"Welco!"
The destination for Mikoto and Shido's date was a cat cafe. Greeted by a waitress in a maid outfit, Shido entered the shop he had once visited with Tohka.
"Huh?"
The mont he entered, the corner of his eye seed to catch a black shadow darting back into a corner. (TL: heh~ classic)
"What's wrong, Shido?"
Mikoto asked with a calm expression.
"No, nothing."
"Must have been my imagination."
Shido shook his head, then sat down with Mikoto and opened the nu. They ordered two coffees and two cakes.
"Shido, could you hold that yellow cat for ?"
After the coffee and desserts were brought to the table, Mikoto suddenly said that.
"Huh? Sure, no problem."
Shido was a little surprised. Leaving Mikoto aside, if this was Origami's personality, a cat cafe and cats did not seem like things that would interest her.
"I feel kind of uneasy…"
Thinking this, Shido followed Mikoto's request and bent down to pick up the yellow cat. Since this was a cafe, the cats here were used to people. It owed as it obediently curled up in Shido's arms.
"Um, Yakumo-senpai, do you want to hold—"
He lifted his head and spoke to Mikoto.
But halfway through, Shido froze. For so reason, Mikoto was locked in a pose where her left hand desperately pulled at her right hand, while her right hand struggled with a small paper packet pinched between its fingers.
When she saw Shido look up, Mikoto quickly withdrew her hands beneath the table.
"What… was that just now?"
Shido asked uneasily. That little paper packet bothered him.
"Powdered sugar. Shido's madeleine was lacking powdered sugar."
Mikoto said calmly.
"It was lacking powdered sugar?"
Shido lowered his head and saw that the madeleine he had ordered was already covered in a thick layer of powdered sugar.
What bothered him was that there seed to be quite a few white crystals scattered on the table near the madeleine. They looked like powdered sugar, but they had not fallen from the cake. Rather, it seed as though, during a struggle between two hands, so had accidentally spilled from a small paper packet.
"No. I saw wrong."
Mikoto took a sip of coffee and said with a perfectly calm face.
"Um, do you want to pet the cat?"
Shido rembered that Mikoto had been the one who asked him to hold the cat.
"No. You can put it down. More importantly—Shido, I recomnd enjoying the cake and coffee while they are hot."
"Y-yeah, you're right."
Hearing Mikoto's words, Shido picked up his coffee and took a sip. The black coffee brought with it a rich aroma and an acidic bitterness, making one unconsciously want sothing sweet to balance it out.
"Cake really does go well with black coffee."
Thinking that, Shido reached toward the madeleine covered with powdered sugar.
"ow!"
However, at that mont, the yellow cat in his arms owed and leapt out, snatching Shido's cake in one bite.
"Ah, my cake!"
"Tch!"
Shido cried out. At the sa ti, he thought he heard a tongue click from nearby.
But it was too late. The cat quickly jumped to a place Shido could not reach and ate the cake that had belonged to him.
"We're terribly sorry! Truly, terribly sorry! That child usually doesn't steal custors's food."
"No, it's all right… huh?"
Just as the maids repeatedly apologized to Shido and told him they would provide a new cake for free, Shido noticed sothing.
For so reason, the yellow cat that had eaten the cake began trembling violently.
ow—!
With a loud cry, it suddenly pounced on a nearby cat, mounted it, and began moving vigorously.
"Oh my, why did this child suddenly…"
"That's strange. It shouldn't be that season yet."
The maids began murmuring among themselves.
"Um… Yakumo-senpai…"
Shido turned around trembling and looked at Mikoto, whose expression remained perfectly calm.
"Please do not mind it. Cats sotis experience false heat like this. More importantly, have so coffee, Shido."
Receiving the coffee Mikoto handed him, Shido brought his nose close to the cup. The coffee, which had slled rich and bittersweet just monts ago, now gave off a sharp, pungent scent.
Yes. It was exactly the sa as the "foreign tea" he had once drunk at Origami's house.
"There really is sothing wrong with this Yakumo-senpai!"
Realizing that things would beco very bad if he stayed any longer, Shido scread and fled from the cat cafe as fast as he could.
"Honestly, what is going on?"
After running for who knew how long, Shido stopped and spoke with lingering fear.
If the usual Mikoto was like sweet honey, making Shido unable to help wanting to throw himself toward her, then this Mikoto was like so kind of carnivorous plant. Sweet, yes, but sohow terrifying.
"Uya!"
Just as he was thinking about Mikoto's change, he suddenly felt a soft impact from the front.
"Ah, sorry… huh, Ori… Origami?"
He stopped and looked down. The girl he had accidentally knocked over was actually Origami. The girl was sitting on the ground, one hand braced against it, while the other had a slightly comical rabbit puppet on it. Between her snow white legs, panties with a water-drop pattern flickered in and out of sight.
"Yah, Shido-kun really is careless."
Unexpectedly, the rabbit puppet actually spoke.
"Yo… Yoshinon? Why are you with Origami?"
Shido helped Origami up, then asked.
"Oh my, what are you talking about, Shido-kun? Yoshinon doesn't understand."
The rabbit puppet suddenly moved close to Shido's face with a pressure filled feeling.
"N-no, it's nothing."
Feeling that it would be inappropriate to press further, Shido wisely ended the topic.
"Um… Shido-san…"
Origami called Shido's na in a timid tone.
"Mm? Is sothing the matter?"
"Yah, honestly, Shido-kun. Even though you've gone on dates with so many girls, why would you ask such an insensitive question?"
The rabbit puppet waved its short arms as it spoke.
"In other words, you want a date, right?"
Shido scratched his cheek awkwardly and asked carefully.
"Mm… I want to… go on a date with Shido-san…"
Origami nodded shyly and said in a small voice.
Twenty minutes later, the two arrived at a small park.
It was a place where children often ca to play. Strangely enough, there was no one here today.
"This brings back mories. When we were little, Kotori and I used to co here a lot."
Shido said.
"Shido-san… often ca here… with Kotori-san?"
Origami asked in a timid voice.
"Yeah. Though that was all back when we were kids."
"I also… want to play together… with Shido-san."
At that mont, Origami lightly tugged on Shido's sleeve and said so.
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