--Saturday, August 15, 2172
"How did it go today?"
As he stepped out of the consultation room, Kai was greeted by Momo's question, while the other girls watched him intently, not wanting to miss a single detail of his expression. Visibly relaxed, Kai replied as he began walking toward the exit.
"Pretty well."
"…"
Hearing Kai, Momo turned to look at Nejire—the only other one present—with a helpless expression, only to find the exact same expression on her face. Letting out a sigh, Momo approached Kai and latched onto one of his arms, then commented in a soft voice.
"You know we're asking you to do this for your own good, right, Kai?"
"I know, and don't worry, it really did go well." Kai commented with a smile as he glanced between Momo and Nejire—who came over to take his free arm—before adding in a casual voice.
"Let's get some ice cream before heading back, and we can pick some up for the others while we're at it."
"I want mint today." Nejire commented with a small pout while clinging intimately to Kai, to which Momo nodded before saying.
"I'll go with chocolate today, but let's not take too long; they're waiting for us at home."
"It'll just be a quick ice cream, and we'll bring 'offerings.' We'll be fine." Kai commented with an amused smile, at which point Nejire looked at him and asked with an innocent smile on her beautiful face.
"What flavor do you think Mirko would like?"
Hearing Nejire, Momo couldn't help but frown slightly, visibly displeased by the fact that the rabbit hero had stayed to sleep at the mansion at Ryuko and Tomoko's insistence. Kai looked at Nejire, who replied in a casual voice without giving it too much importance.
"Who knows? I've never asked her. But most likely, by the time we get back, she won't be at home anymore."
"Is there a carrot flavor? Rabbits love them!" Nejire, struck by a bolt of pure inspiration, looked at Kai and commented with bright eyes. Kai reflected for a few moments before nodding and commenting with a smile.
"That's a great idea; we can buy one, and if she's not at home anymore, we can try it ourselves."
"Hehe, whenever you don't know what to do, ask me, Kai-chan. I have incredible ideas." Nejire commented in a lofty, cheerful voice as she comically raised her chin. Kai nodded with a smile and remarked.
"You really are the MVP; I was thinking of getting a strawberry one just in case."
Meanwhile, Momo watched the lovebirds with an amused and warm smile, though internally she felt a little bitter. Secretly, Momo couldn't help but wish that her Kai were less handsome or outstanding, so they wouldn't have to deal with "Mirkos" or problems like the one she'd had with Mina.
After all, although Kai was very intelligent, when it came to certain things, he was even more clueless than Nejire, so if he weren't so handsome, there wouldn't be so many women throwing themselves at him. Nejire and the others were her family, so she didn't mind sharing, but her stomach churned at the mere thought of seeing her Kai with a "stranger."
"Kai-chan is also very strong, and that's very attractive."
While Momo was reflecting in silence, Nejire's innocent and cheerful voice suddenly resonated near her, snapping her back to reality. Confused, Momo looked at Nejire, who was just a few centimeters away with a beautiful, innocent smile on her face. After a few moments, Momo smiled with a hint of bitterness and nodded before speaking.
"You're right… It's not that easy."
"What are you two talking about?" Kai asked, a bit confused, to which Nejire replied with a cheerful smile as she intertwined her fingers with his.
"Nothing, I just had the feeling that Momo thought if you were ugly, girls wouldn't look at you, so I corrected her."
"You had the 'feeling'…?" At such an answer, Kai couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and ask, while even the cats perked up their ears to pay attention. Nejire nodded with a cheerful smile.
"Mn."
"And was she right…?" Kai turned to look at Momo and asked a bit more seriously, to which Momo nodded before explaining with an adorable pout.
"Yes, you attract the attention of so many girls that I always end up thinking about it…"
"…"
Hearing the response, Kai couldn't help but fall silent, at which point the cats stretched out their heads to look at him with amazement written across their feline faces. Noticing Kai's expression, Momo seemed to understand something and soon explained with subtle confusion shining on her beautiful face.
