Ch.136Chapter 136

Ouro failed to do what I asked her to do. She was too direct, and I became anxious that we might get caught.

While I was fretting and feeling nervous, as if my anxiety was detected, the attention directed at Ouro began to shift toward me.

Starting with Aria’s sudden voice, everyone’s gazes converged on me. I was momentarily stunned before instinctively denying everything.

I shook my head and hands, but not a single friend actually listened to what I was saying. I hoped I could just brush it off, but seeing how they weren’t letting it go, I worried that I was being too obvious.

I kept insisting it was nothing, but the more I hesitated and backed away, the closer I felt to the edge of a cliff, and my thoughts simply froze.

My half-reclined body was completely caught by Aria, and Karen, who was beside me, leaned in and tilted her head at my appearance. She was too close. Feeling guilty, I quickly averted my trembling gaze.

“Gasp, I think she’s really hiding something.”

With even Karen joining in, I lost my words and just shook my head repeatedly, turning pale. But once I was already suspected, there seemed to be no way out.

“It’s not like that…”

“Hmm.”

Aria just silently stared at me. That alone was enough pressure, and I swallowed hard.

If only Ouro hadn’t said unnecessary things, I wouldn’t have been caught! That thought crossed my mind. But right now, escaping this situation was the priority.

“No!”

I waved my hands. I tried to break free from Aria’s arms, but I failed due to her superior strength. The more I struggled, the narrower Aria’s eyes became.

Her crescent moon-like eyes stared at me with interest, as if finding this amusing.

“What interesting story are you going to tell us?”

“No, it’s… it’s nothing…”

I looked around nervously. It was Ouro’s turn to say something different and save me. Since her mission was to secretly gather information from Sera, she should help me maintain the secrecy.

I glanced sideways. Ouro was just quietly watching me. With all eyes suddenly on me, she kept her mouth shut, as if waiting to see what I would say.

I was internally resentful that she was just watching instead of helping me, wondering what she was doing.

However, my resentment didn’t reach her, and Sera, now free from Ouro’s questioning, immediately turned her attention here.

“What story does Ourr want to tell? Are you thinking about my birthday present?”

“Eh.”

I flinched. And that reaction escaped my lips.

No matter how much I tried to deny it, this one reaction answered everything. All my denials became meaningless, leaving only a strong confirmation.

Stunned by the sound that escaped me, I became even more flustered and my mind overloaded. My head was spinning. It went blank, and I couldn’t think of anything.

“Oh, I guessed right?”

Sera chuckled. She was smiling as if she knew all along, which made me pout.

This wasn’t what I wanted. I had planned for Ouro to naturally gather information, and I would prepare a gift based on that.

I wanted to surprise Sera. There wasn’t a specific reason why I needed to surprise her, but since I couldn’t do much for her, I just hoped she would be happy with even a small gift.

Was I being greedy? Are small things too inadequate to move someone’s heart?

I couldn’t tell. I just naturally sought out bigger and better things. If I thought about the limits of what I could do, I’d have to consider whether that would be enough to satisfy her.

I thought surprising her might instantly bring satisfaction even with something small. But now that I was caught, I felt like I had nothing to offer.

“I think it’s true?”

Aria, who was half-embracing me, said that. The gaze that had been on Sera turned to where Aria was. Then Karen smiled and said:

“So you were plotting with Ouro?”

“Ah, I see. That’s why Ouro suddenly asked about that.”

Karen’s words made Sera nod.

Despite Sera’s questioning, Ouro remained expressionless. She glanced briefly at where Karen and Sera were, and finally cast her gaze at me.

With my mind blank, I stuttered, not knowing what to say. Ouro seized that moment and immediately spoke up.

“I just did what Ourr told me to. She said she’d buy me pizza.”

“Hey! If we get caught like this, I won’t buy it!”

Shocked by Ouro’s complete betrayal, I blurted out words that seemed to confess everything. Now that I couldn’t hide it anymore, I just let it all out.

Ouro flinched in surprise and then glared at me defiantly.

“Ourr is a liar. She said she’d buy me pizza.”

“I said secretly, secretly…!”

“I was doing well, but you got caught first. I did nothing wrong.”

I couldn’t help but shake my head at Ouro’s behavior. I wanted to say something, but I couldn’t keep arguing in front of everyone, so I just pretended not to hear and shook my head.

If we hadn’t been caught, I could have successfully surprised her at a low cost, covering the pizza expense. But now that everything was revealed, I wondered if even spending 50 Riel would be enough to satisfy her.

I’d be happy if she said she liked anything, but knowing that would just be consideration for me, I felt a desire to give her genuine joy from the bottom of her heart.

“Sera, what do you like…?”

The plan to secretly find out through Ouro was scrapped.

Ignoring Ouro’s words, I asked Sera directly. Naturally breaking free from Aria’s loosened embrace, I glanced at Sera.

Sera blinked and then suddenly burst into laughter as if she’d thought of something amusing.

“Ourr, you’re so cute! Did you practice this during the break?”

Along with Sera’s words, Karen and Aria laughed too. Seeing this, I was flustered and quickly turned my head around. Sera, Karen, Aria—they were all laughing, making me feel strange.

I couldn’t understand why anyone would practice such a thing.

I pouted. Since I was already caught, it would be weird to keep pretending otherwise. I could try to be shameless, but I wasn’t that kind of person, so I gave up.

The girls approached me, hugging me, touching my hair or cheeks. This was the result. Apparently, my honesty had won their affection.

I wasn’t sure if being honest was considered cute.

I stared into space with wide eyes. As I was dazed by their gestures, I felt Ouro’s gaze and snapped back to reality. With a gasp, I opened my eyes wide and turned my head.

“Huh?”

The hands paused at my reaction. Shaking my head to break free, I immediately added to Sera:

“That’s not it…! I just don’t know what you like, so I wanted to ask!”

“Hmm? Oh, right. What I like…”

Sera removed her hand from my cheek. She seemed to be lost in thought for a moment, tilting her head, but her contemplation didn’t last long.

As if there was nothing to think about, a cheerful answer came back.

“I like Ourr? Of course, I like Ouro too…”

“You like me?”

“Yes, I like Ouro too.”

Ouro responded when her name was called. As she blinked her red eyes, Sera pointed at her with her finger and flashed a smile.

Ouro tried to imitate her exactly. She seemed to think the action had meaning and tried hard to copy it, but there was a world of difference between a spontaneous gesture and an imitation.

With awkward and stumbling movements, Ouro seemed to malfunction.

“!”

The Professor chuckled at Ouro’s appearance. It was the sound of the Professor unable to hold back laughter at something cute. When the Professor, who had seemed to be quietly working, laughed at Ouro’s behavior, everyone’s attention turned to her.

Ouro couldn’t easily ignore the Professor’s reaction to her behavior and stared intently.

“Professor.”

“No, I just thought you were cute.”

“Like?”

Ouro seemed to like that the Professor had laughed, and she was trying to do exactly what she had done before. She seemed to be trying to do the same thing, but the result came out differently, which was even funnier.

I burst out laughing at Ouro’s awkward behavior. I laughed just like everyone else.

Ouro fidgeted at this and looked at Sera. She probably thought she was doing it exactly the same, but seeing everyone’s reaction, she seemed worried that she might be wrong.

“…Is this not right?”

“No, it’s perfect.”

At Sera’s answer, Aria silently gave a thumbs up. Ouro tilted her head at the subtle atmosphere, but since they said it was good, she accepted it as positive and nodded.