409: Melancholy of Suzumiya Chisato (2)

"Here you go."

"Thank you."

Yukino brought over the freshly brewed coffee. After thanking her, Chisato took the cup, picked up a small sugar cube with tweezers, and gently stirred it in.

When he took out the spoon after stirring, he noticed that the tip was shaped like a cat's paw. Unable to hold back, he let out a small chuckle.

That made it the fifth discovery so far.

Seeing his reaction, Yukino slowly lowered the teacup she had been about to sip from.

"Um, is there something wrong with the coffee?"

Not wanting to cause a misunderstanding, Chisato quickly explained,

"Oh, no, no. I just thought this little spoon was pretty cute."

Having something she liked praised by others always made one feel happy, and Yukino was no exception. The corners of her lips lifted slightly.

"I bought this set while shopping with my sister. There were eight in total. If you're interested, I can send you the shop's address later."

To be honest, when Chisato heard her say, "If you're interested," he almost instinctively assumed she would follow up with something like, "I have plenty at home, so I can give you a few." 

But as it turned out, he was overthinking it.

Following the conversation sparked by the little spoon, Chisato took a sip of coffee before deciding to get to the point. 

Since he was eager to know the real reason Yukino had invited him over, he asked directly, without any pretense,

"Yukinoshita, you must have another reason for calling me here today, right?"

"Hmm…"

This time, Yukino did not remain silent. Instead, she gave a small nod, confirming Chisato's speculation.

As expected, she was probably about to bring up a topic related to her sister. 

Would she try an indirect approach, appealing to his emotions and reasoning with him to keep his distance from her sister? 

Or would she take out a stack of cash, slap it on the table, and then—

Wait, no, that kind of scenario only happened in third-rate romance novels.

Besides, a character playing the villain wouldn't be a delicate and adorable girl like Yukino. It would be a cold and calculating madam.

Speaking of madams, the Yukinoshita sisters were both extremely attractive. 

Their mother must be quite the beauty as well. 

Now he was curious—would she be like Utaha's mother, looking like a sophisticated career woman who had only been working for a few years after college?

…He was getting sidetracked.

"There is something I need to confirm with you, Suzumiya… classmate."

Yukino hesitated before choosing the same formal address as Chisato, "classmate." Given their current level of familiarity, this was indeed the most appropriate and neutral form of address.

"Something you need to confirm with me, huh…"

Chisato repeated her words softly, then placed his hands on his knees, leaned forward slightly, and exhaled.

It seemed he had guessed correctly. Next, she would directly ask about his relationship with her sister. 

Once she confirmed that things between him and Haruno hadn't reached a level that would cause her concern, she would breathe a sigh of relief and then attempt to advise him to stay away from her sister.

But even if she didn't say anything, Chisato had already planned to do just that. 

Haruno was an incredibly troublesome and unpredictable person. 

To be honest, he had no idea when she might stir up some trouble, so he wanted to avoid any entanglements with her.

His thoughts aligned perfectly with Yukino's, so today's conversation was bound to end on a relatively peaceful note.

At least, that's what Chisato thought at the moment.

However, what happened next completely exceeded his expectations.

Yukino first took out her wallet from the table, pulled out a few bills, and handed them to Chisato—this was to reimburse him for the medicine he had bought yesterday.

Since they had agreed on this beforehand, Chisato didn't refuse and accepted the money without hesitation.

The turning point came right after that.

"Suzumiya, do you know the real reason I invited you here today?"

Her words were less of a question and more of an interrogation. 

After saying this, she stared at Chisato with sharp, focused eyes, scrutinizing his every expression, as if trying to confirm her suspicions.

It felt like she was testing him, gauging whether her thoughts were correct.

Chisato found himself slightly baffled by her sudden intensity. At the same time, he sensed that something was off.

"I did have some guesses earlier, but now… to be honest, I think I might have been wrong."

"What was your original guess?"

"That you wanted to talk about your sister."

"My sister… I have indeed wanted to discuss her with you for some time, but that's not why I called you here today."

"Then… does it have something to do with Isshiki?"

"It has nothing to do with Isshiki either."

"…"

Chisato sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, unwilling to keep guessing.

"Just say it directly, Yukinoshita. Guessing back and forth is exhausting."

Yukino continued observing his expression, unwilling to let her guard down just because he admitted defeat.

"Suzumiya, have you encountered anything… inexplicable since yesterday?"

"Inexplicable…?"

Chisato thought for a moment, then slowly nodded.

"Yeah, I have."

Yukino immediately grew more attentive.

"Could you be more specific?"

Her line of thinking was clear—if something like this had happened to her, then there was no reason Chisato, the one who had reverted her form, would be unaffected. 

Something must have happened to him too.

"It was this morning, when I took the elevator…"

Chisato spoke seriously, and Yukino listened intently.

"You know how around 7 AM is peak time for people heading to work and school? 

Normally, when I take the elevator down, it stops several times to pick up passengers. But today, guess what? 

I went straight to the ground floor without a single stop. To be honest, since moving in, that has never happened before. It's almost unbelievable."

Chisato looked into Yukino's eyes with utmost seriousness.

Meanwhile, Yukino narrowed her eyes slightly and let her tense posture relax.

She had just wasted twenty precious seconds of her life.

Even someone slow on the uptake could tell—Chisato had said that on purpose to mess with her by beating around the bush.

She wanted to retort, but seeing his reaction, it seemed he really didn't know what was going on.

In that case, her earlier probing had indeed been somewhat impolite.

So, after taking a deep breath, Yukino chose to apologize.

"Sorry. This matter is very important, so I had to confirm it multiple times. If I made you uncomfortable, I apologize."

Her tone remained somewhat indifferent, even as she apologized.

But since she had gone that far, and considering her resemblance to Kazusa—black, long hair that hit all his sweet spots—Chisato decided not to hold it against her.

"I think you'd be better off just saying it directly. Let's not waste each other's time."

Utaha was still at home suffering from stomach pain—he needed to get back and help her.

"I understand."

Yukino conceded with a nod.

Since she hadn't been able to obtain any useful information, perhaps it was time to be upfront.

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