Chapter 25:

Dare To Do a Dare

Unconsciously Interested


PART FOUR



“Huh?!” My answer had Kyashii and others exclaiming in surprise.

“Wha! Yu-chin, are you serious?! Who’s this person?! As soon as I get back to Osaka, I will see to it that the sun won’t rise on them!” Tomoka wailed.

“As per the rules, you can’t ask follow-up questions.” I smiled knowingly as I casually pointed out the rules of the game. “I’m done with my challenge. You may continue spinning.”

There is still a sense of confusion among my classmates, particularly in regard to Kyashii’s reaction.

Pfft! You guys need to get over it.

But in all seriousness, just looking at how Kyashii reacts made me chuckle inwardly. I’m curious to know if she realized it was a little payback. Now she understands how having your best friend leave you in the dark feels.

Heeh… This game isn’t bad at all. I guess I can make a little use of it, huh? It is actually more entertaining to watch the reactions than the game itself.

I was still laughing in my head when I felt a sudden pinch on my arm! “Ouch!” I exclaimed in a near-squeal, drawing everyone’s attention to me. “What was that for?!” I quickly whispered to Kyashii, who was already glaring at me viciously.

“That’s my line! What was that?” Kyashii shot back gruffly.

“What…” I’m trying hard not to grin.

“I think it’s you who needs to explain to me tomorrow, my best friend!” Kyashii said with a dark face. She made sure to emphasize the word ‘best friend.’

A chuckle escaped me.

“Aherm! Are we okay to continue the game now?” Minori asked in a laughing tone.

Ah!

Taking a fleeting glance around, everyone else seemed to be waiting for us to finish our bickering. “Aha-ha! Yes. We’re sorry about that.” I nodded awkwardly. I find this rather embarrassing.

Kyashii said nothing more than a frown. Heeh… I bet that pretty much irks her.

Well, it looks like I’ve done what I set out to do.

Answering that challenge question isn’t really honest of me. But I just want to have some fun and exact some sweet revenge on this devilkin here.

There is no real stake in this game, after all. The whole point of playing it is to have fun; taking it too seriously defeats that purpose. And given that nothing in the rules required us to give factual and honest answers, there’s no way of knowing if these were truthful answers. Thus, I’m in doubt as to the truthfulness of those answers given earlier.

“Oh... Right... Let’s keep going.” Akane-san gives the bottle another spin. The head eventually points to Minori, and the person giving the challenge is Nazumi-san.

Well, this should be interesting. I’m looking forward to hearing what Nazumi-san has in store for Minori.

“I, too, will choose truth, so please take it easy on me, Nazumi-san.” Minori smiled sweetly.

“O-Of course, Kamiwaki-san…” Nazumi-san made an awkward smile. “Ermm… Do you t-think Mizuno-san is cool if truth holds?”

Heeh… That’s an odd question coming from Nazumi-san. I wonder if they talked earlier about how Minori sometimes treats Tomoka, which is most likely why she is asking that question.

“Ara~… That’s exceptionally unexpected, Nazumi-san. I thought you were going to ask a question about me.” Minori’s smile suddenly turned grim.

Pfft! Does she seriously dislike Tomoka so much that she suddenly has that smile? However, the question is trivial enough that she could bluff her way out of it if she just wanted to.

“A-ha-ha… I’m sorry. I d-don’t know what else to ask you besides that i-interesting question.” The weirdness of Nazumi-san’s smile sprang out of nowhere.

“Hmmm, interesting, you say,” Minori replied with a steely gaze. With those expressions, it’s almost like they’re having some sort of telepathic conversation. “Well….. Nazumi-san, Mizuno-san seems cool to me.” Her smile softened again before passing Tomoka a glance. “That’s what I truly think.”

“Yeaahh! I figured it out, class rep! How you’ve been treating me belies the truth that you adore me at heart!” Tomoka pumped her chest with pride.

Minori frowned at Tomoka’s remarks. “I think I need to visit a shrine tomorrow. I need to cleanse myself of impurities.”

“Haaah?!”

Hmm… It’s fascinating how well they get along.

“Mizuno-san, please lower your voice.” Minori arched her brow at Tomoka. “We’ll continue from here.”

Nazumi-san nodded as she spun the bottle. I can’t quite figure out what it is, but something is weird between those three. It intrigued me what was going on.

