“Reine, am I seeing things? Big Brother is actually on a date with two girls at a restaurant?”
Kotori, having just sprayed juice onto Reine, spoke with an incredulous expression.
“I think you must be mistaken. Shido isn’t that kind of person.”
Reine, wiping juice from her face with a handkerchief, took a sip of black tea.
Then, with a soft ‘pffft,’ she sprayed a mouthful of black tea at Kotori.
“You startled me! It really is Shido!”
It was no wonder, after all. Kotori’s older brother, Itsuka Shido, had just walked past Reine, accompanied by two beautiful girls.
Not only that, but one of the beauties had waist-length purple hair, while the other possessed pink hair, ample breasts, and heterochromatic eyes. Such distinct features were unlikely to belong to anyone else in this world.
“Eh? Eh? Eh? What in the world is going on?”
Kotori took Reine’s handkerchief, dabbing at her face as she murmured.
Kotori opened her phone to check for any messages from Ratatoskr, but there were no new communications. This implied that Ratatoskr had not detected any spatial quakes caused by the appearance of Spirits.
“This means the Spirits possess the ability to appear without our detection.”
“But it’s also possible they’re just other people who happen to look similar!”
“Between Big Brother dating two ordinary girls simultaneously and Spirits being able to appear without causing spatial quakes, the latter seems far more plausible.”
“Indeed!”
Reine affirmed with a nod.
“However, if that’s the case, the situation becomes quite serious. Does Shido have the ability to handle Spirits on his own? And two Spirits at that.”
“Well…”
Kotori sighed, pulling a black hair tie from her pocket to re-secure her hair.
With this simple action, Kotori transformed from her adorable little sister persona into her stern Commander mode.
Then, she opened her phone and connected to Ratatoskr’s communication line.
“Emergency situation detected. Initiate Operation Code F08 — ‘Heavenly Palace Holiday Plan’. All Fraxinus personnel, return to your stations with utmost speed!”
****
“Hey, hey, hey, hey! Do I just pick whatever I want to eat from this book?”
Tohka exclaimed excitedly, holding the menu.
“Yes, that’s right!”
Shido confirmed.
“But there’s no kinako bread here!”
Tohka glanced quickly through the menu, a hint of disappointment in her voice.
“This isn’t a bakery, you know. Besides, didn’t you already eat a ton at the last place?”
Shido said with a wry smile, having witnessed Tohka devour a mountain of bread in an instant.
“But I want more! What exactly is this powder? It’s so intensely addictive. If it’s allowed to exist freely in this world, it will surely cause immense problems. People will tremble with withdrawal symptoms, and wars will erupt over kinako powder!”
“You’re overthinking it. It’s just ordinary kinako powder; you can have as much as you want!”
“What? Can something so precious actually be regenerated?”
“Uh…”
Shido was speechless.
“Never mind all that for now, ordering is important!”
Qianye, who had picked up a menu at some point, began placing her order.
“Let’s see, I’ll have the shredded pork with green peppers and scrambled eggs with tomatoes. These are all Chinese dishes.”
“Of course, Shido. Don’t forget what else I’m called.”
“Oh, I remember now!”
Only then did Shido recall that Phantom Qianye also went by the name Hime Qianye.
“Your turn, Shido. What will you order?”
“Me?”
Shido glanced at the menu, then at his increasingly thin wallet, and said resignedly, “I’ll just have a glass of juice.”
“Oh, what about you, Tohka?”
Qianye handed the menu to Tohka.
“I want this, this, this, and this…”
“Stop!”
Shido quickly intervened, stopping Tohka. “Tohka, this is all the money I have left. If you order any more, we’ll have to stay and wash dishes.”
“Oh, you’re hopeless,”
Tohka said, reluctantly putting down the menu.
“We’ll have these then.”
“Thank you for your patience!”
A languid voice announced. In no time at all, the server brought out their dishes.
“Wh-what?”
Shido’s eyes widened the moment he saw the server.
It was a silver-haired woman, a true ‘onee-san’, with perpetually sleepy eyes, dark circles beneath them, and ample breasts.
“What’s wrong, Shido? Is it an enemy?”
Tohka, noticing Shido’s odd reaction, immediately spoke with a fierce gaze.
“No, nothing’s wrong!”
Shido quickly denied.
Then, Reine, clad in a cute uniform with a small bear resting on her chest, suddenly widened her sleepy eyes, fixing Shido with a sharp gaze.
