Hisa found Touka sitting in the auditorium, doing nothing. There was, again, no one sitting anywhere near her. She figured the most likely scenario was that she was waiting to be served tea by Hagiyoshi, ~again~, as if you couldn't be served enough tea at a mahjong tournament, of all places.
"Hey, Touka. Why are you doing this?"
Touka was kind of surprised by this question. Then she got a sad look on her face.
"Generally, it is absolutely unacceptable to resort to methods like this! I'm only doing it for her......"
---------------------------------
Amae Koromo was sitting on the roof of the tournament hall. She seemed to enjoy the serenity and the peacefulness up there.
Eventually Mihoko, taking a casual walk, wound up on the roof and was surprised to see a girl who looked no older than 13, wearing bunny ears. Then she looked closer and recognized her as the MVP of last year's tournament. Incidentally, despite her young appearance, she was actually the oldest member of the Ryuumonbuchi team.
Upon noticing her, Koromo felt startled at first, and then started shying away from her. Mihoko naturally had to do something about it.
"Are you OK?" Mihoko asked.
"So pointless..."
"...They told me that, as long as I continued playing, I'd find someone who enjoyed playing with me. And then I could make them my friend," Koromo said in a cold voice.
It was pretty obvious she was lonely. Despite her demonic aura, she was generally very nice towards other people, but she was still lonely, and it showed through here.
"Yet, I haven't found even one yet."
"What's the point?"
Mihoko got a second, more up-close look at Koromo. She was wearing a pair of red bunny ears, and had long, flowing blonde hair.
"......." Mihoko started staring at her.
"Uwaaaaah! You're so cuuuuute!" Mihoko suddenly grabbed her from behind and started petting her. Koromo suddenly started panicking.
"E- eeeh?!" Koromo cried out, waving her arms around. "S-s-stop petting meeee!! First that perverted Fujita, now Kazekoshi's captain?"
"Oh, it seems I forgot to introduce myself. Fukuji Mihoko. Pleased to meet you." This seemed almost cursory as she blatantly ignored Koromo's cries for help and continued petting her. Despite the fact Koromo was protesting, she couldn't help but enjoy Mihoko's affection, especially in her lonely mood. It seemed to make her feel better almost instantly.
"Anyway, someone doesn't have to be your opponent for them to be your friend. I'll be your friend if you let me pet you!"
"Grrr!" She suddenly had a playful, almost evil-looking smile on her face. "In that case, how about we play tonight, after the sun sets? If I win, you don't get to pet me anymore. If I lose, you can pet me all you want! Deal?"
"It's a deal," Mihoko said.
12. DarkLightA,
Amae Koromo, Ryuumonbuchi 1-shot Global Roleblocker
, was kicked out of the tournament D4
