"Couldn't you have used a more normal way to ask me out?"
Walking along the shopping street with both hands behind her back, Tokai Teio complained to Fujiwara Shirayuki with obvious dissatisfaction.
"I figured if I asked in a normal way, you probably wouldn't come."
"Why wouldn't I! Do you have any idea what kind of look Trainer gave me just now? It was totally like she was thinking, So that's the kind of relationship you two have. She's completely misunderstood me now! Later I'm going back to explain it properly. We're just normal friends. It's not like what she's imagining at all."
Tokai Teio shouted in frustration.
"It's like spilled water. Once it's out, you can't take it back. Here, have a crepe. Think of it as an apology."
Buying two crepes from a roadside cart, Shirayuki handed one to her.
Seeing that Shirayuki was at least being sincere, Teio decided not to press the issue.
"So where are we going?" Teio asked, licking the cream from the top.
"I haven't decided yet."
"You dragged me out to play and you don't even have a plan..."
Actually, my plan was just to drag you out.
Still, Shirayuki knew Teio would not be satisfied just aimlessly wandering around. Since she had gone through the trouble of bringing her out, she might as well take her somewhere interesting, somewhere girls their age would usually enjoy.
A cat café.
It was a magical kind of place. You could enter in the morning, and by the time you came out it would somehow be evening. Your time and your money would both vanish into thin air alongside the cat treats.
And conveniently enough, what Shirayuki wanted most right now was for Teio's time to disappear.
"A cat café? I haven't really been to one much. Alright, Shirayuki, let's go take a look."
Teio's interest was immediately piqued.
After finding the café and paying for two hours, Tokai Teio stepped inside — and the moment she did, her eyes lit up.
As though she had been spiritually assimilated on the spot, she let out a series of delighted "meow meow" noises and launched herself straight into the sea of cats.
This felt amazing.
The exhaustion from all her recent training seemed to melt away under the soft friction of warm fur. Teio played so enthusiastically she almost forgot where she was.
Then, all of a sudden, she spotted a white cat.
Its fur was like snow. Its soft tail swayed lazily from side to side.
The moment Teio saw it, she became excited on the spot.
"Shirayuki!"
"Hm?"
"Look." Tokai Teio picked the cat up in both arms. "It looks exactly like you!"
"...What do you mean by that?"
White fur, pretty ears, blue eyes — it really did look like a cat version of Shirayuki. In Teio's arms, the white cat rubbed itself against her chest. Apparently completely melted by how adorable it was, Tokai Teio buried her face straight into its fur.
"What am I supposed to do? I really want to keep one now..."
You just said it looked like me, and then immediately said you wanted to keep one. Teio, what exactly are you implying?
After playing with the cat for a while, Teio still seemed not fully satisfied. She reached out and patted Shirayuki's hair too, then came to a conclusion.
"Even the texture is the same!"
Is she treating me like a pet now?
Either way, the cat café successfully managed to eat up a full two hours of Teio's time. When they finally came out, Teio looked completely soft and boneless, utterly relaxed.
"What a great place..." Tokai Teio muttered dreamily, still savoring the bliss she had just experienced.
Too bad Tracen did not allow pets. Otherwise, Teio really might have wanted one.
Then, seeing Fujiwara Shirayuki standing next to her, Teio reached out and began patting her head.
"There, there~"
"Hey..."
"Just kidding. Hahaha."
With her soul thoroughly purified, Tokai Teio started to feel a little sleepy.
"Alright, Shirayuki, let's head back."
She had played enough. Now she just wanted to go back and sleep.
"We're leaving already? It's only been two hours."
"Only? Two hours isn't short at all, you know. I still haven't finished the manga I was reading, and tonight I'm supposed to have dinner with Trainer too. Come on, let's go."
With that, Teio started trying to lead Shirayuki back.
There it is again — Trainer. I brought you out specifically to get you away from Trainer, and you're still thinking about her. Are you a child? You cling to Fumino all day long.
Since the soft approach was clearly failing, Shirayuki decided it was time to escalate.
She grabbed Teio's hand.
"Don't go!"
"W-What is it, Shirayuki?" Tokai Teio swallowed as she looked at Shirayuki's unusually serious expression.
