Asakura was no fool.
He had sensed to some extent before that Ayase harbored a significant degree of goodwill toward him.
And whether it was just a misconception or not, he always felt that the girl's goodwill toward him was, for some reason, a bit heavy.
Therefore, after having no choice but to steal Ayase's first kiss for the sake of the Yanami matter, Asakura had been subconsciously avoiding contact with the girl; even when she took the initiative to contact him on Line, he would usually brush her off hurriedly after a few lines of chat.
Thinking back now, his actions were indeed a bit too much like a "scumbag."
"There's no need to apologize to me so seriously; after all, Asakura-nii is the hero who saved me."
Ayase showed a slight smile, looking as though her mood had indeed improved quite a bit: "Well, if Asakura-nii insists on apologizing, then I have already forgiven you now."
"That's wonderful."
Asakura nodded with a smile.
But he did not allow himself to become complacent just because he had received the girl's verbal forgiveness.
"However, an apology is an apology, but a gift for that apology is still necessary. I'll give this to you."
As he spoke, he pulled something out of his pocket.
Ayase looked over curiously and found that what Asakura held in his hand was a small golden ball, only slightly larger than a golf ball. Its craftsmanship was as exquisite as a work of art, very beautiful—it wouldn't be a problem even if it were placed in a display cabinet at home as an ornament.
"Is this... gold?"
As a girl from a wealthy family, she had seen many precious gold items and could slightly distinguish between pure gold and gold plating.
"No, this is a mystical item." Asakura, who had deliberately chosen a corner seat to ensure others couldn't see them, said: "The material doesn't matter; what matters is the object itself."
As he spoke, he opened his palm, and two long silver ears suddenly popped out from the top of the golden ball.
By the time Ayase realized those weren't rabbit or donkey ears, but a pair of small wings, the ball was already flapping them at high speed, darting back and forth in the space above the table between them.
"What is this?"
The girl couldn't help but become even more curious, her eyes sparkling with surprise and joy.
"A Golden Snitch. Just think of it as an exclusive messenger... well, while owls are nice, they are too much trouble to keep. This kind of thing definitely feels more 'magical'."
With lightning speed, Asakura reached out and caught the Snitch in an instant.
Clearly, for someone with seven times the reaction speed of an average person, the Golden Snitch's agility was still far from enough!
"Oh~!"
Ayase clapped softly to show her support, her emotional value provision being quite on point.
"Don't move."
While the girl had yet to react, Asakura reached out and lightly tapped the Golden Snitch in his hand against her lips.
"Mmnph, it's a bit icy..."
Caught off guard, the girl's head instinctively leaned back, but she had clearly already been touched: "What are you doing?"
"Leaving a biological information imprint..." Asakura explained, "You know about fingerprint locks, right?"
"Of course I know. My mother actually wanted to change the front door lock at home to a fingerprint lock, but my father always disagreed. He is... well, quite traditional. Anyway, he felt that installing that kind of thing on the door at home would only lower the house's historical depth and style."
Ayase explained.
"Is that so? He's certainly quite an old-fashioned person..."
"But he agreed after my mother yelled at him."
"..."
Hang in there, Papa Aragaki!
"Anyway," Asakura tossed the small ball in his hand to Ayase: "I'm giving this to you. From now on, it's our exclusive messenger. If you have anything or any letters you want to give me, just let it deliver them."
Ayase caught the Golden Snitch in a flurry of movement and looked at it, feeling a bit strange: "Such a small ball feels like it can only carry a slip of paper..."
"It has already recorded your life information; try kissing it again." Asakura explained.
"Is that so?" Ayase, feeling a bit embarrassed, held the small ball and gave its surface a light kiss.
Then, the surface of the ball suddenly opened.
Immediately following that, many snacks poured out from inside, covering more than half the table.
"Ah-wa-wa-wa..."
Having never seen such a scene, Ayase momentarily became even more flustered, nearly knocking over her Frappuccino, yet she was completely unable to stop the outpouring of snacks. she could only look at Asakura piteously.
