Volume 2, 1 - A New Emissary Part 2

Volume 2, Chapter 1 – A New Emissary Part 2

And so, Diana moved out of the Kenzaki house today, three days after Yasuo received his failing grades.

Diana’s new base of operations was Room Number 101 of the Marigold Hills Tokorozawa Apartment Building, which was located very close by and could be seen from the window of Yasuo’s room.

Although it was surprising that she was able to move in just three days after they had thought of the idea, according to his father, the apartment was available immediately after they completed inspecting the premises. It was probably a stroke of good luck.

It was an ordinary apartment building, and you would probably find hundreds of similar-looking buildings even within Tokorozawa City. It had two floors, with a total of four western-style one-room apartments. This building with the exaggerated name of 『Marigold Hills』 was where Diana would be staying from now on.

On paper, the person who was renting the apartment was Kenzaki Hideo, and the rent, including administrative charges, was 50,000 Yen. The building was being managed by a nearby real estate agency and the floor plan of the building wasn’t available on the internet, so Yasuo couldn’t tell if this was cheap or expensive.

In any case, after going to purchase the minimum necessities that Diana would need for living alone, the four members of the Kenzaki family and Diana were planning to go out for dinner today to celebrate Diana’s moving into a new apartment.

“My highest priority, huh?”

Yasuo looked at the three exam answer sheets marked with a failing grade that were on top of his desk and sighed.

He hadn’t intended to take his studies lightly.

However, he couldn’t deny that the Hero training had come to occupy a position of importance in his heart once he had decided to become a Hero, making the time when he had been fiercely opposed to Diana and his father’s decision seem like a lie.

His feelings about the matter definitely did not come from just wanting to experience a fantasy world.

『Just because a child can fire a gun, that doesn’t mean he can defeat a trained soldier.』

In his mind, he could still hear those humiliating words.

William Bareig.

Yasuo could only remember a few scattered details about his fight with that man, even though it had been an important event that changed his views about his life and the world he lived in.

The battle had just been that desperate and pushed him to his limits.

In spite of the the fact that William had been about to harm Nodoka and Diana, all Yasuo had been able to do against him was a clumsy response that was similar to a child tattling to his parents after throwing a temper tantrum.

He had apparently fired Diana’s Techno Weapon, Pollux, several times. However, he could not remember how he had ended up holding Pollux, and there were large gaps in his memory in the time between when he fired Pollux and the time his father appeared to save him.

However, he could clearly remember the confrontation with that creature called William, the terror his voice inspired, which almost made him pee his pants, and the humiliation that came along with it.

Even though Diana had done a great job at keeping the otherworld monsters, the Shii, away from them, she had been unable to land a single blow on William.

Yasuo had been the only person there who was able to hit William, although the damage was negligible. And then, William had told him that it could not even be considered a fight unless Yasuo could become at least as strong as Diana.

It was obvious that the differences between Diana, who had been raised by parents who were hailed as saviors in a world where Magitech Knights were considered common, and Yasuo, who didn’t know anything about his parents’ past until a few days ago, were more than just a difference in the time spent training.

Even Yasuo didn’t think for a second that he’d be able to catch up to Diana by training for one year in addition to studying for university exams.

In the first place, Yasuo’s proposed plan of taking a temporary break from studies and going to Resteria after passing university exams in a year’s time was lacking feasibility and was overly optimistic.

However, because he had already stated his resolution, he had thought that he should become stronger even if only by a tiny amount.

“There’s no point in making excuses to myself.”

In the end, the fact remained that Yasuo had thought that the Hero training was more important than his school studies.

And so, he had ended up not studying hard for his tests.

That was inexcusable.

“I need to get full marks on the make-up tests… and maintain a high score until I finish the final exams, or I can’t say that I’ve completely recovered from this.”

Yasuo thought that this was in some ways more difficult for his current self than even the Hero training, but,

“I should do my best…. At least at getting my emotions in order.”

