Ding dong!

  The door opened within a minute of the doorbell ringing.

  Standing there was Ren, dressed casually.

  "…"

  His eyes nded on Ran, and for a brief moment, he hesitated.

  Then he g Sonoko and immediately uood.

  "I see."

  "I figured you might have gotten the diary too, Ran. I thought you'd find a time after school to talk to me, like Shinomiya and the others did."

  "I didn't expect you to e on the weekend… and bring Suzuki along."

  "I'm very sorry, Amamiya."

  Standing outside the door, Ran bowed deeply in apology.

  "I wasn't sure how to approach you alone, so I asked Sonoko to e with me."

  "…You don't o apologize for that."

  Ren waved it off.

  "Holy, I was already feeling a bit awkward about being dragged into a sudden date with Suzuki."

  "If anything, this actually works out better."

  "I don't think there'll be as many awkward silenow."

  He was nothing if nmatid just knowing the atmosphere wouldn't be tense was already a relief.

  "e inside first."

  "There are some things we shouldn't be discussing out here."

  "Thank you."

  Ra a little lighter after hearing that.

  But just as she stepped forward, Sonoko grabbed Amamiya's wrist.

  "Hold it right there, Amamiya—our date isn't ending like this."

  "…Huh?"

  He looked at her in fusion.

  "Suzuki, you still want to go on a date?"

  "Of course!"

  She flipped her hair dramatically.

  "I brought Ran along because she needed backup, not because I was g my date."

  "I just decided to move the time around a little."

  Sonoko was pletely fident.

  She loved dating, and her reasoning was straightforward, she just liked handsome guys.

  Especially the ones with a hidden charm.

  "…"

  For a moment, Ren eechless.

  "This is the first time I've ever heard a girl talk about dating this fidently."

  "Suzuki, I really don't have any experieing."

  "Heh~ Then start building that experienow."

  Sonoko grinned.

  "To be clear, I wao date you because you're seriously good-looking."

  "You're a handsome guy with a high hidden score."

  "Handsome…?"

  Ren's expression became a little stiff.

  He had hought of himself as anything special in the looks department.

  This was the first time a girl had said something like that to him.

  And Sonoko, who was extremely sharp-eyed, immediately noticed something.

  "Whoa! Your ears are turning red."

  She gasped in delight.

  "You really have no experience dealing with girls, do you?"

  "So cute~"

  Her teasing only made Ren's embarrassment worse.

  His ears were pletely red now.

  Such a rea was rare in a guy.

  Especially oh his level of looks.

  A boy like him—good-looking and totally inexperienced with girls?

  If left alone, he'd definitely get snatched up by some random girl with bad iions.

  "…"

  Ren couldn't hahis.

  He had no idea how to respond.

  Or rather, he wasn't used to dealing with girls who were this forward.

  "Just… just e inside first."

  Breaking free from Sonoko's grasp, he quickly fled inside.

  Sonoko, still standing at the entrance, smiled even brighter.

  "Hmm~ Su adorable rea~"

  "Doesn't seem like he's been influenced by any bad women outside."

  "A boy this cute and this handsome should be left to me."

  "…So you're the bad woman outside, huh?"

  Ran couldn't help but ent.

  She had overheard Sonoko's mumbling clearly.

  To be ho, she really didn't want to hear Sonoko's flirty rambling.

  But she had to admit…

  Ren's rea was kind of surprising.

  "He really has no experie all, huh?"

  If that was the case, she had to agree with Sonoko.

  Ren's rea was… adorable.

  He had no clue how to respond to a girl who was actually flirting with him.

  Or maybe…

  He just wasn't used to dealing with someone as direct as Sonoko.

  The two of them stepped inside, slipping on a pair of indoor slippers from the entrance.

  The air ditionihe room aking it a fortable temperature.

  Onside, they took off their coats.

  Ren, who had regained his posure, walked over with two gsses of water.

  "Thanks."

  Both girls took a gss and sat down.

  "You came today to talk about the diary, right?"

  "Yes."

  At the mention of the diary, both Ran and Sonoko turned serious.

  It was their main reason for ing, and there were a lot of questions they o clear up.

  "To be ho, I don't know that much about the diary either."

  "It appeared a year ago, but at the time, I was more worried about how it might affect my life. So I didn't start using it right away."

  "I only started properly rec my daily life retly."

  He leaned back slightly.

  "Also, the diary has rules."

  "But it doesn't tell you what they are, you have to figure them out on your own."

  "Of course, the diary also gives certain bes."

  "Ran, you should have noticed that by now."

  "Yeah."

  Ran nodded.

  The title she received—Imperial Sakura Fang—had already made a huge difference.

  Her appetite had increased massively, and her digestive abilities had strengtheo match.

  Now, she could eat as much as she wanted without aive effects.

  As for the promised boosts to her strength, endurance, and explosive power, those would take loo ma.

  From what she had gathered, her body ime to absorb all the extra energy she was ing.

  This wasn't something that could happen ht.

  "The way the diary works, you have to be mindful of its rules."

  "If you try to force things offli won't reward you."

  "In fact, the diary might punish you instead."

  "So if you want to get more bes, you have to uand its rules."

  "Then... that means you 't exploit loopholes?"

  "Exactly."

  "If you try to game the system, you'll get nothing."