"Hmm… Anyway… I'll have a strawberry cake first."
Himeno leaned slightly, her fair hand gently resting on Renji's shoulder, while her other hand pointed at the menu.
After ordering, her gaze fell on Reze again, a serious yet cute expression on her face as she spoke.
"I'm so hungry right now. Can this strawberry shortcake be made quickly? It's fine if it's not convenient—I just heard sounds coming from that direction… I guess the owner must be busy in the kitchen right now?"
Himeno's intention was very clear. Reze's beautiful face instantly darkened.
She lightly tutted, feeling a bit dissatisfied with Himeno's request, but stood up helplessly and walked toward the kitchen without a word.
Before Reze could get far, Himeno suddenly remembered something and quickly waved her hand, raising her voice to shout.
"Oh, right~ Please also bring me a bottle of beer! Remember, it must be chilled!"
After shouting, Reze turned her head slightly, glanced at Himeno, and then walked into the kitchen.
Renji quietly watched Reze's figure disappear at the kitchen door, then slowly turned his head—only to unexpectedly meet Himeno's beautiful eyes.
The corner of Himeno's mouth curved slightly upward, an elusive smile playing on her lips, as she stared at Renji meaningfully, as if she had caught him in some act.
"You two have already done it?"
Renji's heart skipped a beat.
"Eh…? You can tell that?"
Himeno nodded slightly, then slowly released Renji's arm, as if she had lost all strength, and softly slumped onto the table.
Her eyes became a little dim, and she murmured softly.
"Mm… well~ I can tell more or less…"
There was an unconcealable hint of sadness in Himeno's voice.
Although she was personally open-minded about such matters—after all, Renji was the only male in this world—still, when she heard him personally admit to having that kind of relationship with another woman, a subtle, almost imperceptible ripple of emotion arose deep within Himeno's heart.
It was a feeling of loss.
And also a faint trace of…
Jealousy.
Himeno gently sighed, exhaling all the complex, chaotic thoughts in her heart with that breath.
"Then, Renji… can you trust her?"
After a moment of silence, Himeno finally asked again.
"What do you mean?"
Himeno slightly raised her head, her gaze fixed on Renji's face, and explained seriously.
"Although I don't know exactly what happened at the time, Hayakawa Aki has mentioned some relevant situations to me. Didn't this woman named Reze try to kill you before? And now you two have developed to this extent…? This… this is very dangerous. Is there really no problem?"
Renji smiled.
"Mm. You can rest assured about that."
Himeno sighed again—this time a heavy sigh.
"Well, since you've said so, I have no choice. By the way, you came here specifically to talk to her, right? My coming along just makes me a third wheel, how annoying~ So I'll find an excuse to leave for a while and give you two some alone time."
Renji breathed a sigh of relief.
"Really? Thank you, Himeno Senior. I'll definitely make it up to you later."
"Ahem, if Renji wants to make it up, then let's do it tonight. Hayakawa Aki and I have a habit of having dinner at her house every half month—and that's today. After Hayakawa Aki gets off work, the two of us, plus you, Denji, and Power, can have a good drink. You promised this compensation So be sure to drink a lot then Otherwise, I won't let you off~"
"Mm, okay."
Not long after, Reze returned, holding a finished strawberry shortcake in one hand and a bottle of chilled beer, emitting a slight chill, in the other. She placed them on the table.
Worried that Himeno would deliberately make things difficult, she smiled—a forced smile—and spoke as usual.
"Hello Here's your strawberry shortcake and chilled beer"
Himeno raised her hands, clasped them together, and looked apologetic.
"Ah… I'm really sorry for my personal reasons just now… But the misunderstanding has been cleared up, and from now on, we're colleagues. As an apology, let's all share the strawberry shortcake. It's on me."
"Hmm?"
Before Reze could quite understand what was happening, Himeno clutched her stomach, looking pained.
"Ugh… My stomach suddenly hurts so much… Excuse me, may I ask where the restroom is?"
Reze was slightly stunned, clearly surprised by the question, but she quickly reacted and pointed her hand toward the restroom on the other side.
Himeno first winked at Reze, then mischievously winked at Renji, before getting up, grabbing the bottle of chilled beer, and scurrying off to the coffee shop's restroom.
Only then did Reze realize that Himeno was creating an opportunity for her and Renji to be alone. Her impression of Himeno's earlier capriciousness improved significantly.
"What a strange person. But much better than that high ponytail bastard."
Hayakawa Aki's figure suddenly appeared in Reze's mind.
In the past two days, Hayakawa Aki had been coming to the coffee shop to find Reze from time to time, verbally claiming to see if Reze had any other intentions or something.
Moreover, Hayakawa Aki would stare at Reze with the stern gaze of someone scrutinizing a criminal, and her tone of voice was cold, completely interrogative.
If it was just a normal interrogation, it would be understandable—Reze was well aware of her own identity and status. But Reze gradually realized that almost all of Hayakawa Aki's questions were related to Renji.
Everything she said implied, "Don't have any intentions toward Renji," and "Don't contact Renji"—suggestive language like that.
This made Reze very annoyed.
When she first saw Himeno also wearing the Public Safety Devil Extermination Special Division uniform, she subconsciously assumed that Himeno was with Hayakawa Aki. Himeno's deliberate provocations almost made Reze certain that she and Hayakawa Aki were together to "bully" her.
But now, Reze felt that she might have misunderstood something. Her impression of Himeno improved significantly.
Reze watched Himeno's back until she completely disappeared from sight, then slowly moved and sat down opposite Renji.
She exhaled, then reached for the fork on the table, picked up a small piece of delicate cake, and slowly brought it to her cherry-red lips.
Renji asked.
"How was it? What exactly did Public Safety tell you?"
Hearing the question, Reze first chewed a few times, swallowed the cake in her mouth, and then replied.
"Basically, there were no major problems. Makima, that witch, didn't deliberately make things difficult for me, and I successfully survived. However, there are still some special requirements I need to comply with."
Renji pressed on.
"Such as? What exactly are the requirements?"
"First, they stipulated that unless there's a particularly important matter, my range of activity cannot exceed this street. Also, I have to voluntarily take on the safety responsibility for all devil incidents that might occur on this street."
Renji nodded, indicating understanding.
"Oh, I see. That seems acceptable. Did Miss Makima say anything about formally considering recruiting you into the Public Safety system based on your future performance? To relax the restrictions on you?"