This is not the date I wanted.

Although the main flow of people during this time period are housewives rushing to buy discounted ingredients, Shidao looked at the shopping bag filled with half-priced vegetables in his hand with some subtlety. The fruits of victory were obtained too easily, but there was no sense of accomplishment.

"Really? I want to experience it, too."

Looking at the expectant expression on Maria's face, Shidou couldn't help but feel pity for the girl's innocence.

"No... I advise you not to. It's still too early for you... eh?"

Just as Shidao was trying to persuade Maria earnestly, he made an unexpected sound as if he saw something unexpected.

"Shidou, what's wrong?"

"Just now, I seemed to see Meng Yue and Ju Ya on the other side of the street."

"Meng Yue and me?"

Maria looked in the direction Shidou pointed in confusion.

“No one?”

"Eh? Why did she suddenly disappear? I just saw Meng Yue and a black Ju Ya... Oh, she's gone."

Strange, did I see it wrong? Shidao scratched his hair in frustration.

Then, Shidao felt a knock on his arm. When he turned around, he saw Maria puffing up her cheeks in dissatisfaction.

"Shidou! I think it's very rude to think about other girls while you're on a date with someone else."

It seems that Ju Ya misunderstood that he had misjudged others because he was thinking about Meng Yue.

"Eh? No, I really saw it... Okay, I was wrong, sorry."

Although he really wanted to explain everything to Maria, seeing how angry Maria was, Shidou decided to apologize honestly first.

……

"Huh... Looks like we haven't been discovered."

He poked his head out from the corner and looked at Maria and Shidou on the street not far away. The two of them didn't seem to notice that he was about to leave, so Meng Yue breathed a sigh of relief.

"Really? Why do I have to hide?"

Next to Mengyue, Junai complained with an unhappy look on his face. Mengyue spread her hands helplessly.

"There's nothing we can do about it. Shidou, you probably don't want Maria to notice your presence."

"Although it is true..."

But hiding like this was like she was afraid of being discovered, making it seem like she was doing something wrong, and Junai looked a little bit unable to let it go.

"Well, it's mainly to avoid embarrassment. If someone familiar finds out, Shidou will feel very uncomfortable."

"You are really considerate in some boring places."

"Thank you~" Meng Yue chuckled and said, "Besides, it's rare for me to date a girl like Junai. I personally don't want to be disturbed."

"So--"

With her face flushed slightly, Junai looked at Mengyue's smug smile and denied it with gritted teeth.

"I didn't agree to go out with you!"

Indeed, Junai didn't agree to Mengyue's invitation just now. However, this was not unexpected by Mengyue.

After all, unlike Maria, Ormori Maruna is not very curious about what love is, she just wants to use it to achieve her own goals. If love is likened to a seed, Maria is curious about its growth process, while Maruna just wants to get the fruit of contact.

In other words, dating was not an essential action for her, so there was no need to agree to it.

If Junai was still the Junai that Mengyue met at the beginning, maybe there would be nothing that could be done. However, Mengyue could feel that just as Mariya's emotions were gradually becoming richer, something was also changing in Orshou Junai.

"I just felt sorry for you, so I kindly agreed to let you come with me when I take a walk. But I have no interest in dating you or anything like that! Don't get me wrong!"

You see, she used to be like a little devil who was good at disguising herself and always spoke with a mixture of truth and lies with temptation, but now she is simply a textbook classic tsundere.

"...I feel like the way you looked at me from a while ago was like you were mocking me."

"It's your illusion~"

It seemed that she was in a very happy mood now. Mengyue waved her hand with a smile on her face.

"So, where do you want to go next, Maruna-chan?"

"...I admit defeat, okay? Don't call me by that nickname."

Hearing this sweet and somewhat sickening name, Junai seemed to feel a little uncomfortable.

Well, Mengyue also seemed to feel a little uncomfortable. After a bitter smile, she changed back to the original name.

"So, Junai. Is there anything you want to go or buy?"

"Nothing. I'm different from that kid. Everything is under my control in my own world. There's no such thing as wanting or not wanting."

Junai replied in a cold tone.

There is no need to ask for anything, because everything in the world belongs to me. This line is full of golden déjà vu, although Junai herself did not notice it. If Yakuya heard it, he would definitely be very excited... Although I also think it's a bit cool. (Turning head)

"Really nothing?"

"No."

"There's really no other way..."

Scratching his hair helplessly, Meng Yue looked around, and his eyes lit up as if he had found something good.

After saying something to Junai, Mengyue ran towards a store. After a while, in Junai's puzzled eyes, she ran back with a paper bag.

"What's this……?"

“Taiyaki.”

"No. Of course I know the name. I just want to ask why you bought it?"

"Nothing special. You just said you didn't want anything in particular. So I recommended it myself." Meng Yue took out two Taiyaki from the bag. She ate one herself and handed the other to Junai. "Try it. The Taiyaki of this restaurant is well-received around here."

"I already said it's not necessary..."

Although she protested quietly, Junai still took the Taiyaki.

So warm. This was the only feeling Junai had.

Although if Junai wanted, she could search the database to find out everything about the ingredients and cooking process of Taiyaki, and even its historical background. But when she actually held it in her hands, the temperature that could not be described by data was warming Junai's palms.

"Yeah... hot taiyaki fresh out of the oven. It's different from what I learned from the information."

"Well... that's all."

It seemed that because Meng Yue had revealed his thoughts, Junai turned his head away somewhat unconvinced.

"Oh, isn't this Sister Mengyue?"

