Chapter 12: Contact, Kitatsuji-san

After that, the protagonist’s consciousness (…?) safely returned, so we headed—just as planned—to the set-meal restaurant at the edge of the shopping district. We took a few breaks along the way. That’s when something became clear: apparently, if Takahiro gets a full, unobstructed view of me (when I’m wearing the ribbon), he simply can’t handle it.

So when we sat down, the arrangement naturally ended up being me and Takahiro on one side, with Kaimori-chan sitting across from us.

…But seriously, if he’s like this, he’ll never be able to go on a date with Shione-chan for the rest of his life… Actually, maybe that’s fine. Thanks, Takahiro. If you ever came after me like that, I’d stay in this version of myself forever starting that very day. So please, I’m begging you—stay exactly the way you are for the rest of your life.

Anyway, we managed to obtain some useful information, so once we got acquainted with Kitatsuji-san, today’s mission would basically be complete.

…but there was one thing bothering me.

“…The more I think about it, the stranger it seems…”

"What are you talking about now? We came all the way here—what’s strange about it?"

Still staring seriously at the menu, Kaimori-chan replied half-heartedly.

…Wait, didn’t you just order the fried chicken set with extra-large rice? You’re still eating? As always, your appetite is incredible.

While picking at my small plate of fried rice, I decided to share the question that had occurred to me earlier. In the game, you could always meet Kitatsuji-san whenever you came here, but…

"Kitatsuji-san’s in the university kyudo club, right? But she’s always here no matter when you come. Isn’t that weird? What about her club activities?"

"How many times have you even come here, exactly?"

"Today’s my first time actually coming here, but…"

"…Ah. I see. I won’t ask anything more."

"It’s fine. Just leave everything to me."

Don’t look at me with such cold eyes, Kaimori-chan. Sure, today’s my first time here in this world—but in the game, there were times when I ate all three meals here. Though when you think about it, that’s kind of suspicious. If I were the owner, someone like that wouldn’t be a regular customer—they’d be on my watch list.

Soon, the additional dishes Kaimori-chan and Takahiro had ordered were brought to the table. They looked delicious, steam rising from each plate.

When the older woman who brought the food came over, I spoke to her. In the game she never had a character portrait, so I wasn’t completely sure—but she was probably Kitatsuji-san’s mother. Her voice sounded vaguely familiar.

"Um… is Erina-san back yet?"

"Oh, are you one of my daughter’s friends? …My, what a cute girl! Though you look a little young… W-what kind of relationship do you have?"

Good, good. At least that confirms this is definitely Kitatsuji-san’s shop. Well, it’s technically my first time coming here in this world too. Right—what kind of relationship do we have, huh?

"…A senior acquaintance introduced me to this place. That person happens to be Erina-san’s junior."

In the game, a senior does introduce the shop to you, so it wasn’t exactly a lie. But while I spoke smoothly, Kaimori-chan across from me narrowed her eyes suspiciously, like she was thinking, This person is lying again…

I swear it’s true.

However, when I asked about her, Kitatsuji-san’s mother looked a little troubled.

"Oh dear… Erina’s at club practice right now, so she probably won’t be back for a while."

"Thank you. We’ll wait a bit—if we can meet her, we’ll say hello before we leave."

After watching Kitatsuji-san’s mother walk away, I turned my gaze toward Kaimori-chan. She looked like she had something to say, so I gave her a quick wink.

“…See? She’s not here.”

"Don’t give me that ‘see?’ Don’t you dare look so smug. Then why did we come at this time? We could’ve just come later."

"…Ugh… Because the food here is delicious… I wanted to introduce it to you two as soon as possible…"

Kaimori-chan seemed unusually strict today, so to express my sorrow, I hung my head and covered my face with my hands.

Then I peeked through my fingers.

…glance.

But unbelievably, Kaimori-chan was too busy stirring her natto to even look at me anymore.

That hurt.

"Shione… sob… I’m just happy about how you feel…"

Hey, protagonist, don’t cry. If you cry too, the two of us will just look like a pair of weird customers sitting in a diner and crying together.

And at least react, Kaimori-chan.

"If Shione-senpai hadn’t started this by saying ‘something feels strange,’ I probably would’ve taken your side honestly…"

But do you really have to stare at the natto so intensely while stirring it? You’re definitely mixing that too much. Do you hate talking to me that much? Don’t even want to look at me? That would actually make me pretty sad.

"Ugh… Kaimori-chan’s so cold… Earlier you passionately grabbed my hand… it’s lonely…"

"W-W-WHAT are you suddenly saying!?"

Ah—Kaimori-chan’s chopsticks stopped. And her face turned bright red.

Yes! Feels like a small victory. I had successfully defeated that formidable enemy…

Natto.

While I trembled with emotion, the protagonist sitting next to me started trembling even more than I was—and for some reason his face turned bright red too.

"Kaimori, you—you…!"

"Agh, this is exactly why Ryuzoji-senpai acts like this! And besides, you’re the one who grabbed my hand, Shione-senpai!!"

"W-What!? What did you say!?"

Either way he’s shocked, huh. Your life is full of landmines, man.