The latter snapped his fingers, and the Golden Snitch, which had been continuously pouring out snacks, finally stopped.
"Although it looks small, the Golden Snitch has a space inside about the size of a suitcase. It can hold many things, and in the whole world, only you and I can open this Snitch. I don't really like looking at my phone, and I don't like typing on it, so many times messages go 'read but not replied.' But if it's information sent with this, I will definitely take it seriously."
Only then did Asakura explain. Then, from the snacks scattered across the table, he picked out two candies with violet-colored wrappers and unreadable brand names: "Also, try not to eat candies in this color wrapper recklessly."
"Is there some taboo, so they can't be used?" the girl asked nervously.
"No, it's stuff used for skipping class. Usually, it's a bit troublesome if you eat it." Asakura explained: "For example, vomiting or getting a nosebleed and the like..."
"..."
Although the girl didn't speak, the expression on her face—'He would actually make such meaningless things; are all magicians very idle?'—had already betrayed her thoughts.
That being said, the girl was clearly quite delighted with this gift from Asakura; she kept it in her hands, unable to resist gently stroking and wiping it.
"Thank you, Asakura-nii."
She let go, and the Golden Snitch began to circle around the girl, looking as cute as a friendly little bird.
"Well then, next, let's talk about you and Kirino-cha... cough, Kirino's situation." Asakura, who nearly slipped and used her online handle, finally managed to hit the brakes and asked.
"Just as Asakura-nii saw, I can't accept her hobbies, so we've broken off our friendship."
Ayase toyed with the Golden Snitch—her reaction time was also quite strong, enabling her to catch it easily, let go to let it hover, and then reach out to grab it again with apparent ease—as she said with a calm expression: "There isn't really much to say."
"Isn't she your best friend?"
"She was my best friend," Ayase said softly, "if we don't count Asakura-nii."
"Breaking off a friendship with your best friend just because of different hobbies seems a bit too abrupt, doesn't it?" Asakura said: "Are you really willing to just part ways like this and grow further and further apart from your good friend?"
At his words, Ayase's expression gradually grew dim.
"If I could, of course I wouldn't want to become strangers with Kirino like this... but, but..."
Speaking to this point, after hesitating for a long time, Ayase finally sighed: "Fine, as long as she can swear never to touch those kinds of things again, we can still be friends..."
"I'm afraid that won't work."
Asakura shook his head: "Although I'm not close with Kirino, even in this short time together, I can feel her love for those things; it's definitely not something that can be given up just like that."
"In other words, even in Asakura-nii's eyes, if you put me and those things on two ends of a scale, Kirino would choose the other side without hesitation instead of me, right?"
Ayase asked calmly.
Except there were no highlights in her eyes at all.
It felt quite terrifying.
The Golden Snitch seemed to feel the pressure from its new owner as well; it retracted its wings into the little ball and lay quietly on the table without moving, pretending to be just an ordinary handicraft.
This girl really has the potential to become a yandere—and unlike typical yanderes, if she ever gets serious, she wouldn't even need a machete or an axe...
Kirino-chan wouldn't get punched into a little pancake by her, would she...
"Calm down a bit..." Asakura could only advise her earnestly: "You and an abstract concept like 'hobbies' aren't things that can be compared. Besides, look, I play those kinds of games she likes too, don't I? This isn't something that needs to be condemned to this extent, right?"
"Asakura-nii is different."
"No, if we're just talking about hobbies and the like, there's no difference between her and me, is there?" Asakura shook his head, "In fact, Ayase, why exactly do you hate anime and games so much?"
"It's not because of anime and games... though I don't like that part much either... Kirino's thing, I remember it was called True Sister Wars, right? Asakura-nii, have you ever heard the news about the 'Sister Wars Murder Case'?"
Ayase asked.
"The Sister Wars Murder Case?"