Suddenly, a voice full of energy came from behind, and Mengyue turned her head. A girl with a blue ponytail, a teardrop mole under her left eye, and a tone like a ronin samurai, Gokawa Shido's sister Takamiya Mana, was greeting Mengyue.

Although this is what she said, in fact, Mana from the real world was not called to this world by Maria. The Mana in front of her is an NPC made up of the memories of Shidao, Mengyue and others.

"What's wrong? Are you staying in a place like this alone?"

Unlike Mariya, Maruna seems to be set up so that it cannot be observed by NPCs. So from Mana's perspective, Meng Yue hiding in the corner at this time is bound to make people curious.

"Well...how should I put it?"

Meng Yue looked troubled. She couldn't tell him that she was dating someone that Mana couldn't see. Even though he was an NPC, Meng Yue didn't want to be looked at by Mana with such a regretful look.

“Brother?!”

However, just before Mengyue explained, Mana looked at the street not far away and said with some surprise.

What?—Mengyue stuck her head out and looked in surprise.

Shidou and Maria, who had already left the area, were now slowly walking towards him. Maria was holding a flyer of a store, her face full of anticipation.

Taiyaki... It can't be such a coincidence. With her extraordinary eyesight, Meng Yue saw the same mark printed on the flyer as on the packaging bag in her hand, and she couldn't help but smile bitterly.

"Brother is dating another woman...?"

Seeing that her brother had a beautiful woman by his side when she was away, even Mana, who had always respected her brother, looked shaken.

"Sister Mengyue...you wouldn't?"

Your elder brother is happily dating a woman he doesn't know, and the woman who was originally pursuing your elder brother is hiding in the corner and watching secretly (wrong) - these fragments alone are enough to trigger endless human imagination.

A hypothesis was brewing in Mana's mind, assuming that Mengyue wanted to invite her brother to eat Taiyaki today, but her brother refused because he had other things to do. So she came alone to buy Taiyaki, but saw that her brother was dating another unknown woman at the place she invited. Witnessing the unexpected scene, Mengyue could only swallow her despair and sadness in her heart and hide in a corner to eat Taiyaki alone.

——Sister Mengyue is so pitiful!

Meng Yue's mouth twitched slightly as she was actually pitied by the NPC.

"No, no, no! It's definitely not what you think! I just came here to eat something after school. I had no idea Shidou would come to a place like this."

Although Meng Yue, who sensed something was wrong, denied it immediately, in Mana's eyes, it seemed like she was just trying to cover up her inner turmoil.

"Even though he has women like Sister Origami and Sister Mengyue pursuing him, he still wants to reach out to other women. Brother, this is too much!"

...Mana-chan, although there are countless flaws in your words that I want to point out, please allow me to emphasize one thing first - please do not put me and Origami Tobiichi on the same level.

Mana took Mengyue's hand, patted her underdeveloped breasts, and said indignantly.

"Don't worry, Sister Mengyue, I am absolutely on your side. Don't worry, I will take you to see Brother now. I believe that Brother will also understand Sister Mengyue's strengths!"

“Hey hey hey! I already told you it’s not true—stop it!!!”

"What are you doing..."

Just like watching a midday soap opera on TV, Maruna ate Taiyaki and watched silently from the side.

"Ham—it tastes pretty good."

PS: It’s strange, I rewrote it several times, but I still feel something is wrong! ! ! !

03 or defend the line 2nd day (Part )

==============================

"It's morning..."

The morning sun slowly rose from one end of the horizon, and the dazzling sunlight shone on Shidou's cheek through the gaps in the curtains, causing Shidou to open his eyes reluctantly.

"What? It's only early morning, isn't it? Ah~"

Glancing at the clock on the wall, Shidao yawned slowly, turned over to avoid the direct sunlight, and closed his eyes in a daze.

Puff——

Hmm? What's going on? This soft touch - is it a blanket or a pillow? Shidou couldn't help but hug it tighter.

Puff——

Ah... what's going on? This thing is the perfect size to fit in the arms, it's as soft and comfortable as marshmallow, and it seems to have a very suitable temperature. It can definitely make people fall into a deep sleep over time.

"Um……"

Oh, the sheets can actually make such a girl-like sound. Fraxinus can actually restore it to this extent in the computer world. It's really amazing black technology - I don't believe it! ! ! If the sheets in the real world made a girl's cry, it would be a horror movie!

His originally hazy consciousness suddenly became clear, and Shidao quickly got up and turned over his quilt to take a look.

"Ju, Juya? Why are you here——"

On Shidou's bed, Maria Oromori had fallen asleep beside him at some point, curled up like a kitten, and looked peaceful. Because the skirt of Maria's nun's uniform was a little short, in this position, Shidou could just see the white under the absolute domain - Shidou quickly looked away.

Don't panic! In short, smoke a cigarette first to calm down - only a fool would smoke a cigarette afterwards!

As if she felt the quilt being lifted, Maria slowly got up from the bed, opened her eyes, and gave Shidao a warm smile.

"Um... good morning Shidou."

"Good morning, Maria—that's not right!"

As the other party's reaction was too natural, Shidou responded subconsciously, then immediately came to his senses and complained.

"...Hmm?" Ju Ya tilted his head in confusion.

"Maria...if I remember correctly...we went to our respective rooms last night. Can you explain to me why you came to my bed again?"

Ah, why did I say "again"?

"Yes, but after confirming that Shidou was asleep, I crawled into Shidou's bed by myself."

"Why?!"