[Another joke that he should be used to, yet can't shake off as easily as he'd like. "Why, are you volunteering?" is on the tip of his tongue, as it always is, though he never brings himself to say it. Letting those words rolls off his tongue, no matter how flippant he could make them sound, would be crossing a line that Tooru isn't ready to even admit is there yet.]

Now, that isn't nice. [Tooru peers over the top of his menu, falling into a familiar teasing tone.] Just because it annoys you when the cute girls flock to me doesn't mean you should insult them like that.

[There, nice and simple. Side-stepping the joke and bringing up his popularity with the girls at the same time--Tooru feels both relieved and sick at how easily these little misdirections come to him now.]