"Teio, I thought of you as a friend, and I wanted to spend more time out with you, but you've been impatient to leave this whole time. Do you hate me that much!?"
"No! I never said anything like that!"
"If you insist on going back, then I'll use the school broadcast and announce to the entire campus that Teio threw me away!"
"Huh!?"
Tokai Teio's brain completely shut down for a few seconds.
Wait, Shirayuki, calm down. If you do that, you'll ruin both our lives. I'll never be able to show my face in front of the President or Trainer ever again!
Looking at Shirayuki's stubborn expression, Tokai Teio let out a helpless sigh.
"Fine, I get it. I'll stay with you a little longer. But honestly, you're hopeless when it comes to this kind of thing. Come with me."
Taking Shirayuki by the hand, she ran toward the arcade she often visited.
"Now this is more like it!" Tokai Teio declared proudly, standing there with her hands on her hips as she looked around at the dazzling rows of machines.
I was trying to think of somewhere girls would like...
Turns out Teio liked places like this. She could have said so sooner. If she had, Shirayuki might have taken her to an internet café instead.
Stopping in front of a dance machine, Tokai Teio waved her over.
"Come on, Shirayuki. Two-player battle."
"I haven't really played these before..."
"That's fine. Just copy what I do!"
After putting in coins, Tokai Teio started dancing to the beat. When she noticed Shirayuki's clumsy, awkward movements beside her, she burst out laughing.
"No, no, not like that. You've got to do it like this."
She stepped behind Shirayuki and started correcting her posture.
"Eek!"
Shirayuki's body jerked.
"What? What happened!?"
"Your hand... touched somewhere."
Only then did Tokai Teio realize her hand had slipped to the inside of Shirayuki's thigh.
"Wah! Sorry—!"
"It's okay..."
The two of them stared at each other awkwardly for a few seconds, then both blushed and looked away at the same time. Tokai Teio coughed a couple of times.
"You may be great at running, but you're hopeless at this stuff. Come out and play with me a few more times and you'll get better. I can teach you."
"Yeah. I'm counting on you."
By the time they finally came out of the arcade, the streetlights had already turned on.
Tokai Teio was carrying a huge pile of prizes in her arms. Shirayuki, by contrast, had only managed to win a scattered handful.
In this kind of thing, she was completely outclassed by Teio.
Though really, it was just that they specialized in different areas. Teio excelled at this sort of physical arcade game, while Shirayuki was more the console-and-PC type.
Though, to be fair, she was only an ordinary gamer nerd.
"What a haul."
Tokai Teio was grinning from ear to ear.
Once they got back to Tracen, she pulled out the one giant Rudolf plush she had managed to win and handed it to Shirayuki.
"This is your reward for spending the whole day with the great Tokai Teio. Be grateful!"
"I'll treasure it."
"And also... if you've got time... don't forget to ask me out again... got it!?"
The middle part of that sentence came out mumbled and half-swallowed, and she had turned her face away while saying it, clearly very embarrassed. But by the time she got to the last words, she turned back and shouted them at full volume.
"Got it. Then take this as your reward for coming out with me today."
Shirayuki handed over the white cat plush she had won. Looking at the crystal-blue eyes stitched into the toy, Tokai Teio nodded and accepted it.
After parting with Shirayuki, Tokai Teio headed back to her trainer's office to retrieve the manga she had left there.
When she opened the door, she found Nase Fumino sitting on the sofa. Two teacups sat empty on the table, as though someone had just been there with her moments earlier.
"You're back, Teio." Nase Fumino greeted her. "How was your date with Shirayuki?"
"It wasn't a date! We just went out and played like normal friends!"
Tokai Teio shouted, her face turning red.
"Really? You two train together all the time, so I figured it might be that kind of relationship."
Nase Fumino had almost been ready to inform Chiya about the situation with his little sister, too.
"I told you it's not! We're just good friends. It's not like that."
As she said those words, though, Tokai Teio suddenly found herself remembering the moment Shirayuki had grabbed her and shouted, Don't go!
Maybe... probably... possibly...
They really did not have that kind of relationship. Probably.