"If I'm heading to the Ryougi family's place now, should I call first?"
"No, I think their people have already informed them."
Before Shiki could step out of the narrow alley, her ears caught a conversation like that. Upon hearing the two voices, she immediately understood who the acquaintance mentioned by Mifune's mother in her prophecy was.
Stepping out of the alley, her gaze shifted to the left. What Shiki saw was Naoki and Atalanta walking hand in hand down the street. Since both looked very young, not much different from teenagers or twenty-somethings, and were dressed in casual clothes, they resembled a pair of college sweethearts on a date.
Shiki suddenly felt an urge to stab Naoki in the head with her knife, straight into his brain.
As Shiki watched the two approach, Naoki and Atalanta also noticed her emerging from the alley.
"What a coincidence, Shiki. We were just heading to your place." Naoki waved at her. "The alley… daily Ryougi family business? Some thugs causing trouble in your territory again?"
"Those who dare to do that are either lying in a hospital bed or sitting in a jail cell. For the past few years, this area has been very quiet. There was just some suspicious person wandering around, so I came to check it out—on leave again this time?"
"Yeah, I got back yesterday. Just met up with Miss Cat earlier."
Met Atalanta first?
Shiki glanced at Atalanta, who was still holding Naoki's hand. "It's rare to see you two holding hands like this. On a date?"
"You could say that." Atalanta leaned slightly against Naoki. "We're on our way to lunch now. Want to join, Shiki?"
"Where to?"
"Naoki said he wants to hit up a buffet restaurant."
"Sounds good then."
After saying that, Shiki casually stood on Naoki's other side—a position agreed upon when the three of them hung out. One on each side. Compared to the often chaotic situation in England due to Merry the troublemaker, since Atalanta and Shiki were relatively cool-headed and quiet, there wouldn't be any entertaining drama to witness.
In fact, things could be like this in England too if Merry were out of the picture, but unfortunately, she often popped up out of nowhere from some unknown corner.
The restaurant Naoki mentioned was on the next street, requiring them to cross two intersections to get there.
While waiting at the first intersection for the light to turn green, Shiki glanced at their still-interlocked hands and, almost instinctively, nudged Naoki's waist with her elbow. "You two, not planning to let go, are you?"
"Huh? Let go… Oh, you mean me and Miss Cat."
Naoki and Atalanta exchanged a glance, then Naoki leaned down and whispered in Shiki's ear, recounting the last running match he had with Atalanta. Hearing his explanation, Shiki's eyebrow twitched sharply, and her eyes gradually grew cold.
"—Something like that. Uh… Shiki? You listening? Mad?"
"No."
Despite her words, Shiki swiftly pulled a short knife from her sleeve and stabbed at him. Startled, Naoki dodged to the side.
"Don't just pull out a knife and attack people on the street, Shiki. That's dangerous."
"It wouldn't hurt you anyway."
"What about the impact on society?"
"Haven't you already taken care of it?"
Perception interference, mental manipulation… Shiki recalled something like that, didn't she? Even before she drew her knife, she had sensed an aura like that emanating from Naoki.
(This guy, he clearly knew he might get stabbed, yet he still dodged at the last second and even had time to handle the fallout. Talk about underestimating people.)
"I can handle it, sure, but this isn't a good approach, Shiki. As a woman, you should learn what gentleness and courtesy are, right? Always stabbing people with a knife—if it were anyone else, they'd have been dead long ago."
"Relax. Stabbing you is special treatment just for you."
*DING!*
At that moment, the traffic light across the street turned green. Having finished speaking, Shiki sheathed her knife and crossed the street without looking back.
Watching her, Naoki let out a resigned sigh. "Special treatment… I don't want special treatment like this. Who'd want to deal with a Shiki like that?"
"What Merry said was true." Atalanta suddenly remarked, somewhat out of context. "In some ways, you really are an idiot."
With such a stubborn personality, it was a miracle Naoki could be the playboy juggling multiple relationships like he was now.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
After Naoki and the two women left the buffet restaurant, it was already half past one in the afternoon. They were practically kicked out.
The reason? Naoki ate too much.
However, Naoki's ability to clear out an entire buffet restaurant was nothing new to Atalanta and Shiki. What could they do? Every time he came back, he did this. Not a single restaurant he visited sent him off with a smile. They all wore expressions that screamed they hoped he'd never return.
"You're definitely on that restaurant's blacklist." Shiki laughed, a rare occurrence for her. "That makes twenty-three restaurants. If I didn't know it was you, your name would probably end up on the Ryougi family's hit list—where to next?"
"Up to you two. I come back each time to hang out with you, so your plans come first." Naoki said plainly, leaving the choice to the two women.
Atalanta glanced at her phone. "It's already this late… Sorry, Naoki, Shiki, you two go on without me. I have some business to take care of."
"Huh? School stuff?"
"Something like that. Routine family visits, mostly discussing education and such with students' parents."
"Sounds like a hassle, Sensei."
"For the sake of my troublesome self, you're cooking dinner tonight too. I've got three families to visit… I'll probably be back around six-thirty." Atalanta said, flicking Naoki's forehead. "I'll head off now. Take care of my husband, Shiki."
Waving at Atalanta as she left, Shiki looked at Naoki. "You two really act like a married couple, huh? On her ID card, she's using your family name too, right?"
"When I helped her get her ID in that world, she already used the name she has now. She moved in right away too, didn't she?"
It started back in that world? It's hard to imagine this guy didn't plan it, but maybe his initial intent was just to mess around—Naoki does have a surprising mischievous streak.
"So, where to next? Got a place in mind?"
"Follow me."
After a brief pause, Shiki turned and walked in one direction.