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Photoshoot
After classes had finished, in an empty classroom, a group of allies had gathered. Though it was less like a diplomatic institution, and more of a storage shed, with objects like documents stacked, Japan’s powerhouses were represented here right now, with Mikado, Kisa, Mizuki, Rinka, and even Kokage.
Having been called here by Mikado, Rinka was a bit confused as to what was going on, her gaze running along the faces of the people present.
“Um…I am a bit lost at this assembly…Kawaraya-san, did you…?”
Kokage put her hands together, bowing.
“I’m sorry! They found out that I was observing them! But, don’t worry, they don’t know that I am helping you out in getting closer to Mikado-kun!”
“You just revealed it?!”
“Ahh?! I’m sorryyyy!” Kokage screamed out, despairing.
“So such a mission was going on in the shadows…That could have ended dangerously…” Kisa gulped in anxiety towards this sudden reveal.
Kokage really was a summoner of chaos, keeping quiet about that fact during the torture (tickling hell), and now just carelessly revealing that. Mikado felt a shiver run down his spine, thinking that she might one day tell everyone about his poems.
Mizuki raised her hand.
“I knew it this entire time~! I just kept quiet because it seemed interesting!”
“You better remember this.”
“Yay! Onee-chan will do something scary to me!”
“Why are you that happy about it?!”
Mizuki was an airhead as usual. She wouldn’t even be threatened by the Empress of Fear, just grinning at her angered older sister.
Since everyone started talking about their own topics, Mikado cut the line, and brought up the main topic.
“Anyway. In order to stop the intervention coming from my father…the current head of the Kitamikado Family, we have to cut off his methods. Otherwise, we can’t properly move.”
Kisa put the palm of her hand on her cheek, and nodded.
“Exactly. For now, we should send Kawaraya-san onto a trip overseas to NY.”
“I don’t wanna! I want to stay in Japan!”
“Then, let’s start the ‘How long can humans survive in a vacuum’ experiment, and send you to the moon, using a rocket.”
“I don’t…actually, that doesn’t sound too bad! This might be my big chance to get into space!” The color in Kokage’s eyes changed.
“Well said. I’ll prepare the disclaimer and contract, so sign that later.”
“I’ll do a sign, a seal, or even prostrate myself! With this, I can meet the unknown!”
“Calm down, Kawaraya. You probably won’t last one minute like that.”
Mikado didn’t want to see his classmate being sent to death by the fearful Nanjou plan, so he cut in. Though he appreciated Kokage’s enthusiasm to achieve her dream. He’d rather not have her end up frozen in space.
“Then, what should we do? As long as Kokage-chan is alive, Mikado-kun and Onee-chan will never be able to rest easy, right?”
“Mizuki-chan?! I thought you were on my side?!”
“I am, but I have to be honest here~!” Mizuki showed an innocent peace sign.
For Mizuki it was even worse because she actually had no ill-will with it.
Mikado cleared his throat, and continued.
“How about this? Rinka and I will show scenes of a fulfilling school life, with Kokage taking pictures of us. Showing them to my father, he should be satisfied.”
“So basically…you’re talking about an act, right?” Rinka narrowed her eyebrows.
“Y-Yeah. I feel bad towards you, Rinka…but could you help me out?”
“If Mikado-sama orders me to, then I have no reason to decline…” But her expression wasn’t all too happy.
Since she wasn’t just acting, but truly in love with Mikado, this was the expected reaction. Deceiving the head of the Kitamikado Family was nothing but a demerit for her to begin with. Hence, while feeling horrible of making her go through this, he lowered his head towards her.
“…I’m sorry. Just for one day, holding hands at school, sitting close together, kissing…is that too much…?”
“Kiss?! I can kiss Mikado-sama?! Please, let me accept your gracious offer!!” Rinka reached out towards Mikado’s hand.
“Kissing is going a bit too far, isn’t it?! M-Mikado’s first kiss…shouldn’t be treated that lightly!” Kisa showed great rebuttal.
