Can't We Skip Dating?

Because she'd really been startled this morning—no, this afternoon—Utaha locked herself in the room and didn't come out until the food delivery arrived.

Despite her sultry appearance, she was actually incredibly pure. 

If Akira had pushed things even slightly further that morning, she might not have just locked herself in the room—she might have grabbed her things and run off, never daring to return again.

Although she hadn't fled on the spot this time, she had finally realized the risk of living in a man's house. 

Even if she believed that man was ruled more by reason than instinct, she no longer dared to act carelessly around him. And after that, her visits became less frequent.

This left Akira feeling somewhat regretful. He often reflected on whether he had been a bit too impulsive.

If you want to hold a stray cat—especially one that's extremely wary of humans—you have to first project a great deal of goodwill and maintain a safe distance, allowing the cat to understand that you won't do anything threatening. 

If you get too close too fast, the cat will definitely bolt.

The next step is to keep showing that goodwill while calling to it—ideally with a bit of bait—and slowly approach the next "safe distance" where it won't run. 

As for the final stretch, you must wait for the cat to come to you.

And that's where things had gone wrong.

—When the cat comes to you for the first time, you should gently reach out your hand within its line of sight and stroke it with its consent—not just suddenly grab it into your arms.

Otherwise, even if you don't get scratched to pieces, you'll find it hard to ever touch the cat again.

And now, due to a misstep, the cat had retreated beyond that safe distance. 

The human now had to wave bait again, keep showing goodwill, and patiently wait for the next time the cat might willingly come close.

But it wasn't all bad news. 

At least after being held and petted a few times, the cat would understand that being picked up didn't necessarily mean getting hurt. 

The next time you try to hold it, things might go a bit more smoothly.

And just like that, the days slipped into summer vacation.

After another round of discussion during the club's activities, Utaha confirmed that Akira had been right. 

From then on, she began adjusting her drafts to fit more closely with a game script format.

Meanwhile, the programming framework for the game was also taking shape, and they frequently integrated her text into the game to test the experience.

Tomoya had become more excitable than before. 

In contrast, Utaha—who used to be quick to anger—now appeared calm and serious. 

No matter what Tomoya proposed, she would discuss it and make changes as needed, without any of the arrogance one might expect from a renowned light novel author working with a completely inexperienced high school boy producer.

Of course, if after discussion she thought a suggestion wasn't worth changing, she would firmly hold her ground. 

Everything was done with the game's quality as the top priority.

Faced with this version of Utaha—more cooperative and focused than ever before—Tomoya's emotional outbursts found no spark to ignite and gradually faded. 

He became immersed in the rapid progress of the game's development.

Aside from that, another change was that Utaha no longer visited Tomoya's house alone.

Most discussions now happened online, and offline meetings were either outside or during full group club activities.

And since the ominous aura that had once surrounded Utaha had now vanished, Akira temporarily put his attention elsewhere. 

Even though he knew that dark omen still lingered in the depths of her brow, waiting only for the right nourishment and catalyst to awaken...

It was Utaha's own karma. If it were to dissipate, only she could bring that end about.

As for Akira himself—he had returned to the life of a complete shut-in.

After all, it was summer. Even as an onmyoji, in this season, one's life came from the air conditioner.

As for finding a maid or anything like that... maybe wait until autumn.

That was Akira's plan—until August 9th.

The day before, Utaha had come over to snuggle with the cat again—this time locking the door tightly as she did so. 

After cuddling the cat enough, she fell asleep with it in her arms. The next day, she planned to leave, treating Akira's place like some kind of special cat-themed lodging service.

Akira felt that this couldn't go on. 

Maybe he needed to push things a bit further—test where this cat's security boundary really lay, and see what its reaction would be if that line was crossed. 

So he used going out for a meal as an excuse to escort Utaha to the station.

She didn't refuse. She didn't enjoy walking in this kind of heat either.

The area near the station was relatively busy—this neighborhood was mostly made up of low-density, single-family homes, so only around the station would you find any real crowds.

Naturally, most shops were clustered there, and it was also Akira's usual spot for eating out.

After getting off the train, Utaha spotted an ice cream shop. She turned to him and said, "As a thank-you for seeing me off, can I have some ice cream?"

Ever since the distance between them had shortened slightly thanks to a few exchanges of value, Akira no longer calculated things so strictly. 

As he'd said himself—unless he was already stretched to his limit, obsessively keeping score wasn't discipline, it was a mental illness.

On the contrary, it was now Utaha who had begun keeping things scrupulously clear. Or rather, she was being very cautious to not take advantage of him in any way.

"OK," Akira replied, locking the car and following her to look at the flavors.

But as they approached the shop—technically more of a stall with a preparation counter but no seating—Akira's footsteps suddenly slowed.

There were two employees behind the counter, one male and one female. He ignored the man.

The girl—only really describable as a "young girl"—seemed oddly familiar to him.

Ever since he began to desire and act, Akira's karmic ties had become far more tangled than the straightforward connections of a passive observer. 

And once karma gets messy, it starts weaving itself into strange knots, giving rise to what people call "coincidences."

While scanning the colorful tubs of ice cream, Utaha tilted her head slightly back and asked, "What flavor do you want?"

There was no answer.

Puzzled, Utaha turned around—only to see Akira staring at the girl behind the counter. 

The serious, contemplative look on his face reminded her of when he first offered her a deal... though this one felt subtly different.

So she took a closer look at the shop girl.

It was a girl with chestnut-colored hair tied in a single ponytail. She was quite pretty, though her features were the kind of ordinary prettiness you'd forget in a crowd. 

Her figure was also decent, but similarly unremarkable. She seemed like a typical student doing summer break part-time work.

If anything stood out, it was her bright energy and earnest diligence. 

No matter the customer, she treated each one seriously—not in a stiff or transactional way, but with genuine, comfortable attentiveness.

But after watching her for a moment, Utaha began to notice something strange.

The shop girl's face was flushed.

This wasn't unusual—it was summer, the stall wasn't air-conditioned, and though they were shaded and had the ice cream freezer's chill to help, it still had to be sweltering. 

But the redness in this girl's face was too much to be explained by just the heat.

And in her seemingly bright, sparkling eyes, Utaha saw a deep fatigue—like the kind you feel after days of exhausting work and classes, the kind of weariness that sleep alone can't cure.

Working part-time outside in the summer while carrying that kind of fatigue?

Just imagining it made Utaha feel faint. And the very next moment confirmed her suspicions.

As the girl stepped back, she seemed to lose her balance slightly, her body swaying as if weightless. 

She caught herself against the back counter just in time—but the ice cream scoop in her hand slipped, clattering to the ground with a loud clink.

___

Nanami came at the right time lol. Time to stroke Utaha's jealousy.

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Read 20 Advanced Chapters on p@ tr eon (.) com/HalflingFics 

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