After choosing the flower pots, while the sobbing monster accompanied Miss Tachibana Tomoku to pay, the fish-catching girl quietly slipped over and whispered.
"Shirakawa...do you remember the promise we just made?"
The cute little Ise Yu punched him angrily and whispered, "It’s the promise about taking me to catch goldfish...you still owe me quite a lot, you know."
"Why don’t you tell me first, what do I owe you?" Shirakawa Sawahei glanced at her, and asked back, "I don’t remember owing you any favors."
"Come on...this morning, didn’t I accidentally show you a little benefit...doesn’t that count as you owing me a favor?"
"You call that a benefit?" Shirakawa Sawahei said disdainfully, "Just exposing a little belly, what’s the benefit in that."
"I still had a few buttons undone! Don’t think you can just deny it after taking advantage, Shirakawa!"
"I don’t acknowledge such things."
"Damn! Shirakawa, you’re such a player...consider it me begging you...just take me to catch goldfish...and archery, I heard the archery stall actually has a game console as the ultimate prize."
"Please, Shirakawa, this is my last request!"
Ise Yu Yuzhijin clasped her hands together and puffed out her cheeks to act cute, and Shirakawa Sawahei gave her a smack on the head with no good humor: "Cut it out."
"I’ll treat you to candied apples!"
"Sugar is bad for your teeth."
"Then I’ll treat you to takoyaki!"
"Octopuses are so cute, why eat them?"
"Because I’m cuter than they are~" The fish-catching girl’s defense was clearly higher than the Black Hearted Lolita’s. For the sake of her beloved prize, she continued pleading with a cheeky face: "Please~ Shirakawa."
As she spoke, the fish-catching girl started shaking Shirakawa Sawahei’s arm, employing her usual act of pouting and begging, but unfortunately, she faced Shirakawa Sawahei, a seasoned veteran.
Ha, woman, don’t you know that Tsukimi used this trick when she begged me to pretend to be her boyfriend to buy desserts? For a more advanced move, you’d have to nuzzle a little.
I can’t even be bothered to budge!
The Black Hearted Little Girl, seeing the fish-catching girl’s maneuver, clapped her thigh and called her a pro.
Why didn’t I think of this, to deal with that slick old pervert, I should have found a place with no one around and acted all coy!
No, my burdens are still too heavy, to defeat the Black Hearted Woman, I need to sacrifice a bit more!
No risk, no reward? This pretty boy is certainly someone who won’t act unless there’s bait, no wonder he’s so indifferent to me!
I figured it out, I discovered the truth of the world! And even more so, the weakness of the pretty boy!
After being shaken by the fish-catching girl for a while, Shirakawa Sawahei interrupted her loop speechlessly, holding the girl’s head, and earnestly said, "Don’t you know, a girl as cute as you already makes other girls feel so unbalanced? If I win you a bunch of prizes at the fireworks festival, do you think they’d be happy?"
"For the sake of other girls’ moods at the fireworks festival, please, Ise Yu, win fewer prizes to keep their minds balanced."
Then, Shirakawa Sawahei patted her shoulder, turned and left. The fish-catching girl laughed silly for a while, as if contemplating the accuracy of Shirakawa Sawahei’s words.
Heh heh~ Shirakawa praised me again~
Well, as a cute beauty, considering others should be a basic skill...what Shirakawa said does make some sense...but it feels, this logic sounds familiar somehow.
After the flower pot purchasing operation concluded, the six of them had a meal together and agreed to meet again in a few days to attend the fireworks festival together .
"Remember to wear yukata, everyone~" Tsukimi sakurazawa waved at the departing crowd loudly, "That includes you, Shirakawa."
"I don’t know how to wear it."
Shirakawa Sawahei responded with no good humor, although some men do wear yukata at the fireworks festival, Shirakawa Sawahei believed he didn’t belong to that group.
"Tsk~ so stingy... remember to be online tonight, Shirakawa, I’ll call you."
After the group parted ways, the fish-catching girl took the initiative again. She trotted up behind Shirakawa Sawahei, reflecting:
"Shirakawa, your words earlier inspired me a lot... I’ve decided, I really can’t rely on you as a cheat to win prizes, I’ll play by myself!"
"But you can watch me though, in case I win too many prizes, I might not be able to carry them..."
"You’re overthinking it."
"Shirakawa, your words just now were quite excessive!" The cute little Ise Yu chased after him, and her slightly annoyed, crisp voice echoed on the dim street.
"By the way, what should we have for supper tonight? How about we take something back to eat~"
"You’re washing the dishes."
"Fine, I’ll wash them~ But I get to pick what I like to eat!"
On the other side, after returning home, the Black Hearted Lolita, influenced by her discovery of Shirakawa Sawahei’s weakness while shopping earlier, pondered for a long time before finally opening her phone browser with a serious expression.
[What do high school boys like the most?]
Search engine, activate!
The first answer, high school girls.
The Black Hearted Lolita grimaced as she closed the browser.
"Call everyone outside in here, I have some questions to ask!"
"Yes, Miss Xiaoz Kaori."
After a temporary assembly of the maid think tank, Asano Nazuki preliminarily learned about a few top-ranked interests of boys’ xp systems. She thought carefully and finally said solemnly to a maid.
"Get me a cosplay outfit for...my friend needs it."
"Remember, don’t let that woman know!"
"Understood, I get it..."
The Black Hearted Lolita nodded with satisfaction, danger flashing in her eyes.
Pretty boy! Let’s see how you refuse me this time!
The Hayakawa family’s efficiency is high. Before long, unread messages filled Shirakawa Sawahei’s Line notifications.
Meanwhile, Shirakawa Sawahei and the cute little Ise Yu were still sitting at the table having supper when the Black Hearted Lolita’s three consecutive bunny girl cosplay photos arrived.
He couldn’t swallow his sip of water and ended up choking. The fish-catching girl curiously handed over some tissues and asked, puzzled, "Shirakawa, are you watching some comedian?"
"Watching comedians while drinking water isn’t a good habit, you know."
Shirakawa Sawahei calmly took the tissues, wiped his mouth, and then the table, calmly saying, "No."
"Someone’s just trying to bait me directly, and I couldn’t help it for a moment."
The fish-catching girl couldn’t help but slowly type out a question mark.