54 - The Completed Appointment (Patreon)

RAW

After making that promise with Mikami—or rather, it might be incorrect to call it a promise. It was more like she had forcibly secured the agreement. Time passed naturally, and the weekend was approaching.

It was Friday after school. At this point, it hardly needed mentioning that, as usual, Mikami was lounging around at my house like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Kirishima-san, let's hurry and finish our homework."

"I know, I know. What assignments do we have this time?"

"English and math worksheets, plus a Japanese workbook. Ugh… They really piled it on just because it’s the weekend. But I refuse to let mere sheets of paper get in the way of my date, so I’ll destroy them immediately."

"…Oh, I see. Good luck with that."

The fact that she had somehow upgraded our shopping trip to a "date" was something I could have pointed out. But more than that, the sheer determination with which Mikami tackled her assignments was so amusing that I let it slide.

Since weekends meant two days off, teachers tended to pile on more homework. Mikami was visibly annoyed, but she had a point—there really was a lot of English homework. Still, she blazed through it at an incredible speed. Despite writing so quickly, her handwriting remained neat, and from what I could glimpse, she wasn’t making any mistakes. Her phrase about "destroying the assignments" wasn’t entirely inaccurate.

"…No matter how much you stare, I’ll only let you copy a little."

"You’re actually going to let me copy?"

"Just a little. Any more than that, and it becomes premium content. You’ll have to pay."

"Pay, huh… Let’s see how much I have on me. Well, I guess I have no choice if I want to copy your homework."

"Thank you for your patronage."

"In that case, I guess tomorrow’s shopping trip is canceled. I’m broke now."

"…Wait, no! There was a system error. A refund is in progress. As an apology for the inconvenience, copying is now free. Feel free to copy as much as you want."

Of course, I wasn’t actually broke—I had just wanted to mess with her a little. I exaggeratedly slumped my shoulders and let out a heavy sigh, making myself look as pitiful as possible. Mikami immediately turned pale, panicked, and refunded the "payment" with tears threatening to well up in her eyes.

Not only did I get my money back, but I also got access to the so-called "premium content" for free. Just how badly did she want to go shopping? Seeing her almost in tears as she handed the money back made me feel guilty.

A guy tricking a girl into giving him money while making her cry—yeah, that’s a terrible look.

"Okay, I took that joke a little too far. Please don’t make that face…"

"Will we still be able to go on our date?"

"Yeah, of course."

She looked at me as if I were some fool who had wasted all his money on reckless spending. There was no need to worry. Admitting that it was a "date" felt a bit embarrassing, but there was no issue with our plans. And I didn’t actually need to copy her homework. It was just a harmless joke.

"I'm relieved. I would have been really sad if I had unknowingly drained all of Kirishima-san's money."

"I wouldn’t spend my important savings recklessly. Especially not the ones meant for a trip with you."

"I see. That makes me very… happy."

Mikami’s relieved smile was incredibly cute.

That reaction was dangerously powerful—it caught me off guard.

I’d heard stories of people who recklessly spent their rent or utility money on gambling or microtransactions, ultimately ruining themselves. Could I end up like that too?

I’d never been hooked on any mobile games before, but… I couldn’t deny the possibility that I might someday end up spending everything on someone I admired. That thought alone sent a chill down my spine.

Mikami tilted her head in confusion as she watched me shudder. Adorable.

"By the way, what’s the plan for tomorrow? Are we meeting up somewhere?"

"Let’s meet in bed tomorrow morning."

"…So I’ll wake up, and the meeting will already be happening?"

"Close, but not quite. Technically, the meeting will have already been completed before you even go to sleep."

"Uh… meaning?"

"I’m staying over tonight. That way, the appointment is already fulfilled. Present perfect tense, you see."

I see. She managed to sneak an English reference in there while breezing through her homework.

It felt like she had just casually slipped something outrageous into the conversation… but at this point, I figured I might as well let her do whatever she wanted.

Even if I sent her home, she’d just use her spare key to sneak in during the night.

Whether she stayed from the night before or broke in later—it was practically the same thing.

I had no idea what kind of rules Mikami’s family had, but if she was okay with it, then I had nothing to say.

"Once we finish our homework, let’s have dinner. Do you have any requests, Kirishima-san?"

"Anything’s fine."

"Geez… That’s the most troublesome answer. If anything’s fine, then for dinner, I’ll be your meal."

"…Sorry. My bad."

"If we take a bath together and then you eat me for dinner, that’s three benefits in one."

"…I’m sorry. Please spare me."

Look, I admit I was wrong, so please stop giving me these bizarre choices that mix food, bathing, and you into one terrifying package.

"…I was joking. Mostly."

"So part of it was serious."

"…Who knows?"

Oh, I see how it is.

She was getting back at me for my little prank earlier.

Honestly, my heart couldn’t take this. Mikami’s jokes were too much for me… Not that I had any room to complain.

"But seriously, when someone asks for your dinner preference, saying ‘anything’s fine’ is no good. I’ll give you another chance. What’s your request for dinner? Is it me?"

That is not a valid choice.

"…I think we have eggs, so let’s go with omelet rice."

"…For dessert, will you have me?"

"I think we have pudding, so I’ll go with that."

"I see… How unfortunate."

Even though I had properly made a request, she still looked disappointed. No matter how many times she dangled the "me" option, there was no way I was picking that.

"Alright then… Let’s finish up this homework quickly."

"Yeah."

"By the way, about the bath…?"

"You’re taking it alone."

"…I see. Let me know if you change your mind."

I could already tell I was going to be completely at her mercy during tomorrow’s "date."

I wanted to save my energy for that, but considering that our appointment was "already completed," it was too late.

Wait… had the date already started?

If that was the case… was I already doomed?

I started to worry about whether I’d even make it through tomorrow in one piece. Maybe I should leave a farewell message in advance.