Ibuki felt her brain struggling to keep up. From last semester onward, she had known Shiina was extremely sharp—always scoring near the top of her class in every test. But even so, could their thought processes differ this much? "A strategy for love?" Why did every word from Shiina's mouth sound so perplexing?
"Ibuki-san," Shiina continued, showing neither the condescension of a victor nor the slightest hint of triumph. Instead, she spoke like a gentle teacher guiding her student, "Don't you agree that Yukio is pretty popular?"
Ibuki instinctively wanted to nod. But she hesitated, trying to mask her near-acceptance. "That guy… well, I guess he's… somewhat popular," she mumbled, not quite willing to concede the point wholeheartedly.
Shiina smiled softly, unbothered by Ibuki's hesitant, half-hearted response. "Then, Ibuki-san, do you believe Yukio can remain steadfast—truly loyal—fending off the charms of other girls?"
"Hah!" Ibuki scoffed at the very idea. Just moments ago, he'd joked about making her a 'side wife;' the thought of him being loyal was ridiculous. Still, she opted for a calmer response. "That jerk… sure doesn't seem like the type to resist temptation. I mean, look at him and Ichinose—they're super close, aren't they?"
Remembering how close Yukio and Ichinose looked sometimes, Ibuki felt a flare of irritation. 'Why—why did I have to fall for such a player?' She cursed herself for being so hapless.
To her surprise, Shiina mirrored her frustration rather than acting like a rival. With a sympathetic sigh, she admitted, "Yes, Yukio and Ichinose are quite close."
Outside, unseen on the staircase above, Yukio felt a twinge of guilt. 'Are they both just sitting there, criticizing me together?' he wondered. But he trusted Shiina enough to know she had a reason for these words.
"?" Ibuki genuinely couldn't read Shiina at all anymore. First the invitation for a Christmas date with three of them, and now the two of them seemingly agreeing on how unfaithful Yukio might be. 'Who was this gentle girl supporting, exactly?'
Not one for overthinking, Ibuki got straight to the point: "Then why do you still… I mean, why not just dump him? Wouldn't that fix the problem?"
Her directness made Yukio, listening from a distance, lift an eyebrow. 'You dare try to split me and Shiina up?' he thought. Just wait until Shiina talks some sense into you.
Shiina, however, shook her head. There was no resonance with Ibuki's suggestion this time, just a serene and faint smile—like a saint in a cathedral preparing to banish evil at the cost of her own purity. "Ibuki-san, that is exactly what I mean by a 'strategy.'"
A "strategy" again? Ibuki's eyes grew more perplexed. She was on the verge of losing patience. Couldn't Shiina be clearer instead of playing the riddle game?
As if sensing her frustration, Shiina decided to lay it out more directly. "Any girl with Yukio is bound to worry. Afraid of him getting close to other girls, afraid of not receiving his whole heart… eventually, many might find it too painful and leave him, just as you suggested. 'Breaking up' frees them from those anxieties."
But then Shiina's tone changed, and she revealed the deeper logic behind her plan: "However, what if someone holds on longer? If I remain by Yukio's side longer than anyone else—after everyone who can't bear it any longer has given up—then I, the one who endured to the end, will be the ultimate and only winner."
At last, Ibuki no longer looked confused; she stared wide-eyed in shock. 'Are all smart girls this… out there?' she wondered. This "strategy" of Shiina's sounded terrifyingly reasonable. The usually quiet, cloud-like Shiina turned out to be pretty scary when serious.
Of course, Ibuki was being guided along by Shiina's words. She imagined that the normal conclusion—like "If you can't stand Yukio's flirting, just leave him"—was her own idea, oblivious to how Shiina's phrasing had nudged her to reach it. She was trapped, logic-wise, and simply couldn't conceive of another alternative.
Snapping out of her astonishment, Ibuki frowned. "Hold on. W-what does that have to do with asking me along for a Christmas date?"
She found the whole situation more suspicious by the second. If Shiina's plan was to be the last one standing and win Yukio completely, why reveal her hand to Ibuki? Wouldn't it be better for Shiina to keep that to herself?
Shiina answered without hesitation, her voice light as a drifting cloud yet quietly determined: "Very simple. I believe someone as proud as Ibuki-san will never last until the end."
"Huh?" Ibuki's eyes flared wide. All her pent-up irritation toward Shiina resurfaced in an instant. She might have admitted a moment ago that Shiina was clever, but that didn't mean she'd swallow this insult. She thinks I don't have the determination to hang on? That I'd cave faster than her?
"Oh, is that so?" Ibuki snapped back, frustration evident. Memories of many feasts and celebrations—where Shiina always seemed to 'faint drunk' first and get carried back by Yukio—flashed through her head, stirring old resentments. She recalled how, back on the uninhabited island exam, Yukio had left her water-skiing to go ride a jet ski with Shiina. All sorts of tiny grievances stacked up.
Yes, that deeply buried discontent frothed inside her now, merging with Shiina's subtle belittling of her resolve. "You think I'm the one who can't persist, that I'll just throw in the towel?" she growled. 'Who do you take me for?'
"I'm not the type to lose in any test of will," Ibuki all but barked, eyes flashing with steely determination. She'd trained since childhood, relentlessly pushing herself, never backing down. This quiet, fragile Shiina was basically calling her out—no way Ibuki would let that slide.
She turned that annoyance into a stubborn stance, glaring right back at Shiina. "Fine! You want to see real endurance? Fine! Just watch—I'll show you exactly what real samurai grit looks like!"
***
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