Thanks Dad, for the support. It means a lot.
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There wasn't much to say about the breakfast—it was your standard Japanese-style set meal: grilled fish, miso soup, rice, a few pickled side dishes. Simple, traditional, and well-suited to the tatami-floored inn they were staying in. Compared to Angel-san's homemade cooking, the flavors weren't all that different. But Kanade still felt the distinct lack of a "homey taste" in it… probably because, well, Angel-san's meals were usually eaten in his actual home.
Kasumigaoka-senpai sat across from him, eating at her own pace. Not gracefully per se, but slowly—because she kept getting distracted. Or rather, she kept causing distractions.
From the moment the meal started, she had been… restless. More specifically, her feet had been acting up.
Kanade stiffened as he felt something soft and cold brush against his calf. Again. Her smooth, pearl-like toes started tracing circles—deliberate, teasing spirals—up his thigh, just under the tablecloth. It was the kind of movement that could turn even a peaceful breakfast into a battlefield.
And this wasn't even the worst of it.
At times, she'd stretch her foot further, as if climbing a wall, her toes peeking out from beneath the edge of the table like some mischievous spirit. Kanade spotted them every time and glared at her with the darkened expression of a war-weary soldier.
But Senpai? She remained utterly unfazed.
She knows I won't react in public… Mou… Her smug expression made it clear she had no intention of stopping. In fact, she only got bolder. Kanade had no choice but to speed up his eating, hoping to escape this ridiculous footsie ambush before someone noticed.
Of course, the gods of romcom suffering weren't going to let him off that easy.
Just as he feared, a nearby group of guests began whispering among themselves, casting glances in their direction.
"Man… Lucky bastard…" one man, clearly still hungover, grumbled with a mix of jealousy and admiration. "I wanted to start the day with a JK too…"
"Oi, shut up, baka!" his friend snapped, elbowing him and hissing in a low voice. "Stop spouting nonsense in public! You're embarrassing us!"
Then the man turned toward Kanade and bowed slightly in apology. Kanade, already dying of secondhand shame, waved it off with an awkward smile. Please, just forget we exist…
He sighed. He really didn't want to make a scene. The last thing he needed was to become the center of attention at a peaceful inn because of some… under-the-table nonsense.
Honestly, sometimes Kanade seriously questioned Senpai's mental state. Wasn't she the least bit embarrassed? Did she enjoy public chaos that much?
Apparently, yes.
Because even after catching the whispers and realizing others had noticed, Kasumigaoka-senpai doubled down. She gave up eating entirely, turning her full attention toward a singular goal: foot-based warfare.
"…You've got to be kidding me…" Kanade groaned under his breath.
Enough was enough. He couldn't take it anymore. If she wanted a fight, fine—he'd give her one.
With a calm yet menacing expression, Kanade reached out under the table. One hand grabbed hold of her slender, jade-like foot. The other slipped beneath the tablecloth and launched a counterattack—his fingers moving with a precise, almost vengeful rhythm against the sole of her foot.
The effect was immediate.
Kasumigaoka Utaha, high offense and paper-thin defense, visibly trembled. Her calm mask cracked like cheap porcelain. The moment he started retaliating, her entire body shivered.
"Fuh—uugh… nnfufu…!" She clamped a hand over her mouth, trying desperately not to burst out laughing. Her body curled slightly over the table, shoulders shaking. It was like all her smugness had evaporated in a single instant.
"Senpai…" Kanade leaned forward slightly, his voice low and dangerous. "What do you say when you want mercy?"
Her eyes watered slightly. "Ugh… s-sorry…"
"Nope." Kanade shook his head. "Not convincing enough."
"I'm sorry! I'm really sorry! I won't do it again! Please stooop…"
Now that was more like it.
Satisfied, Kanade released her foot and calmly returned to his food as if nothing had happened.
Meanwhile, Kasumigaoka-senpai slumped over the table, face buried in her arms, gasping for breath like someone who had barely survived a natural disaster.
"…Mou… unfair…" she mumbled into the tablecloth.
Victory had been achieved. He should've been proud. And maybe he was—for all of five seconds.
"Um, excuse me?" A polite voice cut into the moment, snapping Kanade back to reality.
A young staff member had approached their table, looking understandably concerned. "Is she okay? She looks unwell… Would you like me to contact a hospital or—?"
"Ah, no, no! It's not like that!" Kanade waved both hands frantically. "She just… remembered something really happy, that's all! Like, suuuper happy!"
He forced a dry smile. Please believe me, please believe me, please believe me…
The staff member blinked a few times, clearly not convinced, but perhaps too polite to push further. "I… see. Well then, if you need anything else, feel free to call."
With a bow, he left them alone again.
Kanade exhaled deeply, turning back to Senpai, who was now peeking at him through half-lidded eyes. Though her expression was that of an offended maiden, the mischievous glint hiding behind it told him everything.
"You beast…" she muttered, voice muffled through the sleeve of her yukata. "With how you treat me… mou, I won't be able to marry anymore…"
"Don't even start," Kanade replied, not missing a beat. "If we're really counting, you already disqualified yourself from marrying long ago."
He rolled his eyes, gesturing vaguely at the now-settling table. "Also, this is entirely your fault. If you'd just eaten normally, none of this would've happened."
Senpai pouted, shifting in her seat to rest her chin on her hand. "But Kouhai-kun bullies me all the time… I was just struggling with the chopsticks, you know? Besides, didn't you once promise to feed me breakfast for the rest of my life?"
Kanade nearly dropped his chopsticks.
"…Oi, you can't just bring up stuff like that out of nowhere!" he hissed, flustered. "You're not some foreign-returned ojō-sama who's forgotten how to use chopsticks!"
"The past is the past," he added dramatically, pointing a chopstick at her. "We live in the present now, Senpai. Let it go."
Once he was sure she wouldn't launch another foot-based attack, Kanade relaxed and reached out for his food again—but paused mid-motion.
His expression darkened as he stared at his hand.
Wait… didn't I just use this hand to…?
The flashbacks came uninvited. The warmth of her foot. The way she'd trembled. The ticklish laughter. And now, this same hand was about to pick up a slice of tamagoyaki?
"…Ugh." His whole face twisted.
Just as he was struggling with the thought of whether to eat or go wash up first, Kasumigaoka-senpai noticed his inner conflict. With a triumphant smile, she leaned forward like a smug villainess.
"Reaping what you sow, hm, Kouhai-kunr?" she cooed. "There are tons of people who'd dream of getting this close to me, and you… you just complain like it's a burden. Hmph."
"Oi, don't flatter yourself!" Kanade shot back, standing up abruptly. "Normal people would care, okay?! I'm not the weird one here!"
Without another word, he began stacking their plates, moving efficiently to avoid further embarrassment.
Truthfully, his appetite was already gone. After all that chaos, eating now would feel… cursed. Besides, his energy had been sufficiently replenished. He wasn't going to risk more teasing just for a few more bites of rice.
"I'm done, Senpai. Do whatever you want."
Leaving that behind, Kanade walked off toward the kitchen return counter, not even bothering to look back.
Kasumigaoka-senpai watched him go, her expression somewhere between a pout and a grin. With her prey gone, she let out a small sigh, shoveled a few more bites into her mouth, then quietly began tidying up.