The Super High Schoolers Affording to Live in Another World! - Volume 3 - Chapter 2

  Love-Huntress Ringo  

After their meeting with the Blue Brigade, Ringo went back to Dormundt and headed straight for her lab in the Manufacturing District.

“Bearabbit, Bearabbit, Bearabbiiiiit!”

“T-tail me what’s wrong!”

“What do I do…? It’s all so sudden, I just—I don’t…!”

“Wh-what’s going on? J-just calm down and tail me.”

“I—I can’t just calm down; it’s not that easy…”

“Okay, then don’t calm down, but either way, tail me what’s going on!”

Not placating herself in the slightest, Ringo gesticulated wildly as she explained how Tsukasa had invited her on a date at the end of their three-day break.

Upon hearing that, the stumpy pink character on Bearabbit’s display leaped up in surprise.

“A—a date with Tsukasa, you say?!”

“Hwah! Th-that’s not what I said… We’re just spending our day off together, that’s all…”

“A bear-bones outing with just the two of you? I hate to be the bearer of good news, but that’s a date! And a big chance fur you to deepen your bond with him! Looks like it’s your lucky day!”

Bearabbit knew just how long Ringo had been harboring feelings for Tsukasa, so hearing about this sudden development was a thrill for him.

Ringo, on the other hand, glanced around timidly.

“B-b-but…I-I’ve never been on a date… I have no idea…where to go or what to wear… Wh-what if the conversation dies down when we’re alone…a-and he starts thinking I’m boring…? Oh…”

The poor girl had never expected such a windfall of good fortune and hadn’t been able to sort out her emotions yet. She was certainly happy about the date. Being able to spend time alone with Tsukasa was like a dream come true for Ringo.

Unfortunately, Ringo quickly began to doubt herself, and her mind filled with negative hypotheticals. Bearabbit, however, spoke to the troubled genius with confidence in his electronic voice.

“Heh-heh-heh… Ringo, just who exactly do you think I am?”

“?”

“I’m the all-purpose support robot designed to help you live your life, remember?! I always knew this day might come, so I aggregated all the hottest trends and put together a pawsome date plan and shopping list fur you!”

“R-really?!”

To Ringo, Bearabbit’s words were a veritable ray of hope that shone down through dark clouds. Rushing over to the AI, Ringo pressed him for details.

“P-please, tell me—”

“Not so fast, now. I’m not just going to tail you for free. Putting it together took a lot of tailent, you know.”

“Y-you’re demanding payment from your creator?”

“Ringo, Ringo, Ringo. Don’t look at it that way. Think of all the ways I’ve supported you, both in public and in private. Shouldn’t you be showing me a little more gratitude? Maybe reflect on how rudely you’ve been treating me. From now on, I don’t want that cheap oil anymore. I want you to give me the good, dark stuff from the bottom of the can, like what Dorami got. If you can pawmise me that, I’ll send you the data.”

“Hmph…”

Bearabbit put an image up on his display of him sticking his hand into a pot full of honey-colored oil, licking it, and spitting it out in disgust.

Ringo had no idea how her creation had grown so impudent. She even slightly regretted her decision to grant the AI such freedom and the ability to grow. Still, that data Bearabbit had was her only hope. Knowing that sometimes sacrifices had to be made for the greater good, Ringo acquiesced.

“F-fine. I promise, so tell me.”

“Hooray! All right, I’m sending the data over.”

Bearabbit’s screen-displayed avatar threw its arms up in joy as he transmitted the special feature he’d assembled for Ringo’s first date to her smartphone.

Its contents were split into three main sections:

“Top 100 Outfits to Wear When You Have No Confidence in Your Figure!”

“How to Lock Down a Smooch from the Guy of Your Dreams! This Winter’s Newest Lip Balms!”

“A First Date Plan Even a Monkey Could Get Right! Tokyo Metropolis Area Edition.”

Hurriedly, Ringo scanned over each article.

“Wow, it’s all so detailed! It has lists of restaurants for lunch and dinner, lists of what to wear, even lists of what lip balm to use.”

“I am equipped with the world’s greatest supercomputer, you know. Putting it together was pawsitively a breeze!”

“This is amazing…”

Not only was the data thorough, it was laid out in an easy-to-understand manner. One shouldn’t have expected less from an AI built by prodigy inventor Ringo Oohoshi. The sections on clothes and cosmetics even had 3D graphics. Bearabbit had really thought of everything. With this guide, Ringo had all she needed; it was perfect. Well, except for one small thing.

“By the way, Bearabbit…”

“What can I do you fur?”

“How am I supposed to buy any of this?”

“Tee-hee-hee. You’ve been hibernating up in space too long, haven’t you? Down here on Earth, we’ve got an e-commerce site called Amazoness where you can get your paws on just about any… Oh.”

That small thing was that on this world, Bearabbit’s notes were useless.

“You’re getting used tempura oil from now on.”

“Expanda’d cooking oil?!?!”

Ringo’s voice was ice-cold as she deleted the eighteen-gigabyte file from her phone.

“Ringo, Ringo, let’s just paws and think about this. It’s certainly pawsible that I went a little too far just now. Have I ever mentioned how grateful I am to you for creating me? From now on, I pawmise not to complain about getting the light, cruddy stuff from the top of the can, s-so please…anything but used tempura oil…”

“I was kidding.”

It was true that she was a little miffed, but Ringo still knew that Bearabbit had put all that data together for her sake. She wasn’t actually planning on giving him waste oil. Unfortunately, the fact remained that her last ray of hope had failed her.

Ringo heaved a deep sigh, then let out a defeated murmur. Considering the possibility that she was just going to fail and embarrass herself, she muttered, “…Maybe it would be better if I just tell him I can’t go…”

“You can’t!”

Bearabbit indignantly shot that idea down.

“Chances like this bearly ever come around! If you don’t bear your fangs now and strike, when will you?”

“But, Bearabbit… I’ll just mess it up…”

“Are you going to let Lyrule snatch Tsukasa away fur herself?”

“—!” Ringo recalled the scene from that fateful night. The image of Tsukasa’s head resting gently on Lyrule’s lap had been burned into the young woman’s brain.

She hated it.

The moment Ringo saw it, pain shot through her heart as if a knife had stabbed her. With a shake of her head, she dispelled the vivid recollection.

“…I…don’t want that.”

Ringo had loved Tsukasa for so, so long. She didn’t want to just give up without even telling him how she felt.

“Then even if you’re scared that you’ll mess it up, you have to just go fur it. Luckily, you’ve got some beary lovely lady friends to help you out. You should go get them to teach you how to get close with guys!”

“ ”

“There’s no claws for alarm—this is your big chance! Be sure not to waste it!”

Bearabbit’s words of encouragement finally convinced her.

He was right. Ringo had been carrying that unrequited love for so long. Now that her big break had arrived, she needed to act on it.

Ringo resolved to ask her friends how best to get close to boys. Unfortunately, if everyday conversations were like walls to her, then trying to ask for that kind of advice was like breaking through solid iron. When faced with the alternative of letting her moment slip through her fingers, though, Ringo didn’t hesitate.

“You’re…right. I’ll…do my best!”

With lips pursed tight, Ringo summoned up all the courage her little heart could muster and made up her mind to go ask the other three female High School Prodigies how to flirt with a guy.

“A method to get close to a gentleman, you say?”

