This is not the date I wanted.

At this moment, the rabbit doll Shiona suddenly popped her head out from the table, pointed at Mengyue and Shidou and asked.

"Well, 83 points."

Meng Yue thought for a moment and answered truthfully.

"I think it's delicious even without rating it. If I have to say... 89 points?"

Shidou gave a wry smile and gave his own evaluation.

"Ah - didn't even get over 90 points? You two are really strict."

Shionai hugged her head with a look of regret.

"In fact, there wasn't any big mistake. The knife skills and the heat were well controlled. It's just that maybe it was because I was too cautious, the seasoning was a little too little, and the taste was a little bland."

Shidou explained.

Of course, Shidou still has a very high opinion of Yoshino. After all, if she wants to use a kitchen knife to cook, Yoshino must take off her groin. This behavior would naturally cause a lot of mental pressure on Yoshino. Being able to cook under such a tense state is already remarkable.

"Well, Shidou and I basically agree. If we just look at the mood, I'll give it a full score."

Meng Yue smiled and shrugged, and said to Shionai,

"But I don't want Yoshino-chan to be satisfied with this. I want to evaluate her more strictly than giving her a perfect score. Only then will she have room for further improvement in the future."

“Ohhh~ I see!!”

Shiona nodded in realization and waved her arms vigorously at Shion.

"Then you must work hard, Yoshino-chan! From now on, try to take over the responsibility of cooking from Shidou-kun and Yumezuki-chan!"

“Okay, okay… I’ll do my best… Yoshina…”

Just like that, after a leisurely and laughter-filled breakfast, I took a deep breath, adjusted my mood, and told everyone about the disagreement with Kurumi last night.

"Everyone, I'm sorry!"

Mengyue lowered her head in shame.

"Mengyue, you don't have to apologize. I should thank you instead."

Shidou shook his head, then asked with some confusion,

"But why did you fall out?"

"Well...how should I put it? I just felt that there were some issues with what Kurumi was doing, so I offered some suggestions."

"Ah...I see."

As if he understood something, Shidou showed a subtle bitter smile.

"Meng Yue's suggestions, how should I put it... are basically too sharp, accurately revealing the troubles that others unconsciously avoid. Should I say that her observation skills are too strong or something else? There is a sense of frustration that others see through her so thoroughly and there is no room for rebuttal. It is easy to make people angry and embarrassed."

In response, Miku, Kotori, Nanashi, Origami, Nia, and Rokuko all nodded in agreement.

"Well... I understand. I will reflect on it and review it."

Meng Yue couldn't help but say in frustration.

"Well, there's no point in assigning blame. Let's think about what to do next."

Kotori said seriously.

"Sister Mengyue, are you sure that the cooperation with Kuang San is invalid?"

"Well, it's still a little uncertain whether it will be invalidated, but it's best not to expect Kurumi to provide us with information."

"Then we'll have to find a way to protect Shidou ourselves."

Afterwards, after a period of discussion, everyone decided to send someone to be responsible for protecting Shidou's safety before Kurumi and Shidou's date tomorrow.

Of course, Shidao also said that he had no problem going alone, but naturally everyone rejected his opinion without hesitation.

As for the person who will protect Shidou——

"Shidou, who are you going to choose?!"

As usual, after everyone rushed to recommend themselves, the choice finally fell into Shidao's hands.

"that……"

Feeling everyone's powerful gazes, Shidou's forehead was slightly sweaty. After hesitating for a moment, he answered carefully.

"How about drawing lots?"

"What do you think of your life, stupid Shidou?"

After hitting Shidao on the head with a paper fan, Mengyue sighed silently.

By the way, she herself was not among the candidates for this time. Considering that Mengyue had been under too much pressure in the past few days, Qinli asked her to take a good rest today.

Someone who can protect Shidou... After thinking for a moment, Mengyue made a decision for Shidou, who had a difficult choice.

"Origami! I'll leave Shidou's protection to you."

"——!?"

Hearing Meng Yue's words, Origami showed a hint of surprise in her eyes, but soon she nodded solemnly.

"learn."

20 Purchase materials and prepare for Valentine's Day

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

Wednesday, February 13th.

Although it was a school day, Tohka Kotori and the others seemed to have some personal matters to deal with, so they asked for leave from school.

Since he knew more or less what his sister was planning, Shidou was tactful and did not get involved. It happened that after listening to Meng Yue's words in the morning, he was a little concerned about Kurumi's situation, so he planned to go out to school.

Of course, as the assassination target currently targeted by DEM and Kurumi, no one would agree that Shidou would act alone, so the guard designated by Mengyue, Tobiichi Origami, went to school with Shidou.

