Hard to Say Who Will Prevail

Once connected, a cheerful woman's voice echoed from the phone.

"Ah, you answered... Hey, can you look over there?"

"You can see and hear, don't get too excited." Holding the phone in front of him and looking at the beautiful face he hadn't seen in a while, Shinichi helplessly asked, "You suddenly called me, is something wrong?"

"Hey~ Can't I call you if nothing's wrong? Shinichi-kun is so cruel." Ichika pursed her lips and looked at Shinichi from across the screen with a sad expression, then said casually, "School is off today, and the daily practice is in the afternoon. I rarely get a break openly, so I just wanted to call and chat with you."

"Does this mean you're in Team Cao and your heart is in Team Han?"

Shinichi joked with a smile, then glanced at Ichika at the moment, his eyes slowly becoming gentle.

"What are you..."

"Oh, caught already?"

Feeling his gaze, Ichika hummed and smiled, showing off her phone in a circle, observing the surroundings one by one like a panorama film.

"This is my room. Quite spacious, isn't it? For two people."

"Because I just started studying two weeks ago, I haven't got a roommate. It's really lonely living alone. Fortunately, the others in the dorm are very friendly."

Ichika returned the camera to herself, put one hand on her hip, lifted her chest, and smiled contentedly.

"How do you like it? The decoration here suits my style perfectly!"

Thinking about the messy scene almost like a dump, Shinichi fell silent.

"Do you still have... barn-style decorations?"

"I knew you would say that~"

"You're really proud of it."

"Actually, someone, that person's name is Tsuyuzaki Mahiru, she's a very gentle girl, helped me clean it up, but I spent another day making it like this. Although I feel very sorry for her, in a way, am I amazing?"

Ichika smiled and gave a V sign to Shinichi. Even though they hadn't met in a week, their conversation felt completely natural, as if they had just met last night.

Shinichi responded nonchalantly.

"Yeah, yeah, it's really bad. Looking at your sloppy appearance, no man would dare to want you."

"Huh? Are you not daring?"

Ichika raised her eyebrows slightly, while Shinichi shrugged.

"I dare to say chest Fumino is flat today, what else dare I say? Don't look at me."

"Wow, very daring~!" Ichika clapped her hands in exaggerated praise, then suggested sincerely, "Then, how about next time telling Kirisu-sensei that she's getting old?"

Shinichi: "...I'm recording it."

Ichika quickly assumed a sitting posture. "Sorry, my mistake! Please don't do cruel things like that... Ah, the only way to apologize is to show my breasts, wait a moment..."

Shinichi quickly looked around.

"Stop now, what are you doing in broad daylight? What if someone accidentally sees my phone screen?"

Ichika lowered her finger from the button and successfully executed her joke.

"In that case, I'll take a selfie and go there later. You can go home and see it yourself~"

"Oh, that's okay."

"Wow... I haven't seen you in a week. Are you not satisfied with your desires, Shinichi-kun?" Ichika said coquettishly or flirtatiously, "There's still a little time. I'll take a taxi and come help you now."

"What can I help with..." Shinichi paused for a moment, then changed the subject, "Forget it, don't answer, I was just kidding."

For the sake of a pure, harmonious, and loving world, he firmly stopped halfway on the gas pedal.

After some usual greetings, this time Ichika looked around, seemingly making sure where Shinichi was.

"Shinichi-kun, is everyone there with you?"

"Fumino and Itsuki might be competing now, Miku is helping at the medical center, and I don't know about the others."

Shinichi directed the front camera to the rear camera, mimicking her previous actions, and walked towards the field, letting her see how lively Shuchi'in Academy was during the sports festival.

"Wow, so much fun~"

Her eyes sparkled, and Ichika sighed enviously and regretfully.

"If I knew, I would be an exchange student later. The sports festival for the second year of high school only happens once in a lifetime... If I miss it, it will be gone."

"Impossible, if you miss it, you'll miss it."

"I don't want to~" Ichika pouted and acted spoiled.

Shinichi felt used to it, but he wasn't too bothered.

"Besides, you can't come, so why don't we help you broadcast the matches live? Let's discuss it with the others later."

Shinichi said casually, and after thinking about it, he shook his head and continued to look at the phone screen:

"Although the morning competition is almost over, at least you can watch the class relay and club relay later. Nino and Yotsuba are both ready to perform well."

Ichika tilted her head. "Yotsuba, I know... Nino is looking forward to this sports meeting? Quite strange."

Before Shinichi could answer, she giggled and changed the topic herself:

"I'll ask this question later... Taking advantage of this precious opportunity when everyone is no longer around Shinichi-kun, there's something more important to say!"

"Huh? What is it?"

Shinichi had a bad feeling. He quickly recalled the incident of teasing Miku with the POCKY stick that day deep in his memory, letting his emotions return to a stable state, and confidently stared at her with a teasing look.

"No, I just didn't expect them to really do it... Let me guess, was it Nino or Miku?"

Ichika leaned against the screen and posed as if she was whispering. Speaking softly into the microphone:

"Could it be... Yotsuba finally became bold and pushed you down forcefully?"

Shinichi tried to suppress the distortion of his expression.

"...I won't complain about who pushed whom when it comes to serious matters. Why Yotsuba and not Itsuki?"

"Moreover, if there's one, there must be two."

"Whether it's accidental or something else, as long as you don't hate it in your heart, isn't it human nature to want to do something comfortable again?"

What Ichika said made sense. Shinichi couldn't say anything, he lowered his head, and it took a long time before he said a sentence.

"...Yotsuba. She didn't do anything strange to me."