Ringo’s first stop was with prodigy swordmaster Aoi Ichijou. Despite her face being flushed red in embarrassment, Ringo asked the question herself without relying on Bearabbit. Aoi didn’t make fun of her in the slightest. She merely lent her an ear, then puffed her chest out with pride.

“Heh. I have experience accompanying many men, so naturally, I know a thing or two, that I do.”

“M-many men?! Whoa!!” Ringo pressed on, her face growing ever redder. “D-does that mean…you’ve also…k-k-kissed a lot of them?”

“Kissed…locked lips, you mean? But of course. I’ve locked lips with gentlemen on numerous occasions, that I have. And from what they say, a kiss from me is top-notch.”

“!!!”

The way Aoi licked her lips after her proud proclamation sent a soft shiver down Ringo’s spine. The gesture, along with the confidence brimming from her expression, told Ringo that Aoi was 100 percent serious.

Wow… S-so mature…, Ringo thought, realizing that pretty girls really were in a league of their own. Even though they were the same age, Aoi clearly possessed far more experience with men than a shrimp like her. It was clear she’d come to the right person.

“Although even I can only boast a resuscitation rate of about 70 percent. Some wounds are simply too large, that they are.”

“…Eh?”

“Facing down death together truly is the best way to grow close. Between the enemies you slay and the comrades you lose, the bonds you form as survivors are as hard as steel. You become as close as family, even.”

That was when Ringo finally realized that what she’d asked and what Aoi was talking about were two wholly different things.

“N-not that kind of bond… I, um, I’m talking about r-romantic bonds…”

“Hmm? Facing down death together causes love to bloom all the time, albeit largely between men.”

“…?!” Ringo felt as though she had just been made privy to an incredible piece of information, but that wasn’t what she was after, either.

“I-is there no way to get close…without…death involved?” Ringo made an attempt to get the conversation back on track.

“That proves trickier, that it does. Men have a way of looking down on us women. It’s critical that you take him down first, to prove that you’re stronger. To that end, I recommend aiming squarely for the crotch…the ‘family jewels,’ so to speak. Doing so should prove singularly effective.

“Ringo, m’lady, your stature will make kicking tricky, so I suggest grabbing hold of them and squeezing tight.

“That will render any man powerless, no matter how brawny they may be. That is simply how men are built, that it is.”

Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like Aoi had the answers that Ringo was looking for. Maybe she had been the wrong person to ask. Aoi was pretty and had many male friends, but she didn’t seem interested in romance whatsoever.

“Th-thanks… I’ll be sure…to keep that in mind…”

“Godspeed, m’lady. Remember to aim for his weak spot, and you’ll be set, that you will!”

“A way to deepen your bond with a man?”

Next, Ringo turned to prodigy doctor Keine Kanzaki. Keine thought for a moment, then turned the question back on Ringo.

“Hmm. As a friend or as a lover? The methodology varies considerably between the two.”

That was certainly true. Ringo had to admit that if she’d been clearer on that point, Aoi may have provided more useful information.

Ringo fought through her bashfulness and answered, “L-lo…lover…I guess.”

“Hmm-hmm. Right, right. I see how it is.” Keine seemed to have sensed something from Ringo’s reply, but she avoided elaborating on what it was. “First, it’s key that you find yourself alone with him. Taking a mutual day off and going on a date is ideal.

“Enjoy the sights, eat something tasty, and gradually close the distance between the two of you. Even if you get embarrassed, you absolutely mustn’t look away from him. When a woman looks at someone she likes, her pupils dilate. Those larger pupils are a physiological mechanism your body uses to make you look cuter. It’s important that you make full use of that and show off your adorable self.”

W-wow… Ringo’s eyes opened wide in surprise. She hadn’t known about that trick.

Keine had a different view on things, and Ringo was overjoyed to get advice from her. She needed to make sure she didn’t miss a thing. With an earnest expression on her face, Ringo jotted everything Keine was saying down on her notepad.

“Once you’ve grown familiar, that’s where the chloroform comes in.”

“Chloro…chlorowhat?!”

“Chloroform, I said. You’ll want to soak a handkerchief in it and use it to knock him out.”

“?!?!”

“From there, you drag him to a secluded spot and strip off his pants and undergarments.”

“?!?!?!”

“Afterward, do just as you were taught in sex ed class. Take the   of the man you’re interested in,   it into your  , and  . If his   doesn’t react,   prostaglandin E1 directly into the erectile tissue. That should give you a good three hours to  .

“Now, I myself don’t have any experience dealing with men romantically, but speaking as a doctor, I can assure you that’s the most efficient way for two people to deepen their relationship. I hope you found that helpful.”

“Gulp…”

As Keine finished her explanation, Ringo’s eyes were spinning so fast she had to sit herself down. The insane logic that all Ringo had to do was make a baby was far too radical for her to handle.

Ringo did have to admit that Tsukasa would likely accept any child of his, no matter how it was conceived, but—

Th-there’s no way I can do something like that!

—she had no intention of putting Keine’s suggestion into practice.

That was not to suggest that Ringo hadn’t found the lecture helpful in some way.

“…F-for the future, maybe” was the best she could manage in reply.

“I’m glad to hear it. Best of luck in your endeavor, Ringo.”

“Wh-what should I do…?”

Having returned to her room, Ringo cradled her head in her hands. Much to her surprise, the two people she’d been counting on had been no help at all.

“They’re both so pretty, but they both bearly had any experience with guys, huh.”

“Yeah…”

When Ringo thought about it, though, she realized how self-reliant Aoi and Keine were. Both of them spent all their time on battlefields, honing their skills and living as they liked. Neither of them had time for something like love.

The same could’ve been said of all the High School Prodigies.

Ringo’s last hope was prodigy journalist Shinobu Sarutobi. She was no different, however. Ever since middle school, she’d spent all her time flitting about political and business circles and their underbellies, wielding her powers as a preeminent reporter as she saw fit.

Despite the ninja’s good looks, there was a good chance she sported no romantic experience, either.

Ringo was worried, but she didn’t have anywhere else to turn. She followed through with her plan and called Shinobu, who’d stayed behind in the Gustav domain.

Immediately, Shinobu answered the phone.

“H’lo?”

“H-hello… It’s Ringo…”

“Ringo? Well, there’s a surprise. It’s not every day I get a call from you. Whassup?”

“I, um…I had something…I wanted to ask your advice about…”

“Who, li’l ol’ me? Well, don’t keep a girl hanging, now.”

A little concerned that Shinobu’s conversational tempo would end up sweeping her away, Ringo explained the situation.

“I—I was wondering if, um…you could teach me…how to get close…to a g-guy…”

Shinobu, ever quick on the uptake, immediately realized what she was talking about.

“Aha. Given the timing, I’m guessin’ this is about Tsukes, riiiiight?”

“!!!”

All at once, Ringo’s face turned a crimson shade at having been so handily exposed. Steeling herself, she responded in the affirmative.

“…Y-yes.”

“Lyrule’s really got you worried, huh?”

Shinobu was reading Ringo like a book. Such perceptivity was admittedly frightening to Ringo.

“Y-yeah…” With little other recourse, she confirmed Shinobu’s guess, however. It was taking every bit of courage that Ringo had just to take advantage of her once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. This was no time to hold back or play dumb.

“Hee-hee. Glad you’re bein’ honest! Let me tell you, Ringo, you came to the right gal! After all, I’m a kunoichi —a literal pro when it comes to honeypots! Trappin’ the fellas so they can’t get away is my specialty!”

