"Sorry, have you been waiting long?"
At the station square, Asakura looked at Asagumo, who seemed to have been waiting at the agreed location for a while, and apologized to her.
Probably influenced by the Hachiko statue at Shibuya Station, a rather abstract statue had also been erected on the square outside this small station, though no one knew what on earth it symbolized.
At this moment, the young girl stood beside the sculpture, wearing a straw-hat-style sunhat, with the morning light gently spilling across the tips of her hair and her shoulders.
As a gentle breeze swept past, the hem of her white dress, full of the feeling of a first love, lightly fluttered along with it; the hustle and bustle of the station crowd seemed to be completely walled off, leaving only her standing alone between light and shadow—quiet, bright, like the most gentle scenery in a summer day.
"It's fine, I just got here too."
The girl, who had actually arrived an hour early, smiled faintly. Asakura noticed a cute dimple appearing on her face as she said playfully: "After all, it's a rare occasion for Takuma-kun to ask me out on a date."
Huh, was this meant to be a date?
"..." Asakura silently pulled out his phone.
"I know it's to pick out a birthday gift for your friend!" The girl pushed his phone screen down in annoyance: "But we're still going to go shopping together, right?"
"Yeah, otherwise there'd be no way to pick out a gift, right?" Asakura nodded. After all, he had absolutely no concept of what was trendy among girls.
"And it's going to be noon soon, is Takuma-kun not even planning to treat me to lunch?" The girl said with a beaming smile.
"Of course no problem, that's basic, right?"
"Just kidding, going Dutch is fine."
"Generally speaking, it's supposed to be the boy's treat, right?"
"I think Takuma-kun's money should be used in more meaningful places. Besides, enjoying kindness as a matter of course just because one is a girl—I think that's wrong." The girl said earnestly.
"Huh, is it really that bad of a thing?"
"It's 'equality between men and women,' you know. Not the kind of 'equality' that advocates keeping all of one's own rights as a girl while forcing boys to yield even more rights—wishing one could claim all the benefits for oneself without taking on the other side's obligations and responsibilities—but an equality where you take on corresponding responsibilities at the same time you acquire rights." She said: "That is true feminism."
"It's just a meal, isn't that dragging things a bit too far?" Asakura complained.
"I just don't want Takuma-kun to think I'm that kind of superficial girl." The girl said solemnly.
"Alright, alright, then what's next."
"Next is watching a movie—as a return favor for helping you pick out a birthday gift, watching a movie together is perfectly normal, right?"
"Yeah, just as normal as an auto mechanic showing up to a ball game carrying a steel pipe and a wrench."
"Is it my problem that I don't understand Takuma-kun's analogy..."
The girl muttered a sentence: "In—in short, shopping, eating, and watching a movie together—may I ask what the difference is between that and a date?"
"Now that you put it that way, it really is..."
Asakura stroked his chin and found that there really didn't seem to be any difference.
If anything, he was already starting to lose his grasp on the definition of a date.
Meanwhile, Asagumo looked at his bewildered face with a beaming smile, then suddenly grabbed his arm and led him with quick steps toward the pedestrian street not far away: "If you can't figure it out, think about it later. Let's head out quickly! Go, go~"
"Asagumo..."
"Anon isn't here today." The girl said.
"...Chihaya, your mood is unexpectedly high today."
And so Asakura readily corrected his form of address.
"Because only today, Takuma-kun belongs to me alone."
Facing the girl's straight ball, Asakura scratched his head in bashful awkwardness, not knowing what to say.
"...And for some reason, the wiretaps I installed recently have all stopped working." The girl murmured to herself again in an incredibly quiet voice.
"Chihaya, what did you say?"
"I said I'm really looking forward to it, today's itinerary!"
"It feels like the character count doesn't match up... oh well, whatever."
Asakura didn't pay it much mind either, and followed the girl toward the pedestrian street.
The shops on the pedestrian street were obviously much more fashionable than the ones over at Usagiyama Shopping District, and even the outfits and styling of the customers lingering on the street reflected this.
Some things were even so overly trendy that when Asakura saw them, he would make the face of the old man looking at his phone on the subway.
For example, things like the Shibuya ganguro gal makeup.