"Does that seem so strange to you? Nejire has always been very perceptive. Don't tell me you hadn't noticed."
"Yes, but she's never 'read my mind' like that…" Kai replied with a subtle grimace, which made Momo laugh a little, at which point Nejire commented cheerfully as she stretched out her free hand toward Momo.
"It's because we're girls and lifelong best friends. At this point we're like twins. We know what the other is thinking!"
"That's right."
Momo replied with a giggle as she stretched out her hand to tap her fingers against Nejire's in a sort of greeting. Kai looked at the pair of smiling beauties for a few moments, then commented in a restrained voice.
"I see… That makes sense."
[I don't think that makes much sense, master.] At that instant, Sage's voice—watching Momo and Nejire curiously from her spot atop her master's head—resonated in Kai's mind.
[Of course it doesn't make sense. Take note of that, Sage; I've also been feeling unusually 'perceptive' for a while now.] Kai soon replied in a serious tone to the beautiful invisible fairy above his head through their mental connection, though externally he was just laughing along with the girls.
[Understood, master. I'll follow up on it.] Sage soon replied with a smile as her wings shimmered in different colors. But just at that moment, Kai frowned and looked into the distance while commenting in a low voice.
"What a small world…"
…
…
…
In what appeared to be a restaurant inside a tall building, Mina, Jiro, and Toru were eating huge cups of ice cream seated at a counter in front of an enormous window that looked out over the city below. At that moment, Mina couldn't help but take a bite of her strawberry ice cream and comment with an indignant pout as she pointed at the girls with her spoon.
"I'm telling you, we have to do something about Yao Momo! How is it possible that she prefers Saito over us!? Friends are more important than men!"
"Stop trying to poke the lion; you're going to end up losing an arm." Kyoka Jiro commented in a slightly sarcastic voice before bringing a spoonful of ice cream to her mouth. Toru added in a slightly worried voice.
"Yeah, Mina-chan… Saito-san is really scary when he gets angry…"
"Hmph! You think I'm afraid of him? Any day now I can handle Saito however I want." Mina commented with an arrogant tone as she lifted her chin into the air, then added while wiggling her pinky finger.
"This finger is more than enough to deal with that Demon King; he doesn't scare me at all."
"Oh, there's Saito." At that moment, Kyoka commented in a slightly surprised voice. Mina laughed arrogantly before looking at Kyoka over her shoulder and commenting with playful condescension.
"Do you think I'd fall for such an old trick?"
"He's really there, Mina-chan… He's with Yao Momo and Nejire-senpai." Toru commented in an angelic voice as she pointed out the window with her long ice cream spoon.
Toru's confirmation caused Mina's expression to freeze for a few moments, then she turned her head like an old robot to look in the direction the invisible girl was pointing. On the street, quite far away, Mina could almost immediately see the eye-catching group: a tall young man with a model's physique and black hair flanked by two world-class beauties, walking together.
"… He really is there."
"I told you."
Kyoka commented in a slightly playful tone as she watched Mina try to hide behind her ice cream cup. From a corner of her ice cream cup, Mina asked, visibly worried.
"Do you think they saw us?"
"Yao Momo and Nejire-senpai, I don't think so, but who knows if Saito-san already knows we're here." Toru commented in a calm voice as she watched the trio in the distance. Mina ducked down a little more, visibly worried, before commenting in a low voice.
"I hope he didn't hear me…"
"There goes all your courage."
Kyoka commented in a playful tone as she watched the trio from afar, but just then, her brow furrowed slightly. Noticing Jiro's slight change in expression, Mina quickly stuck her head out to look through the window with curiosity, but upon finding nothing strange, she couldn't help but ask in confusion.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing…"
Kyoka replied evasively, which led Mina to narrow her eyes and prepare for a tough interrogation. But just at that moment, Toru commented in a somewhat strange tone.
"They're really 'very' close."
