When the wind chime at the door of the Rabbit House rang, signaling the arrival of a customer, Shiina, who was holding a broom and cleaning the shop, looked up.
Then she saw Asakura walking leisurely into the shop.
The young girl was just about to greet him, but then she immediately noticed that two other girls were following behind him.
So, the girl swallowed her greeting back down.
"Yahoo~"
But Asakura took the initiative to greet her, "What's today's specialty~"
"It's Rabbit Dango."
The young girl said calmly: "It was the same yesterday and the day before. Rather, this shop currently has no specialty desserts other than this."
"Then give us three servings of Rabbit Dango."
Asakura said cheerfully, turning his head to ask the girls behind him: "Do you want anything to drink?"
"Eh?" The long, straight black-haired girl wearing black-rimmed glasses and possessing beautiful amber eyes froze for a moment.
"It's best to avoid ordering drinks in this shop as much as possible." She looked at Shiina with embarrassment, stood on her tiptoes, and spoke into Asakura's ear in the quietest voice possible, "Because it's said that if you drink the beverages here, you can see the scenery of the Sanzu River..."
Sorry, even if you whisper in that 'ear-biting' posture, I can still hear it from over here.
Shiina thought to herself.
"Though even if we didn't drink that, we've already seen something similar anyway." The cheerful, energetic orange-haired girl with a large bust behind them said happily: "I still feel like I'm dreaming even now."
So what on earth did you guys go do earlier?
While complaining like this in her heart, Shiina noticed that although the clothes on the two girls had clearly been tidied up, they still looked a bit disheveled, as if they had just undergone some intense physical activity.
On the contrary, Asakura looked perfectly composed, and the clothes on his body were entirely normal, with nothing strange about him except for an eyepatch he was wearing for some reason.
"Don't worry, I have insider information," Asakura said triumphantly: "The drinks in this shop have already returned to normal standards."
"Really?" The orange-haired girl lowered her shoulders and said.
Why do you look so disappointed! Shiina thought to herself.
"Why do you look so disappointed?" Asakura asked.
"I actually wanted to try that legendary hell-flavored cappuccino." The orange-haired girl replied.
"Huh, wasn't it said that the most terrifying Underworld-flavored one is the legendary Earl Grey tea?" The long, straight black-haired girl also asked in confusion.
No, as long as it's the store manager's handiwork, it's actually the same no matter what you order.
Asakura and Shiina exchanged a glance and, for the sake of the Rabbit House's reputation, maintained a tacit silence.
The craze for Rabbit Dango had died down a bit. Although it wouldn't completely fail to sell like some internet-famous products because its quality was reliable, it wouldn't sell out almost completely as soon as the shop opened like before. You could often buy it if you ordered it in the shop—it's just that it would always be entirely sold out before closing time, allowing KitaKita, who came to work part-time on weekends, to maintain a great record of having eaten zero leftover Rabbit Dango.
Not long after they found a booth and sat down, the Rabbit Dango the three ordered was served.
After all, desserts are not like other dishes; they are prepared ahead of time and kept in the preservation cabinet, so there is no time cost at all.
"Wow~ Is this the Rabbit Dango? I couldn't get my hands on it at all before..."
Hana took out her phone and started taking pictures.
Even though she had just experienced something that would completely overturn the worldview of an ordinary person, the young girl was currently so lighthearted that she acted as if nothing had happened.
Even Miko, who was sitting next to her, showed a helpless expression, realizing that her worries were entirely redundant—and then she also took out her phone to take pictures. It seemed that recent JKs preferred letting their phones eat first over eating themselves.
While letting his mind wander, Asakura used a fork to decapitate the Rabbit Dango on the plate in front of him, then impaled the rabbit's head portion and stuffed it into his mouth.
Even though he had eaten it many times, the sweet but not greasy taste of the Rabbit Dango still made him feel very pleasant, and the ample sugar intake boosted his spirits a little.
"Here are your orders: Hell Cappuccino, Underworld Earl Grey, and the green tea brewed by Miss Shiina."
Shiina delivered the drinks to the table: "The vomit bags are at the corner of the table. If you need anything else, you can call me at any time."
"Thanks." Asakura nodded to her.
The young girl walked away unhurriedly.
