The two of them quickly polished off the dinner on the table, leaving it spotless.
Shikime Natsu rose to his feet and, quite naturally, set about clearing away the empty plates, bowls, and chopsticks on the table.
"Senpai, go take a rest. I'll handle the dishes."
Holding the plates, Shikime Natsu spoke to Asahina Nazuna, who was still sitting in her seat.
After all, he had been invited over today as Asahina Nazuna's guest—even though, in the latter half of that dinner, it had been he who'd stepped in to re-handle and re-cook the food.
But nominally speaking, this meal was still the dinner Asahina Nazuna had specially prepared for him in order to fulfill their promise.
So then, as the guest—the one eating a free meal—now that Asahina Nazuna had done the cooking, he naturally ought to take on the job of washing the dishes afterward.
Just like when he cooked for the other girls on ordinary days, those girls always liked to help him wash the dishes and such.
Hearing Shikime Natsu volunteer to help with the dishes.
Asahina Nazuna hurriedly stood up from her chair and walked briskly over to the kitchen area.
"That won't do."
Asahina Nazuna reached out, took one of the plates from Shikime Natsu's hands, and shook her head with a smile.
"You're the guest—how could I let you wash the dishes here all by yourself?"
She blinked those purple eyes and offered a compromise.
"Since the two of us both took part in making this dinner."
"Then let's each wash our own share."
This was also a little scheme Asahina Nazuna had been quietly turning over in her mind.
A maiden's thoughts can sometimes seem so subtle, a little hard to fathom.
In truth, even Asahina Nazuna herself couldn't quite explain at this moment why she insisted on sharing even such a trivial chore with him.
But there was a very clear voice in her heart telling her that this was simply what she wanted to do.
Asahina Nazuna mused silently to herself.
And whose fault was it that this fellow Shiki-kun was always together with those pretty girlfriends of his while at school?
By comparison, she, this old senpai, had been left out in the cold quite a bit—at school she rarely even got the chance to exchange a few private words with him.
Although Asahina Nazuna knew perfectly well in her heart that the relationship between herself and Shikime Natsu was nothing more than that of an ordinary, fairly close senpai and junior.
But Asahina Nazuna found that she still rather liked moments like this one—setting aside all the hustle and bustle of school and getting to spend more time alone with Shikime Natsu.
Since her junior was usually so busy and wouldn't come seek her out of his own accord.
Then it fell to her, as the senpai, to put in a little extra of a girl's small cleverness—now that she'd finally managed to invite him to her dorm—and actively create some time alone together.
In fact, Asahina Nazuna didn't really understand why she'd developed this feeling of wanting to keep drawing closer to Shikime Natsu.
She didn't probe too deeply into whether or not this counted as a kind of liking.
She simply felt that as long as she was together with Shikime Natsu—even just doing dull household chores like washing dishes.
Asahina Nazuna would feel her mood become very relaxed and very pleasant.
And so the two of them stood side by side beside that not-very-wide sink, dividing up the work to wash the dishes together.
Because the kitchen of this single-student dorm was small to begin with, the sink was only big enough for one person to use comfortably.
So when the two of them stood there at the same time.
The distance between Shikime Natsu and Asahina Nazuna was forced to become very close.
So close that the slightest movement would have their shoulders or arms inadvertently brushing together.
Warm water flowed from the faucet, the splashing sound echoing through the quiet kitchen.
Accompanied by the faint lemon fragrance of the dish soap.
The two of them stood there by the sink, washing the plates in their hands while chatting casually about everyday school anecdotes, keeping up a simple conversation.
In the midst of their conversation.
Asahina Nazuna finished washing a plate and turned to hand it to Shikime Natsu beside her to rinse.
In the instant of passing the plate, the back of her hand accidentally brushed against Shikime Natsu's fingers.
The warm sensation of that skin-to-skin contact made Asahina Nazuna's heart quiver slightly.
She turned her head a little and, out of the corner of her eye, stole a glance at Shikime Natsu standing beside her.
Looking at his focused, handsome profile, and the stretch of firm forearm exposed by his rolled-up sleeves.
In this cramped, enclosed space.
