Ever since I confessed, she has been acting strange. - CHAPTER 5: SUMMER VACATION ARC

Episode 26: In the Waiting Room

The day of the group date had arrived.

Since the event had been arranged by none other than the head of the Tendo family, not attending would be a disgrace to my husband (though I wouldn’t mind disgracing Yukimichi’s reputation).

As I left, I checked my outfit to make sure there were no problems. A T-shirt, a three-quarter sleeve tailored jacket, and pants – my usual casual attire. Being unfamiliar with group dates, I had no idea what kind of outfit would be appropriate, but Yukimichi had told me, “Just dress normally, normally,” so I did just that.

…Well, that makes sense. Now that I think about it, I’ve spent most of my time serving Ojou and performing my duties, which has often put me in environments where adults conduct business. I’m well aware that I still don’t fully understand the scope of an average student’s life.

However, Hōraiō Academy itself is a prestigious girls’ school.

It’s not exactly an upper-class institution like the Tendō family circles, but most of the students come from fairly wealthy families. Perhaps they, too, see this as an opportunity to learn the perspective of an average high school student – especially in light of the upcoming transition to a coeducational system.

I decided to approach this as a learning experience and renewed my resolve. With that in mind, I checked the store information on my phone again.

In fact, just yesterday, I had received a notification that the originally planned location for the group meeting had been changed.

“Still… this change of plans was pretty sudden, even for Yukimichi.”

This guy may have a flashy appearance, but when it comes to planning events like this, he’s actually quite meticulous.

He’s good at researching and making detailed plans. For someone like Yukimichi to suddenly change the venue at this stage is definitely unusual.

Fortunately, it looks like nothing else has changed except the location. With that in mind, I should hurry to the meeting place.

☆

“Haa… So, the day has finally come.”

This group date was personally arranged by the head of the Tendō family.

To be honest, I was really looking forward to it. In reality, it’s more of a matchmaking event for Eito, but still – getting the chance to interact with the students of the Hōraiō Academy is not something that happens every day.

I had been looking forward to this as a chance to make new connections… but that was just until a little while ago.

Now my excitement was completely overshadowed by fear.

And for good reason – something truly terrifying and downright threatening had decided to interfere…

“Kazami. You just thought ‘something got in the way’, didn’t you?”

“Hahaha. What are you talking about? I never thought that!”

“Swear on the bones of your right arm?”

“My deepest apologies.”

With a well-rehearsed movement ingrained in my body, I fell into a full dogeza in front of Tendō-san and Habaki.

I mean, seriously, what is it with these two? They’re terrifying. Are they psychics or something?

…Well, I guess it’s not that surprising. After all, Tendō Seon is the daughter of Tendō Hina. An almost supernatural sense of intuition runs in the family.

“However, the Tendō Group is really on another level. Renting out an entire restaurant for the day is one thing, but going so far as to put employees under their influence? That’s impressive.”

“If you and my father hadn’t interfered, none of this would have been necessary.”

“A-A-Anyway! Are all the preparations done?”

Trying to deflect the conversation and diffuse the tension, I ended up stepping on an even bigger landmine.

I pride myself on my way with words, but there’s no way I can win against these two. If anything, trying to avoid the subject feels like a direct threat to my survival.

“The preparations are complete.”

“Now all that’s left is to watch it unfold.”

The fact that we were in this waiting room meant that everything was set.

In fact, the two had already changed into those outfits. Their preparations were complete.

For Eito, who had no idea what was coming, all I could say was rest in peace.

…Or wait. Considering that these two high-class beauties had such overwhelming feelings for him, maybe feeling sorry for him wasn’t the right reaction.

If anything, it wouldn’t be surprising if someone felt the urge to strangle him out of sheer jealousy.

“What about you? It’s already an hour before the meeting.”

“You should go to the meeting place as soon as possible.”

“It’s only about a five-minute walk from here, so it’s still too early. Haha.”

“Haa…”

They both let out a synchronized sigh.

They both let out an incredibly heavy sigh.

If I had to put it into words, it felt like they were thinking, “Wow… this guy really doesn’t get it.

“Get ready to leave right now. Hurry. Now.”

“Huh…? W-Why…?”

“…You really don’t understand?”

It seemed that Habaki understood exactly what Tendō-san was trying to say.

…Wait, am I the only one here who doesn’t understand?

“U-Um… just in case, may I ask the reason?”

“I guess there’s no way around it. Listen carefully. Since we’re talking about Eito, he’s probably already arrived at the meeting place an hour early out of habit.”

“Haa… Well, that sounds like him. But what’s the problem?”

“…And at that meeting place, there will surely be…”

“…Sure?”

“A cute little thief (girl) will be there.”

I began to understand what they were trying to say.

“That little thief will end up alone with Eito at the meeting place, and with just a little casual conversation… he might start to get interested in her…!”

“No way. There’s no way something like that would happen…”

“…Can you really say that for sure?”

“We’re talking about Eito here.”

“I… can’t exactly say… that it’s impossible…”

The more they pointed it out, the more I started to think, yeah… this guy would definitely do it.

“Go and ruin the mood before he accidentally puts up another flag.”

It seemed that in Tendō-san’s mind, a new girl had already approached Eito.

Seriously, when it comes to Eito, her intuition is almost too sharp.

“Alright. I’ll get ready and head over right away.”

I had to get ready as soon as possible and hurry to the meeting place.

After all, I valued my life.