In the student council building of Shuchikan Academy, Erika sat at the table, quietly writing something on a file.
She radiated an aura of irritation.
As if she didn't want to talk to anyone—
Or might kill someone.
It was heavy enough that everyone around her felt it.
Iori, Seichiro, and Shiro all noticed.
They glanced at each other, silently wondering what had happened.
It was rare to see her this angry.
Still, Iori had something to ask, so he cautiously spoke,
"…Hmm, dear sister?"
Erika immediately snapped,
"WHAT?"
Everyone jumped.
Iori flinched slightly but continued,
"Well, it's about the new transfer student. I wanted to ask if you could show him—"
But Erika cut him off instantly.
"Do I look like I have time for that?"
Iori physically recoiled.
"…If you're busy, don't worry. I'll have Sei do it."
Erika let out a quiet "hmm" and went back to her work.
The three of them quickly gathered closer and started whispering.
Iori muttered,
"What happened to my little sister?"
Shiro shook his head.
"I don't know, but she seems really mad."
Iori nodded.
"Yeah. She usually takes her vice president role seriously and helps every student kindly. Now she looks like she wants to kill someone."
Seichiro crossed his arms.
"I think it's related to Akira. If anyone can make her this angry, it's him."
Shiro blinked.
"Yeah… where is Akira-oniisan?"
Iori nodded.
"Let's ask her."
He turned back and called out,
"So, little sister, where is Akira?"
Erika replied in a low, irritated voice,
"He went to meet his fiancée."
Shiro's eyes widened.
"WHAT? Fiancée?!"
Iori remained calm.
"Oh, that. Which one is he meeting?"
Shiro turned to him in disbelief.
"Which one?!"
Erika looked up, suspicion in her eyes.
"That girl with the God Tongue."
Iori nodded.
"Oh, Nakiri Erina, is it? Hmm… they have history. It would've been fun to watch."
Erika narrowed her eyes.
"So you know about this, oniisan?"
Iori smiled slightly.
"Of course I know. I was there when they negotiated the contract. I even helped them—"
Before he could finish—
Erika appeared in front of him.
Grabbing his collar.
She smiled.
But it didn't reach her eyes.
"So… you knew about it?"
Iori immediately raised his hands in surrender.
"Wait, let's talk normally—normally."
Erika tightened her grip.
"Sure. Let's talk."
Seichiro and Shiro immediately retreated.
While Erika made Iori "talk to the hands."
After a while, she vented her anger and returned to her table.
But she couldn't focus.
Her thoughts kept drifting back to Akira.
She had sent him off calmly.
But how could she actually be calm in this situation?
All she could think about now was—
What was Akira doing with that girl?
Were they getting along?
Would they grow closer?
It hadn't even been an hour…
And she already missed him.
All she could do was mutter,
"…What is he doing now?"
Meanwhile—
Inside the private dining room—
Akira spoke the moment Nakiri Erina stepped in.
"Hey there, runaway girl…"
He smirked.
"…where are my points?"
Nakiri Erina froze.
Her brain took a few moments to process it.
Then she immediately pointed at him.
"…It's you—"
Akira smiled.
"Yes, it's me."
Erina's expression cracked.
"You… you… Hoshino Akira."
Akira smiled again.
"Oh, you remember my name? Yes, I'm Akira."
Erina took a step forward.
"What are you doing here?"
Akira replied casually,
"I'm here to open the Chamber of Secrets."
Silence.
Erina stared at him.
"What nonsense are you talking about?"
Akira shrugged.
"Obviously, I'm here for this contract with your family."
Erina blinked.
"…The engagement contract?"
Then—
Her eyes widened.
"…Wait… you're my fiancé?!"
Akira tilted his head.
"Technically… yeah, I guess."
Erina took a step back.
"How is that even possible…?"
She had never expected to meet the boy from years ago again—
And now he had suddenly become her fiancé.
She didn't understand anything anymore.
Meanwhile—
Before Akira could continue, Selena's voice echoed in his head.
"Brother… why would you start with that?"
Akira replied,
"You said to say whatever comes to my mind, right?"
Selena paused.
"…That was the first thing that came to your mind?"
Akira answered without hesitation,
"Of course. That was the only time in both my lives I didn't get a perfect score. I have to get it."
Selena fell silent.
Akira turned back to Erina.
"Anyway, more importantly… let's talk about the points."
Erina blinked.
"That's more important than the engagement?"
Akira nodded.
"Of course it is. That was the first time I didn't get a perfect score in anything since I was created—cough—I mean, born."
He looked at her seriously.
"So give me your points for my El Burdigato Supreme."
Erina crossed her arms immediately.
"It's zero. It was disgusting."
Akira grinned.
"Lying is bad. I'm sure you enjoyed it."
Erina snapped,
"I did not enjoy it."
Akira leaned forward slightly.
"Then why did you run away?"
Erina hesitated.
"I… I ran away because it was disgusting."
Akira didn't back down.
"Then why did you finish the entire thing before running away?"
Erina's mind went blank.
"…I—"
She turned her head slightly.
"…Anyway. I don't even remember how it tasted, so I can't give you a score."
Akira nodded.
"I can make the exact same dish again. I have a good memory, you know."
Erina stared at him in shock.
Then she took a deep breath, gathering herself.
"…Before that, we need to talk about the current situation. This engagement—that's the most important thing."