Fortunately, none of the girls he knew would dress up like that...
"What kind of gift do you want to pick out for her, Takuma-kun? Just give me a general idea of how she feels."
When they arrived at the accessory shop, Asagumo asked Asakura: "Although there are universally safe, good-girl options like teddy bear plushies, if it were something like that, Takuma-kun wouldn't have asked for my help, right?"
"The other party is a quite beautiful middle school student." And so, Asakura began to describe her.
"Hmm, very young."
"She has long, straight black hair and a relatively well-behaved personality."
"It's Ruri, right?" Asagumo said: "Though that child only acts well-behaved in front of you."
"If it were Ruri, I would have just said so directly. That person is roughly about this tall." Asakura gestured slightly.
"A bit taller than Ruri."
"What about her body shape?"
"Her three measurements are all exactly three centimeters larger than Ruri's."
"A complete upgrade over Ruri? No, it actually feels better if the waistline is a bit slimmer... In short, she's also a relatively reserved and slender type."
Asagumo muttered in a low voice.
With this, a general image of the other party was practically established.
"Her fists can tear open the sky, and her feet can shatter the earth—"
"No, wait a minute," Asagumo called a halt, "this description is completely outside the realm of a beautiful middle school girl, isn't it? It feels more like a monster that would appear in a giant-scale tokusatsu show!"
"The possibility of her being a Saint Seiya slightly exists." Asakura added.
"Aside from that, is there no other information?"
"Then let me tell you a piece of trivia that even the child herself doesn't know, Chihaya."
"What is it?"
"In terms of pure data, that child's maximum power output is higher than the final forms of the vast majority of Kamen Riders... In short, she is a delicate and frail beautiful girl like that—"
"Does Takuma-kun have some kind of misunderstanding about the words 'delicate and frail'?!"
"Then what do you think would be a good birthday gift for her, Chihaya?"
"An Ultraman or Kamen Rider transformation belt, probably."
"But the recent plots of Ultraman and Kamen Rider have been a bit..."
"I was just joking! Don't actually give a girl that kind of thing!"
That being said, Asagumo still understood one point: at the very least, a suitable gift for that child could not be found in a normal accessory shop.
If anything, the profile of the target user in the girl's mind was now completely shattered into pieces: what on earth is a beautiful girl who can tear open the sky with her fists? Is she wrapping herself in Conqueror's Haki!
"Is there really nothing else... like a goal or a wish the other party wants to achieve?"
Having arrived at a McDonald's fast-food restaurant to take a temporary break, Asagumo asked Asakura while drinking her beverage as he ate his McNuggets.
"Hmm..."
After pondering for a short moment, Asakura still explained the situation between Ayase and Kirino to the girl in a relatively implicit manner.
After all, Asagumo had barely any interaction with those two, so it shouldn't count as speaking ill behind their backs or anything?
"I see, so that kind of thing actually happened..." The girl quietly listened to Asakura's narration, and only then nodded with understanding: "Colonel Zander and Ronald McDonald..."
Asakura: "..."
Should I have chosen two more normal figures to use as examples?
"As things stand now, the only option left is to completely crush Colonel Zander! We'll use this McNugget in Takuma-kun's hand..."
"Stop it right there, Chihaya, no one will find happiness that way! It will only end in mutual destruction!"
"...Cheese-kun (the Japanese Pizza Hut mascot) will be happy."
"Hey, don't drag a third-party faction into things at a time like this!"
In the end, the items used for fooling around were happily enjoyed by both of them, causing no waste whatsoever.
"Is lunch really fine like this?" When leaving McDonald's, Asakura confirmed with the girl once more: "Are we not going to eat a more... well, 'grand' meal?"
"No need, if anything my pocket money is a bit tight too."
"I clearly said it would be my treat."
"Then let's wait until Takuma-kun accepts my confession before saying that."
"I didn't refuse either."
"Eh?"
"Hmm?"
"Wait a minute, Takuma-kun, what you mean is..."
"If it weren't an acceptance, normal friends wouldn't be like this, right?" Asakura raised his left hand; without realizing it, the two had held hands once again. "But I am quite a promiscuous person after all. I am afraid that when the time comes, Chihaya will be the first to leave because she cannot stand my personality."
