Kotori Minami had originally wanted to help Kotaro Katsura argue his case—cough, cough, explain himself—but after Honoka Kosaka jumped into the pit, she had no choice but to soothe the young cult leader first... As a result, Katsura Kotaro once again lost one of his few chances to clear his name.
"You don't have a usual order?" What Kotori Minami had not expected was that even after she gave up on defending Mr. Katsura, Sogo Doma did not give her a chance to comfort Honoka. Instead, he said directly, "Sorry, I thought that if you were friends with Miss Kotori here, you'd often come patronize the place where she works." Kotori Minami: "..." Th-That was clearly rubbing salt in the wound!
"Um..." Just as she had expected, the moment Sogo Doma finished speaking, Honoka Kosaka put on a dejected expression. "We only recently found out that Kotori-chan worked here too, and it was all thanks to Mr. Katsura..."
"Don't tell other people all that!" Kotori Minami wanted to cry.
"Huh?" Honoka Kosaka froze. "I-Is that supposed to be a secret? But didn't Mr. Katsura say that working here could build your confidence, and also..."
"Honoka!"
"It can also improve your femininity..." Kotori Minami managed to stop Honoka's big mouth, but she could not stop Kotaro Katsura beside her. "In other words, your cuteness. Honoka, I'm immensely gratified that you remembered those words..."
"Hehe..." Honoka Kosaka smiled with great satisfaction at the praise. "Because Umi said that although Mr. Katsura can be pretty unreliable in some ways, the specialized training he gives is actually quite good..."
"Ahem..." Hearing that, Kotaro Katsura coughed twice, then signaled Sogo with his eyes. "Well? My efforts weren't wasted, were they?" This left Sogo Doma rather baffled. A remark that could not even count as praise