He never wanted to sit on such a bed of nails ever again.

Yasuo picked up the three answer sheets and took a roll of tape out of the drawer of his desk.

“Over here should be good.”

Instead of putting the sheets where he could see them when at his desk, he attached the sheets to the wall at a level where they would be clearly visible when he was sitting on his bed and practicing his beginner-level magic.

“I won’t mistake the order of importance again. This is to remind me of that.”

Yasuo let out a large sigh and tried to turn his thoughts to positive things, but,

“Hmm?”

Yasuo noticed that there was a mark on the wall where he had attached the sheet; it looked like something had been pinned there with a thumb tack at some point.

Looking at the three answer sheets attached to the wall, he also had a feeling that he had seen something similar before.

“Ah.”

He finally remembered something that was better off forgotten.

It had happened during his first year of middle school.

Contrary to elementary school where it was easy to score full marks without even studying, Yasuo had been exposed to a baptism of fire in the form of 『Regular Tests』.

Yasuo scored in the 60s and 50s in many subjects, a disgraceful result that had never happened before. And so, Yasuo had taken the three worst scores, Home Economics, Social Studies, and Science, and pinned them to the wall so that he would see them before going to sleep, to remind him to do whatever it took to avoid repeating that experience.

He also remembered being scolded by his mother for damaging the wall by pinning the answer sheets to it with thick thumbtacks, and besides, the answer sheets had barely stayed up for a month before they fell off the wall and into the space between the wall and his bed, and had gotten all dusty.

“I haven’t improved at all!!”

He had intended to inspire himself to work harder, but ended up receiving an unexpected attack from his past. Yasuo held his head in his hands and seriously doubted if he would be able to become a hero in just a year’s time.

Even so, Yasuo had to deal with the reality of make-up tests being just around the corner, so he peeled two of the three answer sheets off the wall and started reviewing their contents.

The teachers didn’t have that much free time, after all. He had been informed in advance that the questions for Classical Literature and English Reading would be variations of the questions that appeared on the original tests.

Especially for reading comprehension, the exact same passage would appear on the test again. So long as he reviewed the contents properly, there was no reason why he should not be able to score good marks.

Incidentally, he would need a score of 80 or above out of 100 to pass. If he managed to pass, his grade would be increased from 3 (failing) to 4 (passing).

“Dammit… I need to read such a long sentence from end to end….”

One of the questions for English Reading was to decipher a long paragraph of text using an English-Japanese dictionary. The text in question was a speech called 『The Various Experiences of a Japanese High School Student on His First Trip Abroad』.

It would have made sense for a high school student to go some place like New Zealand for language studies, but for some reason, the subject of the text, “Hiroshi,” had gone to Hawaii.

He had apparently discovered many wonders of Hawaii that he previously only saw as a major tourist destination.

Apparently, what he found especially surprising was that there was an increase in the number of Japanese tourists; Japanese companies had advanced further into the Hawaiian market, which meant that there were many places where people understood Japanese, and that the tour guides were available for Japanese.

“Why the heck are you talking about this stuff in English even after returning to Japan, Hiroshi!?”

Ignoring his own shortcomings, Yasuo slandered Hiroshi instead.

However, there could be no comparison between Hiroshi, who was capable of giving a speech in English, and Yasuo, who had failed his test. For this reason, the only thing he achieved by slandering Hiroshi was making him feel worse about himself.

After getting an overall idea of what Hiroshi’s speech was about, Yasuo wondered.

“If I’m going to Ante Lande, do I need to learn the language used there?”

Diana spoke perfect Japanese. Thinking back, William had been speaking Japanese as well, and even Alex’s Shii had spoken Japanese, even if the only thing he said was “Hideo the Hero.”

“Maybe Japanese is used quite a bit there because of the influence of Dad and Mom? No, maybe it’s just Diana’s family who are fluent… but William doesn’t have anything to do with them, right? What’s that about?”