Listening to the sound of the running water, feeling the warmth and breath coming from each other.
Asahina Nazuna suddenly felt that the atmosphere in the kitchen had, without either of them noticing, grown somewhat charged and intimate.
This feeling made her cheeks grow slightly hot, and her heartbeat gradually quickened its pace.
To cover up her own strangeness.
Asahina Nazuna sped up the dishwashing in her hands.
Before long, the two of them, working together, had washed all the dishes spotlessly clean and arranged them neatly on the drying rack.
After drying their hands with a dry towel.
The two of them walked out of the little kitchen.
Asahina Nazuna went ahead first to her single bed with its pink sheets, slipped off her slippers, and sat down with her legs tucked up.
Then she turned, took that exquisitely packaged box of cards from the nightstand, and hugged it to her chest.
Asahina Nazuna lifted her head, those purple eyes looking at Shikime Natsu, who was still standing in the middle of the room.
"Shiki-kun."
She patted the empty spot on the bed in front of her and called out to him.
"Come here."
Hearing Asahina Nazuna's call.
Shikime Natsu didn't find anything improper about it; he walked over at an unhurried pace.
Under Asahina Nazuna's expectant gaze, Shikime Natsu sat down in front of her.
And so the two of them sat facing each other on that bed so full of girlish charm.
Once they were seated.
Asahina Nazuna opened the exquisite box in her arms, took out the stack of superbly textured cards inside, and placed them on the sheets between the two of them.
"All right."
Asahina Nazuna looked at Shikime Natsu, a spark of fighting spirit kindling in her eyes as she formally issued her challenge.
"Let's begin now."
Seeing how serious she looked, Shikime Natsu smiled, nodded, and agreed.
The fronts of the cards were printed with all sorts of different animal designs—lions, elephants, rabbits, and the like—each animal having two completely identical cards.
The backs of the cards, meanwhile, bore a uniform, indistinguishable complex pattern.
Shuffling the cards expertly, Asahina Nazuna spoke to Shikime Natsu.
"Shiki-kun."
"This game—I've gotten quite good at it through practice by now, you know."
She laid out the shuffled cards one by one in a neat arrangement on the sheets, forming a huge rectangular grid.
"So go ahead and give it your best shot in a moment."
After laying out the cards.
Asahina Nazuna raised her head, looked earnestly at Shikime Natsu, and deliberately added a word of reminder.
"Also."
"This time, you absolutely must not go easy on purpose like last time, just to spare my pride."
She tilted her chin up slightly, her tone carrying a few traces of sore-loser stubbornness.
"I want a fair and square match with you. I want to fight the Shiki-kun who gives it his all."
Hearing this earnest little declaration of war from Asahina Nazuna.
Shikime Natsu looked at her, a gentle smile curving at the corner of his mouth.
"All right."
He looked into her eyes and answered in a calm tone.
"Of course. Since Senpai insists, I definitely won't hold back."
After confirming both sides' willingness.
This card match between the two of them officially began.
Asahina Nazuna took a deep breath and fixed her gaze on the grid of face-down cards before her—it was indeed just as she'd said a moment ago.
In the time since she'd gotten this set of cards, in order to be able to beat Shikime Natsu just once, she had put in a fair bit of hard work on the memory front.
The rules of the game were simple.
Since no one knew which design was printed on the front of any given card, their game consisted of taking turns flipping cards.
On one's own turn, each person could flip over two cards at a time.
After flipping them, the player could clearly see and memorize what the designs on those two cards were.
If the two flipped cards bore exactly the same design (for example, a lion matched with a lion), then the match succeeded, and that player could take the two cards and earn a chance to keep flipping.
But.
If the two flipped cards had different designs and the match failed.
Then the player had to turn those two cards back over, leaving them in place.
Then the turn ended, and it became the next player's turn to flip.
This style of play.
Compared to a game where you could look directly at the contents of all the cards to find matches, was clearly a fair bit harder.
It tested not merely luck, but more so a player's instantaneous memory and their ability to map spatial positions.
Fortunately, though, the game was turn-based.
For Asahina Nazuna, as long as she could calm herself and carefully memorize the designs of the cards that had been flipped before, along with their positions.
