"..."
Hearing himself called "boyfriend," Fred was a bit at a loss.
Of course, it didn't show on his face.
But it couldn't fool Lacus.
"I'm asking you, boyfriend."
Lacus playfully nudged the young man with her elbow.
"Um... it's pretty good."
"So half-hearted~"
She chided Fred, but she wasn't really angry—after all, that answer was entirely within expectations.
Still, a trace of gloominess surfaced in her heart.
But Fred didn't stay silent the way Lacus had expected, and continued speaking.
"After all, La... everything suits you."
"Oh, really~?"
Though she didn't take back her judgment of his half-hearted answer, at those words the gloom in Lacus's heart vanished completely.
"This one, please wrap it up for me~"
In an excellent mood, Lacus took down the necklace right away.
"Right away, miss!"
Hearing this, the clerk who had just been inwardly complaining about the lovey-dovey young couple put their signature smile back on.
Handing the shopping bag to Fred with complete satisfaction, Lacus hummed a little tune.
"Come to think of it, the Eternal and the Meteor should be almost finished with their maintenance..."
They hadn't walked more than a few steps when Fred, spotting some red flower decorations nearby, continued speaking out of habit.
But halfway through, he realized what he was saying and stopped abruptly.
"Hmm?"
Lacus gave a soft nasal reply, then took out the payment QR code from her bag again as she said,
"The maintenance is finished. Are you sure that place is in space?"
"Yeah."
"That's good for us. But those Replicas..."
"They won't resist. I won't kill them."
He wasn't some murderous maniac. The reason he'd moved against Creuset before was entirely because the threat was enormous and the man was genuinely unstable.
But ordinary people—even that Mu's Clone—were far more stable.
"Good."
Lacus replied. As the two chatted on, they ended up giving away a dozen or so bucks before stopping.
"This kind of thing feels kind of pointless."
Looking at the money coming in, Lacus's lovely lips curved slightly.
"Mm... once the war ends, it won't be so much trouble."
Fred said with a smile.
They had already won over the East Asian Republic, and with the Eurasian Federation gradually withdrawing,
as long as they eliminated Blue Cosmos, the peace negotiations would surely go much more smoothly than in the original story.
There wouldn't be so many strange conditions either.
After all, by then, even if the Atlantic Federation didn't outright collapse, its interior would surely be in even greater chaos.
"Okay~"
Lacus laughed along, then her cute little nose twitched and sniffed.
The sweet aroma of caramel filling the air grew steadily stronger, drifting between the two of them and interrupting Lacus's words.
"Let's go get dessert~"
Lacus grabbed the young man's hand and said happily.
"Sure."
PLANT's desserts seemed no different from those in his previous life. The two of them bought several donuts of different flavors and sat down inside the shop.
"Did you win tickets to Lacus's concert the day after tomorrow?"
"Nope. They're so hard to get—Miss Lacus is just that popular."
The two of them had barely sat down when the conversation of two girls at the next table reached their ears.
"I won tickets!"
"Aww, lucky you."
"Still, Miss Lacus's love songs sound even lovelier lately. I wonder if she has a boyfriend now."
"Doubt it."
Listening to the two of them chat, Fred ran a finger along the edge of his mask.
"Should we leave?"
"Why leave~? Mr. Boyfriend~?"
Lacus asked with a hint of mischief.
"As long as you're happy..."
Fred, who had been worried she might feel awkward, merely twitched the corner of his mouth and said nothing more.
He'd almost forgotten—this girl would never be shaken by something like that.
So the redness on the tips of her ears really must have been his imagination.
"By the way, how are you planning to eat that?"
Fred asked, puzzled.
A face mask wasn't the same as a masquerade mask.
"You just have to block me~"
Lacus said, well prepared, and leaned her delicate figure a little closer toward Fred.
A faint fragrance naturally drifted toward the tip of his nose.
They were in a corner, sitting side by side facing the wall, and with the young man's back blocking the view, no one could really tell.
"Fine."
"Hmph~"
Answering with just a hum of her nose, Lacus lowered her head to avoid Fred's gaze, and her small cherry lips took a tiny bite of the donut.
"It's delicious!"
Lacus's eyes lit up.
"It is pretty good."
"It says on it that it's made with wheat from the agricultural cities!"
"Really?"
With food production stable these days, it wasn't surprising.
Still, Fred felt a touch of nostalgia at the words.
The food problem had been solved—perhaps that marked a new direction for the future.
"Mm, let's swap!"
Hearing Lacus's sudden suggestion, Fred froze for a moment.
"I just want to try the taste."
Meeting Fred's gaze, Lacus looked calm on the surface, but inside she grew even more nervous.
"...Okay"
He watched as Lacus gradually drew closer to him.
The girl's long lashes came into Fred's view.
They trembled lightly like butterfly wings, and Lacus's subtle fragrance quietly slipped into Fred's nose.
An instant—or an eternity.
Soon, Lacus took a bite of the donut in Fred's hand.
She left behind a dainty bite mark, still slightly damp—looking, however you saw it, rather intimate.
"Mm, it's pretty good too."
The girl's voice was calm, but the tips of her ears had flushed red all the same.
It was enough to set the imagination wandering.
"Want to eat mine?"
"...Okay"
The young man's Adam's apple bobbed, and then he nodded.
The donut was sweet, and with thoughts too tangled to name, the atmosphere between the two grew all the more intimate.
...
"So that's all? Lacus, you're way too innocent!"
Having finally finished teasing out every detail of their date today, Flay wore an expression that clearly said, "That's it?"
The two of them were in Lacus's room at the moment.
Lying on that pink princess bed, they chatted away about girlish late-night talk.
"You're one to talk!"
Lacus shot the girl in front of her an annoyed look.
"Flay's no different."
"Eh... well, Kira gets shy!"
"You're the one who's shy."
Running her finger across Flay's thoroughly flushed cheek, Lacus said with an amused smile.
"Am not!"
"Don't believe you~"
"How mean!"
As the two roughhoused, Lacus felt her heart ease a little.
Although no one knew where the future would lead, for now they were indeed moving toward their destination.
They could only hope that each of them would find their own happy ending.
With that prayer in their hearts, the night quietly passed by.
And so, the date—a first for both of them—came to an end, wrapped in an atmosphere that was awkward yet tinged with a hint of sweetness.
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