CHAPTER 12

Akane pulled out her planner in the shape of a cat’s face. There were so many little notes and post-its scrambled all over today’s date. I still couldn’t believe that Kaneko-san and Daisuke are a couple! That’s almost as preposterous as me being with Akane! Akane said this would be great practice for Yuki-san in my original world. But, I’m glad that my partner in crime would be here to help me. I just never expected his help in this way. We were walking towards the entertainment district of town. Our first stop was a movie. One of the newest releases was the new Masked Avenger remake. To be honest, I’m not a big fan of them remaking the original TV show, but nevertheless I was still interested in seeing it. I look at Kaneko-san and her eyes lit up the moment she saw the poster.

She has a terrible poker face…

“Oh hey! The new Masked Avenger movie is out. How about we see that Kazuki? Are you two cool with that?” asked Akane.

She knew!

Daisuke wasn’t as adamant as the rest of us. He grew up from this kid stuff.

“Eh…it’s a kid movie right? How about that new horror movie That? I’ve heard good things about that spooky killer clown!”

Kaneko-san gave a light punch to Daisuke in the gut.

“I-I hate horror movies idiot Daisuke!”

Akane interjected, managing to pull back Kaneko-san from her flurry of pouty punches.

“C’mon Daisuke, Masked Avenger has better reviews. Besides, That jumped the shark when they did that cross-over movie with The Circle series.

Somehow, I’m not surprised Akane was a fan of horror movies.

Daisuke, shocked by Akane’s knowledge of the cheap horror movies, accepted his defeat.

“Fine… Let’s see Kaz’s and Mary’s favorite kid show. It’s like you two never grew up…” as he grabbed me in a headlock again.

The women decided to save our seats while Daisuke and I went to go get the snacks.

It wouldn’t be a movie without popcorn.

Walking past the line, I could see kids with their moms eagerly awaiting the movie to start. The kids were enthusiastic since they were handing out free paper Masked Avenger masks. I would have totally taken one, but was too embarrassed to. It was a bit awkward, since the four of us were the only teenagers that were going to watch the movie.

“I guess everyone else is watching That.” said Daisuke.

We reach the busy snack bar, and Daisuke gets the regular size for him and Kaneko-san. However, I get the large since Akane could probably eat the entire bucket of popcorn by herself.

Where does all the food go?

The popcorn bucket was almost bigger than my body, since I decided to play it safe and order the “kaiju-sized” one instead of the large one. Despite being full of popcorn, it was pretty heavy!

“Uh…do you need some help?” said Daisuke.

“N-Nope!”

There was an awkward silence between both of us. Usually Daisuke and I would be fanboying the movie we were about to see, but we weren’t alone together this time. This was the first time I’ve ever seen him with a girl, and my curiosity peaked since Daisuke never seemed to be the type of guy that would be in a relationship to begin with. Kaneko-san would have been the last person I would have thought of to be with Daisuke.

“Go ahead, ask why.” said Daisuke

He read my mind!

“Haha, that’s why we’re partners in crime I guess.”

“So how did you and Kaneko-san get together?” I asked.

We were stuck behind a huge wave of people that were trying to get into the viewing room.

“Well, after Valentines’ Day she confessed to me about her feelings. She gave me some chocolate and one thing led to another we got to know each other pretty well. We sat next to each other anyways in Class 2-A. Turns out we have a lot in common, you’d be surprised Kaz.”

I couldn’t believe that Kaneko-san was hiding her feelings this whole time. The roadrunner of the school could have literally any boy (or girl) she wanted, but I guess she saw something in Daisuke. They seemed to be polar opposites from each other, but at the same time, those two seemed like two sides of the same coin. I never would have noticed, but then again, I’m one of the densest people you’ll ever meet.

I wonder if Kaneko-san in World B has the same feelings?

Finally it made sense to me. That’s probably what was bothering Kaneko-san the whole time! From what I remember in my original world, Daisuke never received chocolate from Kaneko-san, hence them not being a couple. Or at least that’s what I’m aware of since she avoided me the whole day.

Maybe that was a clue to solving Kaneko-san’s problem from World B?