Even foreign talent stars who had lived in Japan for over a decade and who could make jokes with Japanese celebrities on TV would have a manner of speech influenced by their mother tongue, and many of them still had the so-called 『Foreigner’s Accent』. Considering this, it was quite miraculous that Diana, who was from a different world, spoke Japanese that was indistinguishable from that of a native.

“Speaking of which, it seems like Dad and Mom were immediately able to communicate with the people there after being sent to Ante Lande, was there some convenient magical phenomenon where they could just speak in Japanese and the people there would understand… or is it that the people of Ante Lande also spoke Japanese…?”

“What are you muttering to yourself over there? It’s time to go.”

“Uwaaah!?”

“I could hear you from even outside your room. Weren’t you supposed to be studying?”

At some point, his Mother had opened the door of his room and was standing there with a dumbfounded expression.

“I was!! Also, at least knock before opening the door!”

“I did. Maybe you just didn’t hear it. Didn’t we already talk this morning about going out for dinner after buying Diana-chan’s daily necessities? It’s time to go. The restaurant will be crowded if we go any later.”

“Eeh? Ah, it’s already this late. Got it, I’ll be down in a minute.”

Looking at the clock on his Slimphone, Yasuo saw that it was already a little past five in the evening.

“Looks like you’ve been working hard, Yasuo.”

Yasuo was not at all surprised to see Diana waiting in the living room after heading downstairs with his mother. He had already become used to seeing Diana there as a part of his daily life.

He thought that there was no reason for her to leave their house, but he was not insensitive enough to say that out loud.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”

After he just said that, Hideo and Nodoka started preparing to leave as well.

※

The area around the western exit of Tokorozawa Station was a compact and yet typical shopping district.

The bus terminal in front of the station was surrounded by banks and department stores, and the SEIYU store adjacent to the station was an indispensable part of the shopping infrastructure for the people who commuted to and from Tokorozawa Station.

Prope Street, which would be on your right hand side after exiting the station, had a variety of shops that served food and drink, ranging from chain cafes that even students would feel comfortable entering, to shops that served Japanese cuisine that catered to more specific tastes. In addition, there were game centers, pachinko shops, and karaoke centers, making the street a place where people of all genders and ages could have fun.

After exiting Prope Street, you would find the Ozone Tokorozawa Shopping Center.

The Magitech Knight from another world, Diana, stood in a daze before that magnificent edifice.

“S-So this is one of the legendary department stores that I have heard about!”

“Diana-san, calm down. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Diana was overwhelmed by the giant commercial establishment that they arrived at after exiting Prope Street, which was still lively and crowded at night.

It had been a while since Diana had come to Japan, but her activities so far had been restricted to the area immediately around the Kenzaki residence, and the places near Nodoka and Yasuo’s schools.

Yasuo’s prep school was also near the western exit of Tokorozawa Station, but as it was on the other side of the station from Prope Street, Diana had never come this way before even though she had been curious.

Diana drank in the sights that both Yasuo and Nodoka had gotten used to as they had lived here since their early childhood.

And apparently, this Ozone Tokorozawa Shopping Center was the best sight of them all.

“I’ve heard about this from my mother. She told me that Japan has three-dimensional markets that are ensconced in buildings the size of castles. This is one of those, isn’t it!? A department store!”

“Three-dimensional markets… If you’re talking about size, that high-rise apartment building over there is much taller, and besides, Ozone is not a department store, is it? Come to think of it, what’s the difference between a shopping center and a department store?”

“It’s the price range of the products sold and the targeted customer demographic. The difference between shopping centers and department stores has blurred in recent times, but speaking frankly, department stores sell high-class products, and the other stores sell products for the masses. Ante Lande doesn’t have any multi-level commercial establishments like this, so it’s only natural that Diana-chan finds it so interesting.”

“Oh, really? Why doesn’t Ante Lande have any?”

After hearing her father’s explanation, Nodoka, who was keeping a firm grip on Diana’s clothes to keep her from running off, turned back and asked another question.

