"Yukinoshita, I even suspected that the reason Ms. Hiratsuka had stayed single for so long had something to do with you..."
"Huh?"
"Why are you so surprised?" Sogo Doma said at the second young lady's confusion. "Yukinoshita, why do you think Ms. Hiratsuka is single?"
"..." There were plenty of reasons she was single—violence, heavy drinking...
But just as Yukino Yukinoshita was relentlessly snarking to herself, Sogo Doma added, "Or rather, do you think Ms. Hiratsuka is cute?"
The moment he said that, Yukino Yukinoshita's eyes widened. (⊙?⊙)
C-Cute was a word used to describe Ms. Hiratsuka? Had she misheard, or had he misspoken?
Wait a minute!
"Who was it that just said girls older than themselves were all old hags?"
"Me, of course..." Sogo Doma replied as if it were only natural. "But that merely represents my personal opinion. As for everyone else... let's take your opinion, Yukinoshita. Do you think Ms. Hiratsuka is pretty?"
"..." Faced with his question, the second young lady did not know how to answer. After all, setting aside all of Ms. Hiratsuka's unreliable behavior—and the fact that she had absolutely no femininity to speak of—she really was an undeniable beauty!
Yet only those who knew her understood what kind of heart lay beneath Ms. Hiratsuka's glamorous exterior—a middle-aged man's heart.
"Doma, you aren't interested in Ms. Hiratsuka, are you...?"
"How could I be?" Sogo Doma rolled his eyes. "I said it already—anyone older than me..."
"But you also said that if we set your opinion aside, then Ms. Hiratsuka..."
"So you want me to set aside my own...?"
"No!" Yukino Yukinoshita could not help interrupting him. "If you really think she's an old hag, what gives you the right to say that other people see Ms. Hiratsuka as a great beauty?"
"I never