"Mmm… Ah, I'm so full. So satisfied~."
Kani Nayuta let out a soft, contented sigh. She closed her eyes, letting her head fall back against the plush upholstery of the sofa chair, and wrapped her arms loosely around her midsection. Her expression was one of pure, unadulterated ease, the earlier terrors and world-shattering revelations temporarily buried under a pleasant layer of grilled meat and good company.
Kasumigaoka Touji watched her with a fond, curious smile. His gaze drifted down to her hands, which were cradling a stomach that looked suspiciously flat despite the impressive amount of food she'd just consumed. A playful impulse took hold. He reached out and gently poked her belly with a fingertip.
Poof.
Her previously flat stomach immediately yielded, pushing out in a soft, slight bulge against the fabric of her white sweater.
"A-ah! You're so annoying! Winter-sensei, what are you doing?!"
Kani Nayuta, completely caught off guard and with her defenses down, let out a startled squeak. Her eyes flew open as she bolted upright, a furious blush instantly blooming across her cheeks and the tips of her ears. Embarrassed and flustered, she swatted at his shoulder with an open palm.
"Hah!" Kasumigaoka Touji leaned back with a practiced ease, dodging the half-hearted slap. A mischievous grin spread across his face. "I was just wondering! You ate so much, I was curious why there wasn't any visible change at all… Don't worry, it's not ugly! Really, it's not ugly at all!"
It was true. Her waist was still slender and graceful; the gentle, rounded curve he'd provoked just looked… healthy. Soft. Plump in the most pleasing way. It was a charming, human detail.
And the sight of Kani Nayuta, blushing with a mixture of annoyance and self-consciousness, was arguably even cuter than her serene, contented expression from moments before. It was a look he wanted to commit to memory—or better yet, capture with a camera.
"..."
At the words "not ugly," Kani Nayuta's eyes instinctively darted downward. It… it was fine, really. The true source of her embarrassment was having her attempt to subtly suck in her stomach so blatantly discovered and foiled.
"Want some dessert?" Kasumigaoka Touji asked smoothly, executing a masterful subject change.
"Hmm, maybe a little," she replied, readily accepting the conversational lifeline.
"Oh? But I distinctly heard someone say they couldn't eat another bite," he teased, the smile returning to his lips and eyes.
Kani Nayuta shot him a sidelong glance that was more playful than reproachful. She held up two slender fingers in a triumphant 'V'.
"Ahem. It's common knowledge that girls possess two separate stomachs. Savory food goes in one; dessert is automatically routed to the other. It's basic biology."
"What a marvelously convenient and magical physiological structure," Kasumigaoka Touji marveled, his tone dripping with faux-scientific awe. "I feel a strong urge to conduct a more… hands-on study."
He turned towards the ordering tablet mounted on their table, tapping it awake. He navigated to the dessert menu and glanced back at her. "So, Madam Scientist, what would you like for your… secondary stomach?"
"Let me see…" Kani Nayuta immediately scooted closer on the sofa, her soft body pressing lightly against his arm as she leaned in to peer at the small screen. "Next page."
The selection was impressive—over twenty different desserts, from parfaits to mochi to various cakes and puddings. After careful deliberation, her finger hovered and then tapped. "This one. The coffee pudding."
From the neighboring booth, a pair of supernatural ears perked up.
'Pudding!'
The word acted like a summoning spell on Jashin-chan.
Without a second thought, she snatched up her own ordering device and frantically added a coffee pudding to her tab. Since arriving in the human world, she had developed a full-blown, all-consuming addiction to the wobbly, sweet confection. Going without it for too long induced genuine, physical withdrawal symptoms—or so she claimed. Hearing the magic word now triggered a deep, instinctual craving.
"..."
Back at their table, their own pudding arrived—a elegant glass cup holding a perfect, trembling dome of creamy brown. Kani Nayuta took the first spoonful, her eyes lighting up. She then offered a taste to Touji, holding her spoon out to him.
He accepted it. The texture was exquisite—impossibly smooth and silky, dissolving almost on contact yet retaining a delicate, quivering body. The flavor was rich and complex: the deep, aromatic bitterness of high-quality coffee perfectly balanced against the sweet, pure creaminess of the milk. It was a sophisticated, very adult kind of dessert.
"How is it?" Kani Nayuta asked, watching his face expectantly, her own spoon poised.
"It's quite good. Very refined," he commented objectively.
Meanwhile, at the adjacent table…
Dramatic scene change.
Jashin-chan, upon taking her first bite of pudding, froze. A single, shimmering tear traced a path down her cheek. Then another. She ate the entire portion in three rapid, reverent spoonfuls.
As she swallowed the last bite, she let out a tremulous, ecstatic wail. "OHHHH WOW…! This… this is truly too delicious!"
