In the living room, Yukino was leisurely petting the cat.
Utaha was up to something.
Megumi had been playing on her phone, but she absentmindedly glanced up towards Haru, her gaze briefly pausing.
The dining table was fairly large, and the tablecloth was a sizable one, neatly draped down, effectively hiding everything beneath it.
Normally, Megumi wouldn't have thought much of it, but she happened to notice something unusual. As Utaha, who was facing away from her, was up to her mischief, her left leg trembled a few times due to a mix of nervousness and excitement.
The shaking wasn't large, but Megumi had caught it.
From her perspective, Utaha's back looked graceful, and when she sat down, her stunning waist-hip curve was impossible to ignore.
Moreover, due to the nervous tremors, Utaha's thigh beneath the skirt also moved slightly.
Megumi froze for a second while holding her phone.
She clearly remembered that Utaha only trembled like this under two circumstances.
One was impatience, and the other was excitement.
After thinking for a moment, Megumi immediately ruled out impatience.
It was just peeling garlic—there was no reason to be impatient.
It could only be excitement.
But why would Utaha-senpai be excited?
Megumi stared intently at the tablecloth, suspecting something big was going on beneath it.
In fact, she had guessed everything correctly.
Haru had given Utaha a glance, signaling her to settle down, but she pretended not to notice.
With no other choice, Haru continued peeling garlic while secretly lifting the tablecloth to glance underneath.
A small black stockinged foot appeared in his line of sight.
The black stockings faintly revealed her fair skin, and her slippers had long been kicked off. Her foot was smooth and delicate, perfectly shaped.
Haru quietly lowered the tablecloth, using his gaze to silently remind Utaha: "That's enough, right?"
This time, Utaha responded.
She lifted her flushed face, her already charming eyes now gleaming with a more enticing light.
The look in her eyes clearly said: "Go ahead!"
Haru couldn't let her keep pressing forward and quickly grabbed her small foot.
In that instant, her body tensed for a second before quickly relaxing again.
Haru kept peeling garlic with one hand, while his other hand held her "weapon" in a calm manner.
Utaha experimentally tried to pull her leg back, but Haru held onto it firmly.
In this strange atmosphere, one of them calmly peeled garlic, while the other, blushing, lowered her head to peel garlic.
Once all the garlic was peeled, Haru immediately released the black stockinged foot and got up to take the plate.
Utaha didn't rush to return; she was clearly aware that her face was still a little warm.
No rush, just wait a bit.
She was confident she could adjust her emotions in a short time.
That was her original plan.
However, unexpectedly, Megumi's voice suddenly came from behind: "Utaha-senpai, why aren't you back to pet the cat?"
Utaha jumped in surprise, but she quickly regained her composure and turned around. Megumi stood there, her expression calm.
Yukino, hearing the voice, also looked over.
Utaha acted quickly, deliberately turning her face and using her falling hair to hide her expression, saying faintly: "Since Yukino likes the cat so much, there's no need for me to compete with her."
Yukino, not knowing what had happened under the table, didn't mind and chuckled lightly: "Are you sure it's not because you fell into my trap and are feeling embarrassed, so you don't want to come back?"
Utaha pretended not to hear.
But the next second, her expression almost collapsed.
Because Megumi silently took out her phone and held it in front of her.
It was a photo.
A photo of the dining table.
In the photo, Utaha only appeared from behind, while Haru had his face in clear view, seriously peeling garlic.
Everything seemed normal.
The catch was, if you didn't look at the slightly lifted tablecloth below.
"Megumi, you…"
Utaha opened her mouth, wanting to question her, but then remembered Yukino was not far away and hurriedly stopped.
Megumi put away her phone and softly said: "Did Utaha-senpai help seriously just now?"
"Yes."
Utaha didn't hesitate to reply. She did peel at least one garlic clove.
Megumi nodded thoughtfully: "I see."
What do you see?
