Minamoto Senya froze in disbelief, unable to move.
Almost everything had been correct!
I say almost because the part about her shoes was wrong.
Today, she wasn't wearing black rounded-toe dress shoes—she had on low-cut combat boots. But aside from that, everything else had been spot-on.
Even the details—the ribbon at her neck and the white trim on her over-the-knee socks—were perfectly described.
The young lady froze like someone had pressed a pause button on reality.
But that state didn't last long.
Sitting on the campus flowerbed bench, she immediately stood up, shoulders instinctively stiffening. Her breathing grew uneven, and her normally calm eyes suddenly sparkled with vivid color, brimming with joy and disbelief she could no longer suppress.
"You… where are you?"
Suppressing the tremor in her voice, Minamoto Senya asked softly.
For someone to describe the details of her outfit today so accurately, it couldn't have been a mere coincidence. The "magic trick" excuse was hardly believable either. There was only… one possibility.
The thought of him—the romantic mental image she conjured—overwhelmed Senya. Her usual calm and reason completely evaporated.
She even ignored the messages from Eriri just moments ago.
Eriri had clearly said she'd gone to Senya's house for dinner with him and had just been sent home.
Given the short time, and the vast Pacific separating Japan and the States,
even if Minamoto Senya were riding an intercontinental missile, he couldn't possibly arrive there that fast.
"…"
A smile doesn't disappear—it just shifts.
Senya, who had just been laughing so easily, suddenly felt his smile freeze.
From a bird's-eye view, he could see her breath hitch, cheeks flushing bright pink, lips slightly parted—a vivid, untamed energy radiating from her.
She scanned her surroundings frantically, oblivious to the other students in the garden staring at her abrupt movements.
She tried to hide her smile but couldn't. It started at the corners of her mouth and climbed to the captivating curve of her eyes. The wind lifted strands of her hair, and even the fine soft hairs along her cheeks gleamed in the sunlight.
For that brief moment, it seemed as if the air itself danced in celebration of her radiance. The world around her dimmed in comparison to her presence.
"…"
Minamoto Senya opened his mouth, trying to respond, but no words came out.
It had been a long time since he'd seen Senya this happy.
No—he didn't think he had ever seen this side of her before.
So lively, so beautiful.
But unfortunately, he couldn't fulfill her expectations right now.
It was like a child on Children's Day seeing their dad returning home with a large, mysterious package and thinking it's a gift, or a girl seeing a boy suddenly kneel by the pond on Valentine's Day and assuming he's proposing.
In reality, the dad brought home groceries, and the boy was merely tying his shoelaces.
Wrong timing, wrong actions, creating a delightful—but mistaken—illusion.
How cruel it was.
He had only meant to liven things up, to give her a small surprise, but how did it spiral into this?
Now he was stuck—caught between wanting to respond and not being able to.
Meanwhile, Minamoto Senya gradually regained her rational mind after not receiving a reply for so long.
Eriri's earlier messages flashed in her mind, and realization hit her.
Her face turned even redder, but this time, the blush had nothing to do with the earlier surge of emotions.
She drew in a deep breath and lowered her head, sitting down.
The curious glances around her pricked her awareness. She couldn't ignore them anymore.
Reflecting on her thoughts and reactions just now, she felt foolish.
What was that…? How stupid of me…
Minamoto Senya, observing this, knew he couldn't stay silent any longer.
If you make a mistake, you must fix it.
He couldn't fulfill her expectations fully, but he could at least try to reduce her embarrassment a little.
"Hey… hey? Can you hear me? The signal was bad just now. What did you say, Senya?"
Lightly brushing it off, pretending nothing had happened—that was the most gentle response he could offer.
"N-nothing!"
"Ah, I see. Then, how was my magic trick just now? I think I got it right, didn't I?"
"…" Minamoto Senya remained silent for a moment.
Yes. She could be certain he wasn't physically present. So how had he known her outfit today?
Her delighted imagination had been nothing but a misunderstanding, yet the question lingered.
Looking down at her boots reluctantly, she murmured, "How… did you do it?"
"I already said it was magic. I can't just reveal the secret so easily."
"…." Minamoto Senya drew in another breath, speaking deliberately and carefully: "I don't have much free time; I'm busy. So… what do you want?"
"Nothing special. I just… wanted to talk with you. To chat."
Normally, such direct words from him might make her heart flutter.
But after knowing about him and Shiina, and being misled into such a shameful misunderstanding, she felt nothing. If anything, it was almost amusing.
"Surely you have better people to talk to—someone who can sit close and read your expressions, right?"
Minamoto Senya didn't notice the faint tinge of sourness in her otherwise normal tone.
He shook his shoulders and smiled,
"But you're different, Senya. We've been childhood friends, haven't we? If I had to pick the person I trust most, it's undoubtedly you."
His cheerful expression belied the truth in his words: sincere, uncalculated feelings, genuine and raw.
Senya felt it. What mattered to her, also mattered to him.
The feeling of mutual effort, of both valuing the other—she wasn't the only one treasuring this bond.
Yet, unfortunately, this alone couldn't immediately lift her displeasure.
Her irritation decreased by about a third, shifting from deep red to bright yellow.
The situation was no longer urgent, but caution was still needed.
"I've noticed something," she said.
"Hm?"
"You seem to be getting better at talking—knowing how to say things that make others happy."
"That's not about skill. I just say what's in my heart. If anything counts as a technique, it's just being sincere."
"Sincere, huh? Then tell me the secret behind your 'magic trick.'"
"The charm of magic lies in its mystery. It's not something I can easily explain. If you really want to know…"
"Really want to know?"
"Never mind. Let's talk about something else."
"I have nothing to say."
"I do. About Shiina."
"Mm."
Minamoto Senya immediately snapped out of her casual state, turning serious.
Minamoto Senya leaned on the balcony railing, gazing at the night sky.
"Well, recently she's been struggling with her novel—she's at a bottleneck with the romance between her protagonists. She came to me to talk about it, so I agreed to help by pretending to be her boyfriend for research purposes, hoping it might spark some inspiration."
"Oh."
"You're not surprised, are you?"
"No… because I know. When chatting with Eriri, she seemed to have heard it from Rikka…"
"I see…"
"Why are you telling me this?"
"No particular reason. I just wanted to share it with you."
"…."
Her irritation dropped another third, from bright yellow to soft green—back to normal.
"Also, I've gained a bit of fame from winning the Edogawa Ranpo Award. Plus, with the previous train accident incident, my popularity surged again, and I took on quite a lot of work. I earned a fair amount of money."
"How much do you have now?"
"About 120 million yen."
"…Continue."
Though she was somewhat prepared, hearing the exact figure still startled her and inspired a small admiration.
But of course, she couldn't show it openly.
"I was thinking, leaving it in the bank is just letting it sit. Better to take some action—buy stocks, invest in funds, that sort of thing."
"Wait… You want me, a fellow middle schooler, to advise you on finance?"
"Mm."
"…You actually said 'yes'…"
What is even going through your mind?
Minamoto Senya sighed. "Are you serious?"
"Your goal since childhood has been to develop yourself so that one day you can take over the family's responsibilities with your sister, keeping the Minamoto family and its companies prosperous. So naturally, someone like you would be far more knowledgeable about managing money than I am."
"I'm sorry, I can't meet your expectations. I can't help you."
"At least not right now."
"Ah, I see…" Minamoto Senya sighed regretfully.