We kept looking, no Kano-approved gift in sight.
“Lunch?”
“Good time for it.”
“Got a recommendation.”
”…Don’t tell me couples-only.”
“Aw — how did you know?”
“I know your tricks. Not today.”
(She’d been planning to pull the same parfait trick. Twice — never.) We picked a kaitenzushi.
“Busy.”
“Sushi’s universally popular.”
Kids to seniors waiting. We waited a while and got seated.
“My treat — eat what you want.”
“That sounds suspicious.”
“What — kind older sister buying for little brother.”
“You lured me with this before.”
(Couples-only parfait pattern.) “Stop being paranoid. Check the menu.”
”…Looks normal.”
“See? Worry-free.”
The tablet menu couldn’t be doctored — fine. I ordered salmon, yellowtail, tuna roll.
“You always get salmon first.”
“My favorite. You always get tuna first.”
“Caught that, huh.”
“Years of childhood friendship.”
(Ayato and Suzuno do the same — always get their favorite first. Despite higher-spec Kano and Ayato seeming dissimilar to average Suzuno and me — blood lines up here.)
We ate at a slow pace. (With Ayato, plates would have stacked at terrifying speed.)
I noticed a special menu.
“Collab menu.”
“Posters on the wall — anime collab.”
A demon-slaying anime currently popular — special menu items themed on characters. I ordered a futomaki without looking carefully — bad call.
The futomaki came out hand-delivered, not on the belt — several times larger than the picture.
“This is not what the tablet showed.”
“That’s bigger than expected.”
“And the price — way more than a normal futomaki. Why didn’t I notice.”
(Had I checked the price I’d have realized. Did Kano’s hand hide the price field while I tapped? Suspicious.)
I started eating. Already full — finishing this would be brutal. Trying my best — Kano grinned.
“Looks rough — let me help.”
”!”
She started eating from the opposite end. And — her left hand was now on the back of my head. Trapping me.
She advanced fast — face-to-face, lips inches apart. I bit through and dove away just before contact.
“Aw — almost.”
“Almost what?! What are you doing?!”
“You’d like a lucky-perv moment, right? Granting your wish.”
“Look up lucky-perv.”
(Lucky-perv requires accidental. Intentionally creating it doesn’t qualify.) A regular lunch had become a special-play scenario.
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Brief hiatus — back to updating. Manga part 2-A is up; 2-B drops Jan 3 noon.