Lunch had devolved into a complete bloodbath, and it was all Airi's fault.
Yuria's gaze was razor-sharp, Rui wore a smile that didn't reach her eyes, and Tanaka was busy stuffing her face with takoyaki.
"I'm telling you, I haven't laid a finger on Airi! It's the truth!"
I shouted the words, feeling exactly like a defendant forced onto the witness box to testify.
"So please, stop fighting over me!"
"I wonder what's going through that head of yours, Ryouta-kun? It’s not like we’d actually care who you choose to date, you know?" Rui asked.
"Exactly. You're delusional. We’re just worried about Airi’s safety if she ends up in a shady relationship with a creep like you," Yuria added.
Thorny words flew at me from both of them.
Well, I'd known that was coming... but it still stung to hear it confirmed.
"Stop it! You're all misunderstanding him!"
Then Airi, my big-chested healer, stepped in to cast a recovery spell in the form of a defense. She was the only one who could save my life points from Yuria and Rui's berserker souls. Airi really was the best.
"Ryouta isn't just a pervert—he's a total pervert! Why, just the other day, he dove face-first into my chest! I mean, I guess that kind of honesty is what makes him so great, right?"
"Huh?"
It wasn't a recovery spell. It was instant-death magic.
☆☆
After that, Airi and the girls dragged me around until we had conquered nearly every pool in the park. By the time evening rolled around, the marathon finally ended.
Yuria and Airi had played so hard they were out cold on the train ride home. Tanaka, whose physical endurance was basically Spelunker-tier, had also completely succumbed to exhaustion.
"Hehe... they're all sound asleep, aren't they?"
"Y-yeah."
With everyone else out, it was just Rui and me.
I wondered if she was still fuming about lunch. The fact that I was used to feeding Airi—and the fact that I'd dove into Airi's chest on the mountain the day before yesterday—was all out in the open now.
Rui and Yuria had a fierce sense of loyalty toward their friends. Because they knew exactly what a total pervert I was, they naturally didn't want me anywhere near their precious friend, Airi.
But damn that Airi... even though we share such outrageous secrets, she just had to leak everything I actually wanted to keep hidden.
"Ryouta-kun. Since we made that promise for the photoshoot, you've stopped looking at things with those lewd eyes quite so much, haven't you?"
"Sorry it was only 'quite so much.'"
"Oh, don't get all sulky on me."
Not being allowed to think about lewd things at a pool was more than just a reason to sulk. I felt like I was being forced to wear an invisible chastity belt.
"To think you'd try that hard. Ryouta-kun... do you like me?"
"Don't tease a Virgin Gloomy Otaku so much. Rui, I'm serious about wanting to do that photoshoot with you."
"For someone calling himself a Virgin Gloomy Otaku, I wish you wouldn't use such a handsome voice."
Rui retorted, wearing her usual playful smile.
"But if you're willing to say that, I'm happy, you know? Even though you're a beyond-redemption, total pervert of a creepy otaku."
"Hey, watch your mouth!"
"Fufu. But even so, Ryouta-kun is my one and only savior."
There she went again.
Rui always talked about me like I was someone amazing, clinging to that idea of me. It was strange... but it didn't feel bad. There wasn't a guy alive who would feel bad about being acknowledged like that by the great Rui Kuroki.
"Hey, Ryouta-kun. Since we're finally alone, there's something I need to tell you."
"S-something you need to tell me?"
"It's about the details of the punishment I mentioned before."
Just like that, she shattered the nice atmosphere by bringing up the punishment.