in both the club he'd started and his photography skills.

Part of it was simple curiosity, but part of it was the admiration a teenage girl felt for an impressive peer.

And that admiration was exactly what Makoto wanted.

"If you ever want to take more pictures, just get in touch with me."

"Deal!"

Girls who cared about their looks couldn't resist beautiful photos. Even Yukino liked them, let alone a popular girl like Yumiko.

At lunchtime, Makoto saw something interesting in the cafeteria: Nakano Ichika had invited Yukino to sit with her.

Yukino hadn't even made a bento. It clearly wasn't because she'd suddenly grown lazy.

The experiences in the Time Loop must have been so intense and varied that she'd had no desire to make one.

Naturally, Ichika had invited Makoto too.

While he went to get his food, Yukino sat beside the Nakano Quintuplets and felt a momentary haze of disbelief.

She hadn't thought much about it before, but seeing all five of them together beside her was truly dazzling.

Even as a girl, she found them captivating.

That made her think of Makoto.

He probably didn't just intend to become good friends with Ichika. The other four girls were likely targets of his, too.

The thought suddenly soured her mood.

"Yukinoshita, you don't look too well today," Ichika said. She'd been watching Yukino closely.

Yukino replied coolly, "Why do you say that?"

Ichika smiled. "I noticed you've been spacing out a lot today. You were clearly thinking about something else not long after you sat down."

So Ichika could be perceptive, too?

Yukino was surprised.

She'd thought Ichika was a somewhat scheming girl, but one who wasn't particularly skilled at it.

"Ichika, don't pry into other people's private business," Itsuki reminded her.

She even turned to Yukino and said, "Sorry. Ichika can be like this sometimes. She's always stirring things up."

To Itsuki, Yukino was a club member, and they'd be working together in the future. She genuinely wanted to get along with her.

"It's fine," Yukino replied, unusually gently.

Makoto had told her that Itsuki was a girl who took her responsibilities seriously.

Yukino admired girls with that kind of personality.

Ichika hadn't given up on her curiosity. She asked deliberately, "Yukinoshita, did you not get enough rest?"

The speaker meant nothing by it, but the listener took it to heart.

The words "not enough rest" immediately brought Yukino back to that time.

Someone had been unable to keep their hands off her legs, and she'd even started to feel something herself...

Yukino quickly kept her expression in check and answered in an even tone, "No. I was just thinking about something."

When she finished, she saw Ichika staring at her curiously. Remembering how close Ichika was to Makoto, she added without thinking, "I made a mistake recently."

Ichika smiled. "A mistake? That's only natural. Everyone makes mistakes."

"You two seem to be having a nice chat," Makoto said as he returned with his food.

At the sound of his voice, Yukino's shapely legs inexplicably pressed together beneath the table.

Ichika immediately lost interest in Yukino.

She didn't have to go to the set today.

So she had a plan.

Cucumber Immortal Nakano Ichika

During PE that afternoon, Makoto played volleyball with a few classmates again.

Unlike last time, he wanted to test his explosive power.

So when he leapt high and slammed the ball down with a spike that nearly scared everyone out of their wits, his classmates looked at him differently.

The ball from that spike had been so fast that they probably could have returned it. They simply hadn't dared to try.

The volleyball hit the ground with a thud, then bounced high into the air and flew off somewhere.

"Fushimi, are you using hacks?"

Even Makoto's teammates had to ask.

"I haven't even put much effort into it yet," Makoto said, rolling his arm. He felt like he still had plenty of strength left.

"You call that not putting in much effort?"

A few of his classmates clearly didn't believe him.

Fortunately, the internet was already widespread, and they'd seen professional volleyball players' terrifying explosive power online. Makoto hadn't scared them off the game entirely.

Everyone agreed that he must have been holding back last time.

Some other students nearby had seen what happened, too.

Hayato Hayama was one of them.

He stared in astonishment in the direction the ball had bounced and muttered, "If the captain finds out about this, he'll probably do everything he can to recruit Fushimi into the Soccer Club."

Makoto had shown more than just explosive power.

Hayama had clearly seen his agility and speed as well.

Watching Makoto laugh and chat with his classmates, Hayama couldn't help remembering what he'd said last time: "I feel like I'm busy every day, but I have no idea what I'm busy doing."

Hayama remembered those words well, because they'd made him think about his own situation.

Quite a few girls were watching, too.

There were only two handsome guys in the class. Hayama was chatting with a friend, which wasn't much to watch, so they might as well admire Makoto's athleticism.

Yumiko stood among a few friends, arms folded as she watched him with obvious appreciation and nodded.

The better Makoto performed and the more attention the girls paid him, the happier she was.

After all, aside from Itsuki, she was the one in the class who got along best with Makoto.

At least, that was how she saw it.

"Yumiko, do you think Fushimi will join the volleyball club? That shot just now was unbelievable," a friend beside her asked.

"Absolutely not," Yumiko said confidently. "He has his own club. There's only so much time and energy a person can spare."

She didn't say the rest out loud: If Makoto got too busy, how would he take pictures for her?

She'd already decided to make him her personal photographer.

That way, she'd have a steady supply of beautiful photos.

And the two of them could stay close.

Thinking about it, she couldn't help feeling glad she'd taken the initiative to talk to Makoto a few times. Otherwise, she might have missed out on such an impressive friend.

At first, she'd only paid a little attention to him because he was handsome.

Then Hayama had seemed so interested in Makoto, bringing him up every few days, that she couldn't help asking, "Are you secretly in love with Fushimi?"

Her friends' interest in Makoto had naturally influenced her, too.

When she remembered Makoto telling her she had a knack for capturing candid moments, she smiled without thinking.

Yumiko swept her gaze around and quickly spotted Itsuki chatting with a classmate.

Everyone had changed for PE. With her long blond hair and legs, Yumiko should have been the most eye-catching girl there.

But after Itsuki changed clothes, the advantages of her figure became even more obvious.

Yumiko honestly couldn't understand what the five Nakano sisters had been fed to grow up with such full figures and faces that made other girls jealous.

Then she looked again. Damn, Itsuki had an amazing figure from behind, too!

She remembered the rumor she'd heard at lunch: the five sisters had eaten with Makoto and Yukino.

Since Itsuki was Makoto's friend, and she was both pretty and reserved, Yumiko decided she'd try to get along with her.

Once the idea came to her, she went over right away.

"Miura?" Itsuki noticed her, too.

Yumiko came up to her and asked with her usual smile, "Itsuki, want to hang out after school?"

"Huh? Me?" Itsuki pointed at herself in surprise.

"That's right. I think we could be friends," Yumiko said with her usual confidence.

She preferred Itsuki to that other Nakano sister, Nino.

"Thanks for inviting me, but I have something to do today," Itsuki said apologetically.

"Do you have plans with a friend?"

"I promised Ichika I'd go see Makoto, but I can't really say exactly what we're doing."

Going to see Makoto?

Yumiko looked suspicious.

That could mean a lot of things.

They might have planned to go shopping together, or they might be going straight to the boy's house.

Could it be the latter?

If so, weren't they awfully close?

Yumiko hesitated, then decided to sound her out after school.