05 Provoke.

In the evening after school, Izumi stood alone in her classroom waiting for someone. Not long after, someone appeared, and that person was a young woman from a recent lunch break.

"Ahh!! Mise-chan?! You've finally come! I'm waiting for you."

"Thank you for coming to my invitation... Izumi"

"How can I decline an invitation from my cute Mise-chan."

"Don't call me that! We are not friends."

Izumi smiled cheerfully. It was as if she was fond of a girl named Mise, but Mise's face was sullen as if she didn't like Izumi quite a bit.

"Come on, Mise-chan! We're roommates anyway. Calling each other like that would not be a problem. Why you hate me?~"

"Because you're so annoying! Even though I don't want to talk to you, you still interfere with me!"

"Well, Mise-chan is so cute~ I can't stand it. Plus, you like to be alone, so I was afraid that you would be lonely."

"You don't have to! I didn't ask for one! And besides, I'm not as lonely or alone as you think. Because I also have a society that I belong to. It's a club"

"Eh?! You've already joined the club, Mise-chan?! What club is it?!"

"It's called... Conversation Club."

Izumi was surprised when she heard the name of the club, because it's the name of the club that she would never forget.

"You're a member of the Conversation Club. Is that really true? Mise-chan?!"

"Yes! Are you surprised?"

"Uh... Yes... a little bit."

"Tch! Such a disappointment."

"It wasn't that shocking at all. I, too, have abnormal tastes. If you had one, it wouldn't be strange at all. I just thought it was a coincidence a little too much."

Izumi had a calm expression despite knowing that the girl she knew was a member of a Conversation Club, which made the girl named Mise a little disappointed.

"By the way, you called me to talk to me about a club?!"

"You could say so. The thing I want to talk about is the conversation between you and your friend at lunch break"

""Eh?! Are you eavesdropping on us?!""

"I'm not eavesdropping! You're talking without caring about your surroundings. Whoever sat around that could hear it all."

"Oh~ hahaha... Then what a problem with our conversation."

"Are you sure you don't know? You're doing something terrible to the Conversation Club and... Amakuji-san."

"Eh?! I don't quite understand."

"You're... truly stupid!!"

"Hahaha sorry~ Can you give me some details? I want to know what I'm doing wrong."

Izumi accepted the scolding with a smile, causing Mise to sigh in boredom.

"First, you approach Amakuji-san with a hidden purpose. Secondly, you took the matter inside the club to outsiders, which is considered a serious offense."

"Oh~ that's all?"

"What?! even though you made a mistake, you still dares to say like that?! No remorse at all?!"

"Uh... how do I say it? First of all, he was the one who approached me. Second, I'm not yet a club member and did not promise him anything. So if I'm talking about things within the club, it wouldn't offend the club or him. Am I right?"

Izumi spoke with a confident expression, causing Mise to be annoyed, but unable to do anything because Izumi had a reasonable opinion.

"Sigh~ Alright... You won... but at least I want you to confess and apologize to Amakuji-san for what you did. How Amakuji-san will deal with you... It's up to him. I will respect his decision."

"Hmm... Alright, when I meet him. I'll talk to him about this."

"Thank you for your cooperation."

"By the way, is that all you want to talk about?"

"No, there's one more thing I want to talk to you about."

"I want you to tell your friends to give up on Amakuji-san."

"What?! Why?!"

"because that girl did not deserve it."

"Not deserve? How she not deserve?!"

"Because Amakuji-san is a bright, cheerful, courageous, dependable person who also makes the people around him happy... But that Mika is cowardly, gloomy, weak, keeps relying on others, and no one wants to be friends with her. If not because of you, that girl will be alone forever."

When Izumi heard what Mise had said, her expression became displeased. She stood straight, clenched her fists, and stared at Mise with harsh eyes.

"Mise-chan! It's not cute to say that. You can say bad things to me anyway you want, but don't say bad things to Mika-chan like that!!"

"What I just said... isn't that true?"

"And what does it have to do with you?! Are you like him or somewhat?!"

"!!!..."

Mise remained silent, with a slightly embarrassed expression, after hearing a word from Izumi. Izumi was a little surprised and could guess immediately.

"Don't tell me you secretly like Amakuji-san too! Mise-chan?!"

"It's... It's not your business."

"Mise stood still while avoiding Izumi's gaze with a flushed face. Izumi was immediately convinced that Mise had a crush on Amakuji."

"What?!! Seriously?! Are you really secretly in love with Amakuji-san?!"

"..."

Izumi, who was startled, turned into a smile when she learned the story behind it. Now she clearly understood Mise's purpose and was ready to use this point to crush her for saying something bad to Mika.

"Mise-chan~ You actually wanted to take Amakuji-san as your. It's not a good way to eliminate the enemy of your heart, you know?"

"W-what did I just say was incorrect?! No matter what you said, that girl isn't suitable for Amakuji-san anyway. It's better to just give up now."

"So do you think you're much more suitable?"

"Of course! Because I'm twice as cute as that ugly girl!!"

