"Sorry to keep you waiting! Come on, let's go, Ryouta."
"Yeah."
I nodded as Miyama, now back in her school uniform, stepped out of Tatsuya with me. We started walking toward the station without any particular destination in mind.
"So, what brings you here, Ryouta? I was so surprised to see you show up at my work out of the blue."
"S-sorry, Miyama. Honestly, I just wanted to find out when your shift ended so we could talk afterward... but then the Store Manager stepped in..."
"No, don't be! I'm totally happy about getting off early and still getting paid! Plus, getting to hang out with Ryouta makes it even better!"
"M-Miyama..."
With a pure, innocent smile, Miyama effortlessly dropped a heart-thumping line like some dense rom-com protagonist.
Her large breasts jiggled with every step—certainly an alluring sight—but more than that, Miyama was just so relentlessly positive that talking to her always gave me a boost.
"So, where should we head? Want to go to my usual spot for now?"
"Your usual spot?"
"Yeah! There's a place near here I've been going to since I was in elementary school. I’ve been wanting to visit again for a while."
"G-got it. Let's go there, then."
With our destination decided, I followed Miyama's lead toward her "usual spot."
"By the way, what was it you wanted to talk to Airi about? Is it something good? Or something bad?"
"I'm not sure which it is myself... but I wanted to ask about the play."
"The play?"
I gave a small nod and got to the heart of the matter.
If I didn't clear this up now, the uncertainty would keep eating at me. Besides... to be honest, I was really curious about what had actually happened between Yuria and Rui.
"In the end, Ichinose and Rui were double-cast for the Prince Role... but how did things go down when that was being decided?"
"How did they go down...? Are you worried because both Yuria and Rui-chan ended up playing the Prince, Ryouta?"
"Well, yeah. But you're the only female friend I have who I can talk to about this, Miyama..."
"Ehehe, I'm the only one? That makes me so happy~"
Miyama grinned and playfully bumped her left shoulder against my right as we walked side by side. Man, every single reaction of hers was just too cute.
"You're asking about when we made the decision, right?"
"Y-yeah."
"Well, when we were picking the Prince, everyone was rooting for Rui-chan at first."
That made sense. Rui Kuroki had proposed the entire concept for the play, and she was a Perfect Superhuman with that level of beauty. Even for a male role, there was no one better suited for it than her.
"But then Yuria said she was worried because Rui-chan has the important Inter-High coming up soon, so she volunteered to do it instead... Yuria's kind like that."
So people really were worried about the Inter-High, just like Hino said.
"Then why did they both end up doing it? Based on what you just said, it sounds like Ichinose would have taken the role."
"Yeah. Actually, after that, the class split right down the middle—one side really wanted Rui-chan to do it, and the other side agreed with Yuria."
"W-what?"
Why would it turn out like that? Yuria's point was perfectly valid, and if they cared about Rui, they should have agreed with her...
(Were there some hardcore fangirls among the girls who were just dying to see Rui play the Prince?)
"So in the end, since they couldn't reach an agreement, they decided to just go with a Double Cast. They figured it would lighten the load for Rui-chan, and having Yuria do it too would be great for publicity. So, things just kind of settled there."
"That's a mess... Did Rui say anything about it?"
"Rui-chan told Yuria, 'I can balance track and field, so it's fine,' but... there were quite a few people who wanted Yuria to do it, so it seems like she couldn't really push back."
I guess this class even has its own brave resistance capable of standing up to her. Well, since the result was Rui playing the Prince anyway, it was nothing but a massive inconvenience for me.
"And that's pretty much how it went. I know it'll be tough having two partners, but Airi will be supporting you as a Dwarf too, Princess Ryouta!"
"Th-thanks, Miyama."
Come to think of it, Miyama ended up getting the role she wanted after all: a Dwarf (Busty Dwarf). Well, with Miyama's figure, a male role probably would have been difficult... though then again, Yuria has a large chest too, so I couldn't really talk.
"Oh, we're here! This is Airi's usual spot."
Upon reaching our destination, Miyama stopped and pointed to the shop's sign.
"This is the Candy Store I absolutely love!"
A-A Candy Store...?!
I'd been expecting something fancy like Snoto!