This is not the date I wanted.

"Kotori-chan...this isn't a date."

Meng Yue smiled bitterly and shook her head. However, knowing that this was her family's store, Meng Yue felt more at ease. This was a rare opportunity, so she thought it was a good opportunity to take advantage of it. Seeing that Origami hadn't come back yet, Meng Yue asked the waiter to give her a simple haircut.

After that, about fifteen minutes later, Origami came back.

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

Seeing the appearance of origami, Meng Yue showed a surprised expression.

Her surprise did not come from the beauty salon master's superb skills. As a woman, Origami was undoubtedly a top beauty. No matter how much care and dressing she received, it would only be icing on the cake.

What really surprised Meng Yue was that Origami's waist-length snow-white hair had been cut to shoulder length, just like Origami in the previous world.

"Origami, are you planning to cut your hair short this time?"

"Ah."

Origami nodded slightly.

"Um... well, I hope you don't mind. Although I do think it would be a shame to cut off such long hair."

"Don't look at it like this. I thought about it for a long time before making up my mind... After all, he might like long hair..."

Gently stroking his hair and muttering something, Origami looked at Mengyue with a slightly helpless smile.

“But I finally gave up.”

Although there were devilish whispers in her mind, such as "If I cut it, I won't be able to make a 'haircut' for Shidou--", in the end, Origami gave up the idea of ​​keeping her hair long.

Origami in this world knows very well that what Shidao really cares about is not these superficial things.

Let's make an assumption. If the girl in front of him cut her hair short, then Gokawa Shido would probably naturally like short hair.

(As expected... I don’t want to lose.)

Origami told himself this silently in his heart, made up his mind, and looked at Mengyue with a serious look.

"Liang Yi Meng Yue."

"what?"

Meng Yue looked at the origami with some confusion.

"……………………"

Origami looked like he wanted to announce something important to her, but even after waiting for a long time, Mengyue didn't hear a single syllable from Origami's mouth.

"Origami?"

Weird, am I hard of hearing?

Meng Yue frowned in confusion.

“…………No……nothing.”

Origami pursed her lips and held the words back in her stomach, covering her blushing face with her hands, her tone containing a hint of fear and relief.

"?"

Meng Yue scratched her hair in confusion. Although she was a little curious about why Origami wanted to cut her hair, she didn't plan to ask further since Origami didn't seem to be planning to tell her.

"Hey, can I decide the next itinerary? I have some things I want to buy."

"Ah? Yes, sure. No problem at all."

Maybe Origami was just trying to change the subject. When he heard Mengyue's words, he nodded and agreed without hesitation.

————————————————————————I am the dividing line for leaving the beauty salon———————————————————

"A jewelry store...?"

Origami at this moment looked just like Mengyue who had just seen Origami go to the beauty salon, with an expression of surprise on her face.

"Why, I can't just want to come to a store like this?"

Meng Yue asked with a chuckle.

"No...it's just that Miss Mengyue...doesn't seem to be very interested in this kind of trinket."

Origami replied a little awkwardly.

"Well, I'm not really interested in it. But I lost the headband I used to tie my hair when I was cooking, so I thought it was a good opportunity to buy a new one."

"That's it."

Origami nodded in understanding.

(Well, I never bought it in this world, but from my perspective, it’s true that I lost it.)

After silently adding a sentence in her heart, Meng Yue shrugged and pushed open the door of the jewelry store——

"Shidou, I think this four-leaf clover is more suitable."

"Darling Darling~ What do you think of this bow? Do I look pretty in it?"

"Yeah, it suits you very well, Miku. Ah——"

The moment she opened the door, Mengyue saw the young man who met her eyes - Itsuki Shido, and the peerless beautiful girls - Yatogami Tohka and Yuiya Miku, who were holding Shido's arms on the left and right, and had long night hair and violet hair respectively.

"Wait, Mengyue, listen to me——"

——Clang!

Mengyue closed the door immediately.

"Ms. Mengyue?"

Origami, who was standing behind him, looked at Mengyue with a puzzled look on his face.

"Ah, wait a minute. My phone's ringing."

Meng Yue said, pulling Origami out of the jewelry store without a word. At the same time, she picked up her phone, quickly tapped the keyboard, and sent a text message to Shidou in the store.

[Okay, Shidou. You've learned how to do two things at once even on a date. You've really grown into a great playboy. (laughs)]

Soon, there was a reply from the other end of the phone.

[No, Mengyue, you misunderstood. There is a reason for this. Σ(?д?lll)]

[Don't worry, this isn't the first time I've seen this. I'm just joking, I'm not angry. ╮(─▽─)╭]

[Really? Then why did you just close the shop and leave without saying anything? QAQ]

[Origami was right behind me just now. If you think it’s okay for her to meet Tohka and the others in the situation just now, I’ll take her in now. (?_?)]

