Chapter Fourteen: Date A Nightmare [2]
In the end,
Both Kurumi and Morgan left the ice cream shop behind, wandering through every store they had in mind.
While Morgan accompanied Kurumi to the boutiques she fancied,
she, in turn, trailed after him when he stopped by the places he needed.
Somehow, it had naturally developed to that point.
"Oh? I didn't know this was possible."
"Yes. It just requires you to pay more than normal, but this is more convenient for me. What about you?"
Morgan nodded, glancing at the bag in her hand.
"No, I'm okay like this."
Kurumi's tone was airy, her head tilted ever so slightly as she smiled.
Both of them currently stood in front of the entrance leading to the mall.
More or less, both were done with their shopping sprees.
… Morgan simply bought some ingredients and food stuff.
With the help of his Animusphere, he had begun taking cooking lessons.
Naturally, he had another place to go after this, but right now, he was in the middle of an important event.
12:30 P.M. JST.
Afternoon,
The time and weather were still perfect; what's more, there was still enough time to run his personal errand.
"So where does my beautiful miss want to go next?"
"What does my good sir recommend?"
Kurumi replied to his question with another question. She's good, Morgan thought.
No wonder Shidou always slipped up.
Well, in the first place, it wasn't like he had much experience.
… scratch that.
If one considered playing the Doki-Doki Sister Series 'experience', then he had plenty.
Not to mention,
For Morgan, whose innate development could allow him to experience time twice as fast as others…
It gave him plenty of time to think.
① [Let's go to the Park, the scenery there is good, and perfect for relaxing.]
② [Tengu Gojuusou. That new place they're working on, it's a good center of attraction.]
③ [Sorry, something came up, I have something to do.]
Within his mind, among countless possibilities, these three resonated strongly within him.
Hmph. Never underestimate a man who has double-timed his digital yandere lovers.
If Morgan had glasses, he would have mentally adjusted it.
On a more serious tone,
To think he'll be experincing this.
…a "dating sim" scenario, in real life.
Fortunately, he was no Shidou, nor did he have to deal with situation like this on a daily basis.
Honestly, he'd rather be writhing in pain, pushing past his physical limits to grow stronger.
But he had to admit, this had been fun so far.
"How about we take a break; we've just eaten not too long ago."
Smoothly, he led the situation again.
Kurumi's eyes narrowed on him.
She'd been watching his perfect and flawless answers, his expression, everything.
Once a hunter locks eyes on his prey, they would never let them go.
In hindsight.
She wouldn't have noticed based on one interaction alone.
But now, after spending at the bare minimum of an hour with him, she came to realize.
'… this person.'
Kurumi's body stiffened, holding her laugh, with the glint that sparkled in her eye for a brief moment.
Quickly, she replaced it before he could notice.
"Ufufu. Very well then, lead the way."
Morgan nodded and led the way.
He'd also thought about it, taking glances at her as they walked.
So far, so as not to draw attention, he'd been taking charge carefully.
But even then.
He might have taken charge way too perfectly, perhaps.
With the way she'd been directing control at him, almost as if she were pressuring him.
Paranoia or not,
Even if it were true or not, as a man, he's supposed to lead, or so she would counter.
Naturally, this tactic has been used on his friendly neighbor, Shidou.
'...perhaps, I can continue this way and strongly give her that impression.'
When he thought about it, he'd already given her an impression; suddenly changing style would be weird.
For now…
"Here we are. Tengu Central Park."
Located right in the middle of Tengu City.
Trees surrounded the place, as paved roads stretched across. Several playgrounds spread across the place.
Right in the distance, off course of the paved roads.
A large pond stretched, giving a more serene and peaceful vibe. Just perfect for a date, and couples to…
"My, my~ was this 'good sir's' intentions?"
Morgan almost facepalmed.
Across the park, all that he could see were mostly couples moving around.
From those that looked to be adults, to even students that looked to be in their age range.
"Trust me when I say I wasn't expecting this. After all, this is also my first time here."
Kurumi playfully raised an eyebrow.
"Oh?"
Morgan nodded.
With that, he leveled things between them once more.
If this was her first time here after two weeks of moving to Tengu, then it wouldn't be strange if that applied to him.