"I have long known how much of a soft-hearted good guy Takuma-kun is, or rather, I figured it out a long time ago... In any case, as long as you can come back to my side in the end, it is fine."
"You really are remarkably broad-minded..." Asakura could not help but sigh with emotion.
"Not at all, it felt really terrible in my heart at the very beginning." Asagumo said with a light smile, "But looking back at it, attracting the affection of so many girls proves from a certain perspective that Takuma-kun is very charming, does it not? In that case, it is only natural for someone to fall for you. Rather, the fact that you can still come back to my side after Takuma-kun has had his fun shows that I defeated them and am the ultimate winner!"
The girl spoke with absolute seriousness, saying things that were completely different from her usual shrewd image and sounded a bit foolish: "As the ultimate big winner, it does not really matter if I give in to them a little bit~"
"Chihaya..." Asakura was somewhat moved.
"Of course, as the ultimate winner, Takuma-kun must also place me in the number one spot, otherwise I will get angry." The young girl revealed a smile full of commanding presence.
"...Alright." Asakura broke into a cold sweat.
It was better not to let her know for the time being about the fact that he had already completely consumed Hitori.
"I am sorry, Takuma-kun." The girl leaned lightly against Asakura.
"What is wrong?"
"Even though I say such grand things, I cannot help with anything at all. I feel quite pathetic myself."
"That is not the case. As long as you are here, Chihaya, I have a reason to return safely. From this point of view, your role is incredibly significant. Furthermore, although it is rarely shown usually, the Magic Club is still able to operate normally while I barely manage things basically because you are helping out, right? I heard from Yuigahama that many of the documents requiring the club president's submission were finished with your help and handed over to the student council side."
Asakura looked toward the girl: "If anything, I am the one who needs to apologize to you. Even though I noticed your feelings a long time ago, I kept dragging it out until now, and even at this moment, I still have the thought of escaping..."
"In my heart, Takuma-kun is the bravest person. No matter what kind of danger it is, you never shrink back. As long as there is a reason, you will forge ahead courageously..."
"You do not know. This is also a form of escape for me. I am never as incredible as you think; I am just a coward wrapped in high-sounding reasons, escaping everything. Whether in the face of the supernatural (evil gods) or in the face of feelings, I am utterly miserable..."
Before Asakura could finish speaking, his cheeks were cupped by the girl's hands, forcefully interrupting his words.
"The person I like, regardless of what he actually thinks, has indeed saved many people. Even when I was deep in the mire, he was the one who rescued me, allowing me to cast away illusions, live anew in reality, and gain a new pursuit... Therefore," the girl gazed deeply at Asakura, her violet eyes reflecting his form: "Therefore, even if it is Takuma-kun, if you dare say bad things about the person I like, I will not let it slide either!"
After saying this, the girl stood on her tiptoes and pressed her cherry lips firmly against Asakura's mouth.
It was clearly not the first time the two of them had kissed, but for some reason, Asakura felt that this kiss seemed completely different from previous light kisses. The girl's lips felt as if they carried an electric current, making his body go a bit numb.
Something emerged from his heart, filling his empty soul bit by bit, and finally overflowing completely.
Asakura could no longer control himself. He used both hands to embrace the girl tightly, as if wanting to rub her directly into his own body. Emotions surged continuously in his heart; even though he knew this was wrong, he simply could not stop no matter what.
From the surrounding area came the glances of passersby saying, 'Wow, young people nowadays are so bold~', but at this stage, Asakura no longer had the luxury to pay attention to this.
After a long time, their lips parted.
Asakura picked up the blushing girl in one lift.
"Um... the gift hasn't been bought yet."
"I have already decided, I will just buy a set of Meruru BDs."
"What about the movie?"
"Not going anymore."
"Um... Takuma-kun?"
"I want to take you to a place. If you are not ready, Chihaya, I can put you down right now."
"...It is fine, I am already prepared." The girl took a deep breath, "Let us..."
Asakura: "Genesis Aquarion Fusion!"
Asagumo: "Don't suddenly ruin the atmosphere at a time like this!"