Time Warden's Popular Phase

Chapter 1: Don't Toy With Me, Miss Irys

Ding dong!

"Irys, it's me!"

Kronii rang the doorbell of Irys' home. Within seconds, she heard hurried footsteps behind the door. Soon after, the door opened, revealing an excited girl with long, reddish-pink hair.

"Hi, Kronii!" Irys greeted Kronii with her usual cheeriness.

Unable to fight off her intrusive thoughts, Kronii decided to crack a joke at Irys. She could barely hide her smirk as she replied, "Hi-rys! I'm here-rys!"

"Stop that!!!"

"Ahahahaha!"

Kronii couldn't help but laugh after receiving the response that she was expecting. Irys pouted in response to Kronii's laughter.

"Hmm, I wonder who it was that asked for my help? How odd, suddenly I don't feel like helping them anymore." Irys thought out loud as she pretended to close the door on Kronii.

"Waitwaitwait, I was just kidding! You wouldn't do that to your good friend, right?" Kronii pleaded while holding the door open. She didn't want to miss her chance to get some help with her cover.

"I don't know Kronii, that apology doesn't feel that heartfelt to me." Irys responded with a smug grin on her face. She seemed intent on getting even with Kronii for making fun of her.

"I'm sorry, Irys! I won't do that again, promise!" Kronii begged even more as she held Irys' hands and looked at her with puppy eyes.

Taken aback by Kronii's surprise attack, Irys pulled back her hands quickly. She looked away from Kronii as she opened the door again. "W-Well, I guess I'll let you off the hook if you're being that sincere! Come on in!"

"Really? Thanks, Irys! Excuse me~" Kronii happily walked into Irys' home after expressing her gratitude.

'Damn, I'm good.'

Of course, her thoughts were completely different from the words that came out of her mouth.

"..."

Irys only stared blankly at her hand. She slowly held her hand, as if reliving Kronii's touch.

"Irys, where's your recording room? You better answer before I start opening doors!"

Kronii's words snapped Irys out of her imagination. Her face had reddened slightly after realizing what she'd done. She brushed it off in a panic as she answered Kronii.

"H-Hang on, I'll be right there!" Irys shouted before locking the door behind her.

Irys began talking with Kronii to push away her embarrassment, "A-Anyway, are you feeling alright enough to practice today? I thought you'd drop by the next day instead."

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Kronii asked in confusion.

"I just thought you wouldn't feel well enough today since you drank like crazy yesterday."

"Cough!"

Kronii accidentally choked on her own breath after hearing Irys' words. She didn't expect Irys to bring up the topic that she just managed to forget.

"H-H-How did you know about that?" Kronii stammered out in disbelief while her face went pale in shock.

A smile grew on Irys' face as she began explaining, "It would be harder to find someone who didn't know about it with how loud you were yesterday. Especially the part when you vomit-"

"Stopppp!!!! Don't talk about it anymore!!!!" Kronii yelled out in shame while burying her face in her hands. Knowing that everyone had seen her embarrassing display during the gathering was too much for her.