"Shidou, stop."

"Eh? What's wrong Origami?"

On the way, at Origami's request, Shidou stopped in confusion.

“…There’s something over there.”

Origami answered, staring at the bushes beside the road ahead, and quietly put her hand in the holster under her skirt.

“…Meow~”

After a while, there was some movement in the bushes, and an orange tiger cat crawled out.

"Huh...what, a cat?"

Shidou couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"..."

Origami did not relax his guard, but took out his pistol and fired two shots in the direction of the tiger cat.

"Meow--!"

"Origami?"

The frightened tabby cat instantly hid in the bushes and ran away. Shidou looked at Origami with a puzzled look on his face.

"Don't worry, I didn't intend to target the cat. I just wanted to check if there were any enemies hiding in the bushes."

After confirming that there was no movement in the bushes, Origami put the pistol back into the holster and explained calmly.

"This, this is it..."

Shidou answered with a confused look.

"Then let's go, Shidou."

Origami said as she stepped forward and hugged Shidou's arm.

"That... origami."

"What's wrong Shidou?"

"No...does it have to be this close?"

Shidou felt his cheeks getting slightly hot as he felt the fragrance and soft touch coming from Origami's body.

"Of course." Origami said firmly, "DEM may launch an attack at any time. In order to protect Shidou, I must always make sure that Shidou is within my sight and avoid being separated from him. Huh..."

As she spoke, Origami hugged Shidou tighter, buried her face in Shidou's school uniform, and took a deep breath silently.

The corner of Shidou's mouth twitched slightly.

"This, this is it..."

Although there are many things I want to complain about, Origami is also a soldier who has received training in the army. She is obviously more experienced in vigilance and guarding than Shidou, who is an ordinary citizen.

This is also part of the protection, Shidou told himself in his heart while praying to get to school quickly.

"Shidou, go this way."

"Eh? But this is a long way, we might be late."

"There's a chance we might be ambushed on the road we usually take to school, so be careful."

"Uh...okay."

Although he always felt that Origami had ulterior motives, when he thought about the car accident that happened on the way to school yesterday, Shidao still honestly accepted Origami's proposal.

"Lick~"

"Ah - what are you doing, Origami?"

"Health confirmation."

Origami replied seriously.

Just like that, after Shidao arrived at school after a long and exciting journey, he learned from Teacher Kozue that Kurumi had taken a leave of absence and did not come to school today.

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

"Sister Mengyue, why do you want Origami to go and protect Shidao?"

Kotori asked Mengyue with a puzzled look on her face.

"Well, you should understand the reason. Among all of us, Origami is the only one who has received formal military training. She must be more experienced than us in dealing with traps and attacks. As someone who protects Shidou, I think she is the best choice."

"That's what I said..."

Although she understood what Mengyue said, Qinli still felt uneasy and muttered quietly.

"I always feel like she might take the opportunity to do something strange to Shidao under the guise of protection."

"It's not possible, it's certain that they will do something strange."

Meng Yue shrugged helplessly and answered with certainty.

"But, in a sense, this is just right, isn't it? Isn't Kotori-chan worried that Shidou will be seduced by Kurumi? This will also be a good opportunity to train Shidou's immunity to women."

“Hmm—that’s correct.”

Kotori couldn't help but feel conflicted. As the commander, she undoubtedly agreed with Sister Mengyue's approach, but as Shidao's sister, she regretted letting Origami and Shidao be alone - a decision that was like throwing a lamb into a wolf's den.

"Well, anyway, just trust Origami and Shidou. Let's go shopping too."

Looking at the distressed Qinli, Mengyue smiled and patted her shoulder.

"Since Sister Mengyue said so...I understand."

In the end, out of trust in Mengyue, Qinli reluctantly agreed.

Mengyue was in a dessert-making material store on Tiangong Avenue. Perhaps because tomorrow was Valentine's Day, business was unusually prosperous, and standing outside the store, one could often see customers of the same age as Mengyue and her friends coming in and out.

Judging from the fact that they are purchasing materials for the purpose of making chocolate, Mengyue's purpose is no different from theirs.

"It would be nice if I could make my favorite brother happy, Kotori-chan."

"Ah, ah. Don't misunderstand, Mengyuejie. The reason I did this was simply because I didn't want Shidao to be tempted by Kurumi, not because I wanted to give Shidao——"

"Hey, hey~ Anyway, let's go in, everyone is waiting for us."

Looking at Kotori who was speaking without letting her mind go, Mengyue smiled knowingly, and without pointing out anything, she pushed her back and walked into the store.