Chapter 69

"Here, go and play with Rion for a whole day next time."

"Huh...?"

Miyuki's fingers, which had been moving busily, came to an abrupt stop.

After a brief pause, Miyuki said in a flat tone,

"…Why Rion again?"

"Why again? It doesn't matter, right? It's a servitude ticket."

When he said that, something seemed to bother Miyuki, and she made an incredibly dissatisfied face.

Then, suddenly, she lowered her head,

"…Did you call me all the way here just to say that?"

"No, I just don't want to be seen messing around with the servitude ticket."

If Kitaro or Sonoda saw it, it would be a problem.

Besides, he was actually supposed to call Rion to meet up as well.

"Rion was supposed to come too, but suddenly…"

"…S, so you keep saying Rion, Rion, Rion…"

Miyuki's voice dropped unusually low, and she began to tremble.

Seeing that something was off, he asked again,

"Is something wrong? Is it not okay?"

"No, it's not okay! It's weird for Rion to show up no matter how you think about it!"

Shuji didn't quite understand what was so strange.

He tilted his head in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"Because… because Shuji, you only care about Rion and never pay attention to me!"

Miyuki squeezed her eyes shut and suddenly shouted.

Shuji, taken aback by the sharp tone, gasped and widened his eyes.

(Why the sudden loud voice…?)

Even though she was accusing him as if he were the bad guy, he couldn't quite understand and his head remained tilted.

"…Pay attention, huh?"

Did she mean like a pet? But it probably wasn't that.

What exactly did "pay attention" mean? He thought he was giving her more than enough attention right now.

He looked straight at Miyuki and asked again.

When Miyuki raised her head, despite having said it herself, she looked as if she had done something wrong, her eyes darting around, and her mouth opened and closed.

"Ah, n-no, what I just said, it's nothing…"

"Nothing?"

"N-nothing… just kidding."

Miyuki balled her hands into fists and tapped them on the top of her head, tilting her head slightly and sticking out her tongue.

Shuji, taken aback by her mysterious actions, just stood there.

"…Just kidding?"

He did it again. This time in a questioning tone.

That was quite irritating. It was quite intense for a moment, but he shouldn't let himself be swayed.

That would be right into her trap. He needed to stay calm.

"Sorry, Miyuki. It's my fault."

What came out of his mouth was his sincere feeling at the moment.

He felt a sense of regret beyond frustration.

"I didn't understand you, Miyuki. I'm sorry."

"Shuji…"

"I really didn't understand at all… I just couldn't get it."

"…Isn't that an exaggeration?"

"But there's one thing I can clearly understand. I still care about you, Miyuki."

"Huh?"

While he was worried about Rion, he realized that this side was much more serious.

After all, Rion's current state of distress could be traced back to the "seat killer" next to her. The root of all evil was here.

Miyuki's heavy expression suddenly changed, and her eyes sparkled.

Her lips began to curl into a smile, but she quickly tried to look stern,

"Still, why do you keep saying Rion, Rion?"

"That's because I was consulting Rion on how to get along with you."

"Huh?"

Shuji then briefly explained that Rion often ate alone and was trying to become better friends with Miyuki behind the scenes.

Miyuki, in turn, tilted her head,

"Huh? But Rion always ate with me last year… Before that, I wonder what she did… But that can't be true, right?"

"It's true. Why don't you ask her?"

"No, that would be really awkward."

Even Miyuki found it difficult to ask, "Hey, do you eat alone? How do you feel about it?"

It seemed she hadn't noticed Rion's subtle hints and frowned in confusion.

"But if that's the case, you should have told me sooner…"

"I think there were chances to notice."

"Th-that's because a lot of things were happening! And Shuji, you were always quiet, so why are you saying this now!"

"Well, I was told to keep it a secret… I didn't want to interfere, but it's getting too complicated."

He wanted Rion to do it on her own, but it was going nowhere.

It was getting worse, and she had run away again today. He thought he needed to take action.

"Still, that's what it was all about!"

But Miyuki seemed happy to know that Rion was struggling.

Her expression brightened, and the heavy atmosphere from earlier was gone.

While thinking, "Is this girl really a devil…?" Shuji handed the servitude ticket to Miyuki.

"So, use this ticket to play with Rion."

"If it's for that, there's no need to use the servitude ticket! I'll play with Rion tomorrow! I'll have a blast! Rion is so tsundere but so cute, it's too much!"

"Then give me the ticket back."

Without hesitation, Miyuki's smiling face twisted.

Immediately, the ticket was torn in half in her hand.

"Ah, my hand slipped."

"No, you did that on purpose."

"Reissues are not accepted."

Miyuki said it with a serious face, like a receptionist.

Then, she made her usual smirking face and held the torn servitude ticket in both hands, waving it,

"Ooh, Shuji, you really wanted to use the servitude ticket? What did you want Miyuki to do for you?"

"I was thinking of using it as a pillow."

"Go buy one from the home center."

She crumpled the servitude ticket and threw it at him.

The paper hit his head and fell to the ground.

"Was that the 'Servitude Ticket Toss'?"

"…What did you say?"

"I'm just tired, so I'm going home."

"Hey, wait a minute! Is it okay? Is it really okay that Shuji can't use the servitude ticket?"

"It's fine. I don't want to use it anymore. It's just too complicated."

"Too complicated? What do you mean! You're saying it's too complicated for a rare chance to be a servant!"

Does she want to be a servant or not?

Shuji, thinking it was just another of the "seat killer's" rants, left with Miyuki's noisy voice in the background.

The "Reissue Servitude Ticket" button is below.