Love Rivalry Strikes Back

After the three of them got off the Ferris wheel, they planned to walk back to the meeting place through the original path.

Fumino and Rizu walked ahead, chatting about the amusement park.

Most of it was Fumino's urging to talk, and Rizu only responded with a few words. Only Fumino cared about the atmosphere and didn't want their trio's relationship to seem like it was only after a big fight.

It seemed like they were going through an awkward moment. Although Rizu didn't respond much, she still didn't talk to Shinichi behind her, and she didn't even want to look at him.

Everything seemed to be back to the beginning. The amusement park date didn't lead them anywhere.

The only thing that changed was the slightly red eyes of the girls and Shinichi's cheeks, slightly red from being slapped.

On top of the Ferris wheel, Shinichi had already said everything he could, so he didn't interfere in their conversation, just silently following from behind.

They quickly walked back to the amusement park entrance, but this time, Shinichi faintly heard a ringing bell.

"Fumino, your phone." He pointed to Fumino's bag hanging on her shoulder.

Fumino turned around and took her phone out of her bag.

"Thank you..." This small thank you made Shinichi unable to hold back a laugh.

Fumino remained Fumino; even though she was awkward, she remained very polite, making people feel fond of her.

"Who's calling... oh, Kashima-san? And there are so many calls?!" Fumino looked at the phone screen and exclaimed in surprise. She quickly answered the phone and asked with concern.

"Hello, Kashima-san? What's wrong? Do you have a problem?"

"Phew, finally connected!"

Fumino seemed to intentionally make the call louder, and Shinichi could hear what Kashima was saying. She might be doing it on purpose so she wouldn't have to explain to him later and avoid talking to him.

"Princess Furuhashi, have you left the amusement park now? Honestly, the phone couldn't connect, which was quite worrying!"

"S-Sorry, because something happened..." Fumino said awkwardly; she couldn't say that she was too worried to notice her phone ringing.

Kashima seemed very worried and eager to complain. She quickly changed her tone and spoke seriously.

"The Quintuplets left the viewing area very early and directly targeted the amusement park, and they moved very fast. I tried to mislead them for the second time, but they almost caught my tail. I have to retreat now to avoid revealing the existence of the Thorn Club."

Fumino widened her eyes and unconsciously looked around.

"This means..."

"You have to meet them—"

Before she finished speaking, Fumino focused her gaze, then sighed helplessly.

"I've already met them... Thank you for your hard work, Kashima-san. And everyone from the Thorn Club too. I want to thank them for me."

After speaking, she hung up the phone and put it back in her bag.

In front of them, five well-built and similarly looking girls, as if they were beautiful dolls made in the same factory, attention-grabbing girls, caught sight of the three of them and immediately walked over.

The leader was not Nino but Yotsuba, who was the fastest runner.

"Shinichi-san! Fumino and Rizu are also here..." She waved her hand and quickly approached.

"I've been looking for you for a long time. How was the amusement park?"

Fumino understood that there would be no irony in Yotsuba's words, so she answered with a smile.

"So much fun! Although I didn't get a chance to ride the scariest Black Dragon, falling from a height, the regular roller coaster, and others were still very satisfying."

"Really? That's also—"

"So good, I envy you~" Nino wiped sweat from her forehead and showed a friendly smile, but her tone contained anger.

"Unlike us, we didn't enjoy anything all day. We were chased by overly enthusiastic students or went looking for missing student council members without any reason... Haha, my weight dropped two kilograms from running."

"It would be nice to be so efficient." Itsuki sighed and was too lazy to pay attention to Nino, who always put her in danger. She first smiled at Shinichi, then looked at Fumino with a slightly serious expression.

"Fumino, did you arrange those people?"

Fumino shook her head: "I don't know how enthusiastic those students were, but I did ask someone to take you away so you wouldn't find our whereabouts."

