Chapter 123: Date

"You don’t have to search for the right words. I bet she’s always angry, irritable, and picking fights with anyone who crosses her path. Hmm, she was probably like that before, but now it’s worse, right?"

"Y-yes." (Shiro)

"I guess she’s aware herself that she’s so angry she’ll probably come looking for trouble, because she’s obviously determined to come back—since she’s overprotective and won’t let Akane come back alone."

"Yes... you seem to understand my sister very well." (Shiro)

"Hmm, well, the last time we played Seikoku, part of my winning streak came from understanding what kind of person she was and being able to predict her moves."

"I see." (Shiro)

"Yeah, hue~. By the way, in the games we played, I also came to understand you, Miss Shiro. I think the insight I gained from you was far more valuable than what I gained from Momo—by a long shot!"

"M-me?... What do you know about me?" (Shiro)

"Oh, you’d be surprised how much I know just from that. Right now, I can see right through you—your essence and everything you carry inside, including that being who seems to have planned all of this without telling you why... I wonder if it’s laughing at what I’m saying."

"H-how?" (Shiro)

Oh, I was just testing the waters a bit, but it seems that second personality—or entity—is indeed watching and, in fact, influencing Shiro’s actions.

"Haha! Come on, I’m just kidding. If you trust people so easily, someday someone will take advantage of you."

"No, but you!" (Shiro)

"Like I said, it was just a joke, and I really don’t know much about you... anyway, I don’t think we can talk about this in depth, right?"

"N-no." (Shiro)

"Well, that’s what I thought. And as for Momo, it’s no big deal either—it’s just that she looks a little like my mother... in law, haha. She reminds me of Iris’s mother."

Yes, Iris’s mother really was someone who got angry easily, but she was also proud... though that’s where the resemblance ends.

If Momo had the exact same personality as my mother-in-law, I probably would’ve been nearly cut in half by her katana for provoking her.

"Ah!... Miss Iris—how is she?" (Shiro)

"Why are you suddenly saying that and making that face, as if you’d only just remembered Iris and that I’m a married man with a wife?"

"No! It’s just that... hmm, it was rude of me not to ask about her from the start." (Shiro)

"Yes, I figured as much. It just annoyed you a little, Miss Shiro. You don’t have to be so stiff. If you keep this up, it’ll be very easy for me to annoy you. I think I’m developing a peculiar fondness for you."

"I’d a-appreciate it if you’d be considerate of me. (≧﹏≦)" (Shiro)

"Haha! I’ll try! By the way, about Iris—she came with me too, but we got separated. Hopefully we’ll run into her at some point."

"I-I see... so you came with her." (Shiro)

"Yep. By the way, we can’t stay too long on this date, since I have to get back in about an hour to tend to the shop, so let’s make the most of it."

"D-date?" (Shiro)

"Yeah. Ah, here are the food stalls! Oh, there’s all kinds of stuff. Let’s check out some of the local specialties."

During our conversation, we’d climbed up to the platform and reached an upper level, arriving at what seemed to be our destination.

Unlike downstairs, I could see lots of small food stalls everywhere. Restaurants are fine, but I feel like, if you want to have a good tourist experience, visiting the small food stalls would be better.

I headed toward those stalls with a nervous Shiro.

One of the closest ones was selling skewers of a strange creature, so I didn’t hesitate to buy some.

On the other hand, Shiro—now that I’d labeled this a "date"—seemed even more nervous, and she didn’t say anything to object... or rather, I didn’t give her a chance to.

..

.

We both kept walking and eating. She ate very little, unlike me, who was devouring every delicious thing I saw.

I also bought some to save for later—and for Iris to try—and stashed them away discreetly.

Obviously, Shiro, who was with me, must have noticed the absence of all that, but she didn’t seem to have any questions about whether I had a storage bag or something like that.

It was as if she thought I wasn’t really an ordinary commoner.

It really makes me wonder how much she—or the entity inside her—knows about me and us.

"Oh! The sauce on this is really good... Hmm, it’s a bit like the food from Thrysskaar, isn’t it?"

I said as I tasted something similar to sushi—except here, the sushi was wrapped in fried dough and filled with local ingredients. It seemed like an adaptation.

"Yes, it reminds me a little of home." (Shiro)

"I suppose so. Oh, by the way, Miss Shiro, now that the end-of-semester break is coming up, you’re planning to go home, right?"