Utaha nearly couldn't help but ask out loud.
Megumi bent over and whispered in her ear: "Utaha -senpai, don't do such strange things anymore. Whether it's me or Yukino who saw it, it will have a very bad impact."
Utaha's face, which had just cooled down, reddened again.
"I understand."
She awkwardly turned her face away and whispered in response.
In her mind, she felt that her behavior of teasing Haru in such a situation had probably caused him discomfort.
Megumi nodded and turned to leave.
Utaha quickly grabbed her hand. When Megumi turned back in confusion, Utaha silently mouthed: "Photo."
Megumi took out her phone and deleted the photo in front of her.
Utaha let out a sigh of relief.
After such an exciting event, she wasn't sure if she could sit back down, so she pretended to make a call on the balcony to calm herself down.
As soon as Megumi returned to her seat, Yukino, who had been petting the cat, walked over: "What weird topic were you two talking about just now?"
"Weird?" Megumi tilted her head.
Yukino's gaze was filled with unconvincing confidence: "Although I didn't hear everything clearly, I definitely heard you mention my name."
Megumi's tone was calm: "It's nothing much, just that Utaha-senpai did something that made me uncomfortable, so I talked to her about it."
Uncomfortable?
What could make you feel uncomfortable?
Aren't you supposed to be calmly playing with your phone while observing everything around you?
Yukino narrowed her eyes, trying to pick up clues from Megumi's face, but the latter was as calm as ever, unshaken.
Eventually, Yukino turned her attention away, casually patting the cat's head: "I still remember that one thing you said to me back then."
Megumi didn't ask what it was.
If Yukino specifically brought it up, it must have been something Megumi said before: "I don't like him."
"What does Yukino want to ask?" Megumi gently asked.
Yukino, uninterested, looked at the TV program: "Are you going to keep helping your senpai?"
Megumi didn't respond immediately. Instead, she slowly said: "If Yukino has any questions, I'll do my best to answer."
Yukino laughed lightly: "I thought so."
Her laugh seemed mocking, almost dismissive.
Her intuition was right; Megumi wasn't as reliable as she appeared.
A backstab from a partner?
That was the hardest to defend.
So for the first time, Yukino extended an invitation to Megumi: "If you have time another day, we could find a place to sit and talk."
"Sure." Megumi agreed.
Neither of them pursued the topic further.
Yukino just wanted to find an opportunity to explore Megumi's true feelings and confirm her suspicion that Megumi was of a very high level.
Megumi's quick agreement was likely to learn more about Yukino herself.
Knowing both sides is the best strategy.
In the living room, the three girls had a dozen different thoughts between them.
After dinner, completely unaware of everything, Haru, during the "sage time," insisted on dragging the three girls to exercise.
While Yukino and Megumi did want to improve after dinner, their options didn't include exercise.
They wanted to do something else, like studying or learning photography-related knowledge.
But Haru was determined.
Even Utaha, who wanted to slack off and rest, was dragged along.
At 7 PM.
Without suggesting to stay over, Utaha and Megumi went downstairs to return home, and Haru was responsible for seeing them off.
But a while later, Yukino, who had just finished showering, heard the doorbell ring.
Haru, who had just come out holding clothes, went to open the door.
Standing at the door was none other than Utaha.
"Why are you back again? Did you forget something?" Haru instinctively asked.
Utaha looked pleased: "I'm staying over tonight."
Haru was taken aback: "Didn't Megumi cover for you?"
"This time it's the drama club senpai who helped me, because she's been to my house before, and I introduced her to my mom. So when I called saying I was going to discuss the script at her place, my mom agreed quickly."
Utaha entered and took off her shoes.
Haru froze, thinking that she didn't ask Megumi for help. Did something happen between them?
Just then, Yukino peeked out from inside. As soon as she saw Utaha taking off her shoes, she frowned: "No wonder you didn't suggest staying over earlier. Returning on purpose… was this part of your plan?"