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"Saori-san."
Saori, who was about to leave the game center, stopped and looked back at Asakura, who had called her.
"Isn't this Takuma-shi? The offline tea party is over. Aren't you going to accompany Kuroneko-shi? What do you need me for?"
"Although the young lady is embarrassed, I still think I should thank you on her behalf."
Asakura nodded to the other party.
"What? Did I do anything worth thanking?"
Saori's mouth curved into a smile, and she spoke with a grin.
Earlier at the maid café, Gokou Ruri, who had been neglected, tried to leave several times but was pacified by Saori.
In the subsequent interactions, Saori also showed the utmost kindness and tolerance towards Gokou Ruri (and the sharp-tongued Kirino), which is why Ruri was later able to slightly lower her guard against strangers and immerse herself in the games, developing a strange relationship with Kirino where they would fiercely bicker but their bond became much closer; even towards Kitagawa Marin, who always coveted her cat ears, although Gokou Ruri seemed resistant on the surface, she became much closer after Marin and Saori worked together to break her 'normie' filter.
It's no exaggeration to say that Saori accounted for 80% of the reason Gokou Ruri had so much fun at this offline meeting.
"I see, so you're like a hidden sage character who provides immense help during the demon king's subjugation but remains anonymous in the end? Then it would be impolite of me to continue speaking."
Asakura nodded earnestly: "However, Saori is indeed a good person."
"I completely don't understand what Takuma-shi is saying~"
Saori continued to play dumb at first, but she couldn't suppress the smile at the corner of her mouth. Finally, she seemed to give up on hiding it and said: "I'm not such an amazing person, really. I just try my best to do what I want to do. If I had to say, I'm not a good person, but a selfish person~"
"But conversely, doesn't that mean Saori takes everything to heart and sees everyone?"
Asakura said: "If that doesn't count as a good person, then how many people in this world can be considered good people?"
"Takuma-shi, are you really talking about me? I feel like it's completely different from my self-perception. I don't have such a broad vision and mind~. You won't suddenly have a bunch of people rush out holding 'Prank Success' signs saying your thanks were just a misunderstanding, right? Even I would be hurt by that."
"This..."
Asakura shook the volume of ghost stories in his hand: "Actually, it's because I'm interested in ghost stories that my young lady would mention it in your community. But with her personality, she probably only talked about a few sentences and wouldn't intentionally explain anything, yet Saori, you still specially made something like this… This isn't a workload that can be completed in an hour or two, so I think it's fine to thank you."
"I didn't realize Takuma-shi was so persistent before,"
Saori sighed, then smiled again and said: "Speaking of which, I've heard an old saying that roughly means what you think in your heart is what you see… If Takuma-shi thinks I'm a good person, then it means Takuma-shi himself is also a good person, isn't that right?"
"For a guy, 'good person' isn't really a compliment."
"Ahaha, that's just a difference in understanding. Humans truly can't understand each other. Let's become New Humans and meet again on a blue and clean Earth! Farewell!"
Saori put her index and middle fingers together, gave Asakura a salute, and then quickly ran away.
This made Asakura a little surprised: Could this guy actually be quite shy?
When he returned to the game center, Gokou Ruri was standing by the bustling crowd.
Perhaps because of her strikingly conspicuous attire, even though she was surrounded by a lively crowd, the girl always gave off a strange, heart-wrenching sense of loneliness. This was even more apparent when compared to how she was earlier with Kirino, Kitagawa Marin, and Saori.
"Sorry, I was a bit slow coming back."
So Asakura took the initiative to speak, breaking the girl's seemingly isolated state.
"It's okay, today is the weekend, Akihabara has a lot of people,"
A fleeting bright expression clearly appeared on the girl's face, but it quickly returned to her usual demeanor: "It's normal for the restroom to be crowded."
"I didn't go… Never mind,"
Asakura found it a bit troublesome to explain, so he simply went with the flow and asked, "Ruri, is there anything else you want to play? You probably didn't have enough fun with Kirino and them, right?"
Actually, towards the end of their playing, Asakura could clearly feel that Gokou Ruri was trying very hard to let others win without making it obvious, but she still accidentally obliterated everyone, which showed the huge difference in their skills.
"No need, games are like water to me. Although indispensable, drinking too much at once can cause water intoxication."
The girl gently shook her head, her long black hair swaying with her movement.
"Then let's go back~"
Just as Asakura turned to lead the girl out of the game center, he suddenly felt his clothes hem being tugged.
He turned his head and saw the girl shyly lowering her small face, her fluffy cat ears guiltily drooping low, and her slender, pale fingers gently pinching his shirt corner.
"What's wrong?"
Asakura asked, puzzled.
"That…"
The girl first said something softly, but it was so quiet that Asakura, who was standing right next to her, couldn't hear it clearly.
Then, she realized her mistake. The girl released her fingers, took a deep breath, as if steeling herself.
Asakura also turned to face the girl, patiently waiting for her words.
"Um, I…"
The girl paused, then raised the photo booth print she had been holding in her hand since the beginning to cover her small face, revealing only the upper half. Her sparkling, wine-red eyes looked at Asakura expectantly: "Can you take a photo booth picture with me?"
Before Asakura could respond, the girl continued in a flustered rush: "You see, it's like… the Night Demon Queen and her butler's… should I call it a bond or a contract? And this is also my first time with Senior… shopping, so… oh, right, a memento! It's a memento! Although keeping it in my heart is also good, I think having a physical photo or something as proof of the memory…"
"Sure."
Before she could finish, Asakura nodded gently, revealing a cheerful smile: "Actually, I'm quite interested in how photo booth pictures are taken. Let's take one together."
The girl's eyes instantly brightened.
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