"Yes." (Shiro)

"/_ \, I see. I guess I’ll have to say goodbye to you, even though there’s still a week left. It would be nice if you came by my shop as often as possible."

"B-but I don’t need a massage or anything."(Shiro)

"But just having you around would make my day, and personally, I’d prefer it if you came by on your own."

"N-no, I don’t think that would be appropriate."

"Huh? Why not? I just want to give you a good massage. If you come alone, I’d focus only on you and not on your sisters. You turned me down last time, but I also forgot to mention that there are massages you can get even while fully clothed—they’re the relaxing kind, and I think they’ll really help you with your exams."

"...Hmm... I’m sorry, I’m really not very used to interacting with people of the opposite gender... b-but I’ll keep it in mind." (Shiro)

"Oh! I see. Just knowing that you’ll keep it in mind is enough for me. Remember that, even though you’re a mage, you need to take care of your body. It would really make my day if I could relieve you of any physical or mental problems you might have."

"Y-yes, thank you for your concern." (Shiro)

"Hmm, though you know, I see you don’t have much trouble holding onto my arm now, even though you were nervous at first."

At one point she had stopped walking awkwardly and keeping her distance, now she was holding onto me naturally and standing closer to me without any problem.

"(≧﹏≦), I just got used to it a little." (Shiro)

"Oh! So that’s what it was. But if that’s the case, that gives me a great idea, Miss Shiro. Why don’t we hold hands instead? That might help you get a little more used to a man’s touch and stop you from feeling shy."

"N-no, I don’t think that’s appropriate... you’re a married man, and I, hmm..." (Shiro)

"Huh? What does that have to do with me being married? It’s just my way of helping you out a little. Oh, wait—don’t tell me you’re thinking of it in a different way, beyond just ’help.’"

"Mr. Astan, please don’t tease me. (≧﹏≦)" (Shiro)

"Haha! I guess I was too obvious, though what I said about holding hands isn’t entirely a joke—maybe that’ll help."

"No, we can’t—what if Miss Iris..." (Shiro)

"Huh? What about me?" (Iris)

"Ahh! M-Miss Iris." (Shiro)

Just then, as I was teasing Shiro completely out of the blue, Iris appeared behind us, startling Shiro.

She literally gave a little jump.

Well, the only one who was surprised was Shiro, since I—who could sense her location—knew she was coming, or rather, I’d called her over here.

"Oh, come on! You don’t have to be so stiff with me! Just ’Iris’ is fine! I thought we were close—we even did a three-way kiss." (Iris)

"No! That was, hmm.." (Shiro)

"Yeah, I know what you mean—it was amazing, right? Do you want to do it again? (づ￣ 3￣)づ." (Iris)

"No, we can’t... There are too many people here!" (Shiro)

"Huh? Does that mean if we go somewhere secluded, we can? Okay, let’s go to a dark corner—There’s nothing better than kissing a cutie to start the day~" (Iris)

"N-no, I didn’t mean that (≧﹏ ≦). I, um... Mr. Astan, c-could you help me? (Shiro)

"Huh? Of course I can. Let me see... let me think of a good place to go. I really can’t forget the feeling of your tongue sliding down my throat."

"Oh, that’s so true! You wouldn’t think so, but she has a really long tongue, huehue~. I want to experience that again, too." (Iris)

"Y-You two, please... Stop! I—I wasn’t... I can’t do something like that. (≧□≦)" (Shiro)

"Haha! I was just kidding." (x2)

Oops, we got carried away and, without meaning to, ended up saying the same thing.

I guess it’s inevitable when we both have the same thoughts about wanting to tease the cute Shiro.

"Ahem! Well, enough joking around—I was just passing through. Keep having fun on your date." (Iris)

"No! No, this isn’t a..." (Shiro)

Saying that, Iris left without giving Shiro a chance to deny anything.

Anyway, she was just passing by.

The reason I called her is that I still feel like someone is following us—and they’re not very good at it, so now I’m really sure of that.

Now I don’t know if that person is following me or Shiro.

In any case, I had to find out, and Iris would take care of it.

As for me, I’ll keep having a good time with Shiro. While she wasn’t looking, I took her hand and led her toward some other food stalls.

"Huh?"

But the moment I did that, I sensed a very strong killing intent.