...Or at least they would have, if Shimozuru hadn’t started acting stranger and stranger.
“Besides, our group is full of flawed guys. One guy is smart but stuck in his stuffy ways, while another isn’t so intelligent but has a knack for things, while yet another is a good student but can’t read social cues. We’re just a group of problems.”
It seemed to be harsh criticism of his friends. He wasn’t naming names, but for the most part, we could tell who was who.
“Pff! What’s that supposed to mean? You’re acting so weird!” Aritomo, three times as cheerful as usual, cut in. Something was off about her, too. Concerned, I glanced at Lady Chouko, but she just tilted her head and stared back at me.
“Okay then, Oboro, what about you and Chouko? What about the Prince? How do you all stack up, then?”
Even the way Aritomo articulated her words was weird as she made a question mark gesture. She had even called Lady Chouko by her first name.
“Me? Well, I would be the boring one who has a knack for things. While Kogets—cough, cough!”
Lady Chouko cut him off before he could continue.
“What exactly are you trying to say, Oboro?”
Her lips were smiling, but her eyes definitely were not. She took her eyes off Shimozuru and instead inspected one of the chocolates she had brought as she spoke.
“Were these a little too strong, perhaps?”
“They’re whiskey bon-bons, right? They were quite good.”
In my past life, back in Lacrofine, we had chocolate treats with high alcoholic content like those, but these were much richer, full-bodied, and definitely tastier as well.
“Urara, you can really handle your alcohol, can’t you?” Lady Chouko said, glancing at me.
She sounded a little disappointed, but she was handling hers just as well. Almost too well.
“Well, what shall we do now?”
Aritomo and Shimozuru seemed to have talked themselves out, both suddenly falling flat on the table, apparently passed out.
“I suppose that’s it for today’s practice, then. I’ll call Aritomo’s family. Can you take care of Shimozuru, please?”
After clearing off the table, Lady Chouko suddenly grabbed my hand.
“Do you have to go home now?”
The way she asked me, her eyes gazing up into mine pleadingly, made my heart pound. The shorts she wore today in lieu of her school uniform really looked good on her.
“I’m heading home. I mean, there’s no point in staying...,” I replied, glancing at the door, but Lady Chouko continued to stare at me. She hesitated for a second.
“...Urara, why don’t we have a dance?”
“...Chouko...can you dance?”
I had been caught off guard by her request, so my response had been equally as strange. Mochizuki said she didn’t dance, but that didn’t exactly mean she couldn’t dance.
She had a difficult time with horseback riding because she didn’t get along well with animals. But with a little bit of practice, she was a capable rider, so it was clear she wasn’t lacking athletic skills. Actually, Mikazuki had insisted there were no sports other than horseback riding where Aritomo and I even had a chance against her.
Which meant that the only reason Lady Chouko hadn’t danced up to this point was because she didn’t want to.
Even so, why was she asking me to dance now? While my head teemed with these questions, my heart could focus on only one thing.
“You’d dance with me?” I asked her. As I did, she squeezed my hand tighter.
“I want to dance with you, Urara.”
The way she looked into my eyes made my face flush with heat.
As I gazed back at her, I realized her face was turning red, too. Her expression made me feel a bit bashful. I nodded back at her, and the second I did, I realized something.
“Oh! But we can’t!”
“Huh? Why not?” she asked, sounding shocked.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to. It was just...
“I hardly remember the steps for the guy part...”
Even if she could dance, there was no way Lady Chouko could manage the male part, right? Which meant the role would fall to me, and while I had done it for fun, I hadn’t practiced it all that much.
“I’ll practice the steps for that part on my own, so why don’t we try it another day?” I suggested, but Lady Chouko responded by placing her hand on her forehead and murmuring something. What was she saying? When she gazed up at me, it was as if she was peering into my soul.
“U-Urara!” she exclaimed.
“Y—”
“Hey! Your ride home is here.”
Another interruption. It seemed as though today was just not our day.
I looked in the direction of the voice and saw Mochizuki leaning against the wall with his arms folded for some reason.
“Mitsuru, what are you doing here?!”
“Did you not hear me? I came to take you home.”
“I didn’t ask you to,” Lady Chouko replied, sounding pouty, but Mochizuki didn’t seem to care. He strode over to the table and smacked Shimozuru on the cheek a few times to wake him up.
“Saku figured you would make your way here and asked me to come get you. You didn’t forget about the party tonight, did you?” he asked as he lent Shimozuru, who was still moaning in his sleep, his shoulder and dragged him to his feet.
“I didn’t...forget.”
Lady Chouko seemed as if she couldn’t care less about the party, but I implored her in my heart to keep her promise.
“Chouko, I promise I’ll practice, so let’s dance together next time.”
“Urara...”
“I’ll give it my all,” I said, clenching my fist with resolve. She heaved a resigned sigh.
“All right, then... But you really don’t have to practice, okay?”
“Why not?”
“Chouko, we need to go. The car is waiting,” Mochizuki pressed.
I thanked Lady Chouko.
“Somehow I always get the short end of the stick.”
Was that how he felt? Mochizuki’s words didn’t match his usual assertive demeanor, but I knew it might be tough for him, being entangled with Lady Chouko the way he was.