Chapter 452: Buying Ingredients

Someone eventually came up to them, and from the way she looked, Kouhei figured that she was probably around the same age as him. She seemed extremely nervous about approaching them, though, because she kept hesitating as she stood there, almost as if she had spent the last several minutes gathering enough courage to actually walk over and speak to them.

"C-Can I ask for some pictures?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly as she held her phone out toward Kouhei.

Kouhei blinked at her for a moment before looking at the phone she was holding toward him. He glanced at Hina afterward, seemingly wondering whether he had somehow missed something important, because he still could not figure out why this girl wanted a picture with him in the first place.

"Uh, I'm not exactly a famous celebrity," Kouhei said while scratching his cheek, his expression becoming slightly awkward as he tried to figure out the most polite way to turn down the request without making the situation uncomfortable.

He was genuinely trying to be as polite as possible because, as far as he knew, there was absolutely nothing special about him that would warrant someone approaching him for a photograph. Kouhei was not a famous celebrity, an idol, an actor, or some other well-known public figure who constantly had strangers asking for pictures. In his own mind, he was still just a relatively ordinary guy who happened to be walking around a mall with Hina and Aria.

Of course, anyone who actually looked at him would probably disagree with that assessment almost immediately.

Kouhei's appearance alone made the whole idea of him being an ordinary person rather difficult to believe, especially when he was standing next to Hina, who was undeniably beautiful. Aria was also accompanying them while wearing a maid outfit, which certainly did not make the group look any more ordinary. If some random person saw the three of them walking together without knowing anything about them, it would probably be perfectly reasonable for that person to assume that Kouhei was some kind of celebrity, wealthy heir, or important person surrounded by people who were there to accompany him.

The fact that Kouhei himself did not realize how strange the entire picture looked only made the situation funnier.

"W-Well, i-it doesn't really matter," the girl said, still holding her phone toward him. "I just want to take a picture with you. You're really super handsome, so I feel like I should take this chance to get a picture of you while I can."

Kouhei stared at her for a moment.

That was certainly a unique line of reasoning.

He had expected her to mention something about recognizing him or perhaps confusing him with someone else, but apparently, her entire argument was simply that she thought he was handsome and therefore wanted a picture with him. It was surprisingly straightforward, and Kouhei honestly had not expected someone to say it so openly.

He knew that some girls did occasionally approach attractive guys and ask for pictures, especially when they found someone particularly good-looking, so the concept itself was not exactly foreign to him. The surprising part was that it was happening to him personally, because Kouhei had never really considered himself the sort of person who would have strangers coming up to him for something like this.

Before he could say anything else, Hina stepped in.

"I'm sorry, but we're in a bit of a hurry right now," Hina said while looking at the girl with a pleasant smile.

Her expression appeared perfectly friendly at first glance, and someone who did not know Hina particularly well might have assumed that she was simply being polite while declining the request.

Kouhei, however, immediately understood that something was wrong.

Hina was smiling.

She just was not smiling because she was happy.

Kouhei had already spent enough time around Hina to recognize the difference between her genuine smile and the kind of smile she wore when she was annoyed but trying very hard not to show it. This particular smile belonged firmly in the second category, and the subtle tension in her expression made it obvious that she was not particularly pleased about someone interrupting their plans.

The girl in front of them seemed to realize that as well.

Her expression slowly changed as she became increasingly uncomfortable, and although Hina had not raised her voice or directly threatened her, something about the atmosphere surrounding her suddenly made the girl feel as though she had stepped somewhere she probably should not have gone.

For some reason, she felt an overwhelming sense of danger coming from Hina.

It was almost as though an invisible killing intent had suddenly been directed straight toward her, and the girl instinctively took a few steps backward. She probably did not even understand why she was reacting like that, but some part of her brain was clearly telling her that continuing to stand there would be a terrible idea.

Kouhei watched the exchange with a slightly awkward expression.

He was not entirely sure whether he should intervene or simply pretend he had seen nothing.

Considering Hina's expression, he decided that pretending to see nothing was probably the safer option.

"Shall we hold hands?" Hina suddenly asked him, turning toward Kouhei with another smile.

Kouhei looked at her, slightly confused by the sudden suggestion.

"Hold hands?" he asked, wondering where she was going with this.

"That way, no one will be able to get in our way," Hina explained, still smiling as though she had just come up with the most perfectly reasonable solution imaginable.

Kouhei thought about it for a moment before eventually nodding.

"Sure, that works," he replied, deciding that there was really no reason to argue with her about it.

