When Takashi arrived at the dessert shop as planned, he first checked his appearance.
Hmm, perfect.
After a thorough check, Takashi gently pushed open the door to the cake shop.
Ding-a-ling~
The wind chime hanging on the door immediately gave a pleasant ring.
"Takashi, over here!"
Just as he was about to scan the room to see if Maki had arrived, he heard someone call out to him.
Takashi turned and froze.
At a table deep inside the shop, Maki and Tanuma Tsubasa were sitting together.
Nothing unusual about that.
The problem was… next to Tanuma sat Nagisa?
Can someone please tell him what's going on?
Takashi quickly gathered himself and walked over to the group of three. "Sorry to keep you waiting."
Nagisa spoke up before Maki could: "No worries, we only just got here a few minutes ago."
Takashi forced a polite but slightly awkward smile. "Maki, who are these two?"
"She's Kashiwagi Nagisa, a good friend of mine. And the one next to her is her bo... boyfriend, Tanuma Tsubasa," Maki said, forcing an awkward smile.
She looked incredibly reluctant when she said the word boyfriend.
"Nagisa, Tsubasa—this is a new friend of mine, Watanabe Takashi," Maki brightened as she introduced him.
She didn't even know why, but every time she saw Takashi, she felt especially happy.
"Nice to meet you both. Please take care of me," Takashi greeted politely, and just as he was about to sit, Nagisa suddenly reached her hand out to him.
"Hello, Watanabe-kun."
Takashi: "..."
She's doing this on purpose!
This woman was definitely messing with him.
Takashi looked into Nagisa's eyes and saw the mischief. Reluctantly, he reached out and shook her hand, still keeping a polite smile on his face.
But the moment their hands touched, Takashi suddenly felt a tickle in his palm.
It turned out Nagisa was using her index finger to lightly trace his palm.
Why are you so good at this?!
Takashi never took his eyes off her face.
She didn't flinch. Not even a twitch.
Which meant… she had done that completely expressionless, flawlessly avoiding everyone's attention.
"Tsubasa-kun, you and Watanabe-kun really do look alike. I almost couldn't tell you apart," Nagisa said as she retracted her hand, sounding impressed.
"Yeah,"
Tanuma Tsubasa, who hadn't said much till now, finally chimed in.
"No wonder Maki keeps saying Watanabe-kun looks a lot like me."
"Honestly, when I saw him, I started wondering if maybe he was my dad's secret love child."
Takashi sat down and joked, "Then you better be careful, Tsubasa-kun."
"If I really am your long-lost brother, I'm definitely fighting you for the inheritance."
Tsubasa laughed instead of getting mad. "That'd actually be great. Then I wouldn't have to go into medicine and inherit the family hospital."
"Medicine? Never mind, forget I said anything." Takashi immediately backtracked.
Trying to convince someone to study medicine? Lightning should strike you down.
He didn't know how it was in Japan, but where he came from, his friend got zero pay during his medical internship.
If you really hate someone, just convince them to study medicine.
Study medicine that no one defines clearly.
Study medicine you've never even touched before.
Study medicine you'll regret even starting.
Study medicine where you pay to intern.
And after all that, if you don't have a master's degree, you can't even stay employed.
He had no idea how his friend was doing now.
But before Takashi died in his previous life, that friend—who wasn't even thirty yet, about the same age as him—was still living off his parents.
"Watanabe-kun, I feel our blood connection. Want to get a DNA test together?" Takashi had only said it casually, but Tanuma looked serious.
No one knew just how much Tanuma wished Takashi was his dad's secret child.
He really didn't want to study medicine.
"I don't feel anything. And as for that test, I'm never doing it. Give it up."
If someone forced him into medicine, he'd rather go back to his old life—being a net-beggar.
Wouldn't that be way more fun than med school?
"Alright, new topic. So what are we doing next?" Takashi turned to Maki to change the subject.
"Movie. But it's not time yet, so we're just sitting around killing time."
Maki passed him the cappuccino she ordered for him.
"Just sitting?" Takashi took a sip.
Nagisa looked at him with a sweet smile. "Do you have a better idea, Watanabe-kun?"
Before Takashi could reply, he suddenly felt pressure on his foot—like something was pressing down.
He leaned back and glanced under the table, spotting a black leather shoe on top of his own.
Are you a sales rep or what? Why are you stepping on me?
The last person who dared step on him was a female car sales rep.
In high heels.
He still remembered the shoes clearly—black on top, red on the bottom. One of CL's classic styles. Why so specific?
Because she was the first woman to step on him, of course!
Absolutely not because one of his buddies told him, "You bought that car too early. If you'd hesitated a bit, she'd have invited you to dinner and reminded you to bring her a USB cable and some cold water."
What kind of person did they think Takashi was?
While he was at it, Takashi felt he had to criticize saleswomen in general.
He had no idea why, but many women who sold cars or houses seemed to love stepping on customers during big contract signings. Zero respect.
"Let's go over there and kill time,"
Takashi abruptly pulled his foot back.
He wasn't into that stuff. He wasn't into feet. And no, he didn't care about Arknights either.
He hated being stepped on.
"Sitting around is boring."
Nagisa raised an eyebrow but didn't press him. Instead, she said cryptically, "If it's boring, Watanabe-kun, you'll have to take responsibility."
