Her eyes darting around, Starlight quickly lowered her head, offering an awkward smile while pretending to critique the dessert in her hand.
She acted as if she had just happened to glance at the scene that had unfolded moments ago.
"It's you~!"
However, for some reason, her "Extra A" identity didn't seem to be working properly in front of Daitaku Helios. The girl actually seemed to recognize her.
After a startled cry, Helios jumped up and sat down directly across from Starlight. Her pale gold eyes shot forward like sharp arrows, piercing right through the awkwardness.
This was getting very uncomfortable. Unable to withstand the invisible pressure, Starlight set down the donut she had only taken one bite of.
"Um... is there something you need?"
"You heard all of that just now, didn't you?"
"Heard what? I'm just an ordinary customer who just sat down here."
"I don't believe you! You definitely heard it, otherwise why would you have made eye contact with me?"
"I didn't! My face just happened to be pointed in your direction. My eyes were actually looking down at my hands."
As if to provide evidence, Starlight pointed at her own bangs. "See? With bangs this thick, it's impossible to see anything, right?"
Helios stood up, leaned over the table, and reached out to brush Starlight's bangs aside. This revealed a pair of panicked golden eyes.
Starlight's slightly flushed face, combined with those eyes, clearly caused Helios to blink in surprise.
"Eh~ so that's what you look like? I thought you were one of those squinty-eyed types, or maybe had mismatched eyes or something."
'Not gonna lie, this girl is actually pretty cute...'
"Hey! That's very rude of you!"
"Ahem, hiya! I'm Daitaku Helios, from the Middle School division."
"So... you know me?"
"Of course! Didn't you confess your love to that Uma Musume from the Mejiro family a while back?"
The moment the words left Helios's mouth, Starlight scrambled up and covered the mouth of the girl who clearly wanted to say more.
"Okay, okay! I get it, I get it! Just stop talking!"
Seeing Helios nod, Starlight finally let out a sigh of relief and sat back down.
'Aren't I supposed to be an NPC? How could she possibly know about something like that?'
Blinking, Helios picked up on Starlight's confusion. She curled her lips into a grin, revealing a small snaggletooth.
"My bestie Mejiro Palmer and I were right there, you know."
"We're classmates with Mejiro McQueen. We were all walking together back then."
Actually, that wasn't the main reason. Daitaku Helios remembered Starlight simply because she felt they were "birds of a feather."
Both had failed to confess to a wealthy young lady and ended up looking like clowns.
Helios: Ahem, mine is true love, it's different! Milady is just still testing me.
Starlight: Um... that wasn't me, okay? I've already made a clean break from my past self.
'Sigh, well, at least I still have my little cakes to keep me company today.'
When she looked down at her tray, however, Starlight froze.
"Wait... where's my cupcake?"
Her eyes widened as she slowly looked across the table. Helios was already peeling the wrapper off the last cupcake and stuffing the sweet, fluffy treat into her mouth.
"You... you just ate it?"
"Yup! Tastes pretty good."
"Wait, on what grounds did you eat that?! My cake~!"
"Eh? Aren't we friends?"
"Huh? Since when did I become friends with you?"
"Wait, we aren't? Oh, by the way, 'What's-your-name,' let's add each other."
Pulling out her phone and shaking the star-shaped charm attached to it, Helios smiled cheerfully.
"You don't even know my name."
"Ahaha, sorry, sorry! What is your name~?"
"Sigh... Divine Starlight."
Letting out a heavy sigh, Starlight gave up on arguing. She pulled out her phone to add the girl.
Just as they connected on Line, Starlight saw Helios take a flurry of photos of the table. A moment later, a new status update appeared:
Daitaku Helios: Oh~ yeah! Tried the new cakes at this shop today. They taste amazing!
Daitaku Helios: [Image.jpg]
Mejiro Palmer: ! How do you have the money to go to a place like that? Bestie, you hit the jackpot and didn't invite me?
Tosen Jordan: I want some too~
Tosen Jordan: Palmer, aren't you from a prestigious family? How are you so broke too?
Mejiro Palmer: Ahem, well, haha.
Gold City: Someone save me.
Gold City: I feel like someone has been tailing me this whole time. I'm too scared to even look back.
Divine Starlight stared at the Line updates with an expression like that "old man squinting at his phone" meme.
She then looked up, her lip twitching as she watched the girl who was still busy posing for photos.
"By the way, Starlight-Starlight, were you always this rich? To be able to afford a shop like this."
Crossing her arms, Divine Starlight put on a profound look.
"Of course I am... so broke my pockets are cleaner than my face."
"Whoa~ so aren't you just eating a dine-and-dash meal then?"
"Go away, watch your mouth! I have this 70% off coupon. No matter what I order, I'm saving big."
"Incredible! Did you also enter that free street lucky draw? I only managed to get this voucher for Karaoke."
"Impressive. Alright, I'm heading out first. You keep taking your pictures. Bye-bye."
Starlight's mood was currently a bit Awful. If she had known that this would happen, she wouldn't have taken this reward.
Not only was she nearly turned into the "gossip" herself while trying to enjoy some, but she had also lost three cupcakes in the process. This was a total loss.
Standing up, Starlight straightened her clothes and turned to leave.
"Hey, hey! Wait a sec, wait a sec! Since we've finally made a new friend, let's go to the Karaoke place together. I mean, I did just get dumped. My heart is breaking here."
"You already ate three of my cakes. How much more sympathy do you want from me?"
"Ah-hehe, don't be so hasty. This voucher comes with unlimited fruit platter refills! Come with me for a bit. After all, we were once comrades standing on the same battlefront..."
Swoosh—
A light breeze blew past. By the time Helios snapped back to reality, the voucher in her hand was gone.
Turning toward the door, she saw Starlight already standing there, saying cheerily:
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go! Also, who said I was your comrade?"
Starlight was "dragged" to the Karaoke place by Helios. The two pooled some money together to open a private room.
Then, she sat there watching Daitaku Helios, who was standing on the table on one leg, alternately crying while singing love songs and switching to depressing ballads.
Finally, she even improvised a rap segment.
'Damn!'
'She's actually singing really well— well enough that I've already polished off six or seven fruit platters.'
Wiping away a non-existent tear from the corner of her eye, Starlight felt a pang of pity for Helios, who was now huddled on the sofa sobbing.
"Even though... even though I was already so humble, she wasn't even willing to stay with me for a little longer. Even just one minute would have been enough..."
Starlight had been quite sympathetic at first, but seeing Helios crying so miserably, she actually found it genuinely hilarious.
'How could someone look this ridiculous while crying?'
She was laughing harder than a tragic clown, yet her tears were flowing like fountains. Fortunately, Starlight's facial expression management was on point, so she managed to hold back her laughter.
Usually, Helios was very cheerful, it was only because she had been rejected by Ruby and didn't want to share it with her best friends— fearing they would worry— that she had to keep it all bottled up.
Over time, it had formed a vicious cycle.
Say what you will, but Helios was a "real one"! She was someone worth knowing! This long-suppressed emotion was finally released during this karaoke session.
Slowly standing up, Helios flashed over to Starlight. She grabbed Starlight's shoulders and began shaking her vigorously.
"Starlight! Tell me, is there something about me that isn't good enough? I'm surely better than someone like you, right? Even Mejiro McQueen is willing to chat with you a bit!"
"Why won't Ruby... why won't she... waaahhh~"
'I... wait, you— huh?'
And there it was. What started as one person being sad and the other being happy ended with both of them feeling thoroughly depressed.