Having finished her explanation to Kirito, Shino logged out early that day. After rummaging around in her kitchen for a moment, she bolted out the door toward the convenience store. Kyouji, who happened to spot her, hurriedly gave chase.
(What is Asada-san in such a rush for...?)
Upon arriving at the convenience store, Shino immediately began sweeping fresh pastries and rice crackers into her basket.
(...Snack shopping? She seems in an awfully big hurry for just that.)
"Ghh, if I'd known it would turn out like this, I should've asked about his preferences in advance."
At Shino's muttered words, Kyouji realized the true reason behind her errand.
(So Shana-san is coming over...)
"I've got instant coffee, and there's green tea, so I guess I just need some black tea."
After finishing her purchases, Shino turned around to leave. Kyouji had managed to keep out of her line of sight, but stepping outside without buying anything felt too conspicuous. He picked out a random drink and headed to the register. Just then, for some reason, Shino walked back in. Spotting Kyouji at the counter, she called out to him.
"Oh, ShinKawa-kun? What a coincidence." "Asada-san?! Y-Yeah, total coincidence."
Panicking, Kyouji glanced at the convenience store bag in Shino's hand and quickly spoke up.
"Asada-san, that bag... did you forget to buy something?" "Ah, yeah. I was actually just here a minute ago. I need to take a quick shower, but then I remembered I was out of shampoo." "Oh, I see." "Looks like we just passed each other." "R-Right."
Hearing their conversation, the store clerk gave a brief, strange look—having clearly noticed Kyouji eyeing Shino earlier—but chose to stay silent. After paying, the two left the store together.
"W-Well, I'll be off then. Good luck with the BoB!" "Thanks, you too."
At her encouragement, Kyouji replied with a slightly uncomfortable expression.
"Ah... sorry, I actually didn't register to enter this time around." "Huh? How come?" "I have something really important come up that day that I can't avoid..."
He wasn't lying. The security at Shino's apartment was tight enough that Hachiman didn't need to intervene, making it impossible even for Kyouji to break in illegally. Therefore, Kyouji kept the plan for Sterben to shoot Sinon with Black Star unchanged, intending to time his direct visit to her apartment right when she logged out. That was the "important matter" he spoke of.
Only regarding Shino was a plan concocted that couldn't strictly be called a pseudo-MPK, but because Kyouji refused to yield on this point, Shouichi and Atsushi had conceded. Though, even if Sterben failed to shoot Sinon, Kyouji intended to barge into her house anyway.
"I see, that's a shame. Oh well, there's always next time." "Y-Yeah." "Anyway, I'm in a bit of a rush, so see you later!" "Yeah, see you."
Shino walked away with a light step, Kyouji's existence already fading from her mind. But Kyouji's head was completely consumed by her earlier words.
"A quick shower before Shana-san arrives, huh...?"
Muttering under his breath, Kyouji followed after her. Since he already knew where she lived, he waited about fifteen minutes before heading toward her apartment.
Kyouji arrived at Shino's apartment just as Hachiman was stepping out of a car. Right before Kyouji's eyes, Shino appeared at the door in skimpy clothes, a towel resting on her head, to welcome Hachiman in.
(Asada-san... dressed like that in front of Shana-san again...)
Hachiman said something to her, Shino replied with a smile, and the two vanished inside the apartment.
"Hey, Shino. Isn't that outfit a bit too defenseless?"
Confronted out of nowhere by Hachiman, Shino replied with a grin.
"Sorry, I just got out of the shower. Even I'm a bit embarrassed looking like this, so I'm going to change properly. I want to dry my hair too, so come on in and wait a bit." "Well, if that's the case, fine." "Here, come in." "Yeah."
Hachiman took a seat at the table and waited for Shino to finish drying her hair.
"With your hair that short, it must be pretty easy to dry, right?" "Yeah, pretty much." "I see. Asuna seems to struggle with it every single day." "Well, with hair as long as hers, of course she would."
At that exact moment, the room's circuit breaker tripped, plunging the space into darkness.
"Huh?" "Are you running something else besides the hairdryer?" "Besides that, the electric kettle, the air conditioner, and... ah, Hachiman-kun's charger." "No wonder it felt so quiet. It was because he wasn't around." "Where was the circuit breaker again...?" "For now, switch off the hairdryer." "Got it."
Having waited outside for a while after Hachiman entered, Kyouji completely misunderstood the situation when the lights suddenly went out, just like last time.
"Ghh... the lights went off? Right now, Asada-san is..."
Unable to bear the thought, Kyouji turned and left the scene.
"Whatever... the day after tomorrow, I'll..."
The expression on Kyouji's face as he muttered was hideously distorted, looking like a completely different person from the boy who had chatted with Shino at the convenience store.
Meanwhile, Shino was clinging anxiously to Hachiman's arm.
"Hey, Shino, it's hard to move like this." "I-I can't help it! I'm still a little scared of the dark, okay?" "The circuit breaker should be right by the entrance. Just bear with it for a minute." "U-Um, hurry up, okay?"
A moment later, the lights flickered back on, and Shino let out a sigh of relief. Turning off the air conditioner, she tentatively switched on the hairdryer. Seeing that it worked, she resumed drying her hair.
"Looks like we're good." "Yeah."
Having nothing to do, Hachiman absentmindedly turned on the TV function on his smartphone. The moment Kanzaki Elza's singing voice echoed through the room, Shino paused her hairdryer.
"Ah, that's my first time seeing that ad." "Yeah, mine too."
On the screen, an ALO commercial played alongside Elza's song.
"Speaking of which, I've barely seen Pitohui lately." "Word is she's pulling all-nighters pushing her work schedule forward just to participate in the BoB." "Ah, so that's why..."
Satisfied with the explanation, Shino went back to drying her hair. Once finished, she went to the back room to change into regular clothes before returning to the living room.
"I'll prepare some drinks and snacks. What would you like?" "I'll take something hot, with plenty of milk and extra sugar if you have it. As for snacks... anything sweet is fine." "Hmm, is that your preference, Hachiman?" "Well, that's pretty much standard for Chiba locals."
Hachiman casually claimed to represent the entire population of Chiba Prefecture.
"There's no way that's true!"
Even Shino couldn't help but laugh and call him out.
"Fair enough. But I realized recently that after using your brain, you really crave sweets." "Hmm, that's true. Your brain needs the sugar." "Exactly. So, sorry to trouble you, but I'll leave it to you." "Yep, wait a bit."
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