Ringo frantically corrected her. “B-but I don’t want to trap him… I just want to get closer…normally.”

Already, Ringo felt like she was about to get more advice in the same vein as Keine’s. Shinobu was quick to discard Ringo’s concerns, however.

“So green! You’re greener than a Granny Smith apple, Ringo! Love is a hunt! Traps or not, you gotta catch your prey somehow! Lyrule might look timid, but she comes on real strong!”

“Sh-she does?!”

“From what I hear, though my info’s secondhand from Massy. Remember how when everyone was gonna go save Lyrule and Tsukes opposed it? Afterward, he was avoiding her and beatin’ himself up pretty bad about it. He didn’t think he was worthy of her thanks.”

“Really…?” Ringo hadn’t heard anything about that. But if that was the case, then why had Tsukasa been resting so intimately on her lap?

As if sensing that unspoken inquiry, Shinobu answered it immediately.

“When Lyrule heard how Tsukes was beating himself up, she barged right into the room he’d been cooping himself up in and forced him to acknowledge her gratitude.

“I’m tellin’ you, Lyrule isn’t some demure little princess. And plucky girls like her are real popular with the fellas. At the end of the day, what all guys really want is a stand-in for their mom.”

“…”

Hearing what Lyrule had done took Ringo’s breath away. While she disliked admitting it, the young genius inventor had to concede that Lyrule was amazing. Bold, too. If their places had been reversed, Ringo doubted she would’ve been able to do the same. Mostly likely, she would’ve simply waited until things died down. She certainly wouldn’t have had the courage to force her way into Tsukasa’s heart like Lyrule had.

There was no way. Based on Lyrule’s actions, Ringo could tell just how serious the elf was about Tsukasa.

“Oh…no…”

Ringo’s expression clouded over as she realized how fearsome her rival was. To her, it seemed impossible to win against someone so cheerful, cute, and considerate. Just thinking about it filled Ringo’s heart with despair.

That was when Shinobu cheerfully cut in again. “Don’t you start worrying, Ringo! Leave it to me! I like Lyrule plenty, too, but…I know how you’ve been pinin’ after Tsukes since middle school.”

“ ”

“I’m on your side here, so I’m gonna teach you some secret kunoichi moves to bring your love to fruition!”

Upon hearing her friend’s words of reassurance, Ringo realized something. She might not be able to hold a candle to Lyrule when it came to cheerfulness or feminine charm, but Ringo was the leader when it came to strength of feelings.

The girl hadn’t given up before, and she wasn’t about to do so now. It was for that reason that she’d summoned her courage and asked her friends for help in the first place, after all.

“Th-thank you!” Ringo exclaimed.

Once again, she reaffirmed her conviction. The date was two days away. By the time it arrived…

I’ll become…a love-huntress.

Finally, the day of their date rolled around.

Save for a few scattered clouds, the sky was clear and blue. In fact, it hadn’t snowed at all in Dormundt over the past few weeks. Perhaps that’d been some sort of aftereffect from Gustav’s Rage Soleil war magic. It wasn’t exactly something to be applauded, but Ringo was thankful for it just for that day.

The morning was mild, like an Indian summer. Tsukasa and Ringo had agreed to meet up by the bronze statue of Count Heiseraat the First, and Tsukasa had shown up twenty minutes early.

As for Ringo—

“Tsukasa…”

—she was lurking out of sight, watching him from a distance.

It wasn’t because she’d misremembered the rendezvous location, though.

Always arrive to a date before the guy, but only go to the meeting spot after he shows up.

According to Shinobu, if you tried to show up a little late from the get-go, you ran the risk of running into trouble and being seriously late. Unfortunately, waiting around for a guy wasn’t an attractive look, either.

Ringo was putting that lesson into practice. She didn’t really understand why it was important, but that didn’t matter. It was showtime, and her target was in sight. She was going for the kill today, as a love-huntress.

Still lurking out of sight, Ringo readied her heart, extended her index finger and thumb into the shape of a gun, and pointed at the boy waiting for her by the bronze statue.

“Bang.”

“Ah, Ringo. There you are.”

“Hwa-wh-wh—kaff, koff?!?!”

Their eyes met at the worst possible moment, and Ringo lapsed into a coughing fit.

Worried, Tsukasa rushed over to her.

“Is everything okay? Your face is beet red.”

“I-i-i-i-it’s fine; everything’s all right.”

“Are you sure? You aren’t sick, are you?”

“N-nope. A-a-all good.”

“Really? Well, I’m glad to hear it. Don’t push yourself, okay?”

“Y-yeah. I know.”

“Very good.”

Tsukasa withdrew his silver pocket watch and checked the time.

“It’s a bit earlier than planned, but what do you say about lunch? Do you still want to check out that place you messaged me about?”

“Yeah…”

“Then, shall we get going?” With that, Tsukasa sauntered off.

After making sure that he’d finally taken his gaze off her, Ringo breathed a deep sigh of relief.

That was close.

If he’d insisted that they head over to Keine to get Ringo checked out, the plan she and Shinobu had painstakingly crafted would’ve all gone to waste. That danger was in the past now.

While the meetup hadn’t gone exactly as Ringo had hoped, things were still on track. The real hunt was just getting started. After getting her head back in the game, she rushed after Tsukasa.

Unfortunately…

“Ah! Angel, sir!”

“Why, if it isn’t the angels! Lovely weather today, no?”

“Congratulations on your successful advance into Buchwald and Archride!”

Tsukasa’s and Ringo’s outfits simply stood out too much. People called to the pair from every direction as they walked the street. It didn’t feel like a romantic outing in the slightest.

What can I do…? Ringo panicked. She was finally on a date with Tsukasa, but at this rate, the whole day was going to slip away from them while they were exchanging pleasantries with the townsfolk. That would be a complete waste. A travesty.

Unbeknownst to Ringo, Tsukasa actually felt much the same way.

“…We’ll hardly be able to enjoy the rest and relaxation we were prescribed like this, will we?”

While his reasons may have been different, Tsukasa’s matter of concern was identical. He wanted to spend the day leisurely relaxing with Ringo, too.

“I did anticipate that this might happen, though, so I have an idea. Follow me.”

Tsukasa turned off the path to the restaurant they’d planned on eating at, and he led Ringo to a shop.

More specifically…

“A…clothing store?”

Their destination, apparently, was a secondhand clothing shop in the Industrial District.

“That’s right. Our usual outfits are too recognizable, so I thought we might change into something more common in this world. Hopefully, we’ll draw less attention that way.”

“I…I see.”

It was a clever idea.

Ringo agreed, and the two of them headed inside together.

A bell hanging from the door chimed to announce their arrival, and a dark-haired, middle-aged hyuma shopkeeper emerged from the back.

“Welcome to— Oh my! Mr. Tsukasa! And Ms. Ringo! What might two angels of the Seven Luminaries want with my humble secondhand shop?”

“Ringo and I have the day off, but our current attire is a bit too conspicuous to go casually sightseeing in. We were hoping to pick up something a little more contemporary.” Tsukasa succinctly summed up the situation, and the shopkeeper nodded.

“Ah, I see. That makes perfect sense. Well, if it’s clothes you need, then I’m happy to be of service. Right this way.” The man led the two toward the back of the store.

Its inventory boasted all sorts of garments, from commoner hand-me-downs to noble garb.

“Many former nobles who lost income to God Akatsuki’s reforms sold off much of their wardrobes, so I’m quite proud of my selection at the moment.”

