After the event with Mayuri ended, Arus said that Itsuka-kun’s event would be starting for a while, and I happily stepped out onto the street.
"Well, I’ve been the only one taking the hits so far, so now it’s Itsuka-kun’s turn. Mm, that’s right."
I’d been the only one suffering this whole time.
So now it was Itsuka-kun’s turn to get dragged through it.
While I was getting caught up in events with someone else, the others had been wandering around this place, so there was no reason I couldn’t do the same.
Besides, I had planned to do some shopping while I was out anyway.
"Hm? What’s that...?"
As I wandered around the streets alone, something caught my eye.
"A maid cafe?"
It was a maid cafe.
I’d never once been to a maid cafe since coming to Japan.
Mostly because it was embarrassing.
In real life, curiosity had never been enough to beat out shame, so I’d never gone. But this was a game, wasn’t it?
So maybe it would be fine to go once?
"Hmm..."
I stood still in place and fell into a very deep, very serious dilemma.
What exactly would I do if I went in there?
Could I even endure it if I did go?
Would there really be any point in going at all?
But I was curious, so maybe I should just try it?
While I was agonizing over all that, I felt someone tap me on the back.
"Hm?"
I turned around to see Mana standing behind me.
"Mana?"
"I saw red hair from far away and followed it, and sure enough, it was you, Hieta!"
Mana, in her school uniform, grabbed my hand and shook it wildly to show how happy she was.
No, we’d run into each other plenty at school. Was she really that happy to see me?
As I stared at her, Mana was trembling faintly.
What?
"Mana? Why are you shaking so mu—ah."
Behind Mana, I noticed a man standing by a building with a camera in his hands.
Judging by his build, he was a man.
And since the camera was pointed directly at Mana, he was definitely a stalker or some other perverted bastard.
I’d known this game was realistic, but I didn’t think it would go this far.
"Mana. Just a moment."
I immediately ran toward the man.
He noticed me coming and started to flee.
As if I couldn’t catch up to some ordinary guy.
I picked up speed, caught him, and tripped him by getting ahead of him and hooking his leg.
"Agh!"
I grabbed the man’s arm as he fell forward, twisted it behind his back to restrain him, and pressed a knee into his back while checking the camera he was holding.
"Hah..."
After looking through the photos on the camera, I let out a low breath.
"This guy’s completely insane."
Inside the camera were tons of photos of Mana, taken from far away or from a slightly closer distance.
And on top of that, there were plenty of photos of girls from Rindoji Girls' Academy and Raizen High School too, so this looked like something he did pretty often.
The whole creepy display of photos made me almost drop the camera and stomp it into pieces without thinking.
But this was evidence, so I had to keep it.
"W-What do you think you’re doing!"
"Heh. A guy who goes around stalking people and taking pictures from a distance like a pervert sure has a loud voice."
As I said that and yanked hard on the man’s arm, he screamed for me to let him go.
"Aaaagh!"
"Yelling won’t do you any good."
The place where the man had been standing was secluded.
And since he’d run deeper into the alley while trying to escape, even if he screamed, the buildings would block the sound before it ever reached the street.
"Now then."
I used the phone Arus had made for me this morning while we were eating breakfast to call the police.
After a little while, the police arrived where I was. I explained the situation and showed them the camera, and they looked at the man with clear disgust before arresting him.
"Ah, right. I should go back to Mana."
Mana was probably still where I’d left her.
Just in case, I called her while heading back to the spot where I’d originally been standing, and when she answered, she said she was still there.
Relieved by that, I returned to where I’d been before.
"Thank you for handling that for me, Hieta."
"You don’t need to bow that deeply."
I stopped Mana from lowering her head.
"Those kinds of guys shouldn’t exist in the first place, so there’s no need to thank me."
"Still, you helped me."
"Besides, couldn’t you have handled him yourself?"
Come to think of it, Mana was a Wizard.
From what I’d seen with Tobiichi, Wizards probably had far better physical abilities than ordinary people.
And Mana was top-tier among those Wizards, so it was strange that she couldn’t take down some random guy like that.
"I was a little unsure, and more importantly, this was the first time something like this has happened to me..."
"Ah, then I guess that makes sense."
No matter how strong a Wizard Mana was, she was still a girl.
"Still, what were you doing here, Hieta?"
"Ah, well..."
As I trailed off and looked at the maid cafe behind Mana, her gaze followed mine.
"Don’t tell me, you were planning to go to the maid cafe!?"
"I-I was just curious, that’s all."
"Waaah... Hieta, you’re interested in this kind of thing too?"
"No, I’m a guy too, so isn’t that normal?"
While I was arguing back at Mana’s words, a blue-haired boy wandered into the maid cafe as if possessed by something.
That’s right.
Itsuka-kun had gone into the maid cafe.
And Mana and I saw it happen.
"T-That’s my brother, isn’t it!?"
"Looks like Itsuka-kun, yes."
"Why the hell is he going in there...? No, forget it. We’re going in too."
Mana grabbed my wrist and dragged me into the maid cafe.
"W-Wait, huh? Huh!? No, hold on!"
Of course, my opinion was not consulted in the process.
Dragged in by Mana, I entered the maid cafe and saw Itsuka-kun talking with a woman.
"Ah, Shido~"
That woman was none other than Kurumi.
Mana and I both stared in shock when we saw Kurumi dressed as a maid.
