Chapter 10:

I Scream for Ice Cream

Chitose's Cookbook

One quiet morning, Chitose was searching for the Grimoire she hadn’t touched yesterday.

“Kazu-kun, have you noticed where I put the Grimoire last time?”

The dog just tilted his head.

She sighed. “You didn’t notice it either?”

She went to the cabinet in her room.

“It wasn’t here; It wasn’t near the sewing machine; It wasn’t in the kitchen either, and definitely not in the bathroom, I’m sure!”

But she checked anyway, went back to the living room, and sat on the sofa, tired.

“It wasn’t there either.”

Kazuha sat beside her.

“Should I buy over-the-counter vitamins I won’t keep forgetting?”

---

Chitose suddenly remembered she still hadn’t made an illustration of the dress design yet.

“Oh no! The design!”

She quickly took her sketch pad, pocket notebook, and pencil from her bag.

“She's my regular, but she's still my customer. I hope she’s not angry that I forgot.”

“Gothic dress again… luckily I have measurements of my customers.”

She searches her name in the pocket notebook and writes the measurements on the side of the sketch pad page.

“Miss Morizuki, Morizuki… oh yeah, she has the complete measurements here.”

"Height 5.38, bust 85 cm, arm length 52 cm, waist 59 cm, hip 85 cm. Everything is here. We even got her sock measurements and hand measurements"

“I hope I can find shoes that are good for her taste again.”

She starts thinking deeply.

I actually love designing her dresses. So…what about the colors? She has black and white, crimson and black, red and black. Oh! Dark violet and black this time; maybe I should make a jirai kei outfit as a bonus.

She starts sketching the dress while Kazuha sleeps beside her.

---

Meanwhile, in a small house.

“I can’t take this anymore!”

It was Momoka, talking about the manga she was adapting.

“Why are you making this scene impossible for me to draw!? You're making me cry for each moment her ex-boyfriend met her again!”

She told Hikaru, who was behind her. He was making the story, and she started squeezing his cheeks as she teared up.

“Is this your ex-girlfriend!?”

“Ouuuch! We hadn’t been on a date once.”

Momoka, stop pinching his cheeks while Hikaru is rubbing his cheeks.

“You can have a break for a while; the deadline is still far. How about going with Chi-chan again? And let’s have dinner outside after I finish this one chapter.”

“Oh yeah, I have to check her again. How is she doing? I hope she's doing great.”

She quickly reached for her phone to send a message, but it wouldn’t turn on.

“Wait, my phone died.”

She charged it quickly.

“I didn’t touch this scene yesterday.”

“You seem so busy; you deserve to unwind.”

“Yeah… We are busy.”

As soon as her phone turned on, she saw a message from another friend of hers. She was horrified by the message.

“I have to check her! I’ll be going!”

“Hey! What happened!?”

Momoka’s face looked concerned and horrified.

“Kazuha’s body was gone!”

---

Momoka quickly arrived at Chitose’s apartment; she didn’t knock hard on the door.

THUD

“Chi-chan!”

Chitose and Kazuha were surprised by the heavy knocks.

“What’s she doing here!?”

THUD

“I’ll be there!”

And she whispered to Kazuha.

“Go to the room!”

Chitose opened the door, and Momoka hugged her without a second thought.

“Are you okay?”

Chitose was so confused.

“Hmmm, yeah, I'm actually illustrating a gothic outfit for my client. Something happened; have you fought with Hikaru?”

Momoka took the hint that she still didn’t know that Kazuha’s body was gone.

Wait, she’s back to normal, her? Does she know?

“I just missed you. Glad you are doing well.”

“Hmmm, have you eaten breakfast? I have a cake in the fridge.

Momoka slowly let go.

“You seem to be doing well right now, huh? Okay, I’ll have cake together.”

“Okay, I’ll get you a piece, come in.”

It’s weird… She was so gloomy last time, but for some reason she's back to normal.

---

Chitose takes a slice of cake and notices the Grimoire above the fridge.

“Ohh! It’s here! I’ve been looking for this the whole time.”

Momoka notices the book.

Is this something to do with the book? What’s with that book? We didn’t even open that?

“Was the book good?”

Chitose remembers that Momoka didn’t know the mystery about the book.

Oh no…

She returned it above the fridge.

“Oh, it was actually a good cookbook.”

“Have you tried cooking recipes from that book?”

“Not yet.”

“I see. Well, ingredients are expensive.”

Chitose gave the cake to Momoka, and she took a bite while watching Chitose carefully.

"So... you're really okay?"

Chitose nodded.

"Yeah. I feel much better today."

Momoka smiled.

"That's good."

She looked toward the window.

"The weather is nice too."

Chitose followed her gaze.

"Hmm?"

"Do you want to go outside for a while?"

"Outside?"

"Yeah. Maybe to the park. I heard that there’s a stall of ice cream there; it was on trends, so better to check it out?"

Momoka smiled.

