200 Taiyaki (1/2)

Seiji contemplated whether or not he should ask Mayuzumi about Shouhei Hirai as he escorted her home.

It seemed like Sensei didn’t want to bring it up by herself, so, in the end, he decided to forget about it and not pry too deeply.

Seiji said goodbye and left after he accompanied Peach-sensei to her apartment.

After leaving the apartment, he called and confirmed that it wouldn’t be an inconvenience for him to visit Natsuya in the hospital. He then considered what he should purchase as a get-well present.

The most typical get-well presents were obviously fruits or flowers, but Seiji didn’t want to buy such a common item. While he was in the middle of thinking, he passed by a small specialty store.

”Oh... let’s go with this!”

...

Haruta-kun returned.

Well, he checked himself out of the hospital and was now visiting the patients' ward, which sort of counted as ”returning,” although maybe it technically didn’t.

The important part was that he’d returned.

Natsuya was feeling happy about this.

Seiji walked in holding a bag with unknown contents and a big grin plastered on his face, causing her to become slightly curious.

”Has Milady ever tried this sort of snack before?”

Seiji placed the bag on the table and used a napkin to take out a fish-shaped object from it.

It was taiyaki!

This was the favorite snack of Golden Darkness, and characters from Kanon, K-ON, and Bleach also loved it. It was a traditional Japanese snack that often appeared in many of his previous world’s animes.

Taiyaki was a simple snack made with common ingredients that everyone could enjoy.

Seiji felt that its high rate of appearance was mainly due to its cute shape.

It seemed classically cute to have a beautiful girl eating taiyaki!

Especially if you fed one to a cat-eared loli... heh heh~

With nothing but pure and gentlemanly intentions, Seiji had purchased some taiyaki as a get-well present.

”This is... taiyaki!” Natsuya’s eyes lit up. ”I’ve seen it before... and know about it, but I’ve never tasted it.”

She’s seen it before? Was it in an anime? Hmm, that seemed rather possible. After all, she enjoyed anime about the supernatural.

”Because it’s a commoner’s snack, you’ve never tried it before?” Seiji chuckled as he handed the taiyaki on the napkin to her. ”Why don’t you try one right now?”

Natsuya took the napkin from him and hesitated on where to begin eating from before she opened her mouth slightly and took a tiny bite from the fish-shaped snack’s head.

‘So cute!’

Seiji was moved at how cute this scene seemed to him.

”So sweet... it’s delicious.” Natsuya gave her assessment.

The beautiful scene of the scion in a hospital gown holding the taiyaki and carefully nibbling on it etched itself deeply in Seiji’s memories.

”It’ll taste even better if you pair it with tea.” Seiji fetched the teapot and poured some tea.

He also took a taiyaki and sat next to Natsuya. They enjoyed the snacks together and chatted about various topics.

After they both finished eating one taiyaki, the two of them got up and left Natsuya’s hospital room while taking the bag of remaining taiyaki with them.

They visited Hitaka Shuho’s hospital room.

The red-haired girl was resting quietly on the hospital bed with a breathing apparatus attached to her face.

She turned around and opened her eyes when she heard the sound of the door opening and saw Seiji and Natsuya entering her room.

”Hitaka, Haruta-kun’s here to see you,” Natsuya explained.

The red-haired girl blinked and looked towards Seiji’s face.

It was obvious that she was grateful for his visit.

”Shuho-san, rest well for your recovery,” Seiji said gently. ”After you’re healed, we can talk about various topics together.”

Natsuya clutched Hitaka’s hand and also spoke some gentle words to her.

After their visit with the seriously injured Hitaka, Seiji and Natsuya went to the next hospital room.

When they opened the door and entered, they saw Rana Kirin sitting on a large couch with a game controller in her hands. She was wholly focused on playing a video game!

On the television screen was a white girl wearing a black one-piece dress with a short miniskirt, stockings, and boots that revealed a mesmerizing absolute territory. This game character was currently jumping between a bunch of mechanical monsters while wielding destruction in the form of a two-meter longsword.

‘Oh, she’s pretty good.’ Seiji inwardly praised Rana for her video gaming skills.

”Rana…” Natsuya could only smile wryly at seeing this scene.

When she looked towards Seiji, he merely revealed an expression of ‘I don’t mind at all.’

Rana’s cat ears twitched when she heard them entering her hospital room, and she quickly glanced at them in between slaying monsters before concentrating on her game again.

Seiji walked up to Rana and sat beside her as he took a taiyaki out of the bag and held it next to her mouth.

The cat-eared loli opened her tiny mouth, took a bite of the fish head, and chewed.

Her expression was currently one of delight.

‘This scene is just so cute!’ Seiji was moved once again.

He continued feeding Rana and enjoyed the process.