Conquering Villains and Capturing Targets Is Harder in Real Life than in Games

12: I want to walk home with you, for as long as you'll allow me to.

Madoka stared at her unblinkingly. "You know where I live?"

Shizuka froze. Well-played me, that didn't sound creepy at all...

Since she had already outed herself, Shizuka decided to simply confess her sins. "You remember how my friends followed you around a while back?"

A look of comprehension flashed by Madoka's face. "Ah, so they even found out where I lived."

"Yeah...Sorry about that again." Shizuka cleared her throat affectedly. "Anyways, my point was, we live too far apart to sensibly go to and from school together."

Madoka hung his head. "Oh. Is it impossible after all?"

Here comes the wounded puppy act...why is it so freaking effective against me?

Shizuka sighed with resignation. "It's not impossible. Theoretically, one of us could just walk the other home and then swing back around again-"

"Let's do that then! I'll walk you home and then walk back by myself."

"Wouldn't that be too much of an inconvenience for you? You'd be making a trip that's more than twice as long as the distance it takes you to get to school. Once or twice might be fine, but I couldn't let you do that regularly."

Madoka gazed at Shizuka determinedly. "I want to. It wouldn't be an inconvenience to me. I want to walk home with you, for as long as you'll allow me to stay by your side."

Shizuka was conflicted. What Madoka was offering to do was so burdensome to himself that she knew the right thing to do was refuse but when he said lines like that with that face of his how could anyone turn him down?

"Yoshino-san, will you agree?"

"...If you're that insistent on it then, fine. I will agree."

"So then what about walking to school together? You'll agree to that as well, right?"

"Walking to school together is impossible." Shizuka might've given in once but she still had a bottom line.

"But why? Walking you to school is not that much different than walking you home," he insisted.

"It's completely different!" she emphasized. "In the morning you don't have enough time to get all the way to my house from your house and then backtrack to school."

"But-"

"This discussion is over." She steeled her heart and turned her head away as to avoid the brunt of Madoka's wounded puppy power.

"I could-"

"You said, as my boyfriend, it's your right and duty to worry for me, right? Then, don't I, as your girlfriend, have the right and duty to worry for you? How do you think I'd feel if I made you trek that far just to get me to school and back? Do you think of me as a selfish person, Semi-san?" When she finished speaking, Shizuka lowered her head, adjusted her expression, and became the epitome of a sorrowful and frail maiden who was misunderstood by the world.

"I don't think of you as selfish person, Yoshino-san. Really!"

Shizuka couldn't see Madoka's reaction but she could tell that he was panicking from the tone of his voice alone. "Then, you won't insist on walking together to school anymore?"

Madoka's shoulders slumped then after a beat he acquiesced, "Okay, I won't..."

Once she heard the words that she had been waiting to hear, Shizuka popped up and rewarded Madoka with a faint smile. Heh, so this act is effective even on the school's number one! I guess it shouldn't be that surprising. I did spend a lot of time perfecting it over the years. Take that, Semi Madoka! I may be easily swayed by your wounded puppy act but I have a pouty act of my own too!