Today, Celia-san suddenly invited me to the Aquarain mansion.
...But before I got there my shoelaces broke, and a black cat-eared person crossed my path. The bad omens were aplenty.
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this…. what should I do?”
Even though I said that, since I was invited I didn’t want to just leave, so I entered the mansion.
“...Follow.”
Hapyneth, now the newly hired maid, led me to Celia-san"s room.
“...As you will.”
Hapyneth then left with a beautiful bow.
She really looks the part.
As expected of someone hand-picked by Sophia-san.
I had no idea Hapyneth was suited to this kind of work.
I guess it doesn"t matter much now. After knocking, I enter the room.
"Oh my, you"re here. Please sit down over there."
Celia-san greeted me with a smile.
Since she usually messes with me, I inspect the the room before sitting.
It doesn"t look like she"s planning anything this time.
Though there might be some bad news.
I sit on the guest sofa as I was told.
"Did you have some business with me today?"
After all the ominous happenings today, I prayed it was good news.
“Actually, I want you to accompany Cecillia on her day off.”
“Day off?”
Sounds like something good after all!
My heart swells in antic.i.p.ation, and I ask for further details.
"She"s getting tired of all the proposals and parties. That"s why I want her to be able to relax for a day."
It looks like she’s taking her daughter"s well-being into consideration and forcing her to take a break.
Even I"ve noticed that her stress has been increasing every time I come to see her.
"My goodness, there"s so many superfluous proposals and parties. But she"s such a conscientious girl, she just can’t flat out refuse them."
That sounds like the Cecilia I know.
So that"s why she"s being forced to take a break.
"What would you like me to do?"
"It"s a long-awaited vacation day, and Cecilia is a girl after all, so I thought a shopping trip would be perfect. But it"s too sad for her to go all by herself. So I was hoping you would accompany her?"
In other words, a parent-approved date.
This is a chance I couldn"t have even dream of.
A Celia-san approved, undeniable date!
"Yes, understood. Consider it done."
Is such a lucky day really possible?
Maybe those bad omens were just my imagination.
Those shoelaces were old, and meeting the cat-eared person were all coincidences.
That must be it.
"I figured Youki-kun would agree. Cecilia is actually already waiting by the carriage. She"s waiting for you, so hurry along."
I bow to Celia-san and hurriedly excused myself.
She told me to go all out.
Even if she hadn"t, I"m already going on a date with the girl I love.
Of course I"d give it everything I"ve got.
I hurry to meet up with Cecilia.
"Youki-san. You came at last."
Cecilia was wearing a large straw hat and gla.s.ses.
It was different from her usual wear, but I must admit I enjoyed it.
“Sorry, did you wait long?”
I always wanted to use that line.
I never had a chance to say it in my previous life.
"No, it’s fine. I knew that Youki-san would make haste to come. Now, please hurry into the carriage and we’ll be on our way?"
I climb aboard the carriage and we head off to the city.
...Oh no, it"s just me and Cecilia, alone together.
Even though it"s the second time it"s happened, I"m more nervous now since it"s a date.
"...Your face is red, are you quite all right?"
Cecilia took a good look at my face and...too close, too close!
My face got even redder, and I backed away from her.
...s.h.i.t, I"m super weak against these kinds of things.
Anyway, I tell her nothing"s wrong with me.
"...That"s good then. If you start feeling unwell, please tell me immediately. Also, these are for you, Youki-san."
I was given a hat and sungla.s.ses...?
What are these for?
"I think it best if you disguise yourself. Just in case."
I see, that"s why she"s wearing the straw hat and gla.s.ses.
I"ve no doubt that if one of the Hero Party members shopped in town there"d be a huge frenzy.
But why do I need a disguise?
"I don"t really need one. I"m not very well known."
"If my ident.i.ty is discovered, you might be in danger from being seen with me."
That was certainly a possibility.
I totally understand, a man"s jealousy can be a frightening thing.
But at least Cecilia has a lot of loyal female supporters too.
"Got it. ...I"ll do my best to help this be a great day off!"
It"s our first date, and though my words may not carry any weight, I still think it"s what a man ought to say.
"Heehee, I"ll hold you to it."
Cecilia smiled at me.
I have no choice but to give it my all now.
I will make this date a success.
Fully resolved, I don the disguise I was given.
With gla.s.ses and hat on I was surprised how different I felt.
“Then let’s be on our way.”
We exit the carriage and mix into the crowd.
The pedestrians steal some glances at Cecilia, but they"re merely gazing at a random beautiful girl.
We are still in the clear.
I pay no heed to the whispers of people wondering why such a beauty is with that guy.
I"m gonna enjoy my very first date to the fullest.
