On a bustling street, Eichi, dressed in a black yukata with a white haori draped over it, stood quietly by the roadside, waiting.
A locally famous summer festival was being held on a nearby mountain today.
Eichi planned to go to the festival with Artoria.
For this, Eichi went all out the day before, directly clearing all the mission requests recently issued by Jujutsu Headquarters to Tokyo Jujutsu High.
For nearby tasks, he moved directly through shadows.
For distant ones, he directly summoned the Chimera Tiger Funeral.
The Chimera Tiger Funeral, a fusion of Tiger Funeral and Nue, possessed the power of wind and lightning and was extremely fast.
Tiger Funeral carried Eichi with sparks and lightning, resolving all exorcism requests within Tokyo in just one day.
This directly gave everyone at Tokyo Jujutsu High a week-long holiday.
Afterward, Eichi did not rest for a moment and immediately began researching routes while having Zen'in Shuji prepare clothes.
He was fully preparing for today's summer festival date.
As for why Eichi, who was usually more oblivious than a block of wood when it came to romance, suddenly wanted to date Artoria?
That requires shifting the perspective back to two days ago.
Two days ago, at Tokyo Jujutsu High.
After finishing a day's work, Eichi leisurely drank tea in Tokyo Jujutsu High's old mansion.
Enjoying a rare moment of rest.
Then he ran into Panda, who was equally relaxed.
Unlike Maki and Toge, who could be healed by Reverse Cursed Technique, Panda, a Cursed Corpse with the appearance of a panda, was not affected by the healing effects of Reverse Cursed Technique.
Therefore, a battered Panda could only slowly repair himself.
So during this time, Panda remained at Tokyo Jujutsu High.
Like a real panda, he spent his days acting cute and daydreaming.
And so, he ran into Eichi.
"Speaking of which, I heard you and Artoria are boyfriend and girlfriend, Eichi-sensei?"
Panda suddenly leaned close to Eichi's ear, his face flushed.
'The Jujutsu world is truly amazing. Even pandas can blush.'
"Yes."
Eichi nodded.
"Then why don't I ever see you two go out on dates?"
Panda asked curiously.
"Dates?"
"Exactly. If you don't date, how will anyone know you're boyfriend and girlfriend?"
"Isn't it enough if we know it ourselves?"
Eichi gave Panda a strange look.
"Then what do you two usually do?"
Panda sensed that something was off.
"Go to work, occasionally go on missions together."
..."Then how are you two any different from classmates?"
Panda retorted mercilessly.
"It seems... that's actually true."
Eichi's lips parted slightly, wanting to explain something, but in the end, he could not say anything.
Thinking about it carefully, his current way of interacting with Artoria seemed no different from when they were in school.
Did this really count as being boyfriend and girlfriend?
Eichi's smile gradually froze, eventually becoming incredibly stiff.
Eichi, who had never been in love in his previous life, and whose most frequent encounter with a female at work was the big dog Cuihua at his workplace.
Furthermore, when entertaining himself, he preferred works like "Fight, awesome!"
Eichi, who never watched any romance anime, had no concept of what a boyfriend and girlfriend were like or what they should do.
He had just thought it was enough for two people to be together.
But if he thought about it carefully, if being boyfriend and girlfriend just meant being able to stay together, then what was the difference from good brothers?
Yes, what exactly was the difference between good brothers and a girlfriend? Was it just about having children?
The doubts and confusion in his heart were like wildly growing vines, tightly entangling Eichi's thoughts and making him unable to break free.
"Tsk, Eichi-sensei really doesn't understand women."
A panda said I don't understand women... A panda said I don't understand women... I don't understand women... Eichi felt as if he had been struck hard, his neck turning toward Panda like a stiff gear.
Looking at the human-like disdain on Panda's face, Eichi actually had the feeling that, "I'm not as understanding as a panda."
As a human, I apologize.
Panda looked at the petrified Eichi in front of him and was about to turn and leave.
Slap.
Suddenly, a large hand firmly grabbed Panda's shoulder.
The immense strength made Panda wonder if Eichi had flown into a rage and was about to kill the bear to silence him.
"My deepest apo..."
"Help me, Panda-sensei!"
This time, it was Panda's turn to be petrified.
A second ago, Panda had thought his merciless teasing had wounded Eichi's pride and was about to beg for mercy.
A second later, the situation was spiraling in a direction Panda had never expected.
As for pride?
Eichi looked at Satoru, then at Suguru.
What was that?
Hadn't he heard that among three people, there must be one who can be my teacher?
Everyone has strengths and weaknesses, so we must learn not to be ashamed to ask questions.
"Mhm."
Panda, realizing what had happened, smiled, his eyes squinting and his mouth stretching wide.
The entire panda was enveloped in a light pink aura.
"Leave it to me!"
Panda revealed a face that said, 'I've got this.'
And so, today's scene of Eichi inviting Artoria out to play came to be.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
Artoria's voice came from behind him.
"No, I just got here too."
Eichi smiled as he turned around, his brain rapidly working.
Panda's little class, lesson one: Meeting.
Panda: "After my careful research, girls pay great attention to their appearance and dress up meticulously for dates, so the first thing you should do after meeting her is compliment her... Idiot, besides 'beautiful,' can't you compliment anything else? Praise her from multiple angles, her image, her temperament, her clothes."
"What's wrong, Eichi?"
Artoria looked curiously at Eichi, who had suddenly zoned out.
"Ah, no, nothing. It's just that I suddenly saw you looking so beautiful, Ria, so..."
Eichi's voice grew softer and softer, and his heart became more and more anxious.
Because he remembered that Artoria had been raised as a king since childhood.
Later, with Merlin's help, she had always cross-dressed, so her perception was somewhat more masculine.
Therefore, he was a little worried that saying this might make Artoria angry like Mordred.
"Is that so? Shoko and Rika helped me choose this outfit."
Originally, Artoria had planned to come out in her Tokyo Jujutsu High uniform, but she was suddenly stopped by Shoko and Rika.
After half a day of a situation Artoria could not quite understand, Artoria ended up dressed as she was now.
Artoria was wearing a pink kimono.
Because of its multi-layered structure, it would not expose skin as easily as a yukata.
Nor would it feel flimsy and make one feel insecure.
Artoria's golden hair was styled into a bun at the back of her head, tied with a blue and pink bow.
Her upper body was adorned with a gradient kimono that shifted from light blue to cherry blossom pink.
Various flowers bloomed across the kimono.
The sky-blue parts of the kimono highlighted the girl's gentle and serene beauty, while the pink and red gradient beginning at the waist added cuteness and liveliness to her.
Each hand-embroidered flower further enhanced Artoria's beauty, making her the most exquisite bloom in the flower garden.
It made people unable to resist taking a few more glances.
(To be continued.)
Check out my new books under Junkdog_787; you can also access them under my reading list in my profile.
■ Naruto: Multiverse Character Templates
■ I Make Games Inside a Mobile Game?! (Trust me, this is a gem, just try out the first few chapters to see)