23. The elder sister(?) of the devil

"Here you go."

"Some... band-aids?"

To be exact, I had just asked the staff if they had two band-aids for Shibata.

"Put them on your heels. It must be stressful to wear new boots for the first time."

"... Why are you so attentive..."

"... Did I pry too much?"

"... Thank you."

Accepting my thoughtfulness, Shibata temporarily put her boots back on and headed for the bathroom.

"What a troublesome girl she is..."

"Yet, it seems to me that you get along rather well?"

Receiving a response to a meaningless comment, I turned toward the person in question.

"Oops, am I disturbing?"

She was a different waitress from the one who had served us at the table.

This was also quite evident from the fact that the person in front of me was wearing rabbit ears.

"Interested?"

Handing me two headbands with animal ears, she didn't seem upset at all.

She must be quite used to this job.

"No, thank you. I think it's pretty hard to eat with those things on."

"Yet, it's the perfect excuse to feed each other"

"Pft!"

Catching me off guard, the unfamiliar waitress took the spoon that was next to my plate, scopped a bit of the omurice, and...

"Open your mouth!"

"..."

I took the menu and showed it to the waitress.

"I did not order this service. Some people might appreciate it, but I have company with me."

"Ah, have I been discovered?"

Not at all displeased with my behavior, she spoon-fed the contents to herself.

"Hey, that's mine!"

What kind of service does this place have!?

Offering me the empty spoon, she said:

"It's on the house∼ "

"No, actually I paid for that omurice..."

"Hey, what are you doing!?"

Turning my gaze, I saw a new expression on Shibata's face.

For some strange reason, I felt the irresistible urge to smile.

Although it wasn't my fault, I felt like I needed to apologize.

"This maid...!"

"Little sister, you must try to be calmer!"

"...Is she your older sister?!?"

"Does she look like it!?"

"She is not!?"

Observing this bustle of meaningless dialogue, the maid began to laugh.

"You picked a guy who has both a good head on his shoulders and a great sense of humor! Your big sister is pleased!"

"I'm an only child!"

The maid suddenly hugged Shibata but did not seem particularly dislike it.

"Uhm...?"

"Fujita, we went to the same middle school. She's a year older than me but I haven't heard from her in almost a year. We lost contact after she moved on to high school."

"I thought I would find you at the nearby high school but instead I found out much later that you enrolled in a prestigious high school! I'm surprised you even passed the entrance exam!"

"I'm not that stupid!"

"But you can't deny that your grades are bad!"

"Urgh...!"

A friend from middle school...

"...Fujita?"

"... Huh?"

Overthinking, I did not notice that Shibata was right in front of my eyes.

"Open your mouth..."

"... Huh?"

Using that opportunity, something entered inside me.

"He is mine."

Shibata handed the spoon that was on my side of the table to the waitress and I realized that what was in my mouth was the spoon that Shibata had used to finish half of her plate.

"Ohoh...!"

With an expression that seemed to have understood everything, the waitress accepted the spoon.

"Since there is no longer this issue..."

I got a bad feeling...

"Take this!"

Rabbit ears appeared on my head.

"Enjoy your lunch!"

With that said, the waitress hurriedly walked away from the scene.

"..."

"..."

Facing each other, we didn't know what to say, but I knew what I had to do.

Flee!

As if she understood my intent, I felt the pressure of a hand on my shoulder.

"A.picture!"

At the end, I gave in to the pressure and compromised of being taken a picture just once.

Later, I got another spoon so I could eat my lunch.