Let's Go to the Movies, Huanyue!

Shiori felt her heart pounding like a drum, and a reckless urge suddenly surged through her.

Under Qian Huanyue's slightly puzzled gaze, she took a deep breath and suddenly reached out, half-pushing and half-inviting the still-chattering trio behind a more secluded door around the corner of the hallway.

The door was half-closed, shutting out some of the light and noise.

Shiori turned to face the three friends she often spent time with.

Her cheeks were startlingly red. Facing the three of them, she gave a deep, formal bow, her dark blue hair slipping over her shoulders with the movement.

"Please!" Her voice was low, but every word was crystal clear, trembling slightly yet carrying unmistakable resolve. "I... I really like Huanyue. That's right, not the kind of liking between friends... I like her in the way that I want her to become my lover."

The air seemed to freeze.

Ai's mouth fell open, utterly unprepared for such a direct and weighty confession.

Mai covered her cheeks, her eyes wide and round.

Mii's glasses nearly slid down her nose. She instinctively adjusted the frames, but her fingertips had gone a little cold—some faint fondness for the silver-haired transfer student, something she herself had never fully understood, deflated silently like a balloon pricked by a needle, leaving behind a hollow, sour ache.

"Wait, Shiori..." Ai was the first to recover her voice from the shock. Lowering her voice, her expression turned serious. "You... you're serious? This isn't something to joke about. Have you considered how Huanyue herself feels? As a girl, pursuing another girl... would she mind? Could she accept it?"

Mai also dropped her joking expression and nodded. "Yeah, Shiori, it isn't as simple as 'you like her.' What if Huanyue doesn't feel that way, or... what if she's affected by