Chapter 170: Cat and Dog Exhibition!
The weather did not develop into the worst-case scenario Luke had imagined: endless torrential rain leading directly to the apocalypse.
A tiny command tablet clearly was not powerful enough for that.
After one full day of violent wind and rain, the weather returned to its previous unbearable summer heat.
Heat shimmered above the pavement so strongly that it felt as though you could drop bacon and an egg onto the ground and cook breakfast without needing a stove.
Even so, that was not enough to stop most people from going out and having fun.
"So many people. And it's so hot."
Luke adjusted the [Inconspicuous Glasses] on the bridge of his nose and helplessly scanned the Tokyo Cat and Dog Exhibition venue.
As promised, he had come with his two maids. The venue was already crowded, and plenty of visitors had even brought their own pets along.
As for Miura Yumiko…
Naturally, her mother had grounded her.
The atmosphere was lively enough that Luke kept hold of both girls' hands so nobody got separated in the crowd.
Incidentally, despite being called the Tokyo Cat and Dog Exhibition, the venue was actually in Chiba.
Rather like Disneyland.
"If you're hot, then stop wearing so many clothes."
Annie pulled a bottle of ice water from her shoulder bag and pressed it against Luke's cheek.
Even after nearly half an hour on the bus, the bottle still retained a faint chill, and the cold against his skin felt wonderful.
Luke accepted the bottle and pressed it to his other cheek.
Annie wore a short-sleeved T-shirt, cargo shorts, and open-toed sandals. Her long blonde hair had been tied into a bun, leaving the back of her neck exposed.
She certainly looked much cooler than he did.
"I need places to carry my equipment. If I don't wear long sleeves and pants, I've got nowhere to put everything."
Luke tugged at his clothes.
"If something dangerous happens and I don't have a weapon, that would be a real problem."
As a modern liberal exorcist, it was perfectly reasonable for him to keep a few talismans and other exorcism tools hidden beneath his clothes.
Just like—A knight does not die with empty hands.
Annie merely sighed after hearing his explanation.
"You're the dangerous one."
She turned toward Mikasa.
"Megumi said she was coming too, right?"
"Mm. But she said she'll be a little late."
"Oh. Then let's go inside and wait. It's too hot out here."
Annie glanced at Luke's long sleeves and pants.
Luke, however, looked puzzled.
"Wait. You invited that friend of yours?"
He vaguely remembered their friend being called Something-Something Megumi.
"No."
Annie's expression and tone remained as calm as ever.
"She invited us beforehand, so we accepted. We were coming to the exhibition anyway, and it would've been awkward to refuse for no reason."
"I'm impressed you actually considered someone else's feelings."
Luke looked at Annie with the satisfaction of an old father watching his daughter finally become sensible.
"What exactly do you think I am?"
Annie looked away in exasperation.
"I'm just too lazy to deal with socializing. It's not like I don't know how."
That was probably how most loners thought.
'I don't lack the ability to make friends. I simply don't feel like doing it.'
Come to think of it, Luke felt as though he had once said something similar to Hiratsuka Shizuka.
'Huh?'
'Why did I suddenly think of that adult?'
Well, nothing could be done about that.
Luke clasped his hands together and closed his eyes.
'May Hiratsuka-sensei have to work overtime today.'
Because of his recent absence, Hiratsuka-sensei had given him plenty of special "attention" during the school days following the storm.
His fingers had nearly developed calluses.
Seriously…
Luke was pretty sure he had done less homework throughout the entire semester than he had during the last few days alone.
After finishing his wish, Luke looked toward Annie.
"But if Megumi joins us, we won't get to enjoy our three-person time together."
"If we wanted some lovey-dovey private date, we wouldn't have chosen a place like this."
Annie replied matter-of-factly.
"Even if you hate socializing, there's no way you can come somewhere like this without eventually running into someone you know."
"That makes sense."
She had a point.
High school students seemed to possess endless energy. The moment a holiday arrived, plenty of them became incapable of staying home and started wandering around everywhere.
If someone had even a moderately active social life, they were bound to run into acquaintances at entertainment venues like this.
Yui had previously invited Luke and Yukino to come here together.
Luke had declined because he wanted to spend the day alone with Mikasa and Annie.
Remembering that, Luke abandoned his earlier thought of taking off the glasses and left the [Inconspicuous Glasses] firmly on his face.
After rejecting someone's invitation, suddenly meeting them at the exact same place would be inexplicably awkward.
'Please don't let that happen.'
"Let's go inside."
The interior of the exhibition hall was immediately much cooler than outside.
Although the Cat and Dog Exhibition was a free-entry sales and showcase event centered around cats and dogs, the first animals they encountered were neither cats nor dogs.
They were birds.
"Pen… guins?"
A group of black-and-white penguins waddled forward in front of them.
Children crowded around the enclosure, shouting and bouncing excitedly while tugging at their parents and demanding to buy one.
"They're not for sale, right…?"
"Of course they're not for sale."
Annie immediately walked toward the penguin exhibit.
Despite her usually cold demeanor, she had almost no resistance to cute little animals.
Luke followed the girls closer and watched the penguins.
Apparently trying to maximize the cuteness factor, the staff had even strapped a tiny backpack onto one of them.
It waddled onto a slide and slipped all the way down.
After wobbling back upright, it raised a flipper toward Luke as though asking—
'Want to recharge some Q Coins?'
Luke waved dismissively.
"No."
The tiny penguin turned its long beak away and waddled off.
They watched for a while longer, during which Annie took quite a few photos.
"All right. Let's go."
Meanwhile, the ever-reliable Mikasa had already obtained a map of the exhibition hall.
"This is the bird area."
"The small-animal section is ahead. They have hamsters, rabbits, ferrets, and other animals you can interact with directly."
"After that are the dog area and cat area."
Luke looked at both girls.
"So? Want to go straight to the cats and dogs, or follow the exhibition in order?"
From what Luke remembered, Annie liked nearly every kind of cute animal, but cats held a particularly special place in her heart.
Whenever Luke summoned Mimi at home to build affection with her, Annie would quietly raid her private stash for catnip, treats, and cat sticks before luring Mimi away.
"Either is fine."
Annie put her phone back into her bag.
The enthusiasm that had filled her eyes while photographing the penguins had already vanished, replaced once again by her usual heavy, indifferent dead-fish gaze.
"Oh, right."
She suddenly paused.
"We still need to wait here for Megumi."
Luke stared at her.
'…Wait.'
'Did you seriously just forget your own friend?'
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