“Ohhh— Shidou, Shidou, can everything drawn up there be eaten?”
“Not everything drawn up there, when ordering, it’s usually better to pick a seat first and look at the menu.”
“Kotori, where should I put the empty plate?”
Retracting her gaze from the naturally hand-holding couple, Kyoumi took the pudding out of the tray and spoke to the girl across from her.
“Ah? Oh… just put it here.”
The girl’s gaze was also fixed on the two of them, only pulling it back when Kyoumi spoke to her.
The perceptive girl had already followed her line of sight to catch the two hands clasped together.
She looks like she doesn’t really want to let her brother go but has to hold it in for now… so easy to read~
Kyoumi noted Kotori’s behavior in her mind, naturally feeling a bit of affection due to the girl’s display.
Unaware that she had been labeled [Jealous Little Sister], Kotori Itsuka clapped her hands with the air of a commander, and immediately two people dressed as waiters popped out, clearing the trays.
“Please give me another large cup of fruit chocolate ice cream… um… is it called a parfait? Or a sundae? Ah, anyway, two more spoons, thank you.”
Surprisingly polite in adding the order, with a slight improvement in her view of Ratatoskr, Kyoumi’s attitude seemed to have changed as well.
“…You didn’t look at the menu.”
After the two waiters retreated, Kotori Itsuka frowned.
After entering the family restaurant, Kyoumi had simply said to make it the same as Kotori’s, a deluxe kids’ meal.
She hadn’t flipped through the menu placed on the table, and the pictures on the wall and tabletop promotions didn’t include parfaits or sundaes.
“Isn’t it a bit late to notice now?”
Propping her hands on the table and standing up, the girl stepped along the table edge into the aisle, causing Kotori Itsuka to tense up and nearly stand as well.
“What do you mean?!”
Why is this kid so jumpy.
“Don’t be nervous, move inside a bit, or do you want to sit on the outside?”
The girl had no intention of leaving, nor any excessive motives; she was just moving to the seat on the girl’s side.
“Ah! It’s Kyoumi, you’re already here!”
Drawn by the surrounding sounds, Tohka finally shifted her gaze from the food promotions on the wall, noticing the only occupied table in the empty family restaurant.
“Mm, over here!”
Casually waving to Tohka in her middle school uniform, Kyoumi lightly tapped the table with her fingertip, signaling the girl to sit further inside.
“…Why suddenly change seats?”
Kotori Itsuka looked up at the spirit now standing beside her, then noticed Tohka pulling Shidou toward them, somewhat dissatisfied as she picked up two small flags and stood up.
“You sit inside.”
“People on a date would prefer to sit closer to each other, right?”
Finding the girl’s reaction amusing, Kyoumi sat in the window-side inner seat with a slight smile, then pulled Kotori to sit beside her.
“Although sitting across allows you to directly etch the other’s overall beauty into your heart, when it comes to heartbeat.”
The girl’s fingertip brushed through the vibrant, smooth ponytail.
“Shoulders touching, fingers interlocked—sitting together makes it easier to recognize your own feelings. As the start of a romance, I think this is better.”
“…Huh? Ro-romance?”
Her cheeks warming, the girl’s intimate action now seemed to carry a different meaning; Kotori Itsuka, face flushed red, hurriedly called for off-field support in a fluster.
“R-Reine! Quickly check this guy’s affection level for me!”
Don’t tell me she’s a lesbian!!!
「Kotori, calm down… her affection toward you is still fluctuating around 75… probably… just the kind of liking for cute creatures?」
“Why ‘probably’—”
「Ah… because I didn’t expect this kind of spirit possibility, no preparations were made, looking up data temporarily will take time…」
“Mm, and it’s more convenient to look at the menu this way.”
Casually adding a supplement, she lowered the hand that had been stroking the girl’s hair, also stopping the girl’s suddenly exploding imagination from expanding further.
“…Menu?”
“Yes, the menu. To meet the sealing conditions, you need to raise the other’s affection level, right? In that case, details are even more important. Although Tohka might not understand the words, the rhythm can’t be entirely led by the boy.”
“You know?!”
…About the sealing conditions…
“Your actions are quite obvious; anyone with normal intelligence could figure it out.”
“Shidou, over here, over here!”
The beautiful spirit with night-colored long hair energetically pulled the somewhat helpless boy to sit down; Kyoumi naturally opened the menu directory beside her and pushed it in front of Tohka.
“Is this book the menu?”
“Mm, this is the menu~”
Kyoumi replied, looking toward Shidou Itsuka, who had been pulled by Tohka to sit together, facing Kotori.
Four people at one table, two pairs of date participants each taking one side; if they were unfamiliar couples, they might not share a table like this.
Though if there were outsiders, what they might see would just be an ultimate normie high schooler with three beautiful girls.
“So, I just need to pick what I want to eat from this book?!”
“Yeah, that’s right…”
Shidou Itsuka responded to Tohka’s question, but his gaze caught Kyoumi staring at him with a slightly meaningful expression, and for some reason, a bit of unease rose in his heart.
“Is there kinako bread? Isn’t there kinako bread?!”
“…No, they don’t sell it here. Speaking of which, didn’t you eat a lot at that bread shop before?”
It’s impressive how this person can so naturally say someone else ate a lot.
Kyoumi’s line of sight couldn’t pierce through those two bountiful obstacles and the tabletop, but judging from the flat abdominal contour when Tohka approached, that kinako bread was probably just cookie-sized snacks.
“I want to eat it again. What exactly is that powder… this strong addictiveness… If it’s left unchecked in this world, big problems will arise. People will surely tremble from withdrawal symptoms, starting wars to fight for more kinako powder.”
“That won’t happen…”
These words drew a wry smile from the boy, but almost simultaneously, a sharp hostility that seemed to pierce the spirit enveloped Shidou Itsuka.
“Addictiveness? You poisoned her?”
“No way!!! It’s just ordinary kinako bread!!!”
Facing the pressure from Kyoumi that seemed like she might act the next moment, Shidou Itsuka had to loudly defend himself.
“Mm! How could such delicious kinako bread be poisoned!”
Immediately standing on Shidou’s side for the kinako bread, Tohka also defended, but suddenly realizing something, her expression fell.
“…Sorry… Kyoumi… the kinako bread was so good, but I forgot to save a few for you… Even though you shared candy with me…”
That expression and tone wasn’t so much apology as pity for a rural compatriot who hadn’t tasted such gourmet kinako bread.
The ones I shared with you were my Doubles!!
Forcibly swallowing these words due to the atmosphere, Kotori Itsuka simply turned her head away, barely suppressing her complaints.
“It’s already amazing that Tohka thought of me; just bring some for me next time.”
Not minding it, Kyoumi peeled off the pudding’s paper cover along the edge and handed over the attached plastic spoon.
“This is called pudding; try it.”
“Ohh, this looks so pretty!”
Pretty?
It just looks like ordinary caramel pudding, no strange colors either.
“Mm~”
But the girl simply nodded in response; after Tohka carefully poked the jiggling pudding with the spoon, the purple-haired girl raised her hand and poked Shidou Itsuka’s hand.
“Eh?”
“I want that.”
Kyoumi pointed at the flag by Kotori Itsuka’s hand, causing the girl to abruptly turn her head, face showing ferocity.
So in the end, you’re still after this!!!