Meanwhile, at the Alter Restaurant, Emika and Tatsuya were having a 'secret' meeting that only the two of them would know about.
"So, let us commence the secret meeting. The 'catch me a Shoya' meeting."
Tatsuya said, jokingly.
Emika blushed slightly.
"B-but why are you helping me with this, Tatsuya?"
"Hm? Well, isn't it natural to help a friend?"
He beamed at her.
Emika gave a soft smile and nodded.
"Anyway, you want to 'wow' Shoya, right?"
She nodded again.
"To be honest, I think I know his type of girl."
"Tell me!"
Emika insisted with starry eyes. Tatsuya felt slightly uncomfortable but he carried on talking.
"Well... He told me that when he was younger, he always played with this one girl. He said that she was energetic, playful and forceful."
Tatsuya winced nervously.
"The only problem is..."
Emika dipped her shoulders and began lamenting.
"I have the opposite personality..."
He noticed that she was beating herself up about it.
"B-b-but, we can always just make him change his preference. Besides, this is just my inference. He never said it himself."
Then Emika smirked softly once more, comforted.
"Is that so..."
(Though when he was describing the girl, he did seem happier than usual. I don't want to make her lose hope. Besides, if I don't do this, then I'll never have...)
"Could you... tell me about his favourite things?"
"Favourite things... Let me see..."
Suddenly, something hit Tatsuya's mind as he remembered.
He went through his pocket and grabbed his phone.
There was a slight smile on his face.
"Today is the 6th of June. I guess the gods have blessed you truly today, Emika."
Emika tilted her head.
"Huh? What're you talking about? What's so special about the 6th of June?"
"Today is Shoya's birthday."
The girl's eyes widened at his response.
"Let's go shop for Shoya."
"Mhm!"
She made a sound while shaking her head, vertically, frantically.
---
I was on my way back to the dorms when...
"Oh, Shoya."
We coincidentally walked into each other. Hikari and I. She looked slightly different. It was because the tips of her hair were pink. It faded into her blue hair.
"Nice hair."
For some reason, she's omitting an aura of coolness. Her ear piercings and her black outfit helped with her aura of cool. Hikari also wore a silver bracelet and a cross necklace.
Why the fuck is she so cool?!
"Thanks. You seem... chippy."
Hikari said.
"Chippy? Is that how I look to you?"
Hikari closed in on me. She stared me intensely in the eye.
"Uhh..."
"I guess it's nothing."
She turned away.
How crap. Was I really that obvious?
I'm still not sure how to feel about Anastasia's confession. I guess my confusion of emotions is making me unconsciously... Happy? I think.
"See you later."
Hikari raised her hand walking past me.
"Uh, bye, Hikari."
"Kana."
"Huh?"
She turned.
"That's my first name. It'd be weird if I was the only used a given name. Call me Kana."
"K-Kana... bye."
Hikari smiled and walked away.
Well, that was also sudden. I feel like today is a good yet bad day for me.
[What a lucky guy.]
(Shut up, you. I could've sworn that you were asleep.)
Altair didn't reply. He was purposely teasing me.
You know, after all of this, I suddenly don't feel like returning to the dorms.
Oh, a cafe. Perfect.
I'll message Kuro and ask her to meet up with me here at the cafe.
I reserved a table and sat down, finally messaging Kuro.
--'Yo.'
'Yo.'--
--'Meet me at the cafe near the karaoke place. I've already reserved a table. I just thought why not chill here?'
'My favourite cat show is about to start...'--
I didn't say anything else.
I was waiting for Kuro to reply properly. I seriously didn't care if that one cat program she liked was going to air. I mean, it was cat battling other cats.
I remember walking in on her once, watching it and rooting for the winning cat.
--'So, will you come?'
I typed.
'Fine. You better buy me some cat food.'--
--'Eh?! Will you be fine eating cat food? I've never seen you eat any.'
'I don't know. I'm just craving some for some reason.'--
I rolled my eyes.
'I'll be there after I get dressed.'--
--'I won't be here forever, you know?'
'Just wait for me.'--
And it showed that she was offline.
That girl...
I swear I'm going to hit her for being too spoilt when she gets here.
"Well, I guess I did suddenly suggest that we meet her. I should cut her some slack."
I'll just waste some time.
But, what should I waste time doing?
"Excuse me, may I sit here?"
"Sorry, the seat is reserved."
I told someone who came up to me. The voice sounded familiar but I wasn't really interested at that moment.
Maybe I shouldn't have rented out a table after all. If I leave though, all my money goes away, wasted.
The person sat down anyway.
"Oi, I said that the seat is reserved--"
"Yeah? And I don't care."
It was a woman with pink hair.
Her rose pink eyes tightened as her eyes got smaller. She smirked at me.
"It's been a little bit, Shoya."
No way... This person is...
The woman smiled at me. She seemed to enjoy my surprised expression.
"What's wrong? Looks like you've seen a ghost."
What the fuck do I do now?
---
At the same time, on the rooftop of Altheria Academy. Weissmann was silently watching as the city's lights turned on. He admired the view.
"So, you finally decided to come."
Behind him, at the rooftop's entrance, was Kyoka Sakai. Alone. She had two swords at her hips.
"Yes. To kill you."
Weissmann could not help but let out a satisfied chuckle. He was amused.
"No one ever thinks they can kill an Emperor. Especially someone who can't use the mana arts."
"Even if I can't use the mana arts, I can still fight you."
"Well then, we'll see in a moment."