"Asakura-kun knows that girl?" Miko asked curiously.
"She's my neighbor." Asakura replied honestly.
"The childhood friend type?" Hana asked with a sly smile on her face, looking like a housewife who had just heard some gossip.
"The sudden-appearance type; she just moved here less than half a month ago." Asakura replied.
"I smell the scent of a story beginning!"
Hana's eyes lit up as she said inquisitively.
"Your nose is broken." Asakura took a sip of tea, cleansing the sweetness from his mouth, and said clearly.
"How cruel!" Hana was struck with dismay.
"It's not the beginning; it's already at least chapter 580."
"The part you're objecting to is 'beginning' and not 'story'?!"
"Hana," Miko frowned and said, "You're too noisy."
"Is it my fault?! Is it my fault?" Hana wanted to cry but had no tears.
"I said you're noisy, don't shout like that right in my ear!" Miko covered her ears and said.
Hana, like a deflated ball, slowly slumped onto the sofa of the booth.
"But I didn't expect it to actually exist." But soon she sat up straight again and glanced at the mud-like drink in her cup: "Hell Cappuccino."
"Because after the drinks nearby became normal, there would always be guys claiming to be regular customers popping up to reminisce about the 'taste of the past'." Asakura said with a smile, "So Rabbit House added the 'taste of the past' to the menu as well."
Then those 'regular customers' who came from god-knows-where were completely obliterated by Kawaragi's handmade drinks.
Of course, there was actually a small portion among them, just a tiny group of people, who genuinely liked Kawaragi's beverages. According to them, when drinking her beverages, they could experience wandering on the edge of life and death, tasting a near-death experience that was absolutely impossible to experience under normal circumstances. Therefore, in their circle, Kawaragi's drinks unexpectedly became a hit.
"It feels like one would have to muster up immense courage just to drink it."
Miko also ordered the Underworld Earl Grey with the mindset of 'how bad can a drink from a dessert shop possibly be'.
Only, when she casually took off her Mystic Eye Killers, she could see the billowing steam rising above the Earl Grey at this moment unexpectedly turning into skeletal white bones, as if telling the resentment of the deceased to the living, wanting to drag them into the Underworld as well.
"Here I go!"
Hana lifted her cup and drank the mud—ah, no, the cappuccino—all in one gulp.
Then one could see the young girl's expression changing constantly into a kaleidoscope of colors, like an overturned paint palette.
Relying on his superhuman reaction speed, Asakura grabbed a vomit bag from the corner of the table (don't worry about why there was a vomit bag there) and stuffed it onto the girl's face. The girl could no longer hold it in, and with a "pfft", she spat out all the mud... I mean, cappuccino, from her mouth.
Then, as if her bones had been removed, she slowly slumped onto the cushions of the booth, rolling her eyes with an unidentified liquid dripping from the corner of her mouth as if she had been terribly abused, passing out right then and there with a blurred consciousness.
"Hana?!"
Seeing this scene, Miko's face turned pale, and she casually placed the teacup she had already lifted back onto the table.
"As expected, I think I'd better change my drink." She said very prudently.
"Dame desi."
"Eh?"
"I am a non-wastage practitioner. Please savor your Earl Grey properly."
"Let... let me off..."
The pleasant (?) time always passed by in a flash.
After chatting casually for a while longer, and following Asakura's friendly warning that 'what happened today must be kept strictly confidential, otherwise I can only invite you to come over and drink the cappuccino one more time', Hana glanced at the cup that still contained some leftover mud, and promised him with an attitude that was practically swearing an oath that she would not speak of today's matters casually.
Considering that Kawaragi's drinks indeed possessed sufficient deterrent force, and Hana herself also possessed an anomaly (a powerful life energy), she would attract certain aberrations regardless of whether her memory was wiped or not, so Asakura didn't necessarily intend to roast her brains over it.
After thoroughly enjoying the Rabbit Dango, Miko and Hana took their leave first and left Rabbit House, leaving behind only Asakura, who still planned to sit for a while longer.
This was a rare moment today for Asakura to have some peaceful rest by himself, allowing him to properly organize his thoughts.
He unconsciously poked the corpse of the Rabbit Dango, which had already been hacked into a thousand pieces, with his fork, trying hard to untangle the chaotic thoughts in his mind.