“Why? Let’s see, this is just a guess, but I think it’s because of problems with taxes, and they have a distance limit when attracting customers. It’s not that they can’t build them, I just think no one would want to.”

“Distance limit in attracting customers?”

“Yeah. For example, do you think we would have come here today if our car hadn’t been destroyed in the fighting that happened back then?”

“Ah. We might have gone to the Ozone near the suburbs. We would have probably gone to a different store further away for buying the electrical appliances as well.”

“In a world without trains and cars, such places would actually be too far away. For example, there’s an outlet park in Iruma, right?”

Their father took the example of an outlet park in the outskirts of the neighboring Iruma City, alongside Route 16 of the national highway.

The outlet park was adjacent to an American-funded, membership-only supermarket2 , and it was a well known shopping spot close to Tokorozawa City. Yasuo and Nodoka had gone there several times.

“How many people do you think live within walking distance of that outlet park?”

“Within walking distance? I don’t think there would be many people living that close.”

“No, considering that location, it’s safe to say the number is close to nil.”

Yasuo joined the conversation as well.

“Right? Even for this place, we don’t have a problem coming here because we live in Tokorozawa, but if we lived in, say, Kotesashi, you wouldn’t think of just walking over here on a whim.”

Kotesashi is one of the terminus stations on the Seibu Ikebukuro Line that lies in the direction of Hannou City, two stops down from Tokorozawa Station.

There might be a few people willing to walk the distance between two stations, but it is certainly not common.

“Well, Kotesashi has a SEIYU as well.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about.”

Their father gave a bitter smile, but both Yasuo and Nodoka understood what their father was trying to say. Ante Lande did not have any readily available means of long-distance transport like trains, automobiles, and bicycles.

A natural result of that was that shops could only attract customers from a fairly confined area, and if the total number of customers was small, building a large commercial center would be pointless as it would soon go out of business.

The very idea of taking a quick hop by train or car to go shopping did not exist in Ante Lande.

“Hang on, Diana can fly, right? Does the distance really matter if you are capable of flying?”

“I can fly, but my baggage can’t fly with me.”

Diana, who had started listening to the conversation halfway through, nodded in affirmation.

“We do have magic that is used to transport large cargo by air, but the amount of money and magical energy needed for that is so high that it is far more cost effective to transport the cargo by land in a cart, and even that is not so cheap that you would consider using it for a long distance shopping trip. Even Magitech Knights can’t fly for very long distances, and besides, you need to pay a toll when entering another city. All the important cities in the world have soldiers stationed on the city walls who are tasked with surveillance of the skies, so you can’t really fly around on a whim to go on a sightseeing trip.”

“You need to pay a toll even though you’re flying?”

Although it sounded like a joke, it was only natural that there would be such measures put in place to maintain social order in a society where the ability of flight was commonplace.

“But flying in the sky is not like following a road or a waterway, right? Shouldn’t it be relatively simple to escape by flying?”

Diana made a stern expression at Nodoka’s question and shook her head.

“Crossing over into the territory of a city by air without permission is a serious crime. In any part of the world, the soldiers who are given the task of guarding the skies are all elites, and their Sorcery Divisions receive a large budget. A couple of Magitech Knights attempting to sneak in would be detected right away, and the large countries have large scale Techo Weapon turrets mounted on the walls that automatically shoot down any flying object infringing on their territorial airspace.”

“Oh yeah, I remember those things that looked like anti-aircraft guns.”

Their father spoke some dangerous-sounding words while walking onto the first floor of the shopping center where the fancy shops were located.

“They have anti-aircraft guns, but no department stores?”

Yasuo felt that the other world was quite strange.

“Leave that for another time, Diana-chan’s shopping is more important now.”

At Madoka’s urging, the group of people went up to the upper levels of the Ozone shopping center.

As they went from shop to shop, they used the escalators to get around. It was then that Yasuo remembered that Diana had used escalators before, but hadn’t been fazed by them one bit.