Then, as the game's turns accumulated, she wouldn't end up empty-handed.
As long as her luck wasn't too terrible, she'd always be able to find a few matches.
The game officially began.
Asahina Nazuna's gaze grew quite serious.
She looked at Shikime Natsu, smiled faintly, and magnanimously extended her hand.
"Shiki-kun, you're the guest."
"For the first turn, I'll let you go first."
Asahina Nazuna letting Shikime Natsu go first wasn't actually out of any modesty or deference.
Rather, it was because she had a little tactic hidden within this seemingly simple gesture.
Because right now it was the very first turn at the game's start.
All the cards were face-down, and no one knew what designs lay beneath.
So when Shikime Natsu flipped cards for the first time, he was surely relying entirely on blind luck, guessing wildly with no idea what he'd turn up.
If his luck was bad and the two cards he flipped were different, failing to match.
Then he'd not only have to honestly turn the cards back over and end his turn.
But she, watching from the side, could seize the advantage for free.
She could be one step ahead, firmly committing to her memory the two designs Shikime Natsu had flipped and their exact positions.
That way, in the turns that followed, her win rate would, without her noticing, rise a tiny bit.
This was the little wisdom belonging to Asahina Nazuna, the senpai.
Looking at Asahina Nazuna's purple eyes, sparkling with anticipation because she thought she'd seized the upper hand in strategy.
Shikime Natsu found it a little amusing inside.
He didn't immediately touch the cards; instead, he folded his hands over his knees and looked at Asahina Nazuna.
"Senpai."
Shikime Natsu looked at her and spoke up to confirm once more.
"Are you really sure you want me to go all out from the very start?"
Faced with Shikime Natsu's renewed question.
Asahina Nazuna nodded without the slightest hesitation.
"Of course."
She pursed her lips and said firmly.
"If you go easy on purpose and let me win, then there'd be no point at all in playing this game."
Looking at the girl's insistent expression.
Shikime Natsu thought for a moment and didn't try to dissuade her any further.
"All right, then."
He smiled at Asahina Nazuna.
"In that case, Senpai."
"I won't hold back."
The words had barely left his mouth.
Shikime Natsu extended that slender, handsome right hand.
His gaze didn't even linger long on the grid of cards.
His fingers casually tapped a spot in the upper-left corner and flipped over a card.
The front of the card was the design of a majestic lion.
Immediately after.
Without the slightest pause—without even looking—Shikime Natsu's fingers flipped a second card directly at an out-of-the-way spot in the lower-right corner of the grid.
The card turned over.
The design was, strikingly, also a majestic lion.
Lion and lion—a perfect match.
Seeing this.
Sitting across from him, Asahina Nazuna—who'd been intending to quietly memorize the positions in her mind—froze in an instant.
She opened her mouth slightly in surprise, her purple eyes filled with shock.
How was this possible?
On the very first turn, with the two cards so far apart, he'd actually flipped two matching ones without even thinking?
Wasn't that luck just too absurdly heaven-defying?!
Asahina Nazuna was secretly astonished, but forced herself to calm down.
It's fine—he just got lucky and guessed right once.
Since the match succeeded, by the rules, Shikime Natsu could keep flipping.
He drew the two lion cards over to his side.
Then his hand reached toward the grid of cards again.
This time.
Shikime Natsu's fingers tapped twice in a row in the middle area, flipping two adjacent cards.
One was a rabbit.
The other was also a rabbit.
Another perfect match.
Seeing this second pair turned up.
Asahina Nazuna was even more thoroughly stunned; her mind even went briefly blank.
"Eh?"
Asahina Nazuna couldn't help it and let out a cry of disbelief.
She opened her eyes wide, staring fixedly at the two rabbit cards Shikime Natsu had taken, then looked at his utterly composed face.
If the first time was luck.
Then what about the second?
Could this still be explained by luck?
After all, the one who'd just been in charge of shuffling and jumbling up the cards before the game began had clearly been her!
She'd deliberately scrambled those cards into a complete mess—even she herself didn't know which card was where.
But this fellow Shikime Natsu—how could he possibly know so precisely? It was as if he had a pair of eyes that could see right through them!
