Sonoda Umi was dragged away by Koizumi Honoka to cause mischief, leaving Yixu waiting in the store’s rest area.
This was a women’s clothing store, Yixu had no chance to browse, and he was a bit bored.
“Yixu, here you go!”
Minami Kotori smiled and handed Yixu a cup of milk tea.
Milk tea, like locusts passing through, had swept across the island nation, becoming one of the most popular foods for young people today.
“Thank you.” Yixu said his thanks and took the milk tea, Kotori also sat down.
Kotori was thoughtful, knowing Honoka would leave Yixu alone, she deliberately stayed behind to chat with him.
Having said that, Kotori had not interacted with many boys, and was not good at communicating with the opposite sex, so she couldn’t find a topic for a while.
“Kotori is so kind.” Yixu said.
Kotori was taken aback and smiled, “Just call me Kotori, Yixu.”
“Then can I call you by your name too?”
“Axi?”
“Yes.”
A good relationship starts with calling each other by name.
As for topics, they naturally flow as long as one person starts the conversation.
“Actually, Honoka asked me out today, she wanted me to help convince you two.” Yixu revealed.
“Convince?”
“About the school idol thing.”
“Axi knows?”
“I know a little bit.” Yixu nodded.
More than just knowing, Yixu was practically the mastermind behind it all.
If he had stopped Honoka from entering the Idoknow’s exhibit hall… following historical inertia, Honoka would still become a school idol.
Yixu suddenly realized, it had nothing to do with him!
Kotori hesitated about how to respond, because she had already refused Honoka once.
“I had prepared a lot of lines, but now it seems like I don’t need them.” Yixu said with a knowing smile.
He had prepared nothing!
It was all just a tactic.
“Huh?”
Yixu’s words successfully piqued Kotori’s interest.
“The feeling I get from Kotori, is that no matter what Honoka does, you’ll always stand by her side.”
The world’s number one Honoka fan, you think it’s a joke?
Yixu wouldn’t even need to say anything, as long as Honoka acted cute towards Kotori, it would work better than anything.
Kotori’s body trembled, she was hit right on the mark.
“Axi is amazing, you seem to understand me so well, even though we’ve never really interacted before.” Kotori said.
Yixu smiled and said, “Because Honoka has told me.”
Kotori curiously asked, “What did she say?”
“You are her best friends.”
Those simple words were enough to move Kotori deeply.
Even though Honoka often said ‘best friends’, it felt different when someone else said it.
“Why is Axi helping Honoka?” Kotori asked.
Yixu seemed to have no motive for doing something so troublesome.
Yixu said, “Probably because I was touched by Honoka, seeing her efforts, I can’t help but want to lend a hand.”
This was a lie.
The reason Yixu was helping, only those who understand, understand.
Kotori deeply agreed with Yixu’s words, because that was how she felt.
With just a few simple words, Kotori saw Yixu as a kindred spirit, he had spoken to her heart.
At this time, Honoka pushed out Sonoda Umi, who had finished changing.
“Don’t, don’t look at me!”
Sonoda Umi wanted to escape, but Honoka blocked her retreat.
“Umi is so cute, why are you running away?” Honoka said.
“I’m not cute!”
Sonoda Umi blushed.
It’s one thing to wear a pink dress, but to display it in front of Yixu, a male, Sonoda Umi felt a different kind of shame.
“What do you think, Kotori?” Honoka asked.
Kotori smiled and said, “She’s very cute.”
“Right!” Honoka nodded, then asked Yixu.
“What do you think, Axi?”
Sonoda Umi subconsciously moved closer, her bright, large eyes stared at you, who could resist this.
So cute, I want to… tease her.
Yixu shook his head and said, “I think it’s not good.”
Sonoda Umi’s expression froze.
Sonoda Umi resisted on the surface, but she actually liked cute-style clothing, otherwise, how could a girl who practiced archery be twisted by Koizumi Honoka, a weakling?
In short, Sonoda Umi was a mèn sāo xíng [reserved and secretly affectionate].
Yixu’s denial was a huge blow to Sonoda Umi.
Koizumi Honoka frantically winked at Yixu, about to say something to ease the atmosphere.
Yixu said, “Sonoda-san is very cute, but her movements are a bit awkward.”
Koizumi Honoka: "..."
Okay, okay, you want to play it this way!
“Movements?” Sonoda Umi was stunned, was that what was wrong?
Yixu said, “I think you completely don’t understand, do you?”
“First, lift your hand to the level of your mouth.”
Sonoda Umi obediently followed Yixu’s instructions.
“Palm facing you, close your right eye.”
“I’m going to count three, two, one, then open your hand outwards, and then make a ‘啾’ (jiū) sound.”
“Three.”
“Two.”
“One.”
Yixu called out quickly, not giving Sonoda Umi a chance to react.
“啾!”
A flying kiss was completed.
“Click.”
Yixu took out his phone, which he had prepared beforehand, and took a picture of Sonoda Umi’s flying kiss.
The moment Yixu pressed the shutter, Sonoda Umi finally realized what she was doing.
“Wait, wait, quickly delete the photo!”
Sonoda Umi’s face flushed red, she lunged towards Yixu to wrestle.
As expected of an archery girl, she was strong!
Fortunately, Yixu had the advantage of height and size, he raised his phone with one hand, Sonoda Umi could only jump up and pounce on him.
Such a nice rack!
This pose, was getting as close as it could be, even making Yixu feel like he was taking advantage of her.
Even though Sonoda Umi was the one being proactive.
“Okay, okay, I’ll delete it.” Yixu raised his hands in surrender, took down his phone, and deleted it in front of Sonoda Umi.
Little did she know, Yixu had already saved the photo to the cloud.
One-handed phone operation wasn’t that difficult.
Seeing Yixu delete the photo, Sonoda Umi finally relaxed, and then realized that her current distance from him could be described as ‘shameless’.
Sonoda Umi quickly moved away from Yixu, her red blush wouldn’t go away, she ran towards the changing room.
Yixu muttered, “What a pity, it’s so cute on her, she could have worn it a bit longer.”
Koizumi Honoka looked up at Yixu with admiration.
“You’re amazing, Axi, you easily did what Kotori and I couldn’t do!”
“It’s the first time I’ve seen Umi like that!”
Koizumi Honoka had no self-awareness, she had also made Sonoda Umi blush quite a few times.
…………
PS: Today is the first chapter, I’m busy too.