Seeing her admitting it openly without any psychological burden, Nino immediately exploded: "Huh?! How dare you say that—"

"Okay, okay, calm down~" Ichika reached out from behind and caught Nino, who was about to rush towards Fumino.

"After running like this all day, I'm almost exhausted and turned into a slime puddle. How do you still have the energy to argue with others?"

"I don't want to argue; I just want a theory..."

"Theory is just theory, calm down~" She winked and smiled, then turned to Fumino and the others and said, "The meeting time is about to come; how about we talk while walking?"

"Or do you still want to run away from us? If that's the case, I might have to consider unleashing Yotsuba's full power~"

Yotsuba nodded seriously, clenching her fists in front of her chest.

Nino gradually calmed down and looked at Fumino with an unhappy expression.

"Since you said that, let's go together." Fumino casually smiled and walked towards the exit first.

With the addition of the Quintuplets, the atmosphere of the three-member group suddenly became heavier.

At a certain point, Miku, who had been silent from the beginning, quietly sneaked to Shinichi's side.

"Shinichi..."

She murmured, then leaned on Shinichi's shoulder.

But before that, a small head appeared between the two of them, strongly blocking her body from moving past.

"Miku-san, your sister is in front; why don't you go and join them?" Rizu stared straight ahead and spoke with a stiff tone.

Feeling a bit of regret in her heart, Miku pushed the thick bangs in front of her eyes, and gently looked at her with a pair of blue eyes: "Ogata-san, your friend is also in front; why don't you go?"

Rizu stopped. She wasn't good at talking and chose to look back. Her eyes met Miku's, refusing to admit defeat.

Miku didn't run away and stared back.

The two expressionless girls, silently staring at each other, ignoring Shinichi beside them.

Just when Shinichi felt a bit embarrassed and tried to mediate, both of them reached for each other's wrists at the same time, like a close pair of friends, and pulled each other forward.

"Let's go."

"Let's go."

In these two short words, there was a message that only they could understand. They quickened their pace and followed the dignified atmosphere ahead.

Only Shinichi was left, looking back at the girls with a helpless expression.

△

The front part of the team consisted of eight people.

Although Nino had many things she wanted to convey to Fumino "properly." after being persuaded by Ichika and calming herself, she managed to show a smile and maintain a good attitude while speaking.

"It's almost five o'clock. Have your harsh words become a reality? Oh, it seems not yet."

As she spoke, she felt strange and angry.

She was the most anxious and restless person in the "Shinichi Pursuit Team."

For some reason, Fumino said, "I'll ask him to tell you; I've already been on a date with those two. I sincerely apologize for everything in the past, and I hope we can still be good friends in the future."

When Fumino said this, Nino felt she would really do such a thing.

Maybe because the two of them started holding grudges against each other early on?

For Nino, Fumino was undoubtedly the earliest, biggest, and most threatening love rival, no matter how obsessed someone could be.

But at the same time, she couldn't truly hate someone else and even felt a bit guilty. She said that love and war should not be separated, but when she thought about it carefully, she was filled with regret.

Throughout the afternoon, Nino was entangled and complicated, spent in an emotional battle.

"Nino, don't say that..." Yotsuba beside her tried to calm the stormy atmosphere. "What Fumino said was just angry words. Moreover, if you think about it from another perspective, if you encountered something like this, wouldn't you also be very angry? I'm glad they were able to hold back until now..."

"True... But!" Nino crossed her arms, slightly puffed her cheeks, muttered reluctantly, and pretended to huff as if feeling cold.

"You haven't forgotten, right? She was the one who first said that we shouldn't be friends but love rivals. Seeing my love rival express grand words but achieve nothing, it feels like there's no progress. Should I congratulate happily?"

"Nino, you can't let the conversation continue like this." Itsuki sighed helplessly and said to Ichika, "Ichika, please control Nino."

"Okay, no problem~" Ichika replied lightly while hugging Nino's arm and smiling at Itsuki, "Itsuki-chan, it's up to you and Yotsuba to negotiate."