Although Mutsumi could be considered to be living at his place now, in a sense it had been a spur-of-the-moment decision, so Kamijou Mutsuki hadn't specially prepared a room for her.
Of course, Kamijou Mutsuki had suggested that she stay in Sakiko's room, which naturally earned him a glare from Mutsumi.
As a result, Mutsumi was still staying in the guest room.
Although it lacked nothing, it also lacked any sense of lived-in warmth.
So Mutsumi wanted to buy some decorations and daily necessities to reorganize her room, and had just been asking Kamijou Mutsuki, the homeowner, for his opinion.
Since Mutsumi wanted to stay long-term, Kamijou Mutsuki naturally wouldn't refuse.
But then again, she was his fiancée in name—was it really appropriate to let her go over there all alone?
The little conscience he had left made Kamijou Mutsuki reach a decision: first accompany Mutsumi, then go to RiNG.
After sending a message to Tomori saying he'd arrive later, and agreeing on a meeting place with Mutsumi, Kamijou Mutsuki set off.
Perhaps because Soyo's place was closer to the destination, Kamijou Mutsuki ended up arriving first.
Waiting a bit wasn't a problem for him at all; the only headache was the constant stream of bad women coming up to flirt with him.
After all, even Soyo's evaluation of a certain someone was "his personality is hard to describe," but his looks were flawless.
Those bad women came over saying things like "my boyfriend works in construction," with implications dripping between the lines.
Kamijou Mutsuki naturally fended them all off.
After all, boys also have to protect themselves when they're out!
Just as Kamijou Mutsuki was starting to get fed up, Mutsumi finally arrived at a leisurely pace.
Perhaps because it was the weekend, Mutsumi wasn't wearing Tsukinomori's school uniform, but instead a light-blue plaid dress.
It was an outfit she often wore, but it looked very cute—almost like…
A delicate doll.
At the very least, the bad women around them all retreated in the face of difficulty once they saw Mutsumi.
"Mutsuki."
Seeing Kamijou Mutsuki, Mutsumi gently nodded, but inside she felt somewhat at a loss.
After all, she had never expected Kamijou Mutsuki to actually come out and accompany her on his own initiative.
Mutsumi's social circle was extremely narrow. Even within CRYCHIC, the only ones she could really call close friends were Soyo and Sakiko.
Soyo was constantly running mental CPU cycles trying to get her to contact Sakiko; as for "The Sakiko-sensei," there was no need to say more—back when it was White Sakiko, at most she'd drag everyone into group activities during the CRYCHIC era. As for the current Black Sakiko, who could turn sour over a single poorly chosen sentence, that went without saying.
As for her comedian of a father…
The only evaluation possible was that, when it came to being a dad, he was indeed quite "humorous."
So for Mutsumi, this really was a first.
"Mutsumi, you finally made it!"
Kamijou Mutsuki naturally had no idea about Mutsumi's complicated inner thoughts, and led her away from the prying gazes of those bad women.
Their destination was a large shopping mall, since there would be more choices.
"What does Mutsumi want to buy later?"
"I remember the stuff over there is pretty good…"
Faced with Kamijou Mutsuki's unusually serious suggestions, Mutsumi seemed somewhat absent-minded.
First-date data insufficient; Mutsumi's CPU was a bit overloaded.
And because of her family background, Mutsumi also had a rather rigid personality.
With Kamijou Mutsuki, her fiancé, taking the initiative to accompany her on a date, she naturally couldn't let him down. But what should she do?
She had no knowledge in this area at all!
Mutsumi looked around, and noticed couples holding hands and radiating pink vibes, from which she gained inspiration.
Couples on dates all hold hands. She and Kamijou Mutsuki were engaged—so theoretically they should be even closer, so…
"Mutsumi?"
Suddenly having his hand taken, Kamijou Mutsuki turned his head in confusion.
What was Mutsumi suddenly doing?
"Holding hands."
Mutsumi's expression was calm, as if she were stating some kind of academic proposition.
"Couples on dates… are all like this."
Mutsumi, this is way too smooth, isn't it?
Kamijou Mutsuki hadn't expected that one day he would actually get counter-flirted by Mutsumi.
"And you do this with Soyo too?"
"..."
Mutsumi suddenly felt like throwing Kamijou Mutsuki's hand away.
Even a doll who didn't understand romance could feel that this boy was seriously lacking in tact.
Seriously—how exactly did he view her relationship with Soyo?
"Mutsuki and Soyo… aren't the same."
All one could say was that Mutsumi had a good temper. If it were Taki, she probably would've already thrown hands.
"Then what about Sakiko?"
"Speaking of which, between Soyo and Sakiko, who do you like more?"
"..."
Another lethal question. Even Mutsumi was having trouble holding it together now.
She directly pulled her hand back and turned her head to the side. Mutsumi declared she did not want to talk to him.
But in the end, the two still ended up holding hands again—only this time, Kamijou Mutsuki took the initiative.
"Mutsumi, what do you think of this store? The stuff inside will definitely suit your tastes!"
Holding hands like an ordinary couple, they wandered around the large mall for a while before finding their target.
More accurately, Kamijou Mutsuki found it.
It was a home textiles shop tucked away in a corner. What made it different was that everything inside—from bedsheets and duvet covers to all kinds of decorations—was patterned with fruits and vegetables. There was even a cucumber section!
Yes, that was the most important part.
"..."
Actually, she didn't like cucumbers that much. Mutsumi felt the stereotype was a bit heavy.
But… he knew she liked cucumbers.
And so, despite it being Mutsumi's room, under Kamijou Mutsuki's suggestion they bought an entire cucumber-themed set.
Of course, she didn't dislike it either—after all, she was the Cucumber Sword Princess.
At the same time, what surprised Mutsumi the most was that they even sold cucumber seeds here.
Never mind why a home textiles shop would sell cucumber seeds—apparently even "premium varieties cultivated by agricultural universities." In any case, Mutsumi was quite happy.
With seeds, she could grow cucumbers at home. For the girl, that might be the best decoration of all.
That said, she still needed Kamijou Mutsuki's approval.
"Cucumber seeds… Now that you mention it, I feel like I forgot something."
Looking at Mutsumi's rare expression of joy and the cucumber seeds in her hand, Kamijou Mutsuki suddenly seemed to remember something.
"Mutsumi, you don't need these…"
"…Is that not okay?"
The girl's originally bright golden eyes instantly dimmed.
In fact, she had made the same request before to a certain old man who acted like a comedian, only to be flatly refused without hesitation.
So… was it the same this time too?
"At home, I have seeds I had people buy for me from several different countries. Every single one is top-tier among cucumber seeds—each has its own outstanding qualities. They're much better than what you'd get from a small shop like this."
He'd originally planned to use them to win Mutsumi over, but didn't expect that Wakaba Old Man would be so proactive about marrying off his daughter that he completely forgot about it.
"Of course, if Mutsumi really likes these, that's fine too… Mutsumi?"
"…I want all of them!"
"Iron trees blooming" is usually used to describe something so difficult it's almost impossible.
And today, Kamijou Mutsuki witnessed something very close to that.
That is—
A doll smiling.
For the first time, Wakaba Muto genuinely felt that having a fiancé like this… actually wasn't so bad after all!
PS: I toned Mutsumi down a bit. Somehow the protagonist's character setup doesn't feel very compatible with this kind of straightforward romantic progression, and it was a bit painful for me to write as well. I'll try not to write this type as much next time.
......................