Once she'd recovered her wits, Chisato decided that since they hadn't actually gotten married, it didn't count as a loss, and she perked right back up. She went back to her apartment and packed a backpack stuffed full of changes of clothes, clearly settling in for a long-term stay at the café.
They didn't go out for dinner. Jhin showed off a little in the kitchen, and just like that, Chisato abandoned any thought of improving her own cooking. What struck her as odd was that, for some reason, Kurumi kept glancing up at her throughout the meal.
"Chisato, the bathwater's ready. Go wash up first."
"Okay~"
She skipped happily into the bathroom. A moment later, a shriek rang out from inside: "Who scribbled all over my face?!"
"Pfft!" Kurumi finally burst out laughing. "She actually ran back for her clothes with that graffiti still on her face, and you didn't even warn her. That's a nasty sense of humor you've got."
"I thought she was a careful kid. Guess I still don't know her well enough."
"What do you think of DA and Lycoris?"
Jhin's hands paused briefly as he washed the dishes. He shut off the tap, left the remaining bowls and chopsticks soaking in the sink, pulled the towel off the rack to dry his hands, and asked offhandedly, "Are we starting an adult conversation now?"
"Going by your age alone, you don't really qualify as an adult."
"And going by your looks, you're not old enough to drink either."
"Let's just get to business. Once Chisato's out, we won't be able to talk."
"No problem." Jhin brewed two cups of coffee and set them on the counter, one for Kurumi, one for himself.
Through the white steam curling up from the coffee, a flicker of killing intent crossed his sky-blue eyes. Then, with a mocking edge, he began to tell a story.
"In a certain post-apocalyptic setting, a virus ravaged the Earth, and countless mutated animals hunted humans down. Aside from one special metal, the only weapon humanity had left was a group of young girls. They were discriminated against from birth, because sooner or later, the virus inside them would turn them into monsters too."
"It was exactly this group of children, branded 'monsters,' who fought for humanity's survival while suffering unjust treatment. Kurumi, think about it — a group of girls no older than fifteen, wielding weapons against creatures that tanks and fighter jets couldn't kill."
"That really is a story worth hating. So you think DA..."
"Disgusting," Jhin answered flatly. "Just the fact that they turn children into agents is enough to be revolting."
"Given that attitude, you seem to know DA's inner workings pretty well..."
"How else do you think I found Chisato?"
"Hoho~" Kurumi let out a couple of strange chuckles, downed her coffee in one go, then pulled out a tablet and slid it in front of him. "There's a kid who's about to be disciplined by DA. Care to save her?"
Jhin didn't agree right away. "Where did you get this information?"
"Thanks to your company's technology, I'm currently posing as a former member of DA's Intelligence Investigation Division, tasked with monitoring the daily life of Lycoris's ace — Nishikigi Chisato."
"Nice disguise. Care to tell me your real identity?"
"Oh?" Kurumi raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Your sister never told you?"
"She doesn't tell me everything, and there are things I've trusted her enough not to bother asking about."
"The strongest hacker, [[Walnut]] — though that's past tense now. Your company's security is terrifying. I took a bad fall there and I've been [Death] ever since."
Jhin got a rough picture of Kurumi's situation. Sometime during the disruption in the timeline, she'd hacked the company's system, only to be caught by Nymph. After that, she'd struck some kind of deal with Kazami Kazuki, buying the café as a hiding place. Then, just when Chisato happened to leave DA, Kurumi had seized the opportunity and cooked up a fake identity for herself.
What Kurumi still didn't understand was Kazami Kazuki's reasoning — why did she keep pushing girls toward her little brother?
The girl about to be disciplined by DA was also information Kazami Kazuki had told her to pass along to Jhin. As for the question about DA itself, that was purely Kurumi's own curiosity.
"What did this girl do to get herself disciplined?"
"She ignored orders from above and opened fire on her own initiative, which meant they lost a live target for interrogation."
Jhin slid the tablet back. "Fine, I'll take care of this. What do you need me to do?"
"You don't need to do anything. I can just bring the kid to Hamster House by saying Chisato needs a partner."
"Then why ask me all this?"
"Well, you're the Store Manager, after all. Hiring a new employee obviously needs your approval."
Chisato burst out of the bathroom in a loose set of pajamas, cheeks puffed out like an angry pufferfish. "Seriously, who drew on my face?!"
"That was me. You looked so cute asleep, I couldn't resist a little prank."
"Oh... it was Jhin-nii. Never mind then..."
Being called cute made Chisato grin and giggle stupidly. She sat down next to Jhin and blinked her bright eyes at him. "Why are you two drinking coffee? Are you planning to stay up all night?"
"Caffeine doesn't have any effect on me, I just drink it for fun. Oh, by the way — a new employee's joining the shop soon. You'll be the senior, so teach her well!"
"Wow, a junior already? That's amazing!" Chisato jumped up happily and pulled out her phone. "Jhin-nii, I'm thinking of starting a social media account for Hamster House. Let's take a promotional photo together first!"
"Sure, no problem."
So she raised her phone and snapped a photo: her own radiant smile, Jhin with his head cropped out of frame, and Kurumi showing only her ribbon hair clip and smooth forehead.
"Hamster House Café, grand opening! A cute poster girl, a handsome Store Manager, and super delicious food are all waiting for you here ☆~. Okay... sending it now."
Kurumi didn't seem to mind having only half her head in the shot. She hopped off her stool. "I'm going to go take a bath."
This was the alone time Chisato had been dreaming of. She struggled to calm the excitement bubbling up inside her, then made her move. "Jhin-nii, want to come watch a movie in my room?"
"Why not just watch it in the lounge? The screen's bigger there."
"O... okay, sure."
By the time Kurumi came out of the bath, she found Chisato fast asleep, leaning against Jhin's shoulder, while a romance film played on the TV screen. She didn't need to think twice to know the girl had picked a romance movie to set the mood — only to conk out completely because she had zero interest in it herself.
As usual, Chisato acted the instant an idea struck her, without thinking it through at all.
Amused by the thought, Kurumi didn't bother telling Jhin to go bathe. Getting back to her cozy little nest to play games mattered more right now.
Not until the movie ended was Chisato gently shaken awake. Staring at the credits rolling on screen, she could only curse herself for not drinking coffee earlier — she'd wasted such a perfect opportunity.
"All right, go get some sleep. It's getting late. I'm picking up four friends tomorrow, so the shop's in your and Kurumi's hands."
____
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