CH 80

“Oh… blonde gal…”

As I was looking at the items in the store, I heard a languid voice.

There is only one person in my memory who calls me that with this voice.

“So don’t call me that, Alice.”

As I said this, I turned around and saw a girl with natural and fluffy beautiful blonde hair, standing right behind me.

I don’t know how she was able to recognize who I was without seeing my face, but she has a strange quality about her, so it’s possible that she wouldn’t have minded talking to me even if I might have been someone else.

“One person…?”

Alice asked me, scurrying around.

Mhmm…

“I’m telling you, Kaito’s not here, okay?

I don’t know why, but Alice has been in contact with Kaito for some time now, and she sulked when I befriended Kaito before, so I’m pretty sure she’s interested in him.

That’s why I think she’s looking for me today, to see if Kaito is there too.

“That’s… I already…know…”

But when I told her that Kaito wasn’t there, Alice nodded her head, not looking disappointed.

“Eh, What do you mean you know?

I was curious as to how Alice, whom I had just met, knew that Kaito was not here with me, so I asked her about it.

“Because… Kai shouldn’t be here…”

“What does that mean?”

“…You don’t know…?”

Alice tilted her head and looked at me.

I didn’t know what Alice was questioning.

It’s hard to have a conversation with Alice, as it always has been.

“No, I don’t know what you’re talking about when you suddenly ask me if I know anything about it?”

“If so… then it’s okay…”

Alice gave me a disinterested look when she said that.

“More importantly… did you come all this way by yourself…?”

The place that Alice was referring to was a shopping mall in the city center.

The city center is across the prefecture from my home town.

I think that’s why Alice is wondering why I’m alone.

“That’s right, is there something wrong with it? It’s rare for you to be alone. You’re the one who’s rarely alone. You always have an escort or Aria with you.”

“Aria is… busy with her company… The smiling venomous tongue… is Aria’s venting…”

Venting you say…

What the hell does she do to vent?

I can only imagine her raging as much as she wants to though?

But then again, it’s unusual for Alice to be without an escort…

Hmm…?

Speaking of which―

“I’ve always wondered why Alice has an escort and Aria doesn’t.”

I was talking with Alice about escorts, and I asked her the question I used to wonder about.

I’ve never seen Aria with an escort, even though I’m sure that if she has one, she’ll have one as well.

“Aria is… because she practices self-defense…”

“But that doesn’t mean much when they’re young, does it? If you’re a young child, you’ve only just learned self-defense, and even if you’ve been doing it for quite a few years, you’re too weak to do anything about it. But I don’t think Aria had an escort since she was very young, did she?”

When I said this to Alice, she stared at my face.

Then, after giving it some thought, she slowly opened her mouth.

“Aria… didn’t… learn self-defense for… herself…”

“Umm, what do you mean?”

I mean, isn’t that answer slightly off from my question in the first place?

“Aria was forced to learn… self-defense to protect… Alice, who is always with her… If Aria… learns self-defense, she will be… much more useful than the other escorts…”

Alice replied, her face clouding over.

Again, I got a different answer to the question I had asked, but I think I get it now.

I don’t know why, but in the past, Alice was more important and Aria was less important.

…That reminds me, I think Kaito said something like that before…

So, in order to protect Alice, Aria learned self-defense.

And the fact that she went to the trouble of escorting Alice means that she didn’t care what happened to Aria, so she didn’t need to have an escort to protect her.

But―

“How could there be such discrimination? And I hate to break it to Alice, but Aria has always stood out more than you, hasn’t she?”

I’ve known the Byodoin sisters since I was in elementary school, so I know them well, but Aria has always been the center of everyone’s attention, and Alice has always been the one in the corner with few words.

That’s why I think it’s Aria that the Byodoin values the most.

Well, Aria was an energetic girl, and Alice was a quiet and listless girl, so it is possible that they were worried about Alice, but the Byodoin Group would not be so lenient.

That means Alice had that much talent in her…?

“Well… you’ll have to find the answer to that… yourself… It’s also… a clue to… the connection between Alice and Kai…”

“―!”

When I looked at Alice, surprised by her words, she smiled.

It seems that she knew that I was concerned about the connection between Kaito and Alice.

“Besides… there’s another escort… today.”

“Another escort?”

“Onee-sama―!”

As I was wondering who the other escort was, I heard a cheerful voice.

The moment I heard the voice, I regretted having talked to Alice for so long.

“Ah―! Who is this person!? No matter how much you say you’re a woman, you can’t just go near Onee-sama!”

The one who shouted this and interposed herself between Alice and me was a small foreigner girl with silver hair shaped like cat ears that Kaito would’ve loved to see.

And she was the most dangerous person I’ve ever met.

Why? Because this girl is a troublemaker who causes chaos everywhere she walks.

Not only that, but she’s very fond of the Byodoin sisters, and she’s very hostile to me, who was hostile to Aria.

I still remember how hard it was for me to get involved with her.

“Walking Cat-eared bomb… Noisy… Back to your house…”

“Onee-sama!? I’m not a dog, you know!? I’m a cat!”

“No, you’re not even a cat!”

Camilla blurted out so naturally that I couldn’t help but butt in.

“Can’t you see my ears!? I’m a cat girl!”

Camilla said this to me, holding her hair in her cat ears with her hand.

She’s always been a strange girl, but now it seems she’s even more strange than before.

“Yes, yes, you’re right. I’m going to go now.”

I didn’t want Camilla to notice who I was and get involved, so I tried to leave as quickly as possible.