“She’s not like any other girl I’ve met. Ever since we’ve become a couple it’s like I see the world in a different way. Although some things she could improve on like her mood, temper, whining, the roadrunner’s cute man. To be honest…I-I’ve always had a crush on her! This must be how you feel with Akane right?”

This was a different side to Daisuke I never knew. I’ve never seen him blush either! Hearing his feelings for Kaneko-san for the first time almost made my own heart skip a beat.

Who knew this dummy could be caring?

We return to our theater with our food and try to find the girls in the dark room.

“Oh. Before I forget, you don’t have to be so formal Kaz, call my girlfriend by her first name. She’d appreciate it.”

Daisuke holds his small bucket of popcorn over his head as he tries to lead the way through the aisles. I can barely lift my bucket above my chest, while the kids sitting around were looking at the giant popcorn in astonishment. Finally, I see Mary waving her short arm at us from above. We finally get to our seats. Daisuke hands Mary their popcorn, and she starts munching on it.

“Thanks Mary-chan!” said I.

Mary spits out her popcorn, while Daisuke started to pat her back.

“W-What did you say?!?”

I couldn’t tell if her face was red from almost choking on popcorn, or was it the first time I called her by her first name.

“Good grief Mary, chew before you swallow!” said Daisuke.

Akane was watching the whole situation next to me with her giant popcorn bucket.

“You two are so perfect together!”

The theater’s lights started to dim and Akane almost instinctively grabbed my hand. The rowdy kids running around the place returned back to their seats. I can hear the projector turning on, and the movie starts.

“It was amazing! The villain had the Masked Avenger by the ropes, but justice always prevails!” said Mary.

“There was no way he was gonna lose, they already set up the sequel. Besides, I’m looking forward to the sequel when he comes.” said Daisuke.

Overall the movie was faithful to the source material, but I would have personally liked it if it took some creative liberties. Mary on the other hand, was on the edge of her seat near the end. It was good to feel like a kid again.

“I know you liked it a lot right Kazuki-kun? I think you were even more invested than Mary-chan!” said Akane.

I try to hide my embarrassment, but she was right. The movie blew all my expectations away! I didn’t even eat any of the popcorn since I was so enamored! But it didn’t matter since Akane finished it for me.

“I’m glad everyone had fun. Onto our next destination!”

Akane led the four of us to our next stop.

Up next on our double date was some time at the Purrfect Café. It was strange to be back here since last time. Being in World A(kane), it was also technically Daisuke’s and Mary’s first time here. Upon entering the café, there was Felix, the black cat that saved my life (or at least World B Felix technically did). I purr at the tubby feline.

“You two seem to know each other well…” said Akane.

A tubby man in a suit walks up to us. It was manager-san!

“Ah Akane-chan! My formerly favorite employee! Oh what I would do to have you back here. I’ll do anything. Anything.”

I give the old pervert a death stare. He gets the message.

“Oh my manager-san, stop it you’re embarrassing me!”

The manager and employee laughed on the old times, until Akane quit her charade.

“But I’m done working here old man-“

Akane grabbed Manager-san by the collar and got right into his face.

“And stop calling me for advice!”

Oh Manager-san!

Akane let go of Manager-san, and fixed his tie for him with a smile. She walked past him towards one of the bigger tables in the back. Manager-san loosened the tie back down a bit, and prompted the rest of us to take our seats.

“A-Alright you youngsters, pick any table you want. S-Someone will be right with you.”

Manager-san leaves us to our own care, and we decided to pick a table that seated four people, and it had pictures of cats all over it. Akane and I sat on one side, with Daisuke with Mary on the other.

“You used to work here Akane-chan?” asked Mary.

Akane’s face turned red.

“Y-Yeah…for a while! I needed the money and this place seemed “purrfect” for me!”

Akane curled her hair and gave a wry laugh.

“I can’t imagine someone like you working at a place like this.” said Mary.

“I would’ve totally taken a picture of you Akane-chan!” said Daisuke.

Mary slams her tiny fist on the table. Our table rocks a bit to the side, and we notice a young girl around our age just accidently bumped it too.

“Ahhh! Sorry-nyan!”

