I was on the verge of freezing up in shock. Even though I had never experienced anything remotely close to romance before, even I could understand Tachibana Iori’s attitude.

…Right now, Tachibana Iori is showing interest in me.

Probably. Most likely.

“W-What do you mean, ‘what will I do’…?”

“You’re blushing. You’re more shy than I expected, Natsuki.”

“Well, of course I’d blush… if you suddenly say something like that.”

Rather, I couldn’t understand how Tachibana Iori could remain so composed. Wasn’t she basically confessing to me right now!?

My face was burning up. The glass of water that the manager had just brought over was already empty. No matter how much I drank, I couldn’t calm down.

In contrast, Tachibana Iori grinned mischievously as she watched me.

“Natsuki, your glass is empty. Want to drink this instead?”

She pointed at the glass in her hand, still filled to the brim with water.

“No, no, I’m fine.”

“Why not?”

“What do you mean, ‘why’…?”

You… you just drank from that glass, didn’t you?

That would be an indirect kiss.

Are you saying this on purpose?

“I’d love to hear your reason. You’re still thirsty, aren’t you?”

Tachibana Iori wore an undeniably mischievous smile.

—That was when I realized I was being teased. The heat drained from my face.

“…Tachibana Iori, you’re playing with me, aren’t you?”

“Oh dear. You figured it out.”

With a casual shrug, as if saying there was no helping it now that I’d caught on, Tachibana Iori withdrew the glass she had offered and took a sip from it herself. Her pale throat moved as she swallowed.

“As expected. That was so unlike you.”

“Unlike me, huh? Seems like you’ve been observing me more than I thought.”

“Of course. I’m always watching you.”

After all, I was assigned as her mentor.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that whether or not Tachibana Iori came to like Cyberia depended on me. To live up to the expectations of the manager, who entrusted me with this role, I had to support her properly.

“…I didn’t expect you to turn it around on me so quickly. You’re more combative than I thought.”

“…? Did I do something?”

Tachibana Iori brought the glass back to her lips, cupping it with both hands as if to hide her face.

That was different from before. If I wasn’t mistaken, her cheeks seemed slightly red. Maybe she was feeling hot? I could ask the manager to lower the air conditioning if needed.

“Sorry for the wait. Here are your fries.”

Right on cue, the ever-smiling manager arrived, carrying what seemed like four servings of fries.

…That’s a lot.

“Thank you. Manager, could you lower the air conditioning a bit? Tachibana Iori looks a little warm.”

Hearing my words, the manager turned to look at her. She seemed about to say something, but she had just taken a sip of water, so the manager spoke first.

“I see, I see. Not bad, Natsuki.”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, nothing at all. I’ll go adjust it a little.”

With an amused grin, the manager walked off. I had no idea what he meant, but at least the temperature would be taken care of.

“So, what’s today’s gathering actually about?”

I asked while picking at the fries. The salt level was just right, making them addictive. You might think fries taste the same no matter who makes them, but the amount of salt sprinkled on them makes a huge difference. At this shop, the fries made by the manager were the best.

Tachibana Iori’s face no longer had the slight redness from earlier, perhaps thanks to the water.

“Right, let’s get to the main topic. I want you to tell me about the Aotaka Festival.”

“The Aotaka Festival?”

“You see, Suzakura High School hasn’t participated since last year, right? I tried bringing it up at school, but only the third-years knew about it. I figured I’d need to explain it to the first and second-years.”

She spoke about it as if it were someone else’s problem. I barely managed to hold back the urge to say, “You’re the reason that happened, you know?”

It wasn’t like Tachibana Iori did anything wrong. She was just too cool for her own good.

“If that’s the case, I’d be happy to help. We’d love to have as many Suzakura High School students as possible attend.”

With that, we chatted for about an hour while steadily working our way through the mountain of fries.

Like last time, we parted ways at the station. As I swayed with the train’s movement, it suddenly hit me.

“…Wait, couldn’t she have just sent a message about this?”

Well, I guess I had fun, so it’s fine.