"It was a criminal case where a culprit used a self-defense stun gun to shock underage girls. After being arrested, the main culprit said he only did those things because he wanted to imitate a character in that game called True Sister Wars."
Ayase looked at Asakura and spoke in a low voice, her expression so heavy it looked like it was about to drip: "Later, when the police searched his residence, they found that game inside. ...I don't want to put it so harshly, but I really wonder why that game hasn't been banned yet. Didn't that case prove that players of this game are all potential criminals-in-waiting? Only a hero like Asakura-nii could play such games without being corrupted!"
"I see. So that's how you see it."
Asakura nodded: "But unfortunately, you've got it wrong."
"Got it wrong?" Ayase was stunned.
"Yeah, I was wondering just now why the 'Sister Wars Murder Case' sounded so familiar; after all, until two months ago, I hardly ever paid attention to the news..." Asakura smiled and said casually: "But regarding this case, I happen to know a few things."
In reality, after this case had been misrepresented several times, it gave birth to urban legends similar to the "Electronic Ghost Murder Incident."
The software Ryunosuke made scraped these urban legends from the internet. After organizing them, he found the investigation results released by the police. It was one of the few urban legends that had been debunked. Asakura had seen it while organizing the route for his National Ghost Story Pilgrimage, which was why he had some impression of the name.
"That criminal actually just bit back randomly to escape conviction and reduce his sentence. He was a psychopathic murderer to begin with and had nothing to do with the game. If anything, if he hadn't had the game as an outlet, his murder plan might have even happened sooner. Later, the police specifically debunked this situation, but just as you know, rumors spread very quickly and easily, while debunking information often fails to get out at all. In the end, people on the internet still hold onto outdated fake information and wave the big stick of morality."
Asakura sneered at this: "As far as I know, some politicians later specifically teamed up with the head of the PTA to stir up trouble, proposing to strictly strengthen the regulation of games and anime. In reality, they just intended to use the opportunity to win over factions that want to take a big bite out of the 'fat meat' that is the ACG subculture industry."
"...It's, it's not necessary to think of politicians and the PTA head as that bad, right?"
Ayase couldn't help but say a bit awkwardly: "Do you have some prejudice against that politician?"
Because her mother was the head of the PTA... in fact, she had even met the politician Asakura mentioned when he came to visit her home; at least on the surface, the other party was a very genial person...
"No, Ayase, you've got it wrong. I don't have a prejudice against that politician," Asakura shook his head, "I look down on all politicians in this country equally. As for what I just said, it's not really a secret; if you really wanted to look, you could find plenty of evidence... but I have no interest in watching insects dance, so I won't take the initiative to dabble in political matters."
Of course, if those insects crawled over his head, that would be a different story.
"Anyway, don't be blinded by appearances, Ayase. You're a smart girl; look behind you." Asakura said.
The girl looked back in confusion, only to find that Star... bucks had somehow filled up with quite a few customers. Moreover, because this place was very close to the Comiket exhibition hall, the customers coming here were either "hunters" returning fully loaded with many paper bags, or cosplayers still wearing their cosplays.
But there were no strange expressions on their faces, only the happiness and satisfaction of having thoroughly enjoyed a festival belonging to their own kind. If you ignored the makeup, they were no different from ordinary people.
"I won't say that everyone who likes the 2D world is a good person; every group has good and bad people. But at least for now, I don't think they are 'criminals-in-waiting' who need to be viewed through tinted glasses. What do you think, Ayase?" Asakura said softly: "So, hurry up and make up with Kirino."
"Even if Asakura-nii says so..."
Ayase took a sip of her Frappuccino and said with a stiff face: "Then what about the 'R18' on those doujinshi? I don't need to explain what that means, do I? Even so, you still think there's nothing wrong with Kirino having them...?"
"Ah, this..."
Asakura was speechless.
Sorry, Kirino-chan... my relationship with you hasn't reached the point where I'd beat up the Diet and the Prime Minister to make them amend the constitution for you...