Bang.
Hayasaka closed the heavy car door.
Because they had left the estate in such a hurry earlier that day, she hadn't bothered to contact the family driver.
Instead, she had taken the wheel herself.
Kaguya sat alone in the spacious back seat. The interior of the luxury car was pitch black. She leaned her head back against the plush leather cushion, quietly gazing up at the custom starry sky pattern illuminated on the car's ceiling.
In the dim deep blue canopy, only a few scattered artificial stars floated.
It looked incredibly lonely.
This was the exact starry sky pattern Kaguya had specifically chosen for herself.
Unlike the brilliant, densely packed dazzling night skies most girls her age adored, she preferred this sparse, desolate expanse of stars.
Because it resembled her.
Vroom—
The car's powerful engine rumbled to life, sounding like the low steady growl of a beast.
Outside, the sky had long since darkened, and the heavy rain showed absolutely no sign of stopping.
Hayasaka kept the windshield wipers running on high, sweeping back and forth across the glass in a hypnotic rhythm.
Countless raindrops streamed densely past the glare of the headlights.
For a brief, fleeting moment, they were brilliantly illuminated before plunging back into the boundless dark, falling to the asphalt and shattering into fragments.
"Hayasaka," Kaguya's quiet voice broke the heavy silence inside the car.
"What is it, Kaguya-sama?" Hayasaka drove steadily ahead, her eyes fixed on the slick road.
The occasional passing streetlamp cast fleeting, pale light across her stoic face.
"After I left home today... did Father say anything?" Kaguya asked, her tone perfectly, terrifyingly calm.
"Shinomiya-sama has been locked in meetings with your three elder brothers this entire time. He didn't ask about you, Kaguya-sama," Hayasaka replied flatly.
But as she spoke the crushing truth, her hands tightened imperceptibly on the steering wheel.
"I see... Father is usually very busy. It's only natural he wouldn't notice my absence..." Kaguya murmured softly.
She sounded as if she were speaking more to herself than to her maid.
A long, suffocating silence filled the car.
In the dim interior, a somewhat stifled trembling breath could be heard.
A single teardrop slipped down Kaguya's cheek, splashing onto the back of her hand.
In her lap, she was still holding the small paper bag containing the rest of her candied apples.
The bag was still slightly warm.
But sitting in the dark cold car, Kaguya couldn't feel it at all.
What she had desperately hoped for had, as always, dissolved like mist.
It was nothing but a childish dream.
Her father hadn't even noticed she was gone.
...
Back in the diner, Saitama was happily shoveling braised eggplant and rice into his mouth.
Ainz was sitting beside him, chattering endlessly about all sorts of random things.
Saitama just nodded between bites to show he was listening.
In the front of the shop, Yuto stood leaning against the counter, chatting comfortably with Reiko.
"So you're saying I was just sitting next to a young lady from a massively prestigious family?" Reiko asked, a hint of playful teasing in her voice.
"That's right. Do you feel like you missed a chance to network with someone important?" Yuto smiled back at her.
"Not really. Compared to a scary young lady like that, I much prefer the food the boss makes," Reiko said, propping her chin in her hands and giving him a bright genuine smile.
"Even though I know you're just trying to flatter me, I'll still say thank you."
"Hmph, I'm not!"
Compared to the bruised, exhausted girl who had first stumbled into the shop last night, Reiko had become so much happier.
The smile on her face was no longer the forced, fragile mask she used to hide her pain.
Seeing this change filled Yuto's chest with a sense of relief and joy.
"Reiko-chan."
Yukari wiped her mouth daintily with a napkin, a mysterious smile playing on her lips as she looked over at the high schooler.
Her beautiful golden hair seemed to catch the light, making her look undeniably radiant and lovely.
"What is it, Yukari-sama?" Although they had only spent a short time together, Yukari had already casually allowed Reiko to call her by her first name.
"Say, Reiko-chan... would you like to come back to Gensokyo with me?"
Yukari's sudden offer left everyone in the small restaurant stunned.
To another world...?
"Is that possible, Boss?" Yukari looked over at Yuto, her purple eyes holding a playful, almost pleading glint.
But... Yuto didn't actually know.
"I'm not sure about the rules regarding that just yet," he admitted, shaking his head.
The mood in the restaurant briefly deflated.
But Yukari simply perked right back up and turned her attention back to Reiko.
"Well, if it were possible, would you want to come with me, Reiko-chan?"
Reiko fell completely silent.
A flood of thoughts raced through her mind.
The mockery, the insults, the loneliness, the fights... In her own world, she hadn't been doing well at all.
Go to Gensokyo together? To her world?
She had already listened when Yukari describe the place.
A hidden paradise where youkai and humans coexisted.
It sounded like an absolute dream for her.
But if she just abandoned her world and left like that... she felt a sudden, deep reluctance.
Reiko's lips curved into a soft, bittersweet smile.
She looked at Yukari and gently shook her head. "I'm sorry, Yukari-sama. I don't want to leave for now."
Her answer surprised the ancient youkai.
Yukari blinked, momentarily caught off guard. "Why not?"
"I can't. I promised those youkai in the forest that I'd come back and see them. If I just left... they'd be lonely." Reiko tilted her head apologetically.
Hearing her reasoning, Yuto couldn't help but let out a soft sigh as a fond smile tugging at his lips.
'As expected. That's our Reiko for you.'
...
Yuuka and Yukari's group were finally getting ready to leave.
As they parted, Yuuka silently flicked her wrist, tossing another tiny glowing drop of pure youki essence toward Yuto.
It sank into his chest instantly.
When Yuto looked at her in utter confusion, she simply shot him a cool, disdainful glare.