"Mise-chan~ Are you a little too confident in yourself? To be honest, right now you aren't cute at all."

"That's just your point of view, and besides, I know Amakuji-san many times more than that girl. That's all it said, clearly that I'm superior."

"You don't know anything. Mika-chan knew him since they were in elementary school."

"It's true that girl knew Amakuji-san before me, but I was close to him a lot more than that girl. I've known Amakuji-san since we were in junior high school, and we've been very close to each other until now, and where did that Mika go up until now?!"

"Heh~ Even though you had the opportunity to be so close to him, you still can't win his heart?! hahaha"

"You said it as if that girl could do that."

"I'm not so sure about that~ hahaha."

"E-Even though I can't win his heart, me and him are still closer than any other girl!"

"Hmm~ are you and him really that close? Wasn't that just you being delusional? Just because you're a member of his club, or just because he talked to you a little bit, you can't say that you're close to him, you know?"

Mise heard that and became annoyed. So she decided to pick up the phone and show some pictures to Izumi.

"Open your eyes and watch this picture!! It's only me that Amakuji-san is willing to take a photo like this with." 

"Heh~ Allow me to take a closer look." 

Izumi walked closer to Mise to see the picture, but as soon as Mise was unguarded, Izumi took out her phone from her hand immediately.

"H-hey!! Give me back my phone!!"

Izumi ignored Mise's shout and began to walk away while her gaze was fixed on the image that appeared on the screen.

The image that appears on the screen It's a picture of Amakuchi and Mise, who make heart-shaped hands together. It also has an effect with bright colors and cute animal ears for both of them. It makes that picture very cute, like a photo of a couple. Izumi, who was still mad at Mise, felt annoyed immediately after seeing that picture.

"Hmm... It seems that what you said is true, Mise-chan."

"Is that right?! Well, that's enough! You already saw that picture, so give me back my phone."

Mise tries to get her phone back, but Izumi tries to walk away and keep a distance from her.

"Come on, let me see another picture."

"Don't!! I didn't allow you to look at those pictures!!"

Mise tried to get her phone back, but Izumi tried to run away. It became a two-person chase in the classroom, with many desks as an obstacle to running. Izumi was the one who ran away and enjoyed the chase, but Mise didn't enjoy it at all and clearly showed an angry expression.

"Give my phone back right now!! Don't make me angry!!"

 "If you want your phone back, you have to catch me, hahaha."

As Izumi ran away, she swiped through the pictures on Mise's phone, and it turned out that most of the pictures were single shots of Amakuji, and most of them were secretly taken as well.

"Wow!! There are a lot picture of him. You must really like him."

"Give me back my phone!!"

Mise and Izumi were both getting tired of chasing, both of them sweating and panting with fatigue, but no one seemed to give up, even though they were tired.

"Oh!! His six pack is awesome!! It's no wonder a lot of girls like him this much."

"Give my phone back right now!!!"

Mise shouted in anger. She clenched her fist tightly and stared at Izumi with fierce eyes. She was panting so hard that it's not sure if she was panting because she was tired or because she was angry.

Izumi recognized Mise's attitude, which made her stunned and silent. Both of them stopped running. They were facing each other. Mise stood near the classroom door while Izumi stood near the window. The two stopped at the back of the room, which didn't have a desk or anything in the middle between the two.

Although Mise's powerful shouting shocked Izumi, she wasn't afraid, perhaps because Izumi looked at Mise as just a normal little girl. Also, with the appearance of Mise, it made Izumi have no fear in her eyes, and she also smiled with delight that she was able to shake Mise's head and make her angry.

"Mise-chan~ Are you angry? That's scary~ but you know? When you say something bad to Mika-chan, I'm just as angry as you too!"

"Give me back my phone"

Mise didn't care what Izumi said, still demanding that her phone must be returned with a harsh voice.

"Do you want your phone back that much? Okay! I'll return the phone to you... After I delete this picture first."

Izumi turned the screen to Mise, opened the first picture, which is the picture of Amakuji and Mise, and then clicked on the Delete menu. All that's left is to press Confirm, and the picture will be deleted immediately. Mise, who saw it, was extremely shocked, threatening Izumi with a harsh and fierce voice.

"Don't!! If you dare to delete that picture, I will..."

Izumi wasn't even afraid. She continued to smile with satisfaction.

"What are you going to do if I delete it? If you're really close to him, as you said, you can take as many pictures with him as you want. It shouldn't be difficult... Except it wasn't like that, because aside from this picture, I never saw a picture of you with him again. It's like you... just delusional... If I delete this picture, you have nothing to fight with Mika-chan!!!"

"N-no!!"

Izumi didn't have hesitation or pity. She erased the sweet picture of Mise and Amakuji in the blink of an eye. Mise couldn't move with the thing she just saw. She could only look at the pictures she cherished disappear and never return.

Mise lowered her head to look at the ground, did not speak, and clenched her fists tightly. It was as if he was in a very angry mood. As for Izumi, who was looking at her, she didn't feel anything. She still looked at Mise and sneered at her for saying bad things about Mika without realizing that a terrifying danger was creeping in.

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