I"m not exactly sure what to do on a date, but we start by heading to a clothing shop, which was a given.
The clothing shop we entered had a lot of female customers.
There were some guys here and there, but nearly all of them were here with their girlfriends.
“What do you think of this?”
Cecilia held the clothes in front of her body, and inquired if I thought it looked good or not.
Getting to enjoy a shopping trip after so long, she had a big smile when she asked me.
Honestly I had no idea how to answer, but she gave me a variety of clothes to choose from, so I pick out the outfit I think would suit her best.
"Then I"ll get this one. We should also get something for Youki-san." After deciding on Cecilia"s clothes, now it was my turn.
This time, I’m the one to pick out a few outfits, and buy the one she liked best.
"We managed to get some nice things. Today has been really fun so far. I"ve been acc.u.mulating so much stress lately, it"s nice to take a day to relax.”
“I’m glad you’re enjoying it.”
The day is still young.
We have plenty of time, and tons of places we can go.
And if we"re able to have a lot of fun, I"ll be able to see Cecilia smile more.
I bet our friendship levels are increasing too.
After leaving the clothing shop we both smile.
I"m sure Cecilia is thinking the same thing I am, that today will be a great day.
...At least it would have been until that moment.
The incident occurred at the next place we visited.
Near the clothing store was an accessory shop.
Since women are fond of jewelry, I asked her to go there.
“Cecilia, let’s check this place out.”
I"m sure there are plenty of things that will look great on her.
We’ll spend some time here, then go eat—it"s perfect.
You might wonder at all the typical first date plans, but all that matters to me is that Cecilia has fun.
I don"t need any ulterior motives.
“Accessory shop….is it? I guess that’s fine.”
After Cecilia gave the okay we go to enter the shop, but then a voice calls out to us.
“Eh, can it be? Cecillia?!”
When we turn around we see, just like us, a hat-and-gla.s.ses disguised Hero-kun and that Mage b.i.t.c.h.
So those ominous signs were leading to this…
Hero-kun waved at Cecilia and came towards us.
Man oh man, to think those ominous signs were leading to this...and you are smiling way too much dude...
Pay attention to your Mage lady friend, she"s scowling!
"Oh, Cecilia! HEEEY CECILI- Mmph!?"
Hero-kun was yelling out her name when the Mage girl clamped his mouth shut.
"Hey, Yuuga, are you an idiot? I hope you"re not forgetting how famous we are now?"
She gave him a whispered lecture.
I easily guessed what she told him.
"She may be a cleric, but when she"s walking around incognito you don"t just yell out her name, Yuuga! Everyone around us will find out! Use your head for once!"
She came down on him real hard.
But she was absolutely right.
Hero-kun kept his trap shut and nodded his head earnestly.
"Got it. Sorry Mikana, Cecilia."
Hero-kun apologized in a low voice.
He realized he was in the wrong.
Still, it would have been obvious if he"d taken even a second to think about it.
"By the way, what are you doing here Cecilia? It"s been a while so me and Mikana decided to take the day off. If you like, why don"t we hang out together?"
Hey now, do you not see me standing right here?
It’s not like I blend into the background!
"I"m sorry. Although I"m taking the day off as well, I"m already here with my good friend..."
"Good friend?"
After Hero-kun responded to Cecilia"s statement, he finally realized that I existed.
He had a weird expression on his face when he saw me.
I guess he has a problem with some other guy being with his crush.
"Aah...then, bring him along."
What the heck, I"m just a tagalong? Without waiting for Cecilia"s answer, Hero-kun grabbed her arm and took her into the accessory shop.
Maybe he was just being over-confident, but Cecilia didn’t look happy at all.
Me and the Mage girl were left behind, and she took a moment to voice her complaints.
"Dammit, this was supposed to be a date with just me and Yuuga!"
The Mage girl, I think her name name was Mikana?
I"m feeling the same way she is.
"I finally forced him to take a day off with just the two of us...the weather was nice so I invited him to go shopping just like we used to..."
"Like we used to", I wonder if she"s childhood friends with Hero-kun?
Haaah...I couldn"t help but sigh.
I"m also irritated that my first date got hijacked.
"...Hey you, you like that cleric right? You were together, maybe on a date?"
I was suddenly asked a difficult question.
How should I answer...?
"Hmm, I know the answer without even asking. Give it your best shot. If you do, maybe Yuuga will finally give up on her..."
She was kinda cheering me on.
I thought she was a total b.i.t.c.h, but maybe she was just really devoted to Hero-kun?
My opinion of her slightly improved...
"But with your boring face, I"m not holding out much hope..."
Previous statement withdrawn. She may not be a b.i.t.c.h, but her personality is horrible.