It was as if she were saying, ‘If you dare reveal my secret part-time job here, I’ll kill you.’ Though, in truth, that wasn’t her actual intention.
As the food was served, a small note was secretly slipped to Shido.
It read, “Enjoy your date. We’ll support you with all our might.”
“Mm-hm!”
Shido quickly nodded, acknowledging Reine’s message.
Then, Reine’s sharp gaze reverted to its perpetually sleepy state, and she slowly departed.
‘Heh heh!’
Qianye had observed Reine and Shido’s little exchange, but she had no interest in causing trouble. There were more important matters at hand.
“Tohka, say ‘ah’.”
“Ah!”
Qianye picked up a strand of shredded pork with her chopsticks, and Tohka obligingly opened her mouth wide.
“Mm… Mmm, it’s delicious!”
“Mm-hm, good girl!”
As Tohka savored the shredded pork, Qianye gently stroked Tohka’s head.
Tohka’s face was filled with delight, enjoying the warmth of Qianye’s hand.
For a moment, Qianye had a peculiar sensation. It felt as if she wasn’t stroking a beautiful girl with superhuman strength, but rather…
…the large black dog named ‘Black Tiger’ that her grandmother had raised in her previous life. Though Qianye preferred to call him A-Fu.
‘Tohka’s reaction is exactly the same as when I used to pet A-Fu.’
Realizing this, Qianye slowly withdrew her hand from Tohka’s head.
“Mmm-ngh~”
Tohka seemed to find it somewhat unsatisfying, so she mimicked Qianye’s action, picking up a piece of chicken cutlet and offering it to her.
“Qianye, say ‘ah’.”
“Oh~”
Qianye sighed softly, but opened her mouth and said, “Ah!”
“Heh!”
Tohka fed the chicken cutlet into Qianye’s mouth. Its crispy exterior and tender, smooth meat made Qianye exclaim how delicious it was.
“Eheheh! Good girl, good girl!”
Tohka, just like Qianye, began stroking Qianye’s head, and Qianye closed her eyes, enjoying the sensation.
‘Being fed by a beautiful girl, having my head stroked by a beautiful girl—that’s a blessing I never had in my previous life! Even though I’m a girl now, it still feels pretty great.’
“Cough, cough!”
Shido cleared his throat twice. Watching the two beautiful girls feed each other was charming, but being completely ignored felt rather unpleasant.
“Oh, oh, oh, I almost forgot about Shido!”
Qianye quickly picked up some food with her chopsticks and offered it to Shido.
Then, two pairs of chopsticks simultaneously appeared before Shido.
“Shido, eat mine first! Chinese food is the best!”
“Nonsense! My chicken cutlet is bigger; Shido will like mine more!”
The Spirits, who had been feeding each other just a moment ago, were now bickering over who would feed Shido first.
“Arguing like this won’t solve anything. Shido should decide!”
Qianye declared.
“You’re right. Shido, you choose whose food you want to eat first.”
Tohka gazed at Shido with sparkling eyes.
“Uh, this…”
Shido looked at the two beautiful girls before him: Tohka, who was staring at him with bright, eager eyes, and Qianye, whose eyes were half-closed, observing him with an almost imperceptible smile.
He couldn’t afford to offend either of them. Fortunately, the ability to avoid offending anyone was an essential skill for a harem protagonist.
Shido opened his mouth and, in one swift motion, ate both dishes from their chopsticks simultaneously.
“Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, delicious!”
Shido chewed, giving them a thumbs-up.
“That’s great, Shido!”
Qianye and Tohka, both beautiful girls, simultaneously reached out to Shido.
“Uh…”
Shido knew what they wanted him to do. He could only crane his neck, allowing both of them to pat his head at the same time.
“Yosh, yosh, good boy!”
“Shido, your hair quality is quite good. If you grew it long, you wouldn’t even need a wig for cross-dressing.”
“Please stop teasing me,”
Shido retorted helplessly.
“Eheheh,”
Qianye giggled with a girlish charm, then withdrew her hand.
Seeing this, Tohka also withdrew her hand.
“Alright, Shido, it’s your turn to feed us. So, who will you feed first? Me or Tohka?”
Qianye’s eyes were half-lidded. Although her words were casual, her gaze seemed to challenge him: ‘Try not picking me.’
Tohka, on the other hand, looked at Shido with sparkling, moist eyes, like a puppy unwilling to be abandoned by its owner.
No matter who Shido chose first, it wouldn’t end well. Faced with this dilemma, Shido could only utter one sentence.
“Please, just spare me!”