They had gone through the Tokorozawa Station building on the way back home from prep school, and he seemed to remember Diana smoothly getting on and off the escalator as if she was used to it.

“Hey, Diana. Do you have escalators in Resteria?”

“Yes, we do.”

He received a very unexpected response.

“They are not as prevalent as in Japan, but they are present in the royal palace, cathedrals, and the mansions of aristocrats. There are also similar mechanisms called magic stairs in cities that have a large social welfare budget.”

“Oh?”

Of course, it was improbable that even this was caused by the influence of his father and mother, but Yasuo realized that he knew barely anything about Resteria.

He was able to understand why Diana was so fascinated by department stores.

Once his make-up tests were done, he would have to study more about the lifestyle of people in Resteria, their cultures and customs, and most importantly, he had to do something about the language barrier.

“Say, Dad. When you went to Ante Lande…”

He started to talk to his father when they stepped off the escalator, but,

“Alright, Nodoka, I’ll leave that area to you. The two of us will go and look at the household appliances.”

“Sure.”

“Thank you, I will leave that to you.”

“Yasuo, you can at least carry their bags, right? Anyways, I’ll contact you about an hour.”

“Eh? Eh? Eh?”

His mother and father went up on the escalator to the floor where household appliances were sold, and Nodoka and Diana went down towards the general merchandise section.

“Ah, hey, wait for me!”

His instinct as a third year male high school student caused him to chase after the two girls instead of his parents… but looking at the end result, it could only be said that it was a mistake in more ways than one.

Diana looked like she was having a lot of fun as she went around shopping with Nodoka, and they seemed to be enjoying their conversation as well.

Yasuo couldn’t hear what they were saying as he was sitting on a bench near the escalator, which was a little distance away from the shop.

On one side of him, there was a pile of things Diana had bought per Nodoka’s advice.

There were no items that were so large that they would need to use the home delivery service, but the cups and dishware had to be carried carefully, on top of being heavy. Towelkets and sheets weren’t heavy, but they were bulky, and he hadn’t thought that cosmetics would be this heavy either.

Diana had originally refused point blank to relegate Yasuo to the role of carrying her bags, but Yasuo had been the one who convinced her to let him do it.

It wasn’t because he felt responsible for Diana starting to live alone. He was just blown away by how long it took for girls to finish their shopping, and he realized that he would be better off working as a push cart with hands and legs.

To go into detail of what exactly blew him away, first they took ages to select the items to consider, then took even longer to eliminate the ones they didn’t want to buy. They would ask for his opinion but showed no signs of taking it into consideration, and finally, they would leave the shop without buying anything. This sort of thing happened several times.

Looking at Nodoka and Diana, Yasuo thought that this trait was shared by all girls, irrespective of the world and dimension they came from.

After seeing Nodoka and Diana spend over ten minutes scrutinizing indoor slippers and finally not buying any of them, Yasuo, who typically had no such problems shopping for himself, inadvertently blurted out “They’re just slippers, won’t anything do?” This earned him a glare from Nodoka and an apologetic look from Diana, and since then, he had decided to maintain silence.

There were many times when he thought, “I’d just pick any random one,” but then he realized that comparing his shopping method to that of the girls was as pointless as comparing the hunting methods of a lion and an anglerfish and trying to decide which one was better.

Their mother had said that they should meet up after an hour, but it had taken them nearly that much time to just buy the tableware, sheets, and cosmetics.

The three of them were currently on the floor that sold clothing, but Yasuo had no idea on how to judge girls’ clothing, and since they had to buy underwear as well, he was ordered to wait here on the bench.

Yasuo could see the cashiers from where he was sitting, but couldn’t see Nodoka or Diana anywhere near them, so he assumed they were still somewhere inside the shop.

Yasuo opened up the free messaging application, ROPE, on his smartphone and was about to send the message 「It looks like we’ll need some more time」 in his family’s group chat, when a shadow fell across him.