Oh boy…

The clumsy girl was wearing the standard uniform of the maid outfits – but with a twist. She was wearing cat ears and had a tail sticking out behind her. Her maid outfit had white frills and her chest had a small cat-shaped window that one could see through. She had black hair that was tied into a bun. I also noticed that she was wearing colored contacts along with her large black-rimmed over-sized glasses. Her whole costume was on pointe.

Eh. Akane wore it better.

Akane lightly pinches me on my arm!

She knows!

Mary was red from how provocative the uniform was, and Daisuke was about to pull out his phone for a photo, but I signaled him to stop unless he wanted to be killed by our girlfriends.

“H-Hello master-nyan! You can call me Neko-nee! I’m your servant for today! What would you like?”

Looking through the menu, it seemed familiar to what I remember. I was about to get the omelet rice, but with Akane being here, she would of course ask me if hers or Neko-nee’s was better.

Better dodge that bullet!

Instead, I went for the coffee and sandwich plate. I wasn’t feeling as hungry after all the excitement from watching the Masked Avenger movie.

“I don’t know what to pick!” said Mary.

Daisuke grabbed her menu and closed it.

“We’ll have the couple’s deluxe please.” said Daisuke.

Mary was visibly embarrassed, but she appreciated Daisuke being able to choose something quickly.

“I’ll have the manager’s special, extra-large please!” said Akane.

Neko-nee dropped her pen and server-book.

“N-No way…”

Neko-nee’s natural voice was much deeper than I expected. She picked up her pen and server-book, and adjusted her glasses once more.

“Hawawawa! Neko-nee wasn’t sure if she heard correctly-nyan. Manager’s special, extra-large?”

She was back in character. Her hands were still shivering, and even her glasses were becoming foggy.

“N-No one’s ever finished it, let alone extra-large!” said Neko-nee.

Akane gave her unopened menu back to Neko-nee.

“Don’t worry, I made the challenge after all.” said Akane.

Neko-nee’s mouth was wide open.

“Y-You…y-you’re Akane-chan?!? The one manager-san always talks about?!?”

“Yep…that’s me…” Akane said. She gave a big sigh at her reputation at her former workplace.

“C-Coming right up!”

Neko-nee dashed off into the back of the restaurant. We could hear some small bickering between her and the chef, followed by a loud manly gasp. My mouth began to water by the scent of various dishes being cooked in the back of the kitchen.

Akane’s face became serious. She was going to finish all of it. At least I hope so. It was so much that we had to help Neko-nee bring all the food over. Her plate itself was almost the size of the table we were sitting at. In fact, it was probably more food than a buffet on a Sunday morning.

Where does it all go?!?

“Where…does it all go? said Daisuke.

You read my mind again partner!

“Don’t worry; I had a light breakfast everyone.” said Akane.

She just had a large bucket of popcorn, and now this?!?

She rolled up her sleeves and picked up her knife and fork. The regular manager’s special today was only about a small plate of hamburg steak and some fries on the side. However, this being the one that Akane herself made during her time here, it included not only the hamburg steak and fries on the side, but also every other manager’s special for all the other days. It included a 2.28kg cat-shaped bowl of ramen, 10 sandwiches, 10 soufflés, 10 double cheeseburgers, pizza, rice, and pasta. Oh, and free refills on drinks of course. All in all, it wasn’t a question of whether or not Akane could do it, but rather how long it would take. When she finishes it, she would have a picture of herself on the wall of the (currently empty) challenge winners, along with the whole meal for free. Needless to say, my wallet really hopes she finishes it. Mary was in a catatonic state just looking at the sheer volume of food.

“Your girlfriend’s got some appetite Kaz…” said Daisuke.

I know…

“Let’s eat!” said Akane with a smile on her face.

“Ahhhh!”

Akane was patting her belly, which had grown almost three times in size.

“Just…how was that possible?!?” said Mary.

The three of us witnessed something special today. At first it seemed like Akane was struggling to finish half-way through the food, but she just kept going, and going, one bite at a time. She even managed to finish all of her food before I did!

“I’m stuffed for today everybody…” said Akane.

