Eriri's twin-tail assault ceased abruptly as she lunged forward, reaching for the smartphone placed on the edge of the opposite table.
However, as if he had anticipated her move, Yazuki snatched the phone away before she could grab it. Eriri glared at him with a murderous look.
"You… you shameless bastard! I never thought you were so cunning!"
Back when they used to play together and indulge in their chuunibyou antics, everything had been so pure and fun. Eriri never expected that Yazuki would have such a hidden side.
"No, no, you're falsely accusing me again. I was just a kid back then. How could I possibly have done something like that?"
Yazuki waved his index finger at her with a pure, innocent expression, though his words carried a certain ambiguity.
The next second, he swiftly pulled back his hand just as Eriri lunged forward to bite him. Her sharp canine tooth gleamed as she snapped at the air, her twin-tails standing on end like an angry puppy's tail.
"You've got more, don't you?"
Suppressing her near-exploding fury, Eriri growled. She didn't just suspect—she was certain that Yazuki still had some humiliating audio recordings of her.
And judging by the smirk forming at the corner of Yazuki's lips, her guess had been right on the mark.
"Heh heh—"
Eriri's eerie laughter sent shivers down Megumi's spine. Her twin-tail ribbons inexplicably came undone, making her disheveled hair resemble a horror movie ghost.
"Calm down. I didn't secretly record anything. It was Uncle Spencer who shared them with me."
Yazuki, sweating slightly, quickly shifted the blame onto the real culprit, hoping to avoid Eriri's impending wrath.
At this moment, it seemed entirely possible that Eriri would transform into a crazed murderer and silence him permanently—especially since she was now holding two sharp forks.
"Wha? Dad gave them to you? How could—"
Eriri started to deny it, but then her words trailed off. Her lips opened and closed like a fish out of water before she fell into stunned silence.
Considering how unreliable her father was, it actually did seem possible.
The next second, she took out her phone and dialed, pressing the buttons with such force that even Yazuki could feel the phone crying out in protest.
"Eriri, do you miss Dad that—"
The call was answered almost instantly, making Eriri wonder if her diplomat father was even doing his job properly.
"Miss your head! Explain something to me clearly, Father!!!"
Eriri immediately interrupted.
Normally, she called him "Dad," but whenever she used such a respectful title, it meant she was really angry—super angry.
"That idiot Yazuki took out... He said you shared it with him?"
After her questioning, there was silence on the other end. But Eriri could almost picture her father, drenched in cold sweat, through the phone's radio waves.
"Ah? Hmm? Hey, what's going on? The signal seems to be acting up— beep beep"
Just before the call ended, she vaguely heard something like "That brat actually sold me out!"
"That damn old man, whose side is he even on?"
Eriri's grip tightened on her phone, nearly crushing it, as veins bulged on her forehead.
Sometimes, she wondered if she was actually adopted, and Yazuki was the real child. Otherwise, why would her own father leak her private matters to another guy? What the hell was he thinking?
"Delete it!"
"Sure~"
Yazuki's quick agreement made Eriri think she had misheard. But when she saw the mischievous smirk on his face, she was certain there was a catch. She knew this bastard too well.
"All you have to do is call me 'Yazuki Onii-chan~'"
That was Yazuki's condition. It wasn't that he was a sis-con, he simply wanted to mess with Eriri.
In fact, there was a time when Eriri used to call him that affectionately. Yazuki fondly remembered the innocent Eriri from back then. Now, she was anything but cute.
Hearing this, Eriri's eye twitched, and the veins on her forehead throbbed as she gritted her pearly white teeth, her sharp little canine exposed.
Her sakura-colored lips trembled slightly as she hesitated. This annoying guy was only born a minute before her.
Should she say it or not?
It wasn't that she doubted his word—if there was one thing Yazuki was good at, it was keeping his promises. If he made a deal, he would follow through.
That's why she was torn.
Calling this bastard Onii-chan would be beyond humiliating. He would definitely get so full of himself that he'd float away into the sky.
So, should she say it or not?
If she refused, who knew how much more blackmail material he had on her? The next time they argued, he could just pull something out and completely humiliate her.
Biting her lip, Eriri was utterly unwilling, but in the end, she opened her mouth.
"Y-Yazuki O-Onii-chan~"
Ahhh! Her shame meter was about to explode. Her face turned red like a boiled octopus, and she felt the urge to kill someone.
"Hah? Are you a mosquito? No, even a mosquito is louder than that."
Yazuki casually dug his ear. He hadn't expected her to say it loudly, but this was way too quiet.
Wait... Why did being called that suddenly make his heart race? No, no, don't let this girl fool you!
Eriri shot him a murderous glare as if he was deliberately making things difficult for her, making it seem like he wouldn't keep his promise.
Then, her delicate shoulders trembled slightly. Her beautiful blue eyes, like deep lakes, started to well up with tears. Her small nose twitched as she bit her lip, exposing her little canine, trembling as if she was on the verge of crying—looking both frustrated and wronged.
Wasn't this just an obvious about to cry expression? Yazuki scratched his head in frustration.
"Alright, fine. You win. I'll delete it right now."
He let out a reluctant sigh and held up his phone for Eriri to see, deleting the downloaded files in front of her. Then, he logged into his personal cloud server and found the file named [The Chuunibyou Declaration of the Blonde Defeated Dog] before clicking delete—though somewhat regretfully.
Honestly, even if Eriri denied it, with her acting skills, no one would believe she ever had a chuunibyou phase.
Before he could press delete, Eriri snatched his phone. She then took out her own phone and shared the folder's contents with herself, seemingly to keep it as evidence—or maybe just to verify whether it was real.
After confirming, she pressed delete for him. But as if that wasn't enough, worried that he might have backed it up, she executed a full factory reset on his phone before he could stop her.
———
Meanwhile, a certain girl named Megumi Kato remained completely calm, quietly enjoying her snacks.
She hadn't ignored them; rather, their argument was so intense that she had been entirely forgotten.
In fact, it was thanks to Megumi focusing on her food that the table's snacks and drinks hadn't been knocked over. She had subtly moved them aside, giving the two more space.
"Hmm?"
Noticing Yazuki looking at her, Megumi tilted her head slightly, giving him a look that said, "Are you two finally done fighting?"
"Megumi, I know you think I'm a chuunibyou, but someday I'll prove myself to you, and then you'll have to make your choice."