Within a few seconds, the bottle had come to a standstill, and the head pointed squarely at Tomoka, suggesting that she was the target of the gyaru’s challenge.

Hmm... I wonder if anything will come out of this... I’m pretty sure Tomoka will go for the dare.

“Yosh! You’re all boring for picking the truth, guys.” Tomoka smugly said. “I go with dare!”

Yeah, that’s what I thought.

“A dare, you say? Um... Hold a moment while I consider what I can ask of you.” The gyaru seemed to be giving it a serious thought.

“What about letting me do what I believe would be daring?” Tomoka asked with a large grin.

“Then that wouldn’t be considered a dare any longer. You’re not playing by the rules.” Minori retorted.

“Well… Why don’t you give her a pass on that and see if she’ll actually do something daring? If we all agree that what she is about to do is not at all daring, then we will punish her.” I gave Tomoka a mile-wide smirk.

“Oww?! My Yu-chin doesn’t trust that I’ll do something daring, does she? Are you seriously daring me to do this?” She flashed me a strange grin.

Uhh… That grin is downright ominous, no matter how you look at it.

Regardless, I’m enthralled to see how far she would go with her shenanigans. “Well, I suppose I am, Tomoka.”

“In that case, I dare you to make good on what you have in mind, Mizuno-san.” The gyaru said out of the blue.

“Wait... if it isn’t daring at all, Mizuno-san should buy us all ice cream tomorrow!” Minori piped up.

“We agree!” Everyone said the same thing.

“Ohh~... I’m afraid tomorrow won’t bring you any free ice cream. Ho-ho!” Tomoka came slithering up to us. “Is it okay if I take your spot for a moment, class rep?” She winks at Minori.

Hmm... Her next move is intriguing to me. Is she going to get back at Minori this time?

“But, if you find this too daring, let Yu-chin treat me to ice cream instead. How about it, Yu-chin?”

I had a chuckle. Isn’t this girl cunning? “Well, it’s fine with me. Ice cream it is.”

Tomoka grinned at me before glancing over at Kyashii. “I am truly sorry for this, Mikami-san.”

“Huh?” Kyashii stared in confusion at Tomoka.

Is Tomoka going to do something to Kyashii and not to Minori?!

“Hey, Tomoka… Don’t do weird things to her.” I fixed a solemn look on Tomoka.

“Don’t worry, Yu-chin. On the contrary, I won’t.” Tomoka squeezed my cheeks. “It’s you who I intend to do something with.”

Huh?!?

In a fraction of a second, Tomoka had crossed the distance between our faces and landed a quick, light kiss on my firmly pursed lips!

Wha—!

“Ooh!” The girls’ gasps of surprise reached my ears.

I guess I went blank there. Or maybe I was too stunned to process anything since Tomoka had already moved away before my thoughts could even come to me.

“I always wanted to take Yu-chin’s first kiss since I didn’t think I would ever get the chance. But by playing this game, I managed to get one. So... How was it, guys? Would you call that daring?”

“A-ha-ha! Err... Mizuno-san, that’s quite bold.” Akane-san attempted to defuse the tense atmosphere.

“Yosh! Many thanks, Akane-san... Oh... Given our current situation, I’m sure Yu-chin is upset with me, so I’ll let her calm down.”

“Ah! A-Alright! Let’s call it a day. This game is spiraling out of control. Mizuno-san, I’d like to have a moment with you on the terrace.” Minori dragged Tomoka.

My eyes remained glued to the floor.

What exactly happened again?

Uhh... Tomoka made a small kiss on my lips in front of these people, right?

“. . . .”

But w-why?!?

Just why did Tomoka do that?! What the heck was she thinking?!

As I raise my gaze from the floor, I find Nazumi-san, the girls from class D, and the gyaru staring at me awkwardly.

Arrggh! What has Tomoka gotten us into this time?!

What a pain in the neck!

When I turned to look at Kyashii, she wasn’t next to me anymore. Uhh… Where has she gone now that I need someone to bail me out of this mess?

Haaah…

Forget it! I’ll get out on my own. I need to step out of this room for a moment. There’s no way I can deal with this awkwardness for much longer, and I need to calm down badly!

“Hmm… Heh... P-please excuse me. I have to get something to drink from the vending machine on the first floor.” I told the rest of the girls. Their only response was a wobbly smile and a nod before I bolted down the stairs.