“I was thinking of going with something that pairs well with whatever Ringo picks out. Ringo, is there anything that catches your eye?”

“Oh… Um…”

Ringo glanced over the assorted outfits, then pointed to one.

“I—I…kind of…want to try that on…”

“Oh, interesting. It’s a different color, but it’s pretty similar to what Lyrule wears.”

Tsukasa was right. The item Ringo had picked out resembled Lyrule’s standard attire. It was a dress comparable to an Austrian dirndl.

Whenever Ringo looked at Lyrule, she was always a little envious of how cute the other girl was dressed. Now that Ringo had a chance, she really wanted to try that sort of clothing on for herself.

The shopkeeper picked up the piece that Ringo had selected. “Ah, this here is a traditional outfit that common-born women of this region wear before they get married. We also have the apparel that noble young ladies wear—are you certain that this is the one you want?”

“Ah, um…”

When the man offered Ringo another option, she stumbled over her answer. Every time she went into clothing stores, the employees would end up launching into gallant sales pitches. Invariably, it always ended poorly for the genius inventor.

Due to her trouble with social situations, Ringo had a habit of getting caught in a salesman’s momentum and was easily pressured into buying things she didn’t even want. That was why she’d previously done all her shopping online.

However, that sort of convenience didn’t exist in this world. She looked desperately to Tsukasa for help. The young politician’s response was immediate.

“The original dress is fine, thank you.”

Hearing Tsukasa’s definitive tone, the shopkeeper gave a slight bow.

“Of course, sir. Eda, come here!”

“On my way, Dad, what’s— Whoa! Angels?!”

The dark-haired, rabbit-eared byuma girl who emerged from the back of the shop reacted with just as much shock as her father.

“What’re two angels doing in our shop?”

“They were hoping to enjoy some privacy on their day off, so they came for a change of garments.”

“Ooh, makes sense. Outfits like theirs are pretty unusual for these parts, so it’s no wonder they draw so much attention.”

“Now, could you take Ms. Ringo and help her try on this dress?”

“G-got it! Please, Ms. Ringo, follow me.”

“Oh…”

Ringo hesitated for a moment, not wanting to be separated from Tsukasa in an unfamiliar place. She wasn’t about to let him peek at her getting changed, either. Obediently, Ringo followed Eda into the women’s changing room.

Next, it was Tsukasa’s turn.

“Now, would you mind finding me something that would look natural paired with Ringo’s?”

“Of course, sir. Right this way, if you please.”

After picking out an outfit with the shopkeeper, he headed for the men’s changing room.

“Is it to your liking, Ms. Ringo?”

“W-wow…”

As Ringo looked at her new outfit in Eda’s tin mirror, a pleased murmur escaped her lips.

Dressed up in the red-and-white dirndl-style dress, she looked like a dwarf from right out of a fairy tale.

“The corset okay? It’s not too tight?”

Nod, nod.

“Thank goodness. And if I may, Ms. Ringo, you look very charming.”

“…”

Hearing someone else say that was somewhat embarrassing. Secretly, though, Ringo didn’t think she looked half bad, either. What she really wanted was for Tsukasa to see her in it.

Perhaps, if she was lucky, he’d even compliment her appearance.

If he said that…it’d make me super happy.

Heart now racing, Ringo followed Eda out of the changing room.

“Oh, are you finished, too, Ringo?”

Outside, Tsukasa was waiting for her in an aristocratic outfit with gold trim and fabric so blue it seemed to practically shine.

“Ts-Ts-Tsukasa, y-your outfit…!”

“Dad, c’mon. That’s a noble’s outfit!” Eda asserted that there was a mismatch between Ringo’s and Tsukasa’s clothes that would cause them to stand out too much.

It’d seemed that the black-haired man who was the shopkeeper had already taken that into account.

“W-well, yes… See, the thing is, Mr. Tsukasa carries himself too elegantly to pass as a commoner anyway. If anything, having him wear plain garb would make him stand out more. Fortunately, though, Ms. Ringo is quite good-looking. If we add this silk scarf to her outfit, I was thinking we could pose them as a low-born girl and a noble who fell in love at first sight…”

As the shopkeeper tried explaining his reasoning to his daughter, Tsukasa turned to Ringo.

“How does it look?”

“Y-you look! So cool!”

Forgetting to keep her voice down, Ringo excitedly voiced her approval. Tsukasa was so stylish that just looking at him made the girl dizzy.

Between the way the stark blue outfit set off his dignified silvery hair and the regal posture with which he wore it, he was the spitting image of a fairy-tale prince.

I—I can’t even… Being able to see this alone made the hunt worth it…!

Ringo had to carry herself carefully. Satisfying herself merely with seeing Tsukasa in that outfit wasn’t what she’d come to achieve.

Tsukasa gave Ringo a rare, unguarded smile, the kind he only showed to those he trusted.

“Thank you. You look pretty adorable yourself.”

“Ahhh…!” Ringo’s temperature shot up a good five degrees.

He complimented me. Tsukasa called me adorable. Is it really all right for a single day to be so wonderful? The whole thing felt too good to be true. Ringo thought she might go crazy.

When he saw her expression soften, Tsukasa called over to the shopkeeper. “Ringo seems to like it, too, so I think I will go with this one.”

“Th-thank you for your patronage! A-although there is one thing I should mention.”

“What might that be?”

“I was talking with my daughter, and we were both concerned that, due to how good-looking you both are, the outfits alone might not be enough to avert the public eye.”

“So that’s where these come in! What do you think?!” Eda handed something to Tsukasa as she spoke. It was a headband with a pair of white wolf ears on it.

“What is it?”

“Byuma-ear headbands, a new product I thought up. The idea is that wearing one of these beauties will make you and your byuma lover closer than ever!”

“I see. So you’re suggesting we go for a fundamental makeover.” Tsukasa nodded in thought.

Having a hyuma father and a byuma mother must have put Eda in a unique position to think such an item up.

“That might not be a bad idea,” agreed Tsukasa. “Let’s see here…”

After putting the wolf-ear headband on, he turned to Ringo.

“What do you think, Ringo?”

“!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Immediately, the girl was forced to put her hands over her mouth for fear of letting out a cry of joy. While she did succeed in containing her voice, she failed at restraining the glee that was plain on her expression.

Ringo made sure to soak in the sight, forgetting even to breathe.

Th-the perfect fusion of cool and cute, it’s…it’s too much to handle!

Somehow, Ringo needed to find a way to preserve this image of him. She wondered if perhaps there was a way to make Tsukasa forget what species he was so he’d leave the ears on for the rest of his life.

Maybe, if I build some sort of brainwashing device…

All it took was a few seconds for Ringo’s considerable intellect to arrive at some very alarming places.

“Hmm… Maybe not, then.” Tsukasa, having mistaken Ringo’s wordless elation for rejection, made to take the headband off. The moment he raised his hand toward his head, though, Ringo grabbed it to stop him. It was an impressive leaping catch—and a reasonably forceful one, at that.

Given Ringo’s personality, Tsukasa was surprised that she would do something so aggressive.

“I-it looks…really good! It looks good, so…don’t…take it off!”

“Are…are you sure?”

Nod, nod, nod, nod, nod, nod, nod!

As Ringo jerked her head up and down vigorously, she cast a reproachful gaze at him for even thinking about removing the headband.

Tsukasa turned to the shopkeeper’s daughter.

“Well then, miss, it looks like I’ll be taking this headband. Would you mind getting us one that matches Ringo’s hair, too?”

