After the culture festival was over, Ishi was hoping that life would return to some semblance of normality for the remainder of his final year of high school. As fate would have it, the literal next day had already given him something to complain about.

“So, about that date I got with Otoya.” Rinse asked him as they reached their first break. “Is it really tomorrow?” She was hoping that there would at least be some time before she would have to deal with it. However, given the schedules of her idol career and his as a high school boy. This was the only available time that they could find that was relatively soon. Especially since she would be busy with what would be coming up during the festival.

“I’m sorry, but that’s the best we can all do.” He replied. “Can’t you just try and survive for one day? I already promised I’ll do whatever you want if that makes you feel better.” Though whatever her wish was going to be, Ishi wasn’t looking forward to it.

“I was actually thinking of cashing it in now.” She wanted more time to ask this of him, mainly because she wasn’t certain how he’d react to her request. “You see, I don’t want to go on a solo date with your friend.”

“Do you really need a babysitter?” He asked, knowing that Otoya would never attempt to wrong her in any manner. “He’s weird, but he’s a good guy.”

“No. I meant that I want you to go on a double date with us.” Somehow the words ‘double date’ had really gotten into his conscious ever since her arrival. Though he never dreamed that she would be the one suggesting it while also dating his best friend.

“Fine, then I’ll-”

“And you can’t go with Youna.” That was a problem for him. At least with that girl, he’d have something to talk about. Though now that she brought up the limiting factor, Ishi was certain what she wanted out of this favor. This girl wanted to see how he’d react to trying to romance a stranger. What was going on now, was this idol really just testing him?

“You really know how to make things the most inconvenient for me.” He quipped as he pulled out his phone. If he couldn’t ask the girl sitting a mere couple of desks in front of him, then he’d simply check other contacts he had. His extra searching netted him a grand total of… One other girl he was acquainted with. That being the girl over in the next class. “Guess that leaves me with Kamagata.”

“So you want to keep it comfortable for yourself?” Rinse took a mental note of that. Maybe he was the type to keep things in his comfort zone so he’d always have an advantage.

“I want to actually find a date in time for tomorrow.” The boy countered, as he was limited in options that would actually lead to making her dealine. When he said date, everyone else in class turned their heads to listen into their conversation.

“Did Hirose just say date?” Someone said.

“Wait, as in, he’s asking someone out?” Another person spoke up. This caused quite a stir among their classmates as this was major news.

“Who do you have a crush on!?” Now people were beginning to bother him once more. Ishi didn’t think to make this conversation private, since it wasn’t a big deal for him. As it turned out, this was a huge deal for everyone that had known of him for years now.

“Ah, well you see. He just doesn’t want to be left out because his best friend’s got a date with Rinse.” Otoya only added more fuel to the fire with his words. Most of the boys were aware of the promise that Ishi had made for him. On the other hand, the girls were rather shocked that this boy was going to be Rinse’s first date.

“Eh? But why him?” One of them asked.

“Yeah, you could totally do better than that loser.” Ryugi had to include herself into this drama, as this was ripe for a person like her. “His best friend is Ishi, so that should tell you everything you need to know about him.” The idol attempted to calm the crowd as she explained to them that this was a deal made and she was keeping up her end of the bargain. Though she didn’t agree to it at first, the girl was certainly going to be using it to her advantage.

“Whatever, this doesn’t really concern any of you.” Ishi got irritated with the people surrounding them and got up from his desk. “I’ll be right back.” It was obvious to everyone that he was going to be making his move. So instead of leaving him alone, they all followed him. “Can you all just leave me alone!?”

The classroom was now empty save for one person. That one individual being none other than the classroom representative, Youna. She simply sat at her seat with a frozen expression, staring off into space.

“He’s…” She started to speak to herself, trying to regain some semblance of consciousness. “Asking someone out?” The worst part of it, that it wasn’t her. The girls hands had a slight tremble and her heart sank upon the bitter realization. This wasn’t what she wanted to hear today. Not at all.

Was she too late to express her feelings? Sure, her pace was slower than that of a snails, but it was moving along fine for her. Youna thought that for certain she had more time. After all, he had been a boy that didn’t bother to chase girls throughout all the years she knew him. What she thought she knew about him, was she wrong all along?

Meanwhile, Ishi had led the others to the classroom next to theirs. For that should be where his target was sitting at. As expected, there Chinae was, at her desk all alone with no one to talk to. She had been sitting at her desk bored, simply waiting for the break to be over so they could get back to class. Then once that was over, she could leave the confines of school and live her life elsewhere. To fill out the time, she was wearing her headphones to listen in on some music from her phone.

Her day took an abrupt change as she witnessed Ishi entering the classroom. Along with him, there were dozens of students now hanging just outside the door peering inside. All eyes landed on her, so she knew that somehow she was involved in this stupid business.

“Don’t tell me I’m in trouble.” She commented as he stopped right in front of her desk. “Or are they forcing you to do something dumb?”

“Will you go out on a date with me?” He asked with no hesitation, and without a single ounce of setting himself up. The boy just went and asked her without any context. “Tomorrow afternoon?”

“What?” At first, she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. There was no way that Ishi Hirose just asked her of all people out on a date. “Why?”

“Well you see…” He turned his head over to the crowd of people by the door. Whose actions also caused the rest of Chinae’s classmates to now take interest in this debacle. “Don’t you all have better things to do with your lives?” He first addressed the elephant in the room, which in this case was literally every single person with them at this moment. “You know, most people get some privacy when they ask a girl out.”

“Nothing compared to this, we just gotta watch.” Ryugi responded. She looked like a person watching a movie, the only thing missing was some popcorn. A part of her was interested in seeing him finally ask a girl out, but another part also wanted to him get hit with the harsh stick of rejection.

“Tsk.” He sighed and facepalmed his face in disappointment. If there was ever a next time of him asking anyone out on a date, he was going to make sure it was in a completely private spot. “Anyway, Rinse and Otoya got a date tomorrow because I set them up, but she wants me to join them on a double date.”

“I get it now.” She leaned back into her seat with a smug expression. “And since you’re a loser who’s got almost no friends, I’m the only backup plan you got.”

“I would’ve asked Youna, but Rinse told me not to.” Even if he thought it was a ridiculous restriction, he did say that he would do whatever she wanted him to do as payback for forcing her into this. “So what do you say?”

“What makes you think I’ll say yes?” She responded with a question of her own. Since he was the one in a desperate position, that should leave her with all the power.

“Because, I won that date prize, right?” He countered with his the lone trick up his sleeve. Chinae wasn’t his choice simply because she was the only option. He also was aware of the one thing that he gained during the culture festival. “Let’s just say that I’m cashing it in now.” Even if they agreed not to have to honor it, that didn’t mean the offer wasn’t still on the table.

“That’s blackmail.” It kind of wasn’t, especially not with the dirt he actually held over her. “But fine, I guess I can give you what you’re owed.” She accepted to go out with him just this once. Her acceptance lead to multiple audible gasps from the audience they had garnered. Most of them weren’t expecting Chinae, the girl whose glare would freeze a man to death, to be fine with going out with Ishi. While it admittedly was due to his earned reward, it still came as a shock.

“Great.” He replied. For a boy that just asked a girl out for the first time in his life, he had no showings of anxiety. Even though his entire class was watching him do it. “We already have our contacts, so I’ll just message you where to meet tomorrow.”