Asahina Nazuna shook her head wildly inside.
No, impossible.
These were high-end custom cards; there was absolutely no way the backs had any light-transparency or markings.
This had to be coincidence again.
Right—apart from coincidence, there was simply no other explanation.
Otherwise, how could a normal person, without having seen the fronts, achieve such a feat of knowing the outcome before making a move?
Looking at Asahina Nazuna's adorable expression—her worldview shaken yet still struggling to find a reasonable excuse.
Shikime Natsu paused the movement of his hands.
He raised his head, smiled at Asahina Nazuna, his tone carrying a few traces of mischievous teasing.
"Well, Senpai?"
He looked at her.
"Do you still want me to keep going all out?"
Hearing these clearly provocative words.
Asahina Nazuna's competitive spirit was instantly ignited.
She gritted her teeth, balled her hands into little fists on her knees, and looked stubbornly at Shikime Natsu.
"Of course!"
Asahina Nazuna said, puffing up her cheeks.
"Don't think you can scare me just because you got lucky and guessed right twice. I don't believe your luck can hold forever."
She tilted up her chin.
"If you've really got the skill, then just end the game right in front of me and show me!"
Looking at the girl's refuse-to-give-up-until-the-bitter-end manner.
The smile at the corner of Shikime Natsu's mouth grew more pronounced.
He looked at Asahina Nazuna with a hint of amusement, his tone carrying a touch of enticement.
"Oh?"
"Then... what if I really can end this whole game in one go, without a single mistake?"
Hearing these words of Shikime Natsu's, which could only be called arrogant.
Asahina Nazuna simply didn't believe anyone could do such a thing.
To win back her senpai's pride, she looked at Shikime Natsu and blurted out.
"If you really can do it."
Asahina Nazuna said to Shikime Natsu.
"Then... then I'll grant you one condition! Anything at all!"
Hearing this tantalizing promise.
A flicker of triumphant amusement passed through the depths of Shikime Natsu's eyes.
"All right."
Shikime Natsu smiled and agreed in a breezy tone.
"Then it's a promise."
The words had just fallen.
Shikime Natsu reined in the smile on his face, his gaze growing focused.
Next.
Under Asahina Nazuna's gaze, which gradually widened and grew more and more incredulous.
Shikime Natsu's hands began to dance at high speed over the grid of cards.
"Swish, swish."
Elephant, elephant—match successful.
"Swish, swish."
Dolphin, dolphin—match successful.
Shikime Natsu's card-flipping had no pause whatsoever, not even a moment's hesitation.
Every time his fingers came down, they unerringly flipped two cards with exactly the same design.
Not a single miss.
Not once did he flip wrong and have to turn them back.
In less than a minute.
Accompanied by the crisp sound of cards flipping, the huge grid covering the sheets was shrinking rapidly at a visible pace.
Watching Shikime Natsu's miracle-like performance.
Asahina Nazuna went completely numb.
She sat dazed on the bed, hands hanging limply at her sides, her mind having utterly stopped working.
She felt as if she were dreaming; everything unfolding before her had completely overturned her common sense about human memory and cognitive ability.
After all, during Shikime Natsu's flipping, it wasn't as though she hadn't suspected whether there were some markings on the backs of the cards.
She'd even secretly picked up a few of the remaining cards and carefully examined the patterns on their backs. But.
She could be one hundred percent certain that the backs of all the cards in here were identical, without any pattern or flaw.
So how on earth had Shikime Natsu done it?
Just as Asahina Nazuna was utterly baffled.
"Swish, swish."
The last two cards were flipped over.
Panda, panda. Match successful.
And with that.
All the cards on the sheets had been flipped over by Shikime Natsu and matched up one by one, stacked neatly at his side.
The game was declared over within a single turn.
Asahina Nazuna slowly lifted her eyes to look at Shikime Natsu sitting across from her.
Shikime Natsu happened to look up just then, meeting Asahina Nazuna's purple eyes, still full of shock and stupor.
He placed the last two cards on top of that pile of spoils.
Then he looked at Asahina Nazuna, the corner of his mouth curving into a not-quite-smile, his voice gentle.
"Senpai."
"I win."
____
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