“Of course! Pleasure doin’ business!”

When the pair of Prodigies left the shop, both appeared to be byuma.

“Looks like we’re not drawing quite so much attention now. I can still sense a few people staring but not enough to concern ourselves over.”

“Y-yeah, you’re right.”

Having arranged for their Earth clothes to be sent back to their respective residences, Tsukasa and Ringo resumed their walk to the restaurant.

There were unmistakably fewer stares.

Apparently, byuma versus hyuma was a big part of how folks in this world distinguished between people, so nobody realized that the two of them were actually Tsukasa and Ringo.

In a sense, they’d achieved their goal. There was one type of look they were actually attracting more of, however.

“Wh-who’s that byuma hottie?!”

“Have we always had a noble like that around these parts?!”

“Go try hitting on him, honey.”

“N-no way! If I tried talking to someone that handsome, my heart’d stop!”

Local girls were severely lusting after Tsukasa.

Dressed as he was in his aristocrat’s outfit, Tsukasa was turning the head of every woman they passed by. Ringo wasn’t surprised, though.

Tsukasa was short and slender for a man. Doubtless, many would’ve believed him to be a somewhat masculine woman. Unlike Akatsuki, however, who people only saw as a girl, Tsukasa had an unmistakable androgynous charm to him. Between that, his snow-white hair, and his heterochromatic red and blue eyes, he carried a certain mystique.

He was less handsome and more beautiful.

When someone with looks like that wore an outfit that looked like it belonged on a fairy-tale prince, it was only natural that he garnered attention.

Am I…even worthy of walking by his side…?

The weight of the passionate gazes being directed Tsukasa’s way made Ringo start to feel self-aware.

No matter how you looked at it, her appearance was clearly just that of a forgettable village girl. Ringo began to wonder if it wasn’t the height of conceit for someone like her to not only go on a date with one so fair but to try and take his heart for her own.

As feelings of inadequacy began to pile on poor Ringo, her pace began to slow. Curiously, even after her speed had lagged several times over, her position at Tsukasa’s side never changed. Ringo immediately realized what was happening; Tsukasa was nonchalantly matching her pace.

The girl looked up, but Tsukasa pretended not to have noticed anything, merely asking, “What’s up?”

Such thoughtfulness and consideration sent a pang of warmth through Ringo’s heart.

Tsukasa’s so kind… That was something Ringo already knew full well, however. It was that gentleness that’d saved her and made her fall for him.

I can’t…give up. Ringo shut her eyes tight.

“Listen, ’kay? Like I said, love is like hunting.”

“Hunting…?”

“Yup. So you can’t just look at your prey from afar. Unless you make a move, you’re just bird-watching. If you wanna catch the bluebird of happiness for yourself, you can’t just stare up at the sky. You gotta take aim, pull the trigger, and tell yourself you’re gonna shoot it down!”

“I’m gonna shoot it down…?”

“Put your heart into it! ‘I’m gonna shoot it down!’”

“I-I’m gonna shoot it down!”

“Yeah!”

“Y-yeah!”

Thinking back on what Shinobu had taught her helped Ringo find her confidence again.

That’s right. Today, I’m the love-huntress.

Ringo had no intention of going home empty-handed. She’d come to hunt!

I have to be patient, though. I need to start by slowly closing the gap bit by bit.

Step one in that process was…

“Step one! While walkin’, casually hold his hand!”

“N-no way, I can’t…”

“Sure you can! I mean, this is the basic of the basics. If you can’t pull this off, the rest is gonna be impossible.”

“B-but…”

“If tellin’ him that you wanna hold hands is too hard, you can pretend to trip and grab on to his arm. If you do that, Tsukes’ll probably take your hand outta consideration. But no matter who initiates, you gotta make absolutely sure to interlock fingers with him. You wanna be holding hands like a pair of lovers, not like a dad and his kid. That way, you’re showin’ him how you feel.”

According to Shinobu’s kunoichi teachings, demonstrating affection was key. One couldn’t expect the other party to be psychic, after all.

“Isn’t that too blatant?”

“That’s the point—if you aren’t so proactive that it makes you a little uncomfortable, he won’t know that you see him as anything more than a friend.”

Apparently, getting the message “I like you romantically” across was crucial.

While that certainly made sense—

“Pant… Pant…”

—when Ringo tried to put that plan into action, she realized just how high of a hurdle it was.

It wasn’t enough just to hold hands with Tsukasa, but she also had to do so with her fingers interlocked with his, like lovers.

Wh-what should I do…? I mean, this is…this is really lewd!

Ringo herself had recently thought that holding hands was no big deal, but now that she was looking at Tsukasa’s hand and actually picturing it, it seemed so overwhelming.

His fingers, sliding against hers. All ten of them, together in a line!

When Ringo imagined the sensation, her blood pressure skyrocketed. Trying to go through with it made the girl feel like something in her brain was going to pop.

She couldn’t bring herself to take that first step. The most she could do was breathe heavily as she snatched glances at Tsukasa’s hand. That was precisely why it was so important that Ringo pressed on, however.

It’s like…Shinobu said…

If Ringo couldn’t manage this much, the rest was impossible. Shinobu had been right on the mark. Ringo wanted to be in a relationship with Tsukasa. To do that, she would eventually need to express her feelings clearly.

If she couldn’t even fake an accident and grab his hand, how was she ever going to be able to get anywhere? With a large inhale, Ringo put her plan into action.

“‘E-eeek…’” While her delivery was a bit monotone, Ringo leaned toward Tsukasa just like Shinobu had taught her and grabbed on to his arm with both hands.

“Careful there. Are you okay, Ringo?”

“I—I—I—I—I just d-d-d-d-didn’t want to bump into you…” Steam was practically billowing from the poor girl’s head, but she tried desperately to keep her cool.

“Oh, good thinking. The road is narrow, and there certainly are a lot of people coming and going.”

Much to Ringo’s dismay, Tsukasa didn’t offer her his hand, however.

“But now, that won’t be a problem.”

“…Huh?”

“We’re here.”

“…”

Ringo had been utterly transfixed on Tsukasa’s arm, but when she looked up, she saw the lunchtime crowd bustling inside an old wooden building.

The sign on its door, written in the local language—Altan—read PINOT NOIR.

This was the restaurant Ringo had learned about from Shinobu and had suggested to Tsukasa.

“This is the place, right? The restaurant you said you wanted to go to?” asked Tsukasa.

“Ah, uh, yes…it is,” Ringo replied.

“We should go in, then. Getting here took longer than planned, so I’m famished.”

With that, Tsukasa entered and announced they had a party of two. Ringo just stared at his back.

“Sniff…”

She felt like crying. After reminding herself that things weren’t over yet, she shook her head to clear her mind.

It’s okay… I tried my hardest…

At the very least, Ringo had given an effort instead of conceding without doing anything. She’d fought through her bashfulness and taken action. Even though she ended up losing to the clock, what was important was that she’d tried.

In that moment, Ringo graduated from being the girl gazing at her loved one from afar. Now she was a full-fledged love-huntress. That meant she was just getting started. It was time to get serious.

With little clenched fists, Ringo followed Tsukasa into the restaurant.

“Step two! Set up a little incident to close the distance between your hearts!”

“Set up…an incident?”

“Yeah! Just ’cause you’re on a date doesn’t mean exciting stuff’s gonna happen on its own. If you aren’t proactive, you might just end up eating and hanging out. Kind of a waste, don’cha think? To prevent that, you wanna set something up on purpose.”