“I-I-I-I don’t have any practice taking pictures of a bedroom scene…!” Kokage panicked.
It turned into a ruckus.
“I-It’s just acting! We just have t o approach our faces close enough that it looks like a kiss!”
“But…if our faces are that close, our lips could touch by accident…right?” Rinka’s face was beet red, as she looked at Mikado with a drowsy expression.
Her lips were slightly dampened with excitement.
“N-No…let’s not, okay…?”
“I know…it was just a hypothetical idea…” Rinka’s eyes were brimming with lust.
If that time came, she would definitely use the momentum. She would not let such a big chance slip away.
“Ughh…!” Kisa’s face was equally red, as she glared at Rinka.
The deep parts of the Nanjou residence. A golden chandelier, light woolen curtains, blocking off the queen-size bed. In her private room, equipped with luxurious furniture, Kisa was busy chatting with Mikado.
“Are you really going to act out that operation?”
“No other choice but to do that, right. At this rate, our game will come to a halt.”
“That’s true, but…Even if it’s acting, you’ll still be flirting with Shizukawa-san, right?”
“Are you…jealous?”
“Of course not! Who do you think you are?! You are my future shoe stand!”
“I’m less than actual furniture?!”
“Isn’t that pretty fitting for you? If you don’t want to end up in the storage room, you better improve my mood!”
Sending a stamp of a burning house, Kisa threw her smartphone on her bed. Following that, she buried her own face in her pillow.
“Haaaa………” A long sigh escaped her lips.
Even though this game was supposed to be between just the two of them, more people joined in, more people bothering them, not allowing her to make it work out how she wanted to. Having been raised in wealth and success, this was the first time she went out of her way to fight for something.
To be fair, this love was too reckless to begin with. The Nanjou and Kitamikado Family are opposing families in Japan. One controlling the darkness like hades in the underworld, one guided by the shining sun. No matter the circumstances, this love was not allowed.
During her recent student life, Kisa yet again became aware of that. Although it was mere acting, she had been having severe fights with Mikado, verbal wars, sparks flying between them. She hurt him with her baseless verbal abuse, and hurt herself as well.
And yet, this was how things are supposed to work between them. If she gave in to this fate, she would become a real enemy of Mikado. Watching Mikado with a sideways glance as he happily built his family with Rinka or Mizuki, her mission was to ruin his existence.
—What torture.
Just imagining a future like that, Kisa’s field of view grew darker. Nanjou Kisa was raised to become the Empress of Darkness. Even if her entire family ordered her to, she would not break down. A future where she would have to fight Mikado, she would never accept.
In order for that, she needed to win this love game, and in order to lessen the surveillance of the Kitamikado Family’s head, this operation was necessary. That being said, she could not allow Mikado’s fiance to steal his lips, his heart.
“Taking everything I want, even if by force…is my way of doing things.” Kisa tightly grasped her smartphone, and muttered.
Shown on the screen was the gleeful smile of Mikado, her most important person.
“M-Mikado-sama! Please treat me well today!”
“Y-Yeah, likewise…”
As Mikado walked towards his classroom, Rinka arrived next to him, and softly lowered her head. Her beautifully attended black hair shone in the morning sun, her cheeks as lucious as ever. Her uniform showed no wrinkles like always, and it looked like she put a lot of effort in her looks today.
“Now, Mikado-sama, please hug me! Or should I be the one to hug you instead?!” Rinka opened her arms widely as she approached him.
“You sure are motivated…what is that energy even…” Mikado flinched.
“A-Apologies.” Rinka put one palm of her hand on her cheek. “It seems I have gotten a bit too excited. Thinking I would be able to touch Mikado-sama as much as I want, I got too happy.”
“This is just acting, alright? Though I feel bad for basically forcing you to play along with no merit for you…”
“Lord no! Even if it’s just acting, I would love to be lovey-dovey with Mikado-sama! For me, that is the greatest possible reward!”
“I-Is that so…”
Seeing that