Neko-nee and manager-san were watching the whole time at the table beside us. Manager-san had his instant camera ready for the moment Akane finished her meal, but Neko-nee took the camera away from his perverse eyes.

“Alrighty! Let’s take a photo master-nyan!”

She readied the camera in front of Akane to take the picture.

“Ready? One, two, three, cheese!”

Just then Akane in her food-drunk state grabs me by the neck making me be in the photo with her.

“Kazuki…you’re the best boyfriend-“

“A-Akane!“

Neko-nee grabs the photo from the instant camera and starts waving it around until it develops. She takes a look at the photo and starts to laugh.

“Aww…my masters are cute-nyan!”

The photo was me basically looking terrified by Akane’s sudden drunk strength and Akane smiling in a dumbfounded fashion. Daisuke and Mary were face-palming hard.

This is too embarrassing!

“You guys are really two peas in a pod Kaz…” said Daisuke.

We leave as soon as the photo was posted and I carry Akane out with her arm over my shoulder. She was barely able to move.

We should probably walk this off…

“Come here you punk kid!”

I’m too old for this…

We found a park nearby and decide to relax a bit from all the chaos today. Unfortunately chaos was present when Mary and Akane encouraged us boys to play with the local kids. It’s a nostalgic feeling to be at this playground, since I remember Daisuke and I would frequently come here. The playground equipment was getting old and rusted, but I had fond memories of running around with Daisuke and pretending to be the Masked Avenger. It’s a good feeling to see the next generation still pretend to be the Masked Avenger, even if it was the remake version.

“You can’t catch me old man!” said one of the punk kids.

“Then you better run from Danger Daisuke!”

He’s getting wayyy into this.

Daisuke started chasing the kids around the park, but due to their small size, they were surprisingly nimble enough to evade getting tagged by Daisuke. I could barely keep up with running around after helping Akane walk off her manager’s special. In the meantime, Mary was sitting on the park bench with Akane to the side, since she was still tired from eating a week’s worth of food. Mary promised to keep watch of her just in case, but Akane was starting to get back to normal after walking around a bit. Suddenly I feel someone slap me on my behind.

“Ow!”

These kids are gonna pay!

I’m fired up!

“I’m gonna get you kids!”

Akane-chan is calmly observing the two idiots running around with the kids. I can feel the warm air of the afternoon blowing through us. It was like she and I were paused in time, looking on from Kazuki-kun and my loveable idiot Daisuke running around with the kids.

It’s been a while since I’ve been here…

Even after eating all that food, it seems she has returned back to her energetic self. To be honest, she and I haven’t spoken much before this day, but we had a mutual friend through Kazuki-kun. She’s a lovely person up close, with her skin pale and almost looking like a mannequin from the clothing stores. Even though we were rivals since she came to Kasumigaeski High, there was a mutual respect I had for her. She just made everything seem effortless, even though I would work hard and tirelessly for hours.

“So…uh Mary-chan, how did you and Daisuke get together anyways?” said Akane.

It looked like she summed up all of her courage to ask me that question. I’m flustered by her sudden bluntness! The memories are flooding back to me with my confession and it’s making me feel anxious in my chest!

“E-Eh! Oh! We got together soon after Valentines’ Day…but we’ve been in the same class all year anyways. I guess we were both hiding our feelings from each other.”

That’s my genuine response.

I think that was the first time I ever explained to anyone about how Daisuke and I got together.

“Daisuke may be annoying, an idiot, and seriously cheap, but he’s a loveable fool. My loveable fool that accepts me for who I am.”

I’m still embarrassed though argh!

Quick! Think of a question Mary!

“H-How about you Akane? What do you see in Kazuki?” I ask.

I’ll admit that at a time I really did have feelings for Kazuki, that idiot. It was in the past of course! However, once I realized he was perfect for Akane, I moved on. I hope one day Daisuke and I can be like them.

“Hmm…”

Akane took a moment to compose her thoughts. I think one of the main differences between her and I was that she never seemed to immediately respond whatever came to her mind like my impulsiveness. Like her previous “Ice Witch” reputation, she was cold and calculating, but still one of the most nicest and pleasant people to be around.