“L-like what?”

“Good question! For first dates, I like to set up something big and flashy so I can strut my stuff and really sweep the guy off his feet, but that’s probably not how you’re gonna wanna play it. Something cutesy’d fit you better… All right, I’ve got it. During lunch, you’re gonna snatch an indirect kiss!”

“A-a-an indirect kiss…”

“Yup. First, you wanna pick out the restaurant the day before. I’d go with Pinot Noir in the Industrial District. The food’s great, but more importantly, all the tables get filled up with workers from the glass workshop nearby, so it forces you to sit at the counter. That bit’s key. Listen close, Ringo—even if there is a table open, you hafta get a seat at the counter anyway. Then you sit down on Tsukes’s dominant side, to his right.”

“But…why?”

“If you sit across from him, it’ll be harder to pretend you took his cup on accident. It’d be weird to grab it from all the way across the table, right? But at a counter, it’s easy to make it look natural. And you’re ambidextrous, so even better. Then, after you get the indirect kiss, make sure he finds out. Once he does, Tsukes’ll say somethin’ like, ‘Oh, I’m sorry. I must have put it down too close to you. Here, let me get you a fresh cup.’ That’s where you smile and go, ‘I don’t mind…since it’s yours.’ Lemme tell you, guys go crazy for stuff like that!”

Just as planned, the two of them were seated at Pinot Noir’s counter. Sitting on Tsukasa’s right, Ringo recalled more of the advice she’d received from Shinobu.

Shinobu is amazing… Ringo never would’ve come up with the idea to intentionally plan something like that—not in a million years. Ringo was grateful she’d gone to her friend for guidance.

“Here are your orders!” A cat-eared waitress arrived with their food.

Tsukasa’s meal consisted of cheese, bread, and stew. Ringo, however, had paired her bread with three sausages and a fried egg. She was generally a light eater, so having meat for lunch was a bit out of character for her.

It’s fine. Today, I’m a huntress. A predator!

Perhaps it was sort of her version of a good-luck charm.

Then, at long last, their drinks arrived. Ringo had made sure to order the same thing as Tsukasa, of course. Even if they’d been switched, one would’ve never been able to know by the contents. Both had been poured in copper cups of identical make, too. Just like Shinobu had said, Ringo wouldn’t be running into any problems in that regard.

Ringo lifted her cup to her mouth, hid her expression behind it, and waited for her chance while surrounded by her drink’s wheat-like aroma. Like a lioness lurking in the coppery thicket for an opportunity to attack her prey, Ringo waited.

At last, Tsukasa lifted his cup, drank down about a third of his ale, and put it back on the counter.

There. The hunt is on…!

Without a moment’s delay, Ringo leaped into action. Placing her own drink down, she prepared to “accidentally” snatch her prey’s cup.

W-wait, hold up…!

At the last moment, Ringo realized she’d made an unfortunate mistake.

If she put down her cup and immediately picked Tsukasa’s up, there was no way it’d pass as a mistake. The fact that a late bloomer like Ringo was on the offensive was commendable, but even she knew the importance of not playing things too hastily.

Ringo took a moment to compose herself, then took a bite of her sausage. After chewing for an appropriate amount of time, she reached once more for Tsukasa’s cup.

That’s when it happened.

A cup was lifted into the air, but it wasn’t Tsukasa’s. It was Ringo’s, the one she’d just put down. What’s more, the hand that was lifting it belonged to Tsukasa.

What…? Ringo wouldn’t have believed it had she not seen it with her own two eyes.

Tsukasa’s lips made contact with the bit still wet with Ringo’s own saliva.

“Glug, glug…”

Then he ran his upper lip over his lower lip and licked her saliva clean off it. That one moment felt like it lasted an eternity.

Ringo had been prepared to experience an indirect kiss herself, but receiving one was an entirely different matter. She’d never considered such a possibility.

Her spit had touched his lips, and he’d licked it up.

The shock sent anxious thoughts shooting through Ringo’s brain one after another, like a computer bombarded with malignant pop-up ads.

It didn’t taste weird, did it? It didn’t smell funny? What did I have to eat yesterday?

“Mmm, delicious. This restaurant you suggested is nice. I’ll have to…hmm? What’s wrong? Is there something on my face?”

“Ah-hwah… Fwah.”

Ringo fainted and collapsed.

“Wh—R-Ringo?! Are you okay?!”

“Bweh…”

“Your face is red, and you’re burning up! You really are ill, then? Ringo, can you hear me?! Ringooooo?!”

“O Juleo, Juleo! Wherefore are you Juleo?”

“That voice, like a goddess’s harp! Could it be Romiet?”

“Juleo, discard your family name! And for that name, which is no part of you, take all myself!”

“I take you at your word! I take all of you! And in turn, I offer you all of me! I stand before you as nothing but your Juleo!”

H-how shameful…

She hadn’t just made trouble for Tsukasa but everyone in the restaurant.

Mortified, Ringo wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear. Dragging her heels forever wouldn’t do, however. There was still one hope that rallied her flagging spirit. The plan had already moved onto its next phase.

“Then, step three, the clincher! Appreciation of the performing arts!”

“P-performing arts?”

“Yeah! Dormundt’s where all the nobles in Findolph gather, so it’s got all sorts of places for leisure activities. Notably, a theater. A bunch of the nobles use it as a date spot, so most of what they put on are love stories. The building has a big hall, and when plays are going on, they shut all the windows and only use stage lighting. It makes it almost feel like a movie theater.”

“Isn’t that…kind of cliché, for a date?”

“Hey, they call it tried-and-true for a reason. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Once you’re there, you only have one mission—gently hold his hand and look into his eyes.”

“Without…talking?”

“Of course. C’mon, Ringo, talkin’ during a play is bad manners. If you look at it another way, though, theaters are nice because they let you get away with not talking. You don’t hafta worry about thinkin’ of anything fancy to say.

“When the characters’ romance starts getting heated, you just lay your hand atop your guy’s and look into his eyes. Then, focus every ‘I love you!’ you can—‘Je t’aime!’ ‘W  ài n !’—into your gaze and shoot ’im down!”

Gaze at him with every “I love you” you can.

This time, Ringo didn’t have to entwine fingers like lovers, nor did any of their mucous membranes need to touch. All she had to do was put her hand on Tsukasa’s and look at him. Even she could do that.

While Ringo had no confidence in her looks or her figure, the one thing she was certain of was her love for Tsukasa.

I can do it, she told herself as she waited for the performance’s climax. Shinobu had coached her on the plot ahead of time. Apparently, the two lead characters were supposed to share a kiss near the end of the play. It was in that moment that Ringo would tell Tsukasa how she felt. Not with words, of course, but with her eyes.

At last, she’d lay plain her feelings for him. She’d finally convey all the things she’d kept hidden ever since that one evening in middle school when she’d spotted him in the shopping district.

All the love would pour from her heart.

That had been the plan, at least.

“It felt almost like I’d seen that before somewhere, but it was all so dramatic and fantastical that I found myself enjoying it anyway.”

Ringo nodded in agreement, tears of emotion streaming down her cheeks as she gave the performers a round of applause. Her clapping had a dejected sort of energy to it, however.

The play had been compelling, it really had. Unfortunately, that had been the problem.

…I got so into it, I couldn’t tear my eyes from the stage…

At that moment, Ringo realized something—she was the same way with her research. Whenever she got focused on work, everything else melted away. Perhaps her romantic theater visit plan had been a dud from the get-go.

