Izumi brought Erina directly to the second floor of Erina's restaurant.
Without hesitation, he headed straight for Erina's office.
As many of the girls liked to joke, Erina had long since become a manager rather than a chef.
She rarely cooked personally these days.
Most of her time was spent buried in paperwork.
Reaching the office door, Izumi casually pushed it open.
Then—
He froze.
"...Sorry for disturbing you."
"Please continue."
With that, he immediately began closing the door.
At that moment, Erina was feeding Hisako with chopsticks.
The years had transformed her greatly.
The proud young girl had grown into a beautiful and mature woman, carrying herself with the elegance of a true queen.
Click.
Izumi shut the door without hesitation.
Only after the door closed did Erina and Hisako finally realize what had happened.
For several seconds, neither of them had processed the fact that someone had entered.
Then realization struck.
"W-Wait a second!!"
"Come back here!"
Erina nearly jumped out of her chair.
She threw the chopsticks aside and rushed toward the door.
This was a misunderstanding!
A huge misunderstanding!
How was she supposed to explain this?!
She had never expected Izumi to appear out of nowhere.
The next moment, she vanished from sight.
The office door burst open again.
Outside, Izumi and Erica stood there with extremely strange expressions.
Seeing Erina's face flushed crimson with embarrassment, Izumi rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Erina."
"There is something I should probably remind you about."
"I don't discriminate against this sort of thing."
"But there's an old saying."
He raised a finger.
"'Yuri is wonderful, but unfortunately it doesn't produce children.'"
Erina's face instantly turned even redder.
Izumi continued with complete seriousness.
"Of course, modern technology can solve that."
"Maybe I should ask Asagi Aiba to develop advanced cloning technology."
"It sounds like a promising business opportunity."
"Our goal is to help everyone achieve their dreams, after all."
"Hmm..."
"Then again, there is always the water from the River of Childbirth..."
The more he spoke, the more outrageous the conversation became.
Finally—
"IDIOT!!"
Erina exploded.
"Stop talking already!"
"Damn it!"
"It's not what you think!"
At this point, she genuinely wanted to disappear from society.
Of all people...
Why did it have to be Izumi who walked in at that exact moment?
And what made it worse was that he hadn't even bothered knocking first.
Watching her panic, Izumi couldn't stop laughing.
Then he casually walked into the office.
Inside, Hisako was equally embarrassed.
Even after all these years, some things never changed.
In front of everyone else, Erina was mature, composed, and dignified.
Yet the moment Izumi appeared...
That image shattered instantly.
She reverted right back to the stubborn girl she used to be.
Honestly, Izumi might have been Erina's natural enemy.
Meanwhile, Hisako was busy trying not to think about what had just happened.
Then Izumi suddenly turned toward her.
"Yo, Hisako."
"Long time no see, Secretary."
He gave her an approving look.
"I have to say..."
"You've grown even more impressive."
"Longer legs too."
"Tsk."
"No wonder Erina acts like such a hopeless pervert around you."
Hisako froze.
Her face instantly turned bright red.
Meanwhile—
"YOU'RE THE PERVERT!"
Erina nearly exploded.
"You absolute idiot!"
"You came here today just to annoy me, didn't you?!"
"Jerk!"
Calling her a pervert?
The audacity!
She was convinced this man existed solely to raise her blood pressure.
Completely ignoring her complaints, Izumi sat down in her chair.
He spun around once before smiling.
"If I say you're one, then you're one."
"Any objections?"
Erina immediately faltered.
"W-What kind of logic is that?!"
Snap.
Izumi snapped his fingers.
A mysterious power instantly enveloped Erina.
She blinked in confusion.
Then—
Her appearance began changing.
"Eh?"
Hisako stared in shock.
The mature Erina standing before them rapidly transformed.
Her body became younger.
Her features softened.
Within moments, she looked exactly as she had at sixteen or seventeen years old.
The proud young lady of Totsuki Academy had returned.
Izumi nodded approvingly.
"Much better."
"Otherwise, I might've mistaken you for your mother."
"Seriously."
"Why were you trying so hard to look mature?"
"Don't you know?"
"Younger girls are the cutest."
As soon as he finished speaking, he turned toward Erica.
The next instant—
Erica's appearance also reverted to her younger self.
"..."
"..."
"..."
The room fell silent.
The three women stared at him.
For a moment, nobody knew what to say.
Was this what it meant to be overwhelmingly powerful?
To simply alter reality because you felt like it?
That was ridiculous.
"AAAAAHHH!!"
Erina was the first to snap out of her shock.
"You bastard!"
"Why did you turn me back into this?!"
"Do you have any idea how long it took me to become the woman I wanted to be?!"
"Change me back right now!"
With a furious cry, she lunged at him.
Unfortunately—
She couldn't reach him.
No matter how close she seemed, an invisible distance separated them.
It was as if the space between them stretched endlessly.
Though Izumi sat directly before her, it felt as though he were standing at the edge of the universe.
The realization only made her more frustrated.
Adult Erina.
Elegant Erina.
The perfect queen she had worked so hard to become.
All of it had vanished with a single snap of his fingers.
How could she possibly accept that?
Watching her struggle, Izumi simply laughed.
"I like this version of you more."
Then he casually waved a hand.
"Now stop complaining."
"Go make me something to eat."
"I haven't tasted your cooking in ages."
"For the last few years I've mostly been eating meals made by Rem and the others."
"They're great, of course."
"But today I feel like a change of pace."
Hearing those words, Erina glared at him with burning resentment.
She desperately wanted to force him to change her back.
Unfortunately, no matter what she did, she couldn't even get close enough to grab him.
The distance between them remained absolute.
And that only made her feel even more depressed.