With that, Kouhei and Hina began holding hands as they continued walking through the mall.

Ironically, the decision probably made them attract even more attention.

People who had already been looking in their direction now had an even easier reason to stare, because seeing a handsome guy walking hand in hand with an incredibly beautiful woman naturally drew attention. Aria walking beside them in a maid outfit certainly did not make things any less noticeable either.

Still, Kouhei did not particularly care anymore.

Earlier, it had felt as though someone might approach them at any moment, and he had already been getting increasingly distracted by the constant attention. Now, however, Hina had effectively established her own invisible barrier around them simply by making it painfully obvious that approaching them was probably a bad idea.

Kouhei was not going to complain about that.

Eventually, they made their way toward the supermarket section of the mall.

The area was considerably busier than some of the other parts they had passed through, with people moving between the shelves and employees handling their usual work. Several people glanced toward Kouhei and the others as they passed, and a few seemed to whisper among themselves, but at this point, Kouhei had mostly stopped paying attention.

He had a much more important mission.

"Let's find the ingredients," Kouhei said, his expression suddenly becoming serious.

Still, considering who Kouhei was doing all of this for, his seriousness made sense. He was not simply buying ingredients because he happened to feel like eating cake. He had a specific reason for doing it, and Kouhei was the kind of person who tended to become surprisingly determined whenever he decided that something was important to him.

Time was also of the essence.

They needed to acquire the ingredients as quickly as possible, and Kouhei did not want to forget something important and discover the mistake only after they had already returned to the mansion. That would mean making another trip, which was precisely the sort of unnecessary hassle he wanted to avoid.

They went through the supermarket together, checking the shelves and gathering the ingredients one by one. Kouhei carefully looked over the items they needed while Hina helped him keep track of what they had already picked up. Aria also remained nearby, assisting when necessary, although the entire process was fairly straightforward once they had found the right sections.

Kouhei still managed to approach it with the seriousness of someone planning an extremely complicated operation, though.

By the time they had finished, they had finally acquired all the ingredients necessary to make the chocolate cake.

Kouhei checked the bags one more time before deciding that they had everything.

"Looks like we're done," he said, sounding genuinely satisfied.

Hina smiled at him.

After paying for everything, the group finally made their way back to the Yuka Mansion.

Once they returned to the mansion, Kouhei immediately decided that he wanted to borrow the kitchen.

Yuka was relaxing in the garden at the time, sitting comfortably while sipping some tea. Asami was beside her, enjoying the quiet atmosphere as well, and the whole scene looked peaceful enough that Kouhei's arrival with several shopping bags almost seemed like an interruption to an afternoon of relaxation.

Asami looked toward Kouhei for a moment.

Her expression changed almost immediately.

Her face turned red again, and she quickly looked away.

Yuka noticed the reaction.

She glanced at Asami, then looked toward Kouhei, and then looked back at Asami again.

She decided that asking about it probably was not necessary.

Yuka already had a vague idea about why Asami had been acting strangely whenever Kouhei was around, and she had enough experience with people to understand that directly questioning her about it would probably make Asami even more embarrassed.

Besides, Yuka was not in any particular hurry to make the situation awkward.

Kouhei approached Yuka and explained why he wanted to use the kitchen, mentioning that he had bought the ingredients and wanted to bake a chocolate cake.

Yuka listened to his explanation and did not see any particular reason to refuse him.

"As long as you clean everything up afterward, I don't think I or even the maids would mind," Yuka said, taking another calm sip of her tea.

"Thank you," Kouhei said, genuinely appreciative that she had agreed without making the matter complicated.

With that settled, Kouhei and the others headed toward the kitchen while carrying the ingredients they had bought.

Kouhei seemed quite motivated to get started.

Meanwhile, after Kouhei and the others had disappeared toward the kitchen, Chiemi quietly appeared beside Yuka.

Yuka glanced toward her before looking back in the direction Kouhei had gone.

"Chiemi, why did you tell them that?" Yuka asked, her tone becoming somewhat questioning. "Ruri doesn't really love chocolate cake as much as you told them she does."

Yuka looked at Chiemi with an expression that practically asked what exactly her game plan was supposed to be.

She knew that Chiemi rarely did things without some kind of reason behind them, and considering the timing of everything, Yuka had a feeling that the chocolate cake was not really the important part of the situation.

Chiemi simply smiled.

"I think he's interesting," she said. "The Child of Anti-Prophecy, that is."

Yuka stared at her.

That was apparently the entire explanation.