...Still I may think just a tiny bit better of her, so I suppose I can call her by name in my internal monologues.
"What are you s.p.a.cing out for? Just how far are you gonna let those two go on their own? I"m gonna go catch up."
Mikana entered the shop, rudely leaving me behind.
But she"s right.
He may not have a chance with Cecilia, but that doesn"t mean I should let them cozy up to each other.
I follow Mikana into the shop.
There"s a ton of couples in here.
I bet a bunch of guys are buying presents for their girls.
Looking around for her, I finally spot Cecilia.
She"s together with Hero-kun, and Mikana also made her way over.
"Oh, Youki-san, I"m so sorry. I didn"t mean to leave you behind..."
I know Cecilia isn"t at fault, so she doesn"t need to apologize.
It was all Hero-kun"s fault for forcibly dragging her along.
Of course I don"t say this out loud.
"It"s ok, I don"t mind. Anyway, it looks like there"s all kinds of different accessories."
Inside the store were all sorts of accessories; rings, bracelets, necklaces, brooches, and earrings, all ranging from the cheap to the expensive.
"Since we"re here, let"s get something. Which one should we buy?"
Hero-kun reacted to what I said.
"Sounds good. Mikana, Cecilia, I"ll get something for you."
Hero-kun gave them his best pretty boy smile.
Is this a compet.i.tion or something?
Saying he"ll get something for them, thems fightin" words!
I"m only buying something for Cecilia though!
"Then I"ll pick out something too."
And so two men started deliberating between all the accessories.
Mikana looks super happy that Hero-kun is buying something for her.
Cecilia has a forced smile. Probably because Hero-kun started this fight.
"...Now then, which should I get?"
I have never in my two lives picked out a present for a girl, with the only exception being my mother.
...Which one do I get?
I wander around the store until something catches my eye.
"...Ah, this looks nice."
What I found was a reasonably priced necklace.
It may not have been the most expensive thing in the store, but the workmanship was solid, and it didn"t look cheap.
A good choice if I do say so myself.
"Cecilia, what do you think of this?"
I have Cecilia try it on.
Looks pretty nice on her.
She seems to like it too.
And just when we had a good thing going...
"Cecilia, come try on what I picked out for you."
Hero-kun crowded in between us.
Read the mood, things were just getting good!
Hero-kun brought over an expensive-looking and ornately decorated hairpin.
But the jewels were all cluttered together in an extreme mess.
Hey buddy...don"t just pick something that looks expensive. People will doubt your fashion sense.
Even Cecilia and Mikana"s faces are uneasy.
Neither of the girls like it.
"Here, try it on."
Hero-kun didn"t catch the looks of disdain.
In order to put it on, Hero-kun took off Cecilia"s straw hat...wait you r.e.t.a.r.d!!
Everyone but Hero-kun were stupefied.
If you do that then...
"Hey, isn"t that Cecilia-sama?!"
"Ohmigawd, isn"t that Hero-sama next to her?!"
"Mikana-sama is here too!"
Their ident.i.ties revealed, the shop erupted into chaos.
Even though I was with them, I was pushed back by the flood of people, and became just another person among the mob of fans.
"Yuuga, you idiot!"
"Cecilia, where are you?!"
"Youki-san, where did you go?!"
"Quit shovin", you’re disrupting the shop"s business! Everyone get out!"
I demanded everyone leave so they could escape the shop, but the chaos could not be controlled.
More and more people crowded in and barraged the three heroes with questions.
"Hero-sama, who"s your favorite?!"
"What about your engagement to the princess?"
"Cecilia-sama, you turned down all your marriage proposals, were you saving yourself for Hero-sama?"
"Mikana-sama, what are your plans?"
"Huh? Wasn"t there one more person here...?"
The three were flooded with questions while I was being crushed by the mob.
After 6 hours, the four of us were exhausted.
Once the commotion died down we relaxed in a nearby park.
"...Cecilia, Mikana, oh and you too, do you guys want to go have some dinner..."
"No way in h.e.l.l!"
"Not going!"
"I shall politely decline!"
In that moment our three hearts became one.
Does this guy, who incited the uproar in the first place, even know what he"s saying? Hero-kun should be just as tired as the rest of us.
I don"t want any more trouble today, thank you very much.
“Ahaha...right…”
You should think about what you"ve done first.
The day off I"d been looking forward to so much ended up in shambles.
We were taking the day off to rest, but instead we wore ourselves out.
"Let"s just call it a day..."
Everyone agreed with me.
In the end, my first date was a total failure.
Hero-kun...er, Yuuga.
I"m gonna remember this...my grudge won"t be forgotten anytime soon.
The next day I was summoned by Celia-san...I wonder if I’m gonna be scolded?