After the performance, Tsukasa and Ringo made their way to a park. As thanks for suggesting the nice lunch spot, Tsukasa had offered to treat Ringo to black tea and dried apples from the park’s concession stand. When the pair arrived, he had her save seats on a bench while he went and got the food. Ringo watched Tsukasa go, then heaved a heavy sigh.

“Haaah…”

She’d botched each and every one of the tricks Shinobu had taught her. Today, the lioness was going home hungry. In fact, she probably wasn’t even a lion; Ringo now thought of herself as closer to a tawny little house cat.

Sitting there alone, Ringo compared herself to the heroine from the play.

Romiet was incredible.

First, she’d murdered to avenge her friend. Then, when her beloved Juleo was run out of town, she got some poison from a servant and used it to kill every last member of her and Juleo’s feuding families, as they’d been the ones who had prevented the two lovers from getting married.

Now there was a strong woman. Maybe too strong, actually, but even that was better than being weak. Better forceful than meek when it came to getting what the heart wanted. In the end, it seemed that women really had to be proactive, too, like Romiet.

Ringo lamented her helplessness.

“…”

Now that all her plans had failed, the tension fueling her was draining away, and a wave of fatigue washed over the girl.

She’d spent all last night running through mental simulations in preparation for the date, so she’d barely gotten any sleep. Giving in to the drowsiness, Ringo drifted off into dreamland.

It was a light sleep and an old dream.

A dream of childhood.

I, Ringo Oohoshi, am not a normal human. Not in terms of talent but in terms of the process by which I was created.

My mother, Dr. Juri Oohoshi, created me by combining a gene-edited sperm and ovum. Although she was the one who carried me to term, my genetic makeup didn’t correspond to that of any particular human.

In other words, I was a manufactured genius.

As a product of my mother’s research results, my intelligence began showing itself at a very young age. I understood arithmetic before I could walk. I mastered three languages before I was weened.

By age seven, I already held several patents for my inventions, including the “All-Purpose Gloves” said to have doubled the world’s productivity.

I quickly became obsessed with inventing. While it was undoubtedly fun in and of itself, my primary motivator was how happy it made my mother. Bringing her joy thrilled me in return. We might not have been connected by blood, but our hearts were linked all the same. Believing that, I worked hard to please her.

At some point, though…she stopped lavishing praise on me. After thinking about why, I came to the conclusion that my efforts must have been lacking in some way. So I started working harder than ever.

I studied, researched, and created new technologies and machines. Eventually, I created “Ultra-Performance Solar Panels” that were a thousand times more efficient than the conventional type. I concocted “Liquid Metal” that could alter its molecular structure in response to electrical signals and freely change its shape. I developed the “RM Method,” a way to solidify radioactive matter and prevent it from generating radioactive waste. I devised a way to digitize a person’s memories and personality completely, and all of those were just the tip of the iceberg when it came to my accomplishments.

Around the time I’d turned twelve, everyone was telling me I’d advanced human civilization by five centuries.

But…the only person I actually wanted praise from, my mother, didn’t say so much as a single kind word.

I was at a loss.

Utterly flummoxed, I eventually went and asked her. Was there anything she wanted me to do? Perhaps she wanted something from me? No matter the request, I was ready to make it a reality.

That’s when it happened.

For the first time in my life…my mother hit me. I can still remember exactly what she said afterward, and her cold voice still rings in my ears at times.

“You’ll do anything, huh? Yeah, I bet you will. Everything’s so easy for you, isn’t it? We humans must look like knuckle-dragging idiots to you, right? Must be nice, looking down on us. You’re not even human, you fake…you monster!”

…I don’t like to think about the year that followed.

Day after day, my mother would say and do horrible things to me. She started with punching and kicking, but with each day, the violence escalated. I didn’t understand why she was doing it.

All I understood was that if she was angry, it must’ve somehow been my fault. Clearly, I had made some kind of mistake.

So I endured.

Once the long, long punishment was over, I was certain she’d go back to the kind mother I’d once known. That was the sole hope I clung to. Things didn’t play out that way, however.

What ended up saving me wasn’t the return of my mother’s kindness—it was Japanese civil services. After I suddenly stopped appearing in public, members of an academic association got concerned about my mother’s behavior and reported her to the appropriate authorities. When the police saw the abuse she’d been inflicting on me, they immediately apprehended her.

“You should never have been born.”

Those were the final words my mother, Juri Oohoshi, ever said to me.

Upon hearing that, I finally understood what the problem was. My mother…was jealous of me—and afraid. She was afraid that her daughter, who’d exceeded her wildest expectations time and time again, would render her existence worthless.

Worse still, her fears were legitimate.

By that point, there wasn’t a single thing that Juri Oohoshi could do that Ringo Oohoshi couldn’t. Once I realized that…I fell into a deep depression. Nothing interested me anymore.

The seasons shifted, and I entered middle school, but nothing changed. I was drifting aimlessly through life like a jellyfish.

The woman who’d created me had rejected my very existence.

Who was I? For what purpose was I even alive?

I didn’t know. Without an answer, even the act of thinking started to annoy me.

One day, as I sat in my classroom and stared blankly at the sky, a thought crossed my mind like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

I wondered if I was better off being dead.

That was when—

“Forgive me, but you’re Ringo Oohoshi, the genius inventor, right?”

—Tsukasa Mikogami appeared.

Back then he was just some boy in my class who’d randomly started talking to me during break time. I had always been shy, and the incident with my mother had only served to worsen that tendency. I thought it best to simply ignore him.

Undaunted, Tsukasa pressed on anyway and placed something on top of my desk.

“Actually, I have an important favor I wanted to ask of you.”

It was a silver pocket watch. Tsukasa motioned to it as he spoke.

“It seems to be broken. Even when I wind it up, the hands don’t turn.”

“………”

So what? I thought.

“I’d like you to repair it.”

“………?!”

Honestly, I glowered at him. Who did this guy think he was, coming up and demanding things of me?

“Should be a simple task for an inventor of your caliber, right?”

That much was true. It probably wouldn’t have even taken ten minutes. I could’ve had it done before the next class started.

What I wanted to know was, why did I have to?

“Please. It was a birthday gift from my father, and it means a lot to me.”

“………………”

Awkward as I was, I couldn’t bring myself to voice my objections. Overwhelmed, I gave up and agreed to fix the watch. I assumed that the sooner I got it done, the sooner I’d be rid of him.

Bringing the little thing home, I went into my workshop for the first time in a year and made the necessary repairs. The watch wasn’t in the best shape, so it took a little longer than I’d expected, but in the end, I successfully got it working again.

The next day, I returned it to him.

“Thanks, you’re a lifesaver.”

No sooner had he thanked me than—

“And a beautiful job done, at that. You really seem to have a knack for this stuff. Given your skill, I think you’d be able to fix this MP3 player, too.”

“…?!”

—he made another outrageous request.

“I’m counting on you.”

In the end, I caved to the pressure and accepted. It didn’t stop after that second repair job, either. Whenever I finished one of his requests, he’d just make another one ad infinitum.

I was taken aback and had to wonder if this Tsukasa had no shame. My social anxieties kept me from refusing, however. Reluctantly, I fulfilled every one of his demands.

Sometimes, I didn’t have the tools or parts necessary, and other times, I didn’t know how to fix whatever it was and had to learn from scratch. For example, there was one time Tsukasa brought a speaker for me to restore.