"You're still too weak," she stated flatly, before turning and walking directly out the door.
After recovering from the sudden power boost, Yuto moved down the counter to collect payment from Yukari, Ran, and Chen, all while enduring Yukari's relentless teasing gaze.
"Boss, I'm rooting for you!" Yukari giggled.
"Next time you come in, your dishes start at ten thousand yen each. Thank you," Yuto deadpanned.
Yukari gave him a dramatic resentful pout before dramatically turning to leave.
The nine-tailed fox woman behind her bowed politely. "Boss, thank you for the meal. It was incredibly delicious. Goodbye."
"Thank you so much for the yummy food, Boss-nya!!!" Chen chimed in, her twin cat tails swishing happily behind her.
Both Ran and Chen were infinitely more polite than Yukari!
Yuto offered them a friendly farewell.
After the chaotic group of four had vanished through the door, Yuto inexplicably felt a heavy gaze boring into the side of his head.
He turned. "Ainz, what's wrong?"
"No, nothing," the massive skeleton quickly waved his bony hand, immediately turning back to resume his chatter with Saitama.
The unbreakable bond of the Poverty Alliance was no exaggeration!
"Boss, how much do I owe you? I should be going too," Reiko said, standing up and smoothing her skirt.
"Won't you stay a bit longer?" Yuto asked, not wanting her to go back out into the rain just yet.
"No, it's fine. I can always come back tomorrow," Reiko smiled.
"That's true. Then your total is 600 yen."
The special dishes in the shop were usually only 500 yen.
For the customized, extra-sweet plate of candied apples he had made specifically for her, Yuto only tacked on an extra 100 yen.
When Reiko heard the absurdly low price, her eyes flickered slightly, fully understanding what he was doing for her.
She smiled warmly.
"Boss... thank you." Reiko pulled exactly 600 yen from her worn coin purse, handed it over and waved a cheerful goodbye before slipping out the door.
Now, only Ainz and Saitama were left in the shop.
It felt a bit like the old days.
Before the restaurant started attracting so many chaotic elements, it used to be like this all the time.
Yuto would lean quietly against the back wall, waiting for customers, while Suzuki and Saitama ate cheap udon and bonded over ways to save money.
Oh, and Utaha would be sitting in the corner, typing away on her laptop.
That was the comforting, daily routine of the small restaurant.
Crowded rowdy nights like tonight were practically nonexistent back then.
As Yuto was lost in his nostalgic thoughts, the door slid open again as Rimuru came bouncing in.
The moment the blue slime entered, he immediately caught Ainz's attention.
The glowing red orbs in the skeleton's eye sockets locked onto the gelatinous blob.
"Boss, beer and fried chicken today, please!" Rimuru called out cheerfully.
"No problem!" Yuto immediately grabbed a cold bottle of beer from the fridge and placed it on the counter in front of him, then turned into the kitchen to start prepping the chicken.
Out in the dining room, the moment Rimuru absorbed the beer cap and popped it open, he felt the oppressive weight of Ainz's stare.
The round slime shifted slightly and a literal cartoon question mark seemed to materialize above his gelatinous body.
"Sup?" Rimuru asked.
He wasn't particularly surprised or frightened by Ainz's appearance as a terrifying skeletal monster, after all, he was currently a talking slime himself.
"Oh, right. Rimuru, Ainz is just like you. He also got transported to another world," Yuto called out from the kitchen, having just sliced two pieces of chicken breast.
The moment Yuto finished speaking, the tension between Rimuru and Ainz spiked with intense curiosity.
Even though neither of them actually possessed eyeballs, it didn't stop them from staring deeply into each other's souls.
"Really!?" Rimuru gasped.
"Yes! I'm Ainz Ooal Gown. Nice to meet you, please take care of me!" the Overlord introduced himself formally.
"Whoa! I'm Rimuru Tempest! Nice to meet you too!" Rimuru eagerly hugged his beer bottle and hopped down the counter to sit right next to Ainz.
Saitama watched the exchange curiously.
He was just a bit puzzled.
'Why was it that every time someone traveled to another world, they completely stopped being human?'
Ainz and Rimuru didn't mind the strange looks.
The two immediately launched into an enthusiastic, rapid-fire discussion about the mechanics and struggles of being isekai'd.
"You actually got transported as your video game character and also your guild?! That's so cool!!!" Rimuru cheered.
"I never thought you were actually killed and then reincarnated... I'm so sorry..." Ainz said sympathetically.
"It's fine! Being a slime isn't so bad! Can you tell me about your world?"
"Ah, sure."
What followed was a dizzying string of fantastical, RPG-style terms.
Words like Goblins, Vampires, Succubi, and True Dragons kept flowing effortlessly from their mouths.
For a moment, a bright incredibly cheerful atmosphere filled the restaurantr.
Yuto couldn't help but smile as he fried the chicken, finding the deep, instant camaraderie between a Slime and an Undead Overlord incredibly amusing.
No matter who you are, anyone would get excited upon finally meeting someone who understood exactly what they were going through!
Just then, the shop door was pulled open once again.
'There are quite a few customers tonight,' Yuto thought to himself, stepping out from the kitchen to welcome the new arrival.
"Welcome—"
When Yuto turned to look at the door, the greeting died in his throat.
He was taken aback once more.
A massive slit-pupiled vertical eye was staring directly at him.
It was a terrifying reptilian eye, easily the size of a dinner plate, peering through the doorway!
Yuto swallowed hard, feeling a strange mixture of dread and exhaustion settle in his chest.
Lately, the customers visiting his tiny restaurant were just getting weirder and weirder!