And I haven’t even bought what I wanted yet.

“Blonde gal… Buying is fine… but how are you… going to give it to him…?”

But as I was about to leave, Alice asked me something that caught my attention.

“What do you mean?”

“Hmm? I asked you how… you’re going to give it to Kai…?”

“…Why does that mean you’re trying to buy Kaito a gift?”

“Because… here… is the men’s section…”

Ah― that’s right.

I was picking out a birthday present for Kaito, so naturally I was in the men’s section.

“But it’s not necessarily for Kaito. It might go to someone else, you know?”

“That’s not… true… Because the… blonde-haired gal had… a maidenly look on her face as she picked up… the product… Got distressed… and put it back…”

“H-How long have you been watching me!?”

It is true that I was trying to decide which one would please Kaito the most, but I had such a maidenly look on my face!?

And Alice was watching me!?

But I had no choice!

This is the first gift I’m giving Kaito, so I want him to be very happy!

So I couldn’t decide, so I came to the city center.

“Watching… was fun…”

“Oh, you…”

When Alice smiled and thought of me earlier, I grew angry.

“Don’t be so… upset… Instead, I’ll tell you… something good… I’ll tell you so…”

“What’s that good thing…?”

“Kai is… in Okayama Prefecture right now… So if you want to see him on his birthday… you’ll have to go to… Okayama prefecture…”

“Eh!?”

Wha-What does that mean!?

Why are you in Okayama Prefecture, Kaito!?

And how does Alice know about this!?

You didn’t tell me, but you did tell Alice!

“Every year Kai… goes back to his father’s… family home around this time…”

“No, how do you know about that!?”

I asked Alice, who knew too much about Kaito, but she wouldn’t tell me about it.

“Besides… I think… Kai’s birthday is already… booked…”

“Umm, yeah, that’s probably true, but…”

I think Alice is right, maybe Kaito’s birthday is already set in place.

And I’m pretty sure it’s going to be Momoi.

It’s times like this that I think family is unfair.

It’s so easy to keep someone else’s schedule in check.

…Why didn’t I make the appointment first?

I didn’t want him to know that I was going to talk to Kaito and get him a surprise gift!

But if Kaito was taken by another girl because of that, it would be the end of the world…

And he’s in Okayama Prefecture…

Why is this happening…?

“But… Alice is planning to hold a party… in Okayama prefecture… on August 8….. Is the blonde gal… also coming…?”

“Eh!? Could that be Kaito’s birthday party!?”

“Yeah…”

“I-I’m coming! Of course I’m coming…! But is Kaito really going to come? I mean, if he’s promised to another girl, won’t that take priority over…?”

“Worry is… not needed… Kai will… definitely come… okay?”

“I-I see… Yeah, I definitely want to go!”

“All right…”

“But why did you ask me to go? Wouldn’t it be more convenient for Alice if I wasn’t there?”

I wondered why Alice had invited me to Kaito’s birthday party.

Because if it were me, I would definitely prefer to be alone with Kaito.

I didn’t understand why Alice would go out of her way to let another girl get close to Kaito when she must have feelings for him too.

“Apart from that… the more people there are… the more Kai will be happy…”

In response to my question, Alice gave me her usual blank expression of disinterest.

Hmm… I still don’t understand this girl at all.

However, this invitation was very much appreciated and I thanked her for it.

“Thank you, Alice.”

“Yeah…”

When I thanked her, she nodded her head.

“With that aside― Where did Camilla go?”

I was wondering why it was so quiet earlier, but before I knew it, Camilla was gone.

“She was too noisy… so I made her go… to the juice store and get some…”

“Oh, so that’s what happened.”

Good riddance to all that.

…But if she’s alone, she’s probably up to something…

“Onee-samaaa~… please help me…”

It seems that my bad premonition came true, and I heard Camilla’s voice in tears asking Alice for help.

When Alice and I looked in the direction of the voice, we saw Camilla standing there, soaking wet for some reason.

“…How can… that be…?”

Even the always expressionless Alice couldn’t hide her surprise that her kouhai was soaking wet in a shopping mall like this.

“I bumped into a big guy… Then the lids came off the two juices I was holding and the contents splashed on me…! Then the person who was startled by this dropped the juice in his hand and it hit me again, and with that momentum the lids came off and the contents came pouring out…! It happened twice…!”

Camilla explained the reason with tears in her eyes.

Alice wiped her with her handkerchief, but it didn’t do much good because she was soaked all over.

“What did you do with them?”

Even though it was an accident, if you make a girl soaking wet, she’s going to help anyone.

“If you get hit, hit back! I buried them with my Naginata!”

Camilla said so, and before I knew it, she had a wooden stick in her hand that resembled a Naginata.

[EDN: Naginata is a pole weapon and one of several varieties of traditionally made Japanese swords. They were originally used by the samurai class of feudal Japan, as well as by Ashigaru (Foot Soldiers) and sohei (Warrior Monks) (courtesy of wikipedia.) It is also what Saga (from Arknights) uses as her weapon.]

“No, what are you doing to someone you just hit in an accident!?”

“I don’t care! All men are enemies!”

T-This girl…

It seems that she has never recovered from her old dislike of men.

“Walking cat-eared bombs… will be punished later…”

“Ugh… yes…”

Still wiping Camilla’s body hard, Alice said “punished” in an angry voice.

In response to this, Camilla shrugged her shoulders and nodded obediently.

Alice is surprisingly good at taking care of people…

I kept watching them interact― thinking that they were like a parent and a child.