While we were deepening our friendship like this, we suddenly heard a bang as a door opened in the kitchen.

"Oh, Erina, welcome back. There’s a cute customer here to see you. Look—the one sitting at the front of that table."

"…A customer? Who?"

After that exchange from the back, Kitatsuji-san appeared from the kitchen.

Long brown hair with loose waves. Sharp eyes. A well-proportioned figure with noticeable curves. She wore a black one-piece dress with a checkered stole—an outfit that looked stylish in a casual way.

That was definitely Kitatsuji-san.

But when she looked this way, her eyes widened—and then she immediately ducked back out of sight.

…Huh?

Then we heard hurried noises from the other side.

"Mooom! Mom! There’s some kind of cute creature here! What is that!?"

"She said she came to see you, Erina."

"…………Huh?"

This time, Kitatsuji-san cautiously peeked her head out from the kitchen. Since I happened to be looking that way, our eyes met perfectly.

I gave her a small nod.

As if pulled along by it, she dipped her head too. Then she stared at me carefully again, her expression clearly saying, Wait… who is this?

Well, it is our first meeting.

"Is that Kitatsuji-san? For someone with such a flashy appearance, she seems a little… absent-minded."

Kaimori-chan’s rather blunt comment made me lean over and whisper a warning.

Sure, Kitatsuji-san has her airheaded moments, but generally she’s actually pretty strict.

And when it comes to her, there’s one massive landmine you absolutely have to watch out for.

"If you say something like that she’ll get mad. After all, she considers herself Takamiyagi-senpai’s one and only rival. And if she hears that senpai’s name… she immediately goes full berserker, so be careful."

"Did you say Takamiyagi-san?"

Perhaps Kaimori-chan had simply asked that question without thinking—but the moment the words reached her ears, the expression on Kitatsuji-san’s face, which had been peeking out from behind the wall, changed in an instant into something like a wrathful demon.

…Wow. Human beings can really change their expressions that fast, huh?

But see!? This is exactly what I warned you about!

"Takamiyagi!? You know that guy!? And you still had the nerve to show your face here… you’ve got some guts, I’ll give you that…!"

"W-Whoa… s-she’s coming this way…! What are we supposed to do…? And why is she glaring directly at me…!?"

With her shoulders stiff with anger, Kitatsuji-san marched straight toward Kaimori-chan, shooting daggers at her with her eyes.

At this point, her expression and behavior were absolutely not what you’d expect from someone dealing with customers at her family’s diner.

…But actually, this was a chance.

I sprang to my feet with a loud clatter and stepped in front of Kitatsuji-san before she could reach Kaimori-chan.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the protagonist panicking. Behind me, Kaimori-chan quickly ducked behind her chair.

Kitatsuji-san stomped up to me with loud clack clack footsteps and stopped right in front of me, glaring at me with bloodshot eyes.

But I couldn’t back down here.

I put my hands on my hips, puffed out my chest, and took a deep breath.

"What do you people think you’re doing here!!! Why did you come!?"

"The food was absolutely delicious!! Thank you very much for the meal!!"

"What kind of answer is that!? How dare you show up here!?"

“If I may give my impressions… out of everything I ate today… the shrimp chili was—huff, huff—especially my favorite!!”

“That’s not what I asked!! I asked why you came here!!”

“I will… explain…”

“…Huh? Ah—um… okay. What’s with the sudden drop in energy?”

It wasn’t so much a drop in energy as my lungs and throat already reaching their limit.

It felt like I’d just belted out three songs at full power in karaoke. Apparently Shione-chan’s bronchial system is weak too.

After taking a moment to catch my breath, I continued.

“Takamiyagi-senpai always talked about it. He said there was one person he respected as his only rival—someone named Kitatsuji-san. And that her family’s diner served incredibly delicious food. It was exactly as he described.”

To be clear, he had never said anything like that even once.

…However, in the game, Kitatsuji-san was indeed the only person Takamiyagi-senpai acknowledged because of their club activities.

Though when you put it that way, it mostly just highlights how weird Takamiyagi-senpai is.

Is that guy really capable of functioning in normal society?

As for the latter half, it wasn’t a lie either. When I once came here on a date with Takamiyagi-senpai, he himself said something like that.

I remember it well—because during that visit, this woman kept butting into our conversation constantly.

In the latter half, she came to refill our water about once every three minutes.

If she was that curious, she might as well have just sat down with us.

After hearing the “comment” from Takamiyagi-senpai (allegedly), Kitatsuji-san suddenly started fidgeting awkwardly.

Then she looked down and began playing with her hair.

…Wow. That was easy.

She’s totally just a girl in love with Takamiyagi-senpai.

“H-Hmph… respected, huh…? W-Well, I guess he’s got a cute side after all.”

“Being Takamiyagi-senpai’s rival is amazing! …You’re tall, you’ve got a great figure, and you’re beautiful. I really admire you… I wish I could become someone like you someday, Kitatsuji-san…”

“R-Really? Well, you’re cute too, you know? Actually, what are you even? You’re too cute. Are you some kind of different species?”

“A-Are those compliments?”

“Of course they are. It’s quite an honor, you know—me praising someone this openly. You should feel proud.”