Yasuo lifted his head to see who was there, and received a shock.

“Tatewaki-san!?”

“Hey there, Yasu-kun. Why are you acting so surprised?”

Yasuo’s classmate in middle school and current fellow student at prep school, Tatewaki Shouko, was standing there with a shopping bag hanging from her arm.

“Are you here for shopping?”

“Eh? Ah, yeah. I’m not the one shopping, though.”

“I can see that. I can see tableware from a fancy shop, and those look like cosmetics.”

Yasuo tried to make an excuse, but Shouko just looked at the mountain of shopping bags on the bench next to Yasuo and gave a bitter smile.

“So you’re in charge of carrying the bags?”

“Well, something like that. What about you, Tatewaki-san?”

“I have to go to prep school, but there was some stuff I wanted to buy before going there.”

Looking at Shouko’s bag, Yasuo saw that it was from a bookstore that was located inside the Ozone Shopping Center.

Maybe because she noticed Yasuo’s gaze, Shouko held out the bag for him to see.

“A new volume of a manga I am reading was released, so I bought it for myself as a gift for working hard all this week.”

“You’re pretty open about this.”

“It’s a gift for my hard work, after all. Ah—by the way, Yasu-kun.”

“Hmm?”

Shouko had been talking to him normally until now, but she suddenly started fidgeting and once again looked at the shopping bags next to Yasuo.

“Umm, are you… with family?”

“Hmm? What about my family?”

“I mean, the shopping… Are you here with your family?”

“Eh? Ah… Yeah, I am. What about it?”

“Nothing, you just looked very surprised when I called out to you, so I was wondering if you didn’t want to be seen here. This place is a clothing store for women, and the things you’ve bought look they’re meant for girls too.”

“Ah….”

Looking around, it was true that there were many things around him that had no relation to his daily life.

Another thing that he realized was that he was in a precarious position right now.

Yasuo had assumed so far that Shouko had already gotten over that issue, but back when Diana was still new to Japan, she had threatened Shouko in a back alley at night.

That had happened to due to certain unavoidable circumstances, and Shouko had not pressed Yasuo for more details after that. However, Diana had not apologized to Shouko directly.

Yasuo didn’t think that Shouko would make an issue out of it at prep school after all this time, but since it was “his side” that had behaved inappropriately, he wanted to avoid having Shouko and Diana meet again accidently. This was both for the purpose of avoiding problems with interpersonal relationships in the future, as well as avoiding the spread of information related to Ante Lande any further.

However, the myriad deities residing in the land of Japan did not fulfill Yasuo’s wish.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Yasuo. We’ve finished buying everything we need for now, so let’s meet up… oh?”

She had probably felt sorry for keeping him waiting.

Diana had walked over to him quickly while holding a large bag in her hands. It would have been better if she had taken the time to observe the situation before coming over.

However, it was already too late to be thinking about things like that.

If only Nodoka had also come back along with her. What was that sister of his doing? She’s not at the cashiers either, where on earth did she disappear to?

Diana had a blank expression upon seeing Shouko who was talking to Yasuo, and Shouko in turn was looking at Diana with a shocked expression.

Yasuo decided to stop thinking of unnecessary things.

There was no choice but to get out of this situation using his extremely low ability to ad-lib while talking to the opposite sex.

“Umm, is she a friend of yours, Yasuo?”

Diana’s question seemed to timidly pass through the space in between Yasuo and Shouko.

This was a very Japanese way of calling out to someone. Yasuo thought that it would have been better if she was less talented at the nuances of using Japanese, as he now had no choice but to answer.

“Ah, yes. This is Tatewaki Shouko-san. She’s a friend from prep school. Tatewaki-san, as I mentioned to you before, this is Dianaze Krone. She’s an acquaintance of my Dad’s.”

This was undoubtedly the first time in Yasuo’s life that he had found himself caught between two women and forced to make introductions.