Akira muttered,
"…But the points…"
Erina cut him off.
"I'll give you that after we talk about it."
Akira paused, then nodded.
"…Fine. I'm okay with that."
Erina sat down, taking a moment to steady herself.
Then she looked at him directly.
"I have many questions to ask you, but first…"
A brief pause.
"…Who are you?"
Akira looked at her.
"My name is Hoshino Akira, but you can just call me Akira."
Erina frowned.
"That's not what I'm asking. I know your name, but that's the only thing I know about you. I tried searching for your information, but nothing came up."
Akira tilted his head.
"Why were you looking for my information?"
Erina flushed slightly.
"Huh… well…"
She didn't know how to answer.
She had tried to look him up because she had never heard of him from any culinary family, restaurant owner, or chef.
Back then, she had heard her grandfather was the one who put Akira into the competition, yet there was no information about him or his family.
She was simply curious.
"I just wanted to know which culinary family you belong to. That's all."
Akira shook his head.
"My family isn't a culinary family. In fact, that was the first day I ever cooked anything."
Erina stood up abruptly.
"What? How is that even possible?"
Akira shrugged.
"I just learn fast, that's all."
Erina frowned.
"Nobody learns that fast. That's not human."
Akira waved it off.
"Well… anyway, the important thing is the contract, right?"
Erina crossed her arms.
"How am I supposed to marry someone I don't know? Just tell me who you are."
Akira nodded.
"I see. I understand."
Then he spoke calmly,
"Now listen carefully. My name is Hoshino Akira… but I also have another name—Sirius Lucen Starlight. I currently work as a prince of the Kingdom of Stars, Asterisia. And in the future, I plan to become a mysterious transfer student."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Nakiri Erina stared at him.
"…So you're a chunibyo."
Akira frowned.
"No, of course not—wait… you don't know anything about the contract, do you?"
Erina shook her head.
"I only found out that this contract even existed yesterday."
Akira blinked.
"Yeah… me too."
Erina looked surprised.
"You too?"
Akira nodded.
"Yeah. No one told me about it. Only after your grandfather called did they decide to tell me."
Erina let out a small breath.
"…So you have it tough too, huh."
Akira nodded.
"Yeah. I didn't even want to come here. In the end, my girlfriend forced me to."
Erina nodded absentmindedly.
"I see… your girlfriend—wait—"
But Akira continued without noticing.
"And the worst part is… I have more than one fiancée."
Erina froze.
"…Wait… more than one?"
Akira kept talking.
"I mean, think about it. Even you only have one, but I have… who knows how many. What am I even supposed to do with all of them?"
Erina finally snapped.
"Wait, wait—WAIT! What the hell are you even saying?!"
Akira blinked.
"What do you mean?"
Erina stared at him.
"What kind of nonsense are you talking about? Do you think this is a joke?"
Akira shook his head.
"I'm not joking. I'm completely serious."
Erina let out a frustrated laugh.
"How can this be anything but a joke? Seriously—a prince of some random country? Multiple fiancées? What's next? Are you some kind of destined one born to save the world or something?"
Akira tilted his head.
"…How do you know?"
Erina completely lost it.
"Why the hell did Grandfather choose you as my fiancé?! Where is he? I have to ask what the hell he's thinking!"
She pulled out her phone.
"I'm calling him."
She dialed the number.
But—
It was busy.
Erina screamed,
"Why is it busy?! Who is he talking to now?!"
She didn't stop.
She kept calling again and again.
Akira looked at her, then spoke telepathically,
"Hey, sister… I think the dialogues failed."
Selena immediately replied,
"You think?"
Akira frowned slightly.
"But I think I did good though… what went wrong?"
Selena sighed.
"Forget it. Speech isn't one of your best skills anyway."
Akira looked at Erina, who was still furiously trying to call Senzaemon.
Then he glanced at the empty table and asked,
"Hey, sister… this is supposed to be brunch, right? Why aren't they giving us any food? Not even water."
Selena replied,
"Do you think any servers will come in when the situation is like this?"
Then she sighed.
"Speaking of food… brother, remember when you asked for a side quest to the Toriko world to collect ingredients?"
Akira nodded slightly.
"Yeah. What is it?"
Selena replied,
"I finished making that quest. It's now completely ready."
Akira blinked.
"Really?"
Selena nodded.
"Yeah. And I even added a remote function. Now you can go to other worlds without returning to the castle."
Akira's eyes lit up.
"Oh, that's great. Now we don't have to sit through all those things before going to another world."
Selena then asked,
"So… do you want to go now?"
Akira paused.
"Now?"
Selena replied,
"Yeah. You can take a break and come back. You can even meet Erika. Or do you want to deal with this situation?"
Akira slowly turned his head.
Erina was still there—
"WHY IS IT STILL BUSY?!"
Phone in hand.
On the verge of exploding.
Silence.
Akira turned back.
"…Yeah. A break sounds good."
Selena took a deep breath.
"Alright then. New mission start."
---
[New Mission Alert]
Side Quest: Gather Ingredients.
Objective:
Obtain Rainbow Fruit from the Toriko world within the time limit.
Difficulty: B
Time Limit: 1 day
Reward:
×1 B Rank Gacha Ticket
+ 200 Star Credits
Restrictions:
No restrictions
Bonus Reward:
??? (Hidden)
Mission begins in: 10 minutes
Accept Mission?
[YES] [NO]