"Just the two of us. We haven't really had time to hang out lately."

Chitose thought for a moment.

"...Sure."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I could use some fresh air."

“I’ll finish this cake before we go; it was delicious.

Momoka quickly finished the slice of cake, then stood up.

Let's go.”

“Now!?”

“Yep, yep.”

Chitose looked toward the bedroom.

"I'll just get Kazu—"

She stopped herself.

Then she glanced toward the hallway.

"...Actually, I'll leave him here."

Momoka tilted her head.

"Who?"

"Nothing."

Chitose smiled awkwardly.

"Let's go."

She grabbed her bag and followed Momoka toward the door.

Before leaving, Chitose glanced back toward the apartment.

The Grimoire remained quietly above the refrigerator.

And somewhere in the other room, Kazuha was peacefully sleeping.

Stay here for a while, Kazu-kun. I’m so sorry.

She quietly closed the door.

Momoka smiled beside her.

"Ready?"

"Yep."

The two of them walked down the hallway together. Chitose left the Grimoire and her companion behind.

Momoka think deeply

Leave who?

---

The two of them walked side by side down the quiet street.

Momoka stretched her arms above her head.

"Touching grass. ahhh... I really needed this."

Chitose smiled.

"You were working that hard?"

"Yep."

"I thought you had a fight with Hikaru earlier."

"I’m not that kind of a woman; even if I look like this, I'm still a delicate woman."

Momoka paused.

"…Probably."

Chitose laughed.

"You're terrible."

"Hey, his story made me cry!"

"That's because he was emotionally invested."

"That's what makes a good manga!"

They continued walking.

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

The afternoon breeze gently moved Chitose's hair.

Momoka glanced at her.

"You really do look better."

"Hmm?"

"Last time, you looked like you hadn't slept in a week. I can’t even paint your face that time."

Chitose looked away.

"I was just tired."

"Are you sure?"

"Yep."

Momoka studied her face.

There was something different about Chitose.

She wasn't forcing her smile anymore.

She genuinely looked happy.

Momoka smiled softly.

"Whatever happened... I'm glad you're smiling again."

Chitose looked at her.

"Thanks, Momo-chan."

Momoka bumped her shoulder against Chitose's.

"So, what are you working on?"

"A dress."

"For that gothic customer?"

"Yeah."

"What kind?"

Chitose's eyes immediately lit up.

"Dark violet and black, with layered fabric around the sleeves. And I'm thinking of adding silver embroidery around the collar."

Momoka smiled.

"There she is."

"Huh?"

"The Chitose who gets excited whenever she talks about dresses. How about adding a headband?"

Chitose blinked.

“That looks elegantly cute.”

Then laughed.

"Is that a bad thing?"

"No."

Momoka smiled.

"It's actually nice."

They reached the park entrance.

Children were playing near the playground while several people walked their dogs along the path.

Momoka pointed to the ice cream stall.

"The stall was over there! Let’s go."

Chitose nodded.

"Okay."

The two of them walked to the stall together.

The Eye of Order activated in a blink of an eye, and then it disappeared.

Chitose stopped.

"...Hmm?"

Momoka looked back.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Chitose smiled.

"Let's keep going."

---

The queue was long. As lunchtime began, the queue became longer.

The Eye of Order activated, but this time it didn’t disappear; it highlighted an entity. It was in front of her; it was a demon.

It has no torso, but both cheeks are massive sacks of translucent stomach where it stores everything it consumes. Its face has a massive jaw, while its limbs are on the back of its head.

Cla-Class: Ra-Rapacity?

For the first time, Chitose saw a demon in front of her face.

The demon was panting in nerves; it could see the Eye of Order while a normal person couldn’t.

The demon started to talk.

“Ha-Ha-Ha-Harbinger…”

It talked like it was hiccuping.

Chitose didn’t move, pretending she didn’t see it. So she closed her eyes normally, but as she opened them, the demon was in front of her face now.

“A-A-Aren’t you going to activate the Do-Do-Domain of Order?”

And the demon laughed.

The Eye of Order detects another entity.

Class: Cupidity, another entity!?

She looked up to the roof of the stall; the demon was there looking at everyone. And she noticed the Eye of Order.

Its body was huge, composed of loose skin, with silver, gold, and expensive gemstones embedded in it, and its stomach was wide open, with small hands inside. Even its mouth had hands inside.

It screamed to take Chitose’s attention.

“Harbinger!”

It ran towards her and scanned her form head to toe.

“You are not the Harbinger I know. Where’s the cook? The small girl?”

The Rapacity demon responded.

“A-A-A cook? Why does she have the Eye of Order?”

She was trying her best, acting as if she didn’t see them. She even talked to Momoka to keep her sanity.

“The queue is long, Momoka, so let’s try this ice cream next time.”

“But we are five customers away.”

“Okay, okay, I start to feel a little sleepy.”

The Cupidity demon agrees.

“You are right; she has the Eye of Order. Let me try something.”