"Where did you get this poster?" He reached out and pulled open Taira Sakurako's work pants pocket: "What kind of junk do you have in your pockets... why is there half a bag of chocolates in here? They're dirty and old. Why haven't you thrown them away?"

"None of your business," Taira Sakurako quickly covered her pocket and argued, "I have a use for all of these."

"Expired chocolate is useful?" Fushimi Rokukyo asked, squinting.

"Of course, what if I encounter a fierce dog blocking the way? Then the chocolate would come in handy; just throw it over, and the fierce dog would be poisoned by the chocolate."

After speaking, Taira Sakurako patted the poster on the table with her small hand to prove her point: "See, this is a placemat I casually picked up at a café, and the backside is a fireworks festival poster. I never threw it away, and now it's useful, isn't it?"

Fushimi suspected this problematic child had a serious collection obsession, but at least it was better than being shut in like before, so he didn't say much. He picked up the poster, examined it closely, and asked, "Why are you recommending this place to me? Why not just buy her a necklace at home."

"Look here." Taira Sakurako pointed at a line in the corner of the poster.

Fushimi squinted his eyes, brought the poster closer, and finally made out the tiny print akin to "Images for reference only":

"Recommended for friends not yet in a relationship, with a 99.9% success rate for confession!"

Fushimi turned his head, looking constipated, "Are you serious? Do you think my confession could fail?"

"You never know, nothing is absolute." Taira Sakurako crossed her arms and shook her head, "What if Tamako suddenly regains clarity and realizes you're a lousy guy? Then you're doomed."

Upon hearing this, Fushimi actually felt a bit of crisis.

He leaned back, glanced at Minamoto Tamako, who was sulking alone, vigorously chewing on a pork cutlet, crunching away, while thinking why Mr. Deer isn't coming over to talk to me.

Hmm, indeed, better safe than sorry.

Fushimi put away the poster, stuffed it in his pocket, finished his beef rice bowl in a few bites, wiped his mouth, and approached Minamoto Tamako, asking, "Are you full?"

Minamoto Tamako, still angrily eating, her cheeks puffed like a hamster, holding a bowl in one hand and chopsticks in the other: "Hmph, not yet."

Fushimi pulled the poster out of his pocket, pretended to unfold it unintentionally, and said: "Hmm, this fireworks festival looks nice, they even have a bonfire, how about we go check it out in a couple of days?"

Minamoto Tamako glanced at the poster, ragged and crumpled, with mysterious stains on the edges, wondering if it was fished out from a trash can. Her heart sank, feeling Fushimi was being perfunctory, not even bothering to choose a decent date spot.

"Hmph, I'm not going." She lowered her head and continued eating.

"Really not going? It looks pretty nice, August 8th, we just happen to be free," Fushimi coaxed, leaning with one hand on the table like a delinquent boy flirting with a high school girl: "If we stay home, we'll just be bored. Why not go out for a walk?"

"What, you mean it's boring being with me?" Minamoto Tamako automatically picked up the negative information.

Fushimi squinted, following the 'Minamoto Tamako user manual,' estimating her mood to last quite a while until she stops sulking by herself... or coax her with some desserts.

Fushimi chose the latter.

He reused his old trick, bought desserts over. But Minamoto Tamako wasn't pleased, since Fushimi had secretly eaten half of it, with cream still smeared on his mouth yet denying it, making her even more furious, deploying her super one-sided cold shoulder.

The so-called "super one-sided cold shoulder" meant Minamoto Tamako would reply to Fushimi's questions in an extremely angry tone, never initiating a conversation with him, even if her face turned red from holding back, she'd ask Taira Sakurako to convey messages.

Fushimi, being petty, although he wouldn't acknowledge it aloud or in his heart, was indeed unhappy, deliberately saying loudly, 'Well, if you don't go, I'll go by myself.' Making Minamoto Tamako stomp her foot in anger.

This was considered their first official quarrel, in a very awkward manner.

Minamoto Tamako thought, 'as long as Mr. Deer gives me something casually, we'll be fine'— half-eaten ice cream didn't count, that's too perfunctory.

Fushimi thought, 'as long as Yuzi Beast softens, I'll go along with it'— pretending not to care but actually blushing like a monkey's butt didn't count, it was clear she was very angry.

Taira Sakurako didn't have a stance; she was neutral and objective, secretly recording with a camcorder.

After lunch, the three went home to rest. The awkward quarrel lasted the entire afternoon until Kujo Mutsumi called, saying Minamoto Tamako's cousin invited Minamoto Tamako to have a get-together, wanting to talk about girls' topics to strengthen relationships or something.

Minamoto Tamako didn't agree immediately but pouted and looked at Fushimi, deliberately putting the phone on speaker: "So... will I be staying overnight there?"

Kujo Mutsumi replied: "Depends if you want to stay overnight. The Kujo family mansion has guest rooms, and there's also your room. If you wish, you can sleep in Little Wei's old room; it's been kept the same."

Minamoto Tamako covered the mouthpiece and leaned close to Fushimi, asking: "Don't you have anything to say to me? I'm going to play with other girls soon!"

"Remember to bring back a few bottles of Coke when you return tomorrow; the ones in the fridge are all gone." Fushimi half-lying on the tatami in a lazy stance, reading a magazine.

"Fine, fine, fine!" Minamoto Tamako gritted her teeth and said loudly, "Then I'm going back to my parents' home!"

"Take care." Fushimi didn't even look up.

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