"Then…"
Yuigahama unconsciously started to nod, but suddenly remembered Yukino was right beside her.
She didn't dare agree out of consideration for her friend's feelings, but denying it felt oddly wrong. She could only freeze her movement stiffly. She touched the bun on her head and let out a few dry laughs.
"T-that… Ahaha, no need to be so serious."
"I just wanted to reassure you." As if unaware of their strange reactions, Masuzu smiled: "Just because I have so few friends, I unconsciously want to cling to the people I'm closest to at school. I hope you don't misunderstand. If it makes you uncomfortable, I'll try to hold back."
"Mm, well…"
The other's attitude was very humble, yet carried an undeniable firmness. This left Yuigahama truly unsure how to respond. After hesitating and stammering, she decided to shift her gaze to Yuu, seeking external help.
Yuu, of course, wouldn't stay silent.
Even without Yuigahama's eye signal, seeing Yukino's gaze—which was surely starting to overthink again—Yuu knew she couldn't keep quiet.
If she just daydreamed and watched now, forget being an Ideal Boyfriend; she wouldn't even meet the basic responsibilities of a regular boyfriend.
"Alright. Since Yukinoshita has agreed, then Natsukawa-san, feel free to come to the Service Club after school. You can help with filming or play an extra." Yuu spoke professionally, correcting the entire awkward atmosphere.
"We won't give you any compensation. If you really want to help, you must follow our orders and instructions. Basically, there's no benefit at all."
"The benefit is that I'll be really happy. This is my first time making a short film with others~"
Masuzu clasped her hands together. She tilted her head slightly. She smiled elegantly like a noble lady: "I'll be very obedient. I'll do anything Tenkuji-san asks. I definitely won't resist—hmm, just for filming work."
In her seat, Yuigahama canceled her whistle-blowing motion. She puffed her cheeks. She eyed Masuzu with a strange and slightly wary look.
Yuu acted as if she hadn't heard. After confirming there was no issue, she turned and looked at Yukino.
"You didn't actually need to ask our opinions. As long as you think it's fine, the two of us won't object—you still have that Club President authority."
Glancing at her gently, Yukino spoke briefly without emotion: "I'm not a dictator Club President."
Yuu nudged her lightly: "It's fine. I'm just talking nonsense. If you were really a dictator, I'd still resist—but now, no need to think about us. Just do whatever you want, President!"
"Enough. Stop saying pretty words there. You really have no self-awareness at all."
Yukino rolled her eyes at her. Her tone carried thick dissatisfaction. After speaking, she continued eating her half-finished lunch.
But after lowering her head for just a few seconds, she couldn't help but smile at the corner of her lips. She quickly covered the upturned curve with rice.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations to Host for the reward obtained: Language Proficiency (Status).]
(…So easy to persuade.)
Sighing in amusement at the feeling, Yuu pulled her gaze away from her. She looked again at Masuzu, who was curiously observing the club room.
She didn't know what her goal was, nor did she know what deal Masuzu made with Yukino for the justice devil to allow someone who forcibly kissed her into the club room…
Too much unknown information.
But Yuu could feel that she had no malicious intent toward her. Masuzu also didn't seem to have recovered her memories and was testing her.
Perhaps it was lingering feelings pushing her forward.
Though a bit troublesome, seeing Masuzu now regain a bit of spirit, Yuu couldn't help but feel relieved. She no longer had to fear that the blow from memory loss was too great, causing her to start seeking death one day.
If it came to that, she didn't think she could keep watching from the sidelines, even though completely cutting ties would be the most correct action—she couldn't bring herself to do it.
After all, logically, even though Haruno and Asuna revived after the timeline changes, why was Masuzu the only one regressing? The residual symptoms left behind were even so severe?
Was it a personality difference, or was the system operating behind the scenes again?
Thinking of Haruno, Yuu recalled Haruno's weekend visit that brought Masuzu.
It was absolutely not a coincidence, but a carefully engineered encounter… Like someone adding a catalyst to a stable chemical solution to accelerate a process.
Could everything Masuzu had done so far be controlled by her from behind the scenes?
Yuu bit her chopsticks, lost in thought. She narrowed her eyes. Her mood grew slightly gloomy.
Once the seed of suspicion was planted, it would take root and sprout in the heart, becoming hard to uproot.
(Yukinoshita Haruno, you can't wait any longer…)
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
Lunchtime ended in a strange atmosphere.
It couldn't be called good, nor bad. But with the presence of a silver-haired transfer student who wasn't very familiar with them, Yuigahama didn't start topics enthusiastically like before. She focused on eating seriously and occasionally chatted a few words to keep the mood from getting heavy. Her lunch box emptied faster than usual.
After eating, it was time to discuss the first scene's script and rehearse.
But since only about fifteen minutes remained, the script discussion would finish, and they'd have to return to class. So rehearsal would likely happen after school.
And at that time, two underclassmen would also come to help, though it wasn't certain if they could stay until the end—including Masuzu, they created a new LINE group specifically for discussing filming issues, sharing free time, and so on.
Of course, the exclusive Service Club group still only had the three of them. There was no fourth member, and there probably wouldn't be.
"Alright, first, the opening scene is in the hallway. If you're shy, we can film in the club room. The tentative time is after school."
Yuu opened her notebook. She pointed to the clear, strong handwriting on it. She slowly explained:
"Girl 1 is the male protagonist's close friend. One day, Girl 1 complains to the male protagonist that she's recently been harassed by a crazy fan. She asks for his help to resolve the issue… After the male protagonist agrees, he pretends to be Girl 1's boyfriend. The two meet the crazy fan, wanting to make him give up in the quickest and simplest way."
Seeing Yukino frown at the notebook, Yuu quickly added: "I know it's a bit clichéd, but this is just the framework. We don't have time to create a masterpiece from scratch. We can only recreate based on clichés—besides, having a script but no acting is a waste of time. Don't be picky now."
"I'm not being picky. Stop talking about acting."
Yukino rolled her eyes at her. She pointed to the words "crazy fan." Her face was displeased: "Regardless of the story—now in the production team, besides you, everyone is female. The male protagonist, have you found this villain to stalk me?"
She couldn't be blamed for her sharp tone.
After all, Yukino had been harassed by a crazy fan when she was young, and it wasn't limited to peers—at that time, Yukino had no male protagonist by her side to help resolve the issue.
"That one, well…" Yuu initially wanted to say she could double-role using makeup techniques and camera editing. It was absolutely not a problem.
But as soon as she opened her mouth, Masuzu suddenly raised her hand. She interrupted enthusiastically:
"May I ask, does the crazy fan have to be male?"
"Hmm? There's absolutely no rule, but usually male…" Yuu was surprised. Then her gaze turned strange. She saw the enthusiastic smile on her face.
"Natsukawa-san, don't tell me you want to play this character?"
Masuzu nodded naturally: "Yes, personally, I feel a villain character like this suits me quite well. If you really can't find someone to act, can you consider me? I'm pretty confident in my acting skills."
After sincerely recommending herself like that, she narrowed her eyes happily. She smiled with deep meaning.
"Besides, me becoming Yukinoshita-san's crazy fan and standing on the opposite side from Tenkuji-san… If you think about it, isn't a storyline like this quite interesting?"