“Well, he accepted me when everyone else seemed to be distant or afraid. I know people called me the “Ice Witch” of Kasumigaseki High, but Kazuki-kun kept trying. He makes me feel warm when everyone else was cold. He can be stubborn sometimes, but I really like him.”

Her response to what she sees in Kazuki would have probably melted the idiot’s heart. It just further cements my thoughts that Akane really is more than what she seems.

“I’m glad we are friends Mary-chan.”

It was the first time that I saw her smile up close. Truth be told, that smile could’ve won any idiot over.

“Me too Aka-nee!” as I smile back.

“Found you punks!”

Daisuke and Kazuki were still running around with the kids.

Those idiots.

I’m tired.

Today was draining from chasing all those kids at the playground. Daisuke and I managed to eventually wear down the kids enough that they got bored and left us. By the time the kids left, it was already getting dark so our double date ended on that note. Right now I’m in bed with Akane, who still managed to have enough room for dinner despite completing the challenge. You think she would be tired of hamburg steak but nope! I submitted to my girlfriend’s request of more hamburg.

Just where does it go?!?

When I go to sleep I will be back in my original World B. But despite feeling tired, I couldn’t exactly fall asleep. I just wondered whether or not whatever we did today would help me get closer to Yuki-san. I just have to remember whatever happens here will not carry over to the other world.

“Hey Kazuki? You asleep?” said Akane.

“No.” I said.

Akane rolls over, staring up at the wall.

“I can’t sleep either, too full.” she said.

I chuckle at her ridiculous achievement.

“Did you have fun with Mary and Daisuke today?”

She turned back to face me, with her eyes indicating she was waiting for a response.

“Yes, in fact I thought of something interesting Akane.”

Akane rose from lying down to turn on the light.

This must be what they call “pillow talk.”

“What is it?!? Tell me!”

It’s like 1 am and she still had energy to pout!

“Well, you know how some things from this world and my world correlate together? Well since Daisuke and Mary are a couple here, it’s weird that they aren’t in my world.”

Akane’s eyes lit up brighter than my lamp on the bed side counter.

“Really?!? Mary-chan mentioned to me about her hidden feelings and how they had the same feelings to each other but never did anything until Valentines’ Day when she confessed!”

She had a point. Kaneko-san from my world was acting weird that day from what I remember, and I definitely don’t remember Daisuke ever getting confessed by Kaneko-san.

That must be what’s bothering Kaneko-san!

“Let’s call it Operation Maiden’s Heart! Consider it like a side quest to your main quest of getting with Yuki-san. Help out your partner in crime and Mary!”

This is real life Akane, not a game!

Otherwise, she had a good idea. I should help those two dummies admit their feelings since they’re both dense. Besides, all I want is for my friends to be happy, and seeing them together in this world makes me think that they’re meant for each other.

I’m just gonna nudge them closer together, that’s all!

“Good night Akane.”

“Sweet dreams, Kazuki.”

She turns off the light and we drift off to sleep.

“Yes sir. I’m sending you the photo now. We’ve finally found her.” I text.

It was after hours, and I can’t wait to get out of this stupid cat maid costume. Although maybe I should keep it just in case for him…? I press send on my phone to him and await further orders from him. I put my thick glasses down and start to take out my uncomfortable colored contacts.

BZZZZ. BZZZZ. BZZZZ.

“He’s calling me?!?”

I juggle my phone out and try to press the answer button with my blurry vision.

“It’s her, no doubt about it. Turns out my information was correct. Keep on standby just in case she comes back. Keep observing her like you have.” he said.

“R-Roger, just how long will I be working here?!?” I ask.

“Until we can pin-point just where she lives. We need to be careful about this.”

I hear a dial tone. He hung up!

“That jerk!”

I guess I’m stuck here for a while more. I didn’t sign up for this! I hear a buzz from my phone and look at the new message.

“Oh! And good job. Keep it up! J” he texts.

Thank God this is through a phone, otherwise he would’ve seen me in this embarrassing state! I take off the tail on my back and begin to change out of my maid uniform.

“He’s finally found her - Akane Yuki.