We are here for you

Kaijo, here we come!

* Kise P.O.V. *

After (f/n)-cchi and Midorimacchi left me behind, I somehow managed to break off from the crowd. It was noon by that time, so I headed to a place in the city, that held so many memories of me and (f/n)-cchi.
An old sweets shop.
When I arrived there, I saw several kids running out of the shop, sweets are seen between their hands as they ran.
' Popular as always, huh. ' I smiled as I entered the store.
The sweet smell of sweets wafted in the air as I went in. Several sweets were displayed on the table, and came out an elderly man from the kitchen.
" Why if it isn't Ryota-kun! It's been a while since you visited my shop, and look at how much you've grown! " The old man's name is Hisoka-san, the owner of this shop. He knows about me and (f/n)-cchi, since we often dropped by to buy some sweets when we were younger.
" It's been quite some time too, Hisoka-san. How's your health-ssu? " I asked the man in front of me.
" I've been well and healthy, of course! Thanks to (f/n)-chan's healing magic, " He proudly pumped his fists.
" Ehh?! Hisoka-san, you knew all along-ssu?! " I yelped out of surprise.
" Why wouldn't I? Besides, I've known the girl since she was young, just a diguise won't be able to fool me, " He snickered.
" I see... So I was the one who didn't knew anything about this... " I sighed.
" Don't worry, Ryota-kun, no matter what, I am always rooting for you! Go and steal (f/n)-chan's heart! " He cheered me up.
My face turned red in a few seconds, and I started stuttering.
" W-what ar-are you ta-talking about, Hisoka-san?! (F/n)-cchi and I a-are co-cousins-say! We ca-can't get married-ssu! " I denied, waving my hand in front of him.
" No, technically, you can. After all, you are not related to her by blood, remember? So you might have a chance to marry her, you know? " Hisoka-san rubbed his chin.
" But it's not like I have any feelings for her, I... just care for her well-being.... and she just sees me as her cousin, plus, she's already engaged-ssu .... " I averted my eyes.
" Then beat that stupid fiancé of hers and sweep her off her feet! That's why, as I was saying, I'll root for you all the way! Be confident of yourself, Ryota-kun! " He encouraged me.
" As I was saying, Hisoka-san, I have no romantic feelings towards her whatsoever, and I'll order some sweets please-ssu. " I ended the topic with my order.
" Yes, what would you like to buy? " He immediately got serious.
" I'd like four pieces of dango[1], two pieces of manju[2], three pieces of sasamochi[3], two pieces of sakuramochi[4], and one daifuku[5], " I said without stopping for a moment.
" That's a lot of orders. Are you going to eat them by yourself? " The old man asked as he prepared the sweets I ordered.
" No, the manju and dango are for my friends, the sakuramochi is for Natsuka-chan, and my share is the daifuku-ssu, " I answered.
" What about the sasamochi? " He lifted his eyebrows.
" They're for (f/n)-cchi... I still remember that she loves sasamochi a lot, and used to order more than five whenever she came here-ssu, " I smiled at the thought.
" Oh, yes, I still remember that too. She even ordered twenty pieces once, and shared some of it to you and her playmates. " He placed all the sweets I ordered in front of me, neatly packed and stacked into boxes wrapped with cloth.
I took out some amount of money and handed it to Hisoka-san.
" Thank you, Hisoka-san, and keep the change-ssu, " I waved as I carried the boxes out of the store.

As I was about to go back to the Ichijo family's mansion, I spotted (f/n)-cchi and Midorimacchi among the crowd, and decided to play a prank on them for leaving me alone in the crowd earlier today.
Silently, I snuck up on the two, and covered (f/n)-cchi' mouth, knocking her unconscious. At the same time, I left a box of sakuramochi in Midorimacchi's hand, with a note 'Please give this to Natsuka-chan, From Kise Ryota' written on it. Also, another message was written at the back of the paper.
' I'm going to take (f/n)-cchi away for a few days to Kanagawa[6], so I'll leave the explanation to you, Midorimacchi! Kise Ryota' .

Then, I carried (f/n)-cchi on my back, and started jumping from tree to tree, heading towards Kanagawa.
" Kaijo, here we come! " I particularly said to no one.