"N-Nightmare!?"
"What the F..."
We were both at a loss for words after seeing the maid-clad Kurumi, and could only watch her and Itsuka-kun talk.
"Nya~ You came to see ‘Kurumin’ again today too, master~?"
"Yeah... I came... again, Kurumin."
No, don’t say it so solemnly.
"I’m so happy~ You know, Kurumin really, really wanted to see Shido~"
"Me too... I couldn’t stand it because I wanted to see you too, Kurumin."
"That’s right. Please. Then, your usual order..."
"Hah!"
As we listened to their conversation, we snapped out of it. Since we’d already come in, it would be weird to leave right away, so we stood there until a staff member came and showed us to a seat.
"Let’s just order some dessert or whatever."
"Agreed."
We each ordered some random dessert and then turned our attention back to Kurumi and Itsuka-kun.
Kurumi, who usually had such an elegant air, as a maid in a maid cafe?
This was obviously going to be hilarious.
"Aah~ Kannazuki-san, you came to see me again~?"
"Aaaah!!! I’ve been waiting for you, Kurumin-chan!!! Now then, hurry up and crush that parfait with your feet and let me lick the soles of your shoes!"
"Wow."
Kannazuki-san, who suddenly appeared and called out to Kurumin, made the same kind of perverted request he always did in real life.
And Itsuka-kun’s expression, like someone had stolen his thing, was a sight to behold.
"Good grief, that guy’s the same even here."
"Ahaha, it’s because he’s modeled after the real Kannazuki-san."
Mana looked at NPC Kannazuki-san with a faintly disgusted expression.
"Yes~ Here comes the Depravity☆Slave Parfait!"
"That menu item actually exists!?"
When I checked the menu, it really was there.
Was this actually a normal maid cafe...?
Just as that thought crossed my mind, I heard Itsuka-kun ordering another item as if refusing to lose.
"S-Sorry, but could I add a Moe Moe☆Dance Parfait too?"
"Of course~ Would you like to designate Kurumin-chan for that~?"
"Naturally, yes!"
The staff member took the order and left, and Itsuka-kun sat back down with an unpleasant smile.
"He’s my brother, but somehow he’s kind of gross."
"Well, he definitely looks like an NPC, so don’t worry about it too much."
After a little while, Kurumin approached the table where Itsuka-kun was sitting.
"Sorry to keep you waiting~ Moe Moe☆Dance Parfait, coming right up~"
"I-It’s here..."
"Ufufu... then, this is a little embarrassing, but~ Kurumin’s going to dance~☆ Music, start𝅘𝅥𝅮"
At Kurumin’s words, music began playing in the cafe, and Kurumin started dancing and singing along to it.
"Today too𝅘𝅥𝅮, heart-pounding Nightmare𝅘𝅥𝅮, let’s kill the master𝅘𝅥𝅮 with a nightmare𝅘𝅥𝅮"
"Pfft!"
"Kuh!"
Seeing Kurumin dance and sing, Mana and I both burst out laughing and couldn’t hold it in.
"Puhahahahahaha!!!"
"Kuh! M-Mana, aren’t you laughing a little too much—kuh! Ahahahahahaha!!!"
I tried to hold it in, but there was no way I could.
It was nothing like the Kurumi I usually knew.
"I-I have to record this...!"
Snickering uncontrollably, I started filming Kurumin dancing on my phone.
"M-Moeeeee!!!"
"Tomorrow too𝅘𝅥𝅮, let’s serve𝅘𝅥𝅮 Nightmare𝅘𝅥𝅮, let’s kill the master𝅘𝅥𝅮 one way or another𝅘𝅥𝅮"
Kurumin’s dance moves made it impossible for us to stop laughing.
"Ah, sore! Dokyun☆ Hakyun☆ Kurumin-pat𝅘𝅥𝅮 Dokyun☆ Hakyun☆ Kurumin-pat𝅘𝅥𝅮"
"Here it comes!!!"
"Puhahahahahaha!"
"Kuh! Kk-k-k... I-I can’t breathe..."
Between Kurumin spinning around as she danced and Itsuka-kun cheering at the sight of it, there was truly no time to catch our breath.
"Ah, sore, Kururin-pat𝅘𝅥𝅮"
"Kururin-pat! Kururin-pat!"
"Sorry to keep you waiting~ Moe Moe☆Dance Parfait, here you go~"
Itsuka-kun received his parfait from Kurumin and looked like he had ascended to heaven.
We laughed for a long time after that before leaving the cafe.
"Haah, that was seriously hilarious."
"I can honestly say that was one of the funniest experiences of my life."
As I said that, I played back the video I’d recorded.
-Ah, sore! Dokyun☆ Hakyun☆ Kurumin-pat𝅘𝅥𝅮 Dokyun☆ Hakyun☆ Kurumin-pat𝅘𝅥𝅮
"Pffft! Y-You were recording that...?"
Mana trembled as she desperately tried to hold back her laughter, and I said calmly,
"Of course. Things like this are meant to be kept."
"Please send that to me too."
"Understood."
There was no reason not to, so I sent the video to Mana.
"Haah... If anything annoying happens, I’m going to watch this to calm down."
Wiping away the tears she’d laughed out, Mana kept watching the video, her mouth twitching and refusing to settle back down.
It really was that funny.
"Ah, right. I still need to do the shopping."
Come to think of it, I still hadn’t bought anything yet.
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