Suppressing the strong urge to shut the diary, Horikita Suzune steadied her emotions and flipped back a few pages.
As expected, she quickly found the entries corresponding to the three skills and their evaluations.
The first—
Was when he had mocked her as a "budget version of Yukino," yet still praised one thing.
"Modeling."
The second—
Was when he exaggeratedly praised "Yamauchi-sama," while also acknowledging her.
"Courage."
The third—
Was that pretentious, older-brother-like line he once said.
The same words she had just faintly heard in her mind.
"Loneliness."
Not a single one of them was something she wanted to improve.
Modeling… that probably meant appearance. And "front armor" most likely referred to the fat on her chest.
Judging from the number given by the diary, 94 was extremely high—perfectly in line with her own understanding.
I look good.
At this level, it was already enough. Without putting any special effort into appearance, she had reached this point.
That alone was something she could take pride in.
There was no need to deliberately invest in it.
As for courage…
She had never thought she lacked the bravery to step forward when it mattered.
It was precisely because of that courage that the diary gave her a score of 75.
Even if the evaluation comment was strange, she didn't believe she was lacking in courage.
…Though, admittedly, there were things she still feared.
Whenever she faced her brother, she always felt like her courage wasn't enough.
Perhaps she could add a point or two.
As for loneliness—
That was the least likely thing she would ever increase.
Horikita Suzune had already engraved that line from the diary into her mind—
"Mistaking loneliness for solitude."
Her friendship with Kushida Kikyo was proof of her growth.
…Though lately, Kushida had been acting a bit strange.
But no matter what, they were still friends.
She had at least one friend.
In any case, she wanted to reduce that number, not increase it.
There was no way she would add points there.
…Then, courage it is.
Letting out a soft sigh, Horikita Suzune picked up her pen and wrote "+1" next to courage.
Just like how messages had to be written with a pen, she naturally assumed point allocation worked the same way.
"Changing 'Courage' will cost 10 reading points. Proceed?"
"Yes."
She answered calmly.
The number ticked up by one.
"…"
But honestly…
She didn't feel anything.
Was it because the increase was too small?
Just one point on top of 75—a mere 1.3% increase.
And it cost 10 reading points.
Hard to say whether that was worth it.
In any case, Horikita Suzune had no intention of adding more points.
Now that she understood only things previously mentioned in the diary could become "skills," she needed to save her points for something more useful.
After all, there was still the messaging function.
If she planned carefully, she might be able to guide him into writing about the abilities she wanted.
…Though whether the diary would recognize such manipulation was another matter.
She had been written about quite a few times already, yet only these three skills appeared.
Things like "incompetent," "indecisive," or "pretending to be cold" hadn't shown up.
So she wasn't entirely sure it would work.
But regardless—
Giving up without trying was never her style.
"…I'll discuss it with Kushida first."
With that thought, Horikita Suzune sent another message to Kushida Kikyo.
"Bzz—"
The personal terminal vibrated briefly, then fell silent again.
Kushida Kikyo ignored the message as usual.
Her arms wrapped around someone's neck from behind, as she casually flipped through today's diary.
Today's content wasn't particularly important.
The topic of the girls' band from the past few days had ended, replaced with something more ordinary.
What truly mattered—
Was the newly unlocked feature at the start of June.
Skills.
[Kushida Kikyo]
[Duality: 69 (Your disguise is flawless)]
[Kissing: 36 (The girl's movements are still slightly clumsy)]
[You may now spend reading points to increase these skills]
Only two skills appeared under her name.
"Duality" and "Kissing."
She ignored "Duality" without hesitation.
Her gaze lingered on—
"Kissing."
"36."
A bit low.
She didn't bother thinking about why only these two were displayed.
Nor did she care about the deeper meaning behind them.
It was probably just more of the diary's usual mockery.
No need to overthink it.
Maybe it didn't mean anything special at all.
But—
Seeing that number next to "Kissing"…
For some reason, a trace of dissatisfaction surfaced in her heart.
Why is it only 36?
Even though the text clearly suggested she could increase it using reading points—
Kushida Kikyo had no intention of using that method.
Instead, she shifted her body slightly.
Her slender fingers tightened against the already wrinkled shirt.
As her weight leaned back, her hands slid upward, then steadied her posture.
Wrapping her arms around his neck, she met his gaze and gently parted her lips.
"Look at me."
"…" Asakura Tōru gave a silent smile.
Then lowered his head without hesitation.
A moist, lingering sensation spread.
At first, it was just a light, fleeting touch—
But it didn't stop there.
Their movements grew less restrained.
Their breaths tangled together, heavy and uneven.
The girl's eyes gradually lost focus.
Once the idea of "just a brief touch" was forgotten—
Someone began to indulge.
"…"
Kushida Kikyo reopened the diary.
Her eyes quickly scanned down the page, locking onto what she wanted to see.
Soon—
The number beside "Kissing" had increased by one.
[Kissing: 37 (The girl's movements are still slightly clumsy)]
A faint smile curved her lips.
"Again," she said.
37 → 38
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