A threat!
That was an outright, in-your-face threat.
Takashi immediately regretted speaking up.
The more you talk, the more mistakes you make. No words, no mistakes.
Why had he done this to himself?
Quickly changing his tune, Takashi said, "Actually, I think sitting here is just fine."
"Let's go do something! I heard there's a new haunted house nearby. It's really popular," Tanuma Tsubasa suddenly said, not giving Nagisa a chance to speak.
Guys his age loved this kind of stuff.
He didn't want to waste time on afternoon tea.
Plus, he'd been dating Nagisa for a while now, but their relationship was still stiff, like they barely knew each other. They hadn't even held hands yet.
A friend of his had suggested he ask her out more—watch movies, visit haunted houses, stuff like that.
The moment Takashi heard haunted house, his heart leapt into his throat.
He wasn't scared of many things, but ghosts? Ghosts were definitely one of them.
The first horror movie he ever watched as a kid was The Dead Spirit in the Mountain Village, and it scarred him for life.
Ever since then, Takashi had been a scaredy-cat.
Anyone who said a place was haunted—he'd turn around and walk away. No hesitation.
Even if he knew the ghosts in haunted houses were fake, what if one real one slipped in?
Ghosts… haunted houses!!!
When Maki heard the haunted house idea, even her little twintails jumped in alarm.
She could not handle that kind of horror.
"Lame. Haunted houses aren't even fun," Takashi forced a disdainful tone and looked at Maki.
"Right, Maki?"
"Right, right, right!" Maki nodded like crazy.
"Those things are just for scaring kids."
Takashi, well done!
Maki felt like Takashi could read her mind. He always knew exactly what she was thinking.
Their reaction... are they scared?
Nagisa watched their synchronized reaction and slowly curled her lips into a wicked grin.
In that dark, cramped haunted house—who knew what could happen?
To be honest, she really did want to see Takashi scared.
And, of course—
If Maki happened to fall into her arms out of fear, that'd be even better.
Having made up her mind, Nagisa clapped her hands like a judge issuing a final verdict. "It's decided then. We're going to the haunted house."
"No—"
Takashi was about to object, when he saw Nagisa's pink lips move silently.
He could lip-read a little. It looked like she was saying: Takashi, you don't want your secret getting out, do you?
It might not have been word-for-word, but the meaning was definitely that.
You little...!
Takashi cursed under his breath.
He finally understood why the heroines in action movies often chose silence.
There was just no way to explain it.
Takashi had always thought those kinds of scenes were just otaku fantasies. Who would've thought they were actually based on real life?
But if possible, he wished he could be the one saying those words instead.
Nagisa shifted her gaze toward Maki.
"Maki, is that okay with you?"
Takashi hadn't known before that Nagisa had feelings for Maki.
Now that he suspected she might be into girls, the more he looked, the more he felt her gaze was practically dripping with desire.
"I'm fine with whatever Takashi says."
Afraid as she was, Maki refused to lose face in front of others.
She was the heiress of the Shijo family, Japan's future cardiac surgeon—how could she possibly be afraid of ghosts?
So she threw the dilemma to Takashi instead.
She believed that with the level of understanding they had, he would definitely say no.
Maki was brimming with confidence, convinced Takashi would refuse on her behalf—until—
Takashi: "Sure."
Maki: "?"
Maki's eyes widened in disbelief, locking firmly onto Takashi.
Her expression was just like Tohsaka Tokiomi in his final moments—like she couldn't believe someone she trusted so deeply would betray her.
Takashi, why?
Maki didn't say it out loud, but the condemnation in her eyes said it all.
I'm sorry, Maki.
Takashi avoided her gaze.
He didn't want this either.
Forgive me, Maki. Just this one last time!
At that moment, Takashi deeply empathized with Uchiha Itachi.
"Then let's go," Nagisa said, standing up immediately to urge the others.
Tsubasa Tanuma was the first to respond, also rising to his feet.
"But I haven't even finished my cappuccino," Takashi tried to stall for time.
"I'll treat you next time, Takashi~"
The moment he heard that, Takashi gave up, downing the rest in one gulp without even caring if it was hot. He wiped his mouth and stood up.
"That won't be necessary!"
All he wanted now was to get as far away from that woman as possible. He had zero interest in getting tangled up with her.
If he could avoid seeing her ever again, that'd be ideal.
Nagisa seemed to understand. She narrowed her eyes, and Takashi immediately felt a chill run down his spine, goosebumps erupting all over.
"Let's go."
Only after successfully making his scalp go numb did Nagisa withdraw her gaze.
Still smiling sweetly, she hooked her arm around a thoroughly lifeless-looking Maki and took the lead.
The two girls walked ahead while Takashi and Tsubasa Tanuma followed behind.
As they walked side by side, Tanuma clearly hadn't forgotten Takashi's earlier joke and brought it up again.
"Takashi, I really think we should get a blood test at the hospital. I seriously think we might be biological brothers."
"Ab-so-lute-ly not!"
The four of them bickered and chatted as they walked up to the haunted house.
Takashi looked up at the giant sign that simply read Terror House and immediately wanted to turn around.
Please don't tell him the owner's last name is Chen…
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