Hearing Toru, Mina immediately focused her attention and was finally able to realize what was happening. While they were talking about something, Nejire was pressing very close against Kai, brushing her enormous breasts against him and even intertwining her fingers with his—something the jealous Momo would normally never allow.
"…Yeah… Way too close…" Mina commented with a furrowed brow and a hint of anger in her voice, at which point she added with a touch of grievance.
"Girls, do you think those three…?"
Mina didn't dare finish the question because just then, Kai suddenly turned to look at them, which made them jump in surprise. Finding themselves in Kai's sights, the group of girls could only wave their hands, visibly nervous and uncomfortable.
…
…
…
"Oh, it's Ashido-san and the girls."
Seeing Kai turn so suddenly, Momo turned to look in the same direction, and after a few moments, she was finally able to spot Mina's striking pink skin, which led her to comment with a smile. Nejire pulled Kai and Momo along as she ran toward where they were, while commenting with an enormous smile.
"Let's go say hi!"
"Haha, let's go." Kai commented, amused, while Momo laughed cheerfully and let herself be dragged along by the energetic Nejire.
…
Soon, the trio arrived at the place where Mina and the others were, who greeted them with somewhat forced smiles, and they all sat down at a nearby table. After placing their orders, Momo looked at her friends and spoke with a smile.
"What a coincidence, I didn't expect you all to come precisely here. We were at a 'meeting' a couple of blocks away."
"Haha, yeah, what a coincidence."
Mina commented with a somewhat loud laugh as her attention focused on Kai and Nejire. Imagining that the girls' strangeness was due to having been set aside in favor of accompanying Kai, Momo soon apologized in a calm and friendly voice.
"Sorry for not going out with you girls; Kai had something very important to do today, and I couldn't leave him alone. What do you say we go shopping tomorrow, the four of us?"
"Oh, Kyoka-chan said she'd teach me to play the guitar, so we can all go together to buy one tomorrow!" Toru commented in a cheerful, singsong voice. Momo smiled cheerfully and asked while a waiter set huge cups of ice cream on the table.
"Oh, when do you start learning?"
"We're going to take advantage of next week, since it's the last bit of time we have before going back to UA and to training."
Kyoka explained with a smile while watching out of the corner of her eye as Nejire. The blue-haired beauty offered Kai a taste of her ice cream from the same spoon she was eating and pressed her breasts against him involuntarily, but visibly comfortable and accustomed to it.
Meanwhile, Momo ate some of her ice cream before nodding approvingly. Then she took a little more and gave it to Kai in almost the same way as Nejire, though without pressing as close, revealing the trust of a couple of years.
"That sounds like a great plan. I play a little piano and violin; maybe we could make a small band."
After giving Kai a taste of her ice cream, Momo commented with a smile, while Kai gave Nejire a taste of his ice cream with visible naturalness. Kyoka smiled cheerfully and replied.
"Honestly, I've always wanted to have a band, so I love the idea."
"Then it's decided, tomorrow we'll buy a guitar and an electric piano so we can practice together. Won't you join us, Ashido-san?" Momo spoke with a smile before opening her mouth to take the ice cream Kai was offering her on his spoon.
With a visibly furrowed brow, Mina kept her gaze on the intimate and natural interactions between Kai, Momo, and Nejire, while feeling the anger inside her rise higher and higher. Seeing that Nejire was just as—or even more—intimate with Kai than Momo filled her with a strange feeling of injustice that churned her stomach with a bitterness she had never felt before.
But upon being called by Momo, Mina finally came back to reality, and after taking a few deep breaths, she set all those thoughts aside and soon responded with her typical cheerful and relaxed smile.
"Sounds great! I don't know how to play anything, but I can learn!"
But although her voice sounded cheerful, Mina's eyelid couldn't help but twitch violently for an instant. Out of the corner of her vision, she saw Nejire press her enormous breasts against Kai while trying to offer Momo a taste of her ice cream. Momo simply received it with a smile before commenting excitedly.
"Then it's decided! Tomorrow we're going to buy instruments!"
***
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