Kitatsuji-san delivered those words with a grand, almost queen-like air.

But honestly, coming from her, that was basically the highest level of praise.

As expected of Shione-chan in her serious mode.

According to Kaimori-chan, her “combat power” is extremely high.

Though when you consider who that combat power is meant for… it’s not exactly something to be happy about.

…Ah, right. While things were going smoothly, I might as well secure permission to come back.

I placed both hands on my chest and looked up at Kitatsuji-san.

This time, I spoke honestly.

Everything we’d eaten today had been high-level dishes. The cooking spirit within me—something like that—felt like it was burning brightly.

“…May I come again sometime? There are still many dishes on the menu that caught my interest.”

“Come whenever you want. That’s up to you.”

“I’m glad… I’ve become a fan of the shrimp chili here.”

When she heard that, Kitatsuji-san’s expression softened for the first time, and she smiled warmly.

Her smile didn’t have the kind of overwhelming presence that could change the entire atmosphere of a place like Takamiyagi-senpai’s did.

But it was a bright, genuine smile that left a strong impression.

The kind of smile that warms your heart just by looking at it.

“What a coincidence. Me too. You’ve got good taste.”

After watching Kitatsuji-san disappear into the kitchen like a passing storm, Kaimori-chan finally peeked out from behind her chair.

Then she hesitantly spoke.

“Um… Shione-senpai, I’m sorry for saying that without thinking.”

“No, actually that worked perfectly. You know how people say kamaitachi operate in groups of three with different roles? It was like that. Kaimori-chan opened the breakthrough, I expanded it, and then Takahiro would go bam and… bam…”

At that point, I stopped speaking.

Then I slowly turned my gaze toward the protagonist sitting beside me.

Kaimori-chan did the same.

…Come to think of it, what exactly were you doing this whole time?

Were you even present here?

“Come to think of it… did Ryuzoji-senpai say anything at all?”

“Honestly, her angry face was way too scary. I couldn’t say anything. That’s the kind of person they must mean when they talk about demons… I thought she was going to bite me…”

Well, sure, that’s understandable.

But still—don’t you like Shione-chan? The girl you like was standing alone in front of that so-called demon. Even if you were scared, that was the moment you should’ve stepped in to protect her.

This guy really is terrible when something unexpected happens…

“I can’t really say much either since I felt the same way… She’s tall and really intimidating. …Shione-senpai, I’m honestly impressed you could argue with her face-to-face like that…”

“Hey, don’t call her that. Kitatsuji-san is actually a really nice person. And she does listen to what people say. …But… ah, right… I forgot to introduce Takahiro…”

Actually, didn’t I forget to introduce myself too?

Right now, in Kitatsuji-san’s mind, I’m probably just “that cute, different species.”

That basically makes me Totoro.

Sure, Shione-chan does look kind of like a small animal, but still.

…Well, I guess I did manage to get acquainted with Kitatsuji-san… maybe?

But wait—did Takahiro just call her a demon?

They say bad first impressions can sometimes be the start of romance, but isn’t this a little too bad?

Will this even be okay?

Anyway, we successfully achieved the goal of “getting acquainted with Kitatsuji-san,” so we left the diner and decided to call it a day.

“Thanks for coming!” one of the staff called out behind us as we stepped outside.

On the way home in the evening twilight, Kaimori-chan shuffled closer to me and quietly whispered as we walked.

“Um… earlier, you stepped in to protect me, right? Thank you very much.”

“I told you to leave it to me. …Though I did mess up a bit…”

After all, the reason she got targeted was because I brought up Takamiyagi-senpai’s name.

Helping her afterward and then letting her thank me would make me sound like one of those scammers who deliberately cause trouble just to “fix” it.

So really, there’s no need to thank me.

Still… not introducing Takahiro properly was a big mistake.

At this pace… we definitely won’t make it in time.

…Won’t make it in time?

In time for what?

Maybe I looked more serious than I realized, because Kaimori-chan peeked at my face with concern when I suddenly fell silent.

“Shione-senpai… are you in some kind of hurry?”

“…Yeah. Maybe.”

Shione-chan had said, “I won’t wait for you that long.”

That was probably the truth.

But when she told me, “Catch up to me,” I honestly had no idea what I was supposed to do.

If I keep doing what I’m doing now… will that really be enough?

Even if I say I’ll search for her—where would I even start looking?

Yeah… I might need to think about this more carefully.

“If there’s something you want to talk about, I can listen. Don’t try to deal with it alone.”

“Thanks… I might organize my thoughts a bit more and ask you about it later.”

“What about making cookies today?”

“Maybe not today… Could we do it tomorrow instead? I’d like to try the cookies you make, Kaimori-chan. I’m curious about the recipe too.”

“Oh, then I’ll write the recipe down and bring it with me. See you tomorrow, then.”

“…Hmm… catch up… catch up, huh…”

The next day, I once again slipped out to the courtyard before Takahiro arrived in the morning. Sitting on a bench, I stared up at the sky as I continued thinking.

If it were possible to simply run and catch up with the original Shione-chan, I’d already be sprinting after her right now.

But unfortunately… it’s not that simple.