Can't We Skip Dating?

Skipping class can be a serious issue. It might lead to disciplinary action from school, or even getting scolded at home.

But it can also be nothing more than a few critical words.

As an honors student with no prior record of cutting class—your classic "model student"—Utaha, naturally, was met with the less serious side of things.

So, after calmly making it through the afternoon classes, she walked into the clubroom and took her usual seat in the back row.

Opening her laptop, she looked toward the front of the room. "Let's hear it then, Ethics-kun. What exactly did you find wrong with my plot outline?"

During lunch break, she had received an email from Tomoya saying that he had finally figured out what was wrong with the draft script that kept getting rejected and wanted to discuss it with her. 

Since she hadn't arrived at school yet, they scheduled the conversation for club hours after school.

Tomoya took the script out of his bag, walked to the back row with a serious expression, and spread the printed pages out on the desk.

And then he started with an opening line that made Eriri furious.

"On Sunday, Kato and I went to Rokutenma Mall..."

Thinking about last weekend and the dinner party last night, Eriri swallowed her irritation and gave Megumi a fierce glare.

Unfortunately, Megumi didn't seem to notice.

"Yes, I know. A date," Utaha said expressionlessly.

"It was for research."

Normally, Utaha would have responded with a round of cold sarcasm, but today she wasn't in the mood for that.

"And then?"

"I just want to say... It made me really happy."

Her fingers resting on the keyboard trembled ever so slightly.

"Hey hey hey hey hey! Cut it out right now!" Eriri couldn't stand it anymore. 

She stormed over and slammed her hand down on the desk. "How can you just start like that?! Tomoya! What about your apology?!"

"I'm not going to apologize."

"I don't need an apology."

Tomoya and Utaha answered at the same time, though their words differed, their response to Eriri was essentially the same.

Eriri's eyes widened. "You two..."

"Let it go, Eriri." Utaha raised a finger and pointed at a seat off to the side.

"Right now is the time for the producer to give feedback on my manuscript. If you don't have any relevant suggestions, please remain quiet for now and don't interfere with my work."

Normally, being treated like that would make someone blow their top—but strangely enough, the easily enraged Eriri felt only concern.

Maybe it was because of that old saying, "The person who knows you best is your rival." 

As a romantic rival, when Utaha had held her hand and begged her not to go, and she had turned back to see Utaha's proud façade crumble into something messy and desperate, it had shaken Eriri more than anyone else.

And as a fellow creator, she was perhaps the one who most understood Utaha's pain.

So the calmer Utaha acted now, the more worried Eriri became. It was like watching a volcano build pressure—the longer the quiet, the more destructive the eruption.

"Utaha..."

"Don't worry, Eriri. This is just work."

Utaha looked at the beginning of the manuscript, where the words "Lacks everyday life" were circled in red. 

"Go on, Ethics-kun. But get to the point quickly. I want to hear about the issues with the manuscript, not how sweet your weekend date was."

Sensing the sharpness in her tone, Eriri felt a bit of relief and backed off to grind her teeth silently—though Tomoya's topic still made her extremely, extremely unhappy.

"Right. Now for the main point," Tomoya said seriously. 

"Since it was the mall's opening day, the crowd was overwhelming. 

I felt uncomfortable as soon as we got there. But Kato didn't get annoyed at me—she just calmly worried about me..."

Under Utaha's unreadable gaze, Tomoya recounted, one sentence at a time, how he had felt cared for and emotionally moved during his shopping trip with Megumi, right up to the moment she bought him a gift.

It was also at that moment—when he truly felt what a real "date" was—that Tomoya finally understood what was missing from the draft and decided to go find Utaha right away.

"...Even though I decided to leave her there and just walked away, Kato still smiled and agreed."

He didn't continue the story from there—because as he and Megumi were leaving the mall, getting ready to part ways, he had seen through a nearby café window the scene of Akira sitting by the window with Utaha.

"Hmm...?"

Utaha propped her face on one hand and cast a playful glance at Megumi, whose expression seemed to shift subtly. 

"At that moment, I bet you were pretty pissed inside, weren't you, Kato-san?"

"Not at all. Kato really is a good person," Tomoya replied confidently.

Eriri suddenly whipped out her sketchpad. 

After that line from Tomoya, she had finally seen it—the subtle expression of anger on Megumi's face, the real-life model for the game's heroine.

Up until now, Megumi had only ever shown two expressions: blank and smiling. 

No matter what Eriri tried, she couldn't get anything else out of her—which drove her, the character designer, nearly insane.

But now she has it!

"Eriri-san, what's with that smug little face you're making?" Tomoya asked.

"Oh, nothing~ Don't mind us, Tomoya. You two go on chatting~"

"But even if I don't mind, it's still distracting, isn't it? Maybe keep it down, Eriri-san?"

"Yes, yes~ You really are a good person, Kato-san~"

There it was again—another new expression!

Seizing this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Eriri's hand flew across the sketchpad, capturing the precious moment.

Utaha couldn't help letting out a soft laugh. 

Ever since she had gotten a bit closer to Eriri the previous night, seeing Eriri's joy now made her feel a bit of that same happiness.

But when she looked back at Tomoya—who remained completely oblivious to everything—she suddenly felt something strange.

How could someone be this dense?

Sure, maybe her past confessions and hints were too subtle for him to understand. But last weekend, didn't Akira-san lay everything bare?

So why was he still able to sit here, smiling so naturally, so excitedly, talking about how moved he felt... from a date with another girl?

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