It was set up in such a way that the speaker’s material and the construction of its frame allowed for fine control of the audio output. Fixing the inner components alone wasn’t enough to rebuild it.

I used one of my old connections to get in touch with the manufacturer, but that was only the first step. Even once they sent me the frequency response data, many of the speaker’s parts were out of production, so I had to re-create them myself.

It was a lot of work, but I was so engrossed in it that I started having fun. Each new thing I learned only piqued my curiosity more. My mind teemed with countless blueprints.

I’d sworn not to invent anymore. My mother was gone, and she was never going to praise me again, so I’d assumed there was no point.

That hadn’t been true, however.

For the first time in my life, I realized that I liked inventing things. Upon that discovery, it was like the floodgates had opened. There were so many things I wanted to make, so many things I wanted to try. Wasting my time on someone else’s problems wasn’t how I wanted to spend my life.

So I summoned up all my courage and turned down the boy’s incessant stream of requests.

It was probably the first time in my life I had ever told someone “No.” In all honesty, I was terrified. I couldn’t help but wonder if he was going to get angry or even attack me.

To my surprise, however—

“I see. I’m glad to hear it.”

“…?”

—the expression of joy that crossed his face when I refused his request put the one he’d shown when I fixed his pocket watch to shame.

Why is he making that face? Why is he glad that I refused his demand?

At the time, I hadn’t understood.

That same evening, though…things changed. I was planning on holing up in my laboratory for the first time in ages, so I made a rare trip to the local shopping district to stock up on supplies. There, by happenstance, I spotted him.

He was carting a wagon full of junk around, returning it to the neighborhood’s residents, and apologizing. One of the items was the radio-cassette player he’d asked me to fix that day. I wasn’t always quick on the uptake, but even I could tell what was going on.

All that time, I’d thought he was being selfish. I’d known that Tsukasa was a politician’s son, and his actions had just served to enforce my prejudices.

That hadn’t been it at all. Tsukasa hadn’t been doing it for himself. He hadn’t even been doing it for them.

“I’m glad to hear it.”

Day in and day out, he’d been going around the town and collecting junk for me. He saw me fading away, and he wanted to stop me from vanishing. When I realized just how kind he was, a new sort of pain struck my heart.

It shot through me like a bolt of lightning and was stronger than anything I’d ever felt before.

In all likelihood, that was the moment when I, Ringo Oohoshi, fell in love with Tsukasa Mikogami.

“Huuhn…”

Rousing gently from her nostalgic dream, Ringo returned to the waking world. The time had come for her nap to end. She did as her body instructed and opened her eyelids.

“You awake?”

“Tsu…kasa…?”

When she looked up, the first thing she saw was Tsukasa’s mismatched eyes.

As her consciousness gradually returned, Ringo noticed two things.

The first was that she was lying down on the bench with Tsukasa’s blue overcoat draped over her as a makeshift blanket. The second was that her head was resting on Tsukasa’s lap.

“—?!”

The moment it occurred to Ringo what was going on, she shot straight up.

“Wh-wh-why’m I on your l-lap…?!” She was flummoxed, and her face was downright scarlet.

“Hmm? Oh, that. When I came back with the tea, you were lying down on the bench. Thanks to Rage Soleil, it’s warm enough that I didn’t have to worry about you catching a cold, and you were resting so peacefully that I didn’t want to wake you.”

“Huh…?”

Upon hearing that, Ringo finally turned her attention to things besides Tsukasa. That’s when she noticed that the sky was cast in a vermillion shade. Taking in that sight, the girl immediately understood what had happened. When she’d dozed off while waiting for Tsukasa, she had actually fallen asleep for several hours.

Now understanding that—

“…Heh, ah-ha-ha.”

—Ringo let out a little giggle.

Not only had none of the tricks Shinobu taught her worked, but Ringo had also fallen asleep in the middle of the date. Faced with such a comedy of errors, what other option was there but to laugh?

That’s not to suggest that Ringo felt defeated, however.

It’s all right, though.

She did have a pleasant enough dream. Perhaps it’d even come about because she’d been sleeping while surrounded by Tsukasa’s scent.

The nap had reminded her of the moment she first learned of love’s sweet pain and its sweet bliss.

Neither before nor after that moment had Ringo ever felt such a powerful pang of emotion. That’s why one poor date was nothing to get worked up about. There was always next time.

Tsukasa had been the one to suggest this first date, but all Ringo had to do was take the initiative in the future and ask for another herself.

Not only had Ringo been fortunate enough to meet someone she loved deeply, but right now, he was sitting at her side.

“Hey, um?”

“What’s up?”

“Can…we take a…selfie?”

“Dressed like this?”

Ringo nodded emphatically.

“…Sure. Do you want to do the honors?”

“Okay!”

Ringo leaned in close to Tsukasa with a beaming bob of her head and used her smartphone’s front-facing camera to snap a shot of them in their lavish outfits. It was sure to become a picture to remember the day.

“Hee-hee… I’ll cherish this.”

“Would you mind sending it to my phone later?”

“Of course.”

Standing up from the bench, Ringo expressed her gratitude to Tsukasa again.

“Thank you…for inviting me today. I had…a lot of fun.”

“Yeah, so did I… This was a very productive day off,” Tsukasa replied. “It was my first time viewing the city through the eyes of its residents.”

As Tsukasa spoke, he looked off into the distance. When Ringo followed his gaze, she saw the High-End Residential District, which was in the midst of being repaired.

Even while Tsukasa and the others had been fighting the subjugating army, the reconstruction efforts had been chugging along. The city’s people were rebuilding with nothing but their own strength—and to considerable effect, to boot.

They were sweating side by side, helping each other out with no regard to status. Everyone simply considered one another neighbors.

“…This is a fine city,” Tsukasa murmured. “The seeds of democracy are finally sprouting in this world. And that’s why we need to protect it.” The white-haired boy’s tone grew firmer with each word.

Picking up on that, Ringo turned her gaze from the High-End Residential District back toward him. Tsukasa was looking right at her, and his eyes burned with resolve.

“To that end, Ringo…there’s something I need you to do. It’s necessary to protect those seeds, and you’re the only one who can do it.”

…Hmm? Something seemed off about Tsukasa, however.

From his expression and his tone, Ringo could sense that there was something weighing on him. The girl had yet to realize what it was, though. Perhaps dismissing the uncertain feeling as her own imagination, Ringo nodded.

“Please tell me.”

That night, when Ringo returned to her lab, Bearabbit came over to greet her.

“Welcub back, Ringo! How’d the date go?”

“It was good. I had a really good time.”

As she spoke, she showed Bearabbit the picture of her and Tsukasa.

“Wow, you two are unbearably cute!”

“Thanks. I’ll send it to you later… By the way, Bearabbit…”

“Hmm?”

“How far are we on the geological survey of the three domains?”

“About halfway through, but we already found a big gold vein in Buchwald. I told Tsukasa so he’s well abear,” replied the AI, though not entirely sure what had prompted the inquiry.

“Got it,” Ringo answered as she took off her outfit. “I’m going to go take a shower and go to sleep, but if you could have that data up on the server by tomorrow, that’d be great.”

“Ringo…?”

As Ringo laid out her uncharacteristically snappy instructions, Bearabbit sensed something was up and glanced at his creator’s face.

That’s when he saw it.

“Tomorrow, we’re starting our biggest job yet, so be ready.”

Ringo’s expression was grim and brimming with cold determination.