Originally, he thought that the evil god Great Light Cthulhu appearing in this world was just a coincidence; out of an infinite number of worlds, it should be impossible to encounter such a situation frequently.
Consequently, although it wasn't quite clear what exactly was going on, the accidents occurring one after another gave Asakura a constant premonition that he would encounter other evil gods sooner or later.
And every time an evil god appeared, it represented a world-class crisis. He hoped that the evil gods he encountered later would be as easy to talk to as the God of Agriculture he met today...
That's right, even though the other party almost consumed the entire world, even though the other party almost melted him into a pile of agricultural products, and even though the other party almost left him in that Mirror Realm to turn into fertilizer, Asakura felt that the God of Agriculture was actually quite easy to talk to.
After all, if the entity had been full of hostility like the first evil god Cthulhu they encountered, he would probably have met his end inside Kasumigaoka's heart this time.
Tsk, why does this phrasing sound so strange...
Asakura rubbed his temples, feeling his brain throbbing slightly.
"Asakura-kun, are you alright?"
Shiina came to his side at some unknown point and asked softly.
"Why do you ask?" Asakura looked at the young girl, feeling a bit scorched by her warm and slightly concerned gaze, so he lowered his eyes and asked back casually.
"Because Asakura-kun's spirit looks quite hyperactive today."
"I've always been like this."
"It's different. Although I didn't hear too much of your conversation with those two guests, today's Asakura-kun gives off a more aggressive feeling when speaking, making you easier to... well, be a bit offensive." The young girl glanced at Asakura's eyepatch and said softly, "It's clearly a bit different from usual."
"Like I said, I've always been like this," Asakura didn't take it to heart, "Shiina, it's just that you haven't known me for very long and haven't seen my true self yet. In reality, I might just be a corrupt official who goes 'kekeke'."
"If that were the case, Asakura-kun wouldn't have introduced me to work part-time here, right?"
"Maybe even introducing you to work here was just a part of my plan, meant to grind up your favorability score?"
"I have my own judgment." The young girl said, "Not that I'm trying to gain sympathy or anything, but my parents actually stopped caring about me a long time ago. I have always been in a state of living alone and have witnessed the warmth and coldness of human relationships, so I do possess this bit of judgment when it comes to reading people."
"Is that so? Then seeing me as a good person shows that your ability to read people isn't as good as you think it is."
After all, I came from Azkaban. Asakura thought to himself.
"In my view, your words right now look more like putting on a brave front, Asakura-kun." The young girl said softly, "There was a senior at the place where I used to work part-time who was also like this. The more exhausted their body was, the harder they would try to say 'desu wa' while putting on a stubborn appearance as if they still had plenty of strength to spare."
"What's up with that 'desu wa'..." Asakura complained.
"Please don't change the subject," the young girl gazed at Asakura and said, "Asakura-kun, you're already very tired, aren't you?"
"...No such thing."
"Asakura-kun." The young girl's gaze became even softer, yet firmer, "Please look into my eyes properly and say that again."
She did not force Asakura to look back at her, but that concentrated gaze made it impossible for Asakura to ignore it no matter what.
Curse it, having too high a perception attribute isn't entirely a good thing.
"...Well," in the end, Asakura could only let out a sigh and said honestly, "A little bit."
After all, a lot of things happened today, and a large amount of mana was spent all at once. To be honest, his current reserves were somewhat precarious. Furthermore, if one counted the experience in the Sea of Trees Mirror Realm inside Utaha's heart, Asakura's day hadn't even ended yet, but he had already spent more than 24 hours.
Coupled with the pressure and mental pollution brought by facing an evil god directly, it was inevitable that he would feel some mental fatigue.
"Then go back and rest quickly." The young girl's honey-colored eyes gazed at him as she said gently, "Just leave Rabbit House to Miss Kawaragi and me. Rather, as the boss, Asakura-kun didn't exactly come to the shop very often anyway, did you?"
"Being told that by you really leaves me speechless."
Facing the only girl whose brain he had ever roasted, Asakura could never bring himself to be particularly firm.
He stood up, "Then I'll trouble you with it."
"Yes, please rest well." The young girl curved her eyes in satisfaction, smiling beautifully, "That would be for the best."