[——Thank you very much, Master Mengyue! ]

[Well, if you really appreciate me, leave today's dinner to me. I haven't been in the kitchen for a long time, you come and help me. ]

[Yes, I understand.]

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..."

Meng Yue put the phone back into her pocket and said to Origami.

"By the way, I'm going to the shopping street to buy some ingredients next. Origami, come and help me carry the things."

"Eh? Well, of course you can... But Miss Mengyue, aren't you going to buy a headband?"

Looking at Liang Yi Meng Yue's sudden change of mind, Origami couldn't help but feel a little depressed.

Meng Yue chuckled and spread her hands.

"Well, it's not an important thing. I can buy it next time. For now, I'll just use the rubber band."

27 One Day After Returning Home (Part )

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

"Hmm...steak, garlic and onions, potatoes, tomatoes...and if you want to season it, let's buy a bottle of wine...I think we still have some cornstarch and meat tenderizer at home. This should be enough."

“There are indeed a lot of things to buy.”

Looking at herself and Mengyue each holding a heavy shopping bag, although it was not a burden for the trained Origami, it still made her feel ashamed.

"I can't help it. It's like this because there are so many people in my family."

Meng Yue shrugged helplessly and thought for a moment as she looked at the ingredients in the shopping bag.

"I always feel like something is missing... Oh, right! I haven't bought desserts and snacks yet!"

"There's more!"

Origami suddenly felt like crying but had no tears.

It must be said that it was quite unusual to see two young girls carrying things around in the shopping district like housewives. Origami could even vaguely feel the gazes of passers-by, which made her cheeks feel hot as she was a little thin-skinned.

and--

(Hmm… I can’t find the time to speak.)

Looking at Mengyue who had fallen into a state of concentration, Origami felt embarrassed to interrupt her interest at this time.

(If I had known this earlier at the beauty salon, I would have summoned up the courage to speak up.)

Origami couldn't help but smile bitterly. It was a good opportunity, but when she was about to say it, she suddenly realized that what she was about to say was as embarrassing as the lines in a girl's comic, and she was so shy that she couldn't say it.

(Hmm...what should I do? If Meng Yue goes back, I won't be able to say it.)

Origami couldn't help but feel a little distressed. She didn't have the courage to say such words in front of so many acquaintances. Although it was not impossible to say it on the phone later, she still felt that it was better to express her determination in person.

"Um...this is?"

Suddenly, a photo fell out of Mengyue's wallet in front and floated to Origami's feet.

——————————————————I am the dividing line for shifting perspective——————————————————

"That's good. Ah——"

Mengyue picked up the wallet from her pocket, intending to take out some money to pay the bill later. However, another important item fell out of her wallet.

Shidao's maid photo - Shiori in the picture is wearing a very cute cat ear headdress, posing cat paws towards the camera, and blushing and awkwardly imitating a cat's meow.

This was one of the demands that Meng Yue used the temptation of money to force the other party to comply with during the Tianyang Festival. Since then, Meng Yue has always carried this photo with him as a talisman.

Mengyue quickly turned around, bent down as fast as lightning, and tried to pick up the photo before it fell to the ground.

At the critical moment, when the photo was about to touch the dust on the ground, Mengyue caught the photo.

(That’s great… huh?)

Meng Yue couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. When she was about to put Shi Zhi's photo back into her wallet, she suddenly found that, in addition to her own hand, another hand was holding the other end of the photo.

When he looked up, he saw that the owner of the hand was none other than Tobiichi Origami who was following behind him.

Are you planning to help me pick it up? Meng Yue thought.

"Origami, this thing is mine. Thanks for picking it up for me."

"..."

"Origami?"

Seeing Origami suddenly lower her head and remain silent, Meng Yue tilted her head in confusion. However, she did not thank him much, and tried to pull the photo out of Origami's hand with a little more strength.

"—!"

However, at the same time Mengyue exerted force, Origami also increased the strength of his fingers, fixing Shiori's photo in his hand like a branding iron.

"Um... what are you doing? Miss Tobiichi Origami."

Meng Yue looked at Origami with a fake smile. Finally, Origami spoke slowly.

"I found this thing on the ground. The owner is unknown, so the ownership naturally belongs to the person who picked it up."

"What do you mean by 'unknown owner'? Didn't I just say this is my property?"

"Do you have any evidence for this?"

"...I have the electronic data of this photo. This is strong enough evidence."

"..."

"Then you can return it to me."

As she spoke, Mengyue tried to pull the photo out again, but Origami showed no intention of letting go.