Since he had already been nervous to begin with, it couldn’t be denied that he was speaking very quickly.

After Yasuo finished speaking, neither Diana nor Shouko replied for a few seconds and instead observed each other’s faces. And then,

““Ah.””

They both let out a small shout at the same time.

“You’re that person who was saying stuff about Yasu-kun’s enemies or whatever the other day!”

“I’m really so sorry for what happened back then!”

Shouko slightly changed her posture, and Diana bowed down with so much force that it was surprising her upper body was still attached.

“Umm, I was really lacking knowledge about many things related to Japan back then. I had no idea that you were a friend of Yasuo’s from school. I have been thinking for a long time that I should apologize for being rude to you. I’m really very sorry.”

The fight went out of Shouko and she scratched her head as she watched Diana bob her head up and down several times while apologizing.

“Ah, well… I was surprised, but I’ve already heard about your circumstances, so it’s okay. You don’t have to apologize so much, please raise your head.”

“Thank you so much!”

Diana straightened her posture with a bright red face, but still bowed down one last time to Shouko.

“H-Hey, Diana, you’re spilling stuff out of your bag.”

“A-Ah, Yasuo! I’m so sorry!”

Looking at the relieved expression on Diana’s face, it could be seen that the matter had been weighing heavily on her heart.

Because of her non-stop bowing, the seal on her bag that was stuffed with clothes came loose, and Diana once again apologized to Yasuo as he picked up the various items that had fallen out.

Seeing this, Shouko let out a sigh.

“Well, there’s nothing I can do about this.”

“Eh?”

Did the atmosphere around Shouko change slightly, or was that just Yasuo’s imagination?

Shouko turned towards Diana and introduced herself again in a soft tone.

“My name is Tatewaki Shouko. I graduated from the same middle school as Kenzaki-kun. As he said earlier, we are currently attending the same prep school, although we only found out about that recently. I just happened to run into him here earlier, so I called out to him.”

“Oh, I see.”

“Yes. Umm, Krone-san? Are you here shopping with Kenzaki-kun?”

“With Yasuo? I don’t know if I can call it that, as he has regrettably just been carrying the bags.”

“I see.”

Shouko smiled, but it was a smile that was strangely devoid of emotion.

“Well, I have a lesson now, so I should be going. I don’t want to get in your way.”

“Hmm? Ah… Hmm?”

Didn’t Shouko say something strange just now?

“Hey, Kenzaki-kun. I understand how you feel, but you should at least walk around with her and help her pick out the clothes. Make sure you do that next time.”

“Yeah… Hmm?”

As he thought, something was strange.

“Umm, Tatewaki-san—”

“Goodbye, Kenzaki-kun. Let’s talk again if we meet in prep school.”

“Ah… okay. See you later.”

Shouko left right away without letting Yasuo say anything meaningful.

Diana saw her off while bowing her head once again, but Yasuo, assailed by an indescribable sense of unease, could do nothing but awkwardly wave his hand.

“Looks like she’s got the completely wrong idea.”

“Uwaaah!?”

“Nodoka!?”

Nodoka had appeared beside Diana at some point without either of them noticing, and had her arms crossed with a smug expression on her face.

“Onii-chan, that person was calling you 『Yasu-kun』 in the beginning but suddenly switched to calling you 『Kenzaki-kun』. Didn’t you notice that?”

“Now that you mention it… More importantly, how long have you been listening!? Where were you!?”

“I did say ‘In the beginning,’ didn’t I? I went to the restroom after we finished shopping.”

“So you were just eavesdropping like it was the natural thing to do…”

“Well, that aside, that person definitely has the wrong idea.”

“Huh? About what?”

“Huh? Onii-chan, are you seriously asking me that?”

Nodoka looked between her brother’s and Diana’s faces, but both of them had a blank expression.

“Haaaaaa…… What’s wrong with these two people, they’re supposed to be older than me… ”

Nodoka, the younger sister, let her shoulders droop forcefully.

※