And thinking about it from that angle was fair enough; she wasn't one to talk.
[Perfect Counter]:
- 8 (+1) — 9 (new!)
[Affection Gauge]:
- No change. Stable. 45.5
[Spirit Wave]:
- Normal
If he were working for 'Fraxinus', such reports would have made their way to him by now.
'Hire me, Kotori-san, imoutogo, shirekan.'
Morgan mentally joked in his head with a smile slipping past him, which Kurumi caught.
Curious, she tilted her head, but didn't push for it.
"Well, how about over there, good sir?"
Kurumi pointed towards a bench overlooking the pond in the distance.
The suggestion startled him for a second, but he followed her gaze and nodded.
"Let's."
… like that, both approached, sitting down on it as they stared at the scenery.
Different, beautiful, and ethereal.
A dreamlike peace.
But of course the atmosphere looked different, perhaps, if those darn couples could find another place to flirt.
Morgan resisted the urge to sigh. "If only they'd go find a private instance to flirt in."
However, just then.
"What does good sir think?"
"Mhm?"
"Of this scenery."
Kurumi giggled, gesturing gracefully toward the pond before them.
Realizing what she meant, Morgan blinked once, then nodded with quiet composure.
"I think it's beautiful."
Her lips curved.
"Eh? As beautiful as me?"
Morgan's brain short-circuited on the spot as a mental miscalculation rang somewhere between his ears.
Immediately, his thought acceleration kicked in again.
'Okay. What does she want now? Compliment? Deflection? Counterattack?'
① [You look more beautiful than the scenery.]
② [Woman! How dare you interupt my enjoyment of the scenery in front of me?]
③ ['Say some bs you probably read in one of those China works you read in your previous life.']
Morgan paused, reasoned it deeply, and came to a conclusion.
"The qi flows in harmony, the winds sing like celestial flutes, and the colors bloom as if painted by an immortal's brush."
"Truly, this place could inspire enlightenment if one meditated long enough beneath its sky."
Morgan's attempt at deflection threw her off by several miles.
She blinked once, then twice.
Her expression froze halfway between a laugh and a frown as her crimson eye narrowed ever so slightly.
A small bead of sweat formed on her temple as she tilted her head.
'…He looks so proud of whatever he just said.'
Unfortunately for her,
Chinese cultivation metaphors did not exist in this world, and thus,
Her poor, limited, mana-based knowledge could not grasp the profundity of heaven and earth's Dao.
Was his words supposed to have a deeper meaning, or what? Regardless…
"You really do have your ways with words don't you?"
"Well, I come from the States, my parents were british if I recall correctly, they call it the gentlemanly states so is it that weird?"
Essentric much,
He was just different in that sense.
"Hahahaha—"
She couldn't help it; laughter spilled from her lips as she held her stomach.
Feigning as though he'd said nothing wrong, he tilted his head to the side.
"Sorry, sorry."
She said at last, wiping away a tear that had formed at the corner of her eye.
After saying that, she paused for a moment.
The wind brushed softly through the park then, carrying with it the rustle of trees.
Then…
A brief moment after that.
"You're really an interesting one. Though a weird one."
Kurumi finally said that with a softened, light, and almost sing-song tone.
She stood up, still with that smile on her face, as she politely made a curt bow.
"I believe the time is getting a little bit late for me."
"Thank you very much for the trouble this little me has caused you today; I enjoyed it."
Just then, the wind swept through the park again, teasing strands of her hair and fluttering the edges of her dress.
For a moment, the whole scene looked like something straight out of a romance drama.
Morgan squinted his eyes in mock fear.
'The wind's a paid actor. No one can convince me otherwise.'
A bead of sweat rolled down his cheek in horror as that thought crossed his mind.
"I hope, if fate allows it, we meet again."
Hearing her say that prompted him to stand up, facing her, offering a serene smile in return.
Inwardly, he cursed fate.
After all, it didn't matter of his will; she would soon transfer to Raizen High anyway, hence, for the main time.
'Oh gods of fate, use my fate as ping-pong for as long as you like. We'll see who has the last laugh eventually.'
"I hope to (not) see you again, miss."