She clutched her chest. "This feeling… it's seeping into my very brain! My body… it feels so strange!"
Suddenly, she shot to her feet (or, more accurately, to the tip of her coiled tail). She threw her arms wide and began to undulate, her entire body twisting and writhing in a sinuous, boneless dance of pure bliss. To any uninformed observer, it looked less like a reaction to dessert and more like someone experiencing a potent, illegal narcotic high. No one would guess the catalyst was a 500-yen pudding.
Kani Nayuta stared, her spoon hovering forgotten halfway to her mouth. Her eyes darted between Jashin-chan's convulsing form and the innocent-looking pudding cup in front of her.
Are… are we eating the same thing? Was hers laced with something?
Or does some compound in coffee pudding act as a powerful stimulant on… whatever her biology is?
I can't comprehend this. I simply cannot.
She was, once again, greatly shocked.
"That's way too exaggerated, Jashin-chan!" Minos chided, though her unique, cheerful voice was laced with amusement rather than concern.
"Heh heh heh… Ahahaha!" Jashin-chan paid no heed, lost in her pudding-induced rapture. Her dance continued, her slender waist and the human part of her torso twisting in a mesmerizing, if utterly bizarre, rhythm. It might have been considered somewhat lovely if one focused solely on the movement and ignored her entranced, vacant expression and the occasional manic giggle.
"..."
Kasumigaoka Touji watched the spectacle with a profound sense of speechlessness. Only a character from a pure gag manga could have a reaction like this to a dairy-based dessert, he thought. It's utterly, gloriously ridiculous.
After about a minute, as abruptly as it began, the spell broke. Jashin-chan dropped back into her seat with a satisfied sigh, picked up her chopsticks, and casually resumed attacking her plate of grilled beef as if nothing had happened.
Shaking his head with a wry smile, Kasumigaoka Touji also turned his attention back to finishing their meal. He systematically grilled and consumed the remaining ingredients—the last of the marbled beef, the ribeye, the beef tongue—until a pleasant, heavy fullness settled in his own stomach.
A glance toward the next booth revealed the two demons now happily clinking glasses of some amber-colored drink, their earlier eccentricities seemingly forgotten. Deciding it was the perfect time to make their exit, Touji signaled for the check. After settling the bill, he and Kani Nayuta made their way out of the verdant, surreal sanctuary of Yume Miya.
Stepping back out onto the sun-drenched street of Sumida was like emerging from a dream. Kani Nayuta couldn't help but pause and look back at the restaurant's elegant facade.
It felt as though a lifetime had passed inside. Her world had been tilted on its axis, her understanding of reality forever altered, all over a meal of yakiniku.
"Alright. Next, let's head to the hotel first," Kasumigaoka Touji announced, his voice pulling her from her reverie. He took out his phone, its screen bright in the daylight, and opened his navigation app.
The word 'hotel' acted like a bucket of cold water, shocking her system back to the present moment—and to the original, thrilling purpose of this date. She blinked up at him. "Hotel?" she repeated, her voice a mix of surprise and sudden, renewed anticipation.
"Mhm. My stomach is full of physical nourishment," he said, clicking 'Start Navigation' on his phone. He then turned to look at her, and his gaze—previously playful or comforting—now held a different quality. It was warmer, more direct, laced with a quiet but unmistakable possessiveness. "Now it's time to absorb some spiritual sustenance. That's not too much to ask, is it?"
Kani Nayuta's breath hitched for a second. Then, a slow, excited smile spread across her fair features. Her blue eyes, clear and bright as a summer sky, gleamed with a light that mirrored his own.
"Not excessive at all," she affirmed, her voice dropping to a more intimate pitch. "It's perfectly reasonable…"
She even raised a hand, pointing down a side street with an eagerness that made him chuckle inwardly. "I think I remember there's a love hotel over that way. We could…"
Kasumigaoka Touji simply showed her his phone screen. The destination was clearly marked: Musashi House. The distance indicator read 706 meters—in the opposite direction from where she was pointing.
"Huh?" Kani Nayuta leaned in, her silver hair brushing his shoulder as she peered at the navigation. A flicker of surprise crossed her face before she turned her curious gaze back to him. "Winter-sensei… did you plan and book everything in advance?"
"Not everything," he admitted with a soft smile. "Just the important parts. The restaurant. And the hotel."
A wave of genuine admiration washed over her. In a situation that could feel awkward or uncertain, his forethought was incredibly reassuring. It spoke of intention and care.
"Then you really are reliable~!" Kani Nayuta praised, her eyes sparkling with sincere appreciation. The nervous flutter in her chest wasn't from fear of the unknown anymore, but from a thrilling anticipation of the known, carefully arranged path that lay ahead. He had a plan. All she had to do was follow—and enjoy the journey.