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"By the way, Hoshikawa-kun, what exactly is this about?"

"Not the best place to talk. Do you have a moment, Shihou-san? Would you do me the honor of accompanying me to DUMBO?"

For reference, DUMBO was a popular new dessert café among the youth, especially high school girls, famous for its donuts.

Most people saw Chouko as a prim and proper young lady, almost too serious for her age. But he had a hunch, underneath that composed exterior, she was still just a girl who liked cute, sweet things like anyone else.

"Kyoto people don’t even talk like that anymore..." she muttered under her breath, but still followed after him, step for step, toward the café ten minutes away.

"Wrong! Don’t you think I sound like a gallant swordsman or a wandering ronin right now?"

He ruffled his still-damp purple hair and gave her a mock bow, fist pressed to palm.

"Hoshikawa Hanbei Harutaki, at your service!"

"You look less like a samurai and more like a fallen kappa that just crawled out of a pond."

Kappa? That’s just mean!

Please, at least wait until Tazaki’s around before you start comparing me to swamp creatures.

"Fallen, am I? Hmph, I am Hoshikawa, the outcast samurai! Having lost the war, it’s only natural that I claim a noble lady wandering alone and make her my bride!"

"Careful, fallen warrior, or you’ll get hunted down yourself."

"Naïve young mistress, this isn’t some peasant village, this is Minato Ward, Tokyo."

"...Pfft."

It took her a second to get it, but once she did, she couldn’t help laughing behind her hand. Between Minato’s upscale reputation and Tokyo’s notorious attitude of ‘everything outside the capital is countryside’, it was just too absurd not to laugh.

Maybe luck was on their side today, since running into Chouko, every traffic light on their walk to DUMBO had been green.

From the outside, DUMBO looked small and almost industrial, with bare concrete walls, minimalist décor, a far cry from what you’d expect of a dessert shop. Yet that very contrast, rough textures paired with pink-themed packaging and soft, round donuts, made everything seem even cuter and more appetizing.

Since it was evening, Harutaki ordered two cups of hot milk and a donut each, mindful that dinner was still ahead.

Chouko delicately lifted a raspberry-glazed donut from its paper wrapper and took a small, dainty bite. The tangy sweetness spread across her tongue, and her lips curled upward as she squinted in delight.

Then, as if to balance the sharp flavor, she sipped gently from her cup, the warmth of the milk easing the lingering sourness.

...She really was a young lady through and through.

Harutaki hadn’t even touched his own donut yet. Just watching her eat was enough to fill him up.

Cuteness really can be a full meal.

Noticing his gaze, Chouko remembered how he’d teased her earlier about being a “noble lady with an old-fashioned accent,” and decided now was her chance to strike back.

"Well, well, fallen samurai, has your purse grown so light that you can only afford two donuts and two cups of milk?"

"Fear not, my lady. I shall rebuild the Hoshikawa clan to its former glory, and when the day comes, I’ll take you with me to Kyoto!"

"No thanks, I’m not going back with you."

"Oh? Then you mean to live with me forever, my lady? I’m honored!"

"A proper noble lady doesn’t become anyone’s concubine. Besides, your ‘main wife,’ Miss Nogami, wouldn’t take kindly to you bringing other girls home, would she?"

She giggled, recalling the post she’d seen earlier that evening.

"As you’ve read, my lady, I’ve been divorced."

"Pfft... divorced? So, you really are under your wife’s thumb, Lord Hoshikawa."

"Hmph. The river flows east for thirty years and west for thirty more. Never underestimate a poor youth."

Nogami... Just you wait. In three years, when I’ve made something of myself, I’ll personally come to the Nogami family and call off the engagement.

Chouko tilted her head curiously at his dramatic declaration.

"'Never underestimate a poor youth' sounds inspiring, but what’s that first half supposed to mean?"

"You know the Tone River, right?" he asked, adapting the idiom to something more local.

"Of course, one of the three great rivers," she nodded.

"Before the Edo period, the Tone River used to change its course all the time. So if you look at it now, thirty years could pass and a villager in Chiba might suddenly find himself a high-class Tokyoite."

"That’s so mean! The people of Chiba would be furious!"

She said it as if defending them, but her laughter had betrayed her.

"At least then they’d have something to brag about besides Disneyland, right?"

"Ahaha, stop it! That’s so cruel!"

She clutched her stomach, tears almost forming at the corners of her eyes. Wanting to laugh freely but too polite to collapse onto the table, she pressed one hand over her mouth and one over her belly, her shoulders trembling. Her long, glossy black hair swayed with every breath, just like in a shampoo commercial.

Regional jokes really were unbeatable.

Harutaki silently offered his apologies to the people of Chiba while savoring the radiant smile their sacrifice had brought him.

Ow... my abs hurt...

Chouko rubbed her stomach softly, still chuckling, but as the laughter faded, a quiet thought slipped in.

Sorry, Onii.

But honestly... being with Hoshikawa feels so much happier than being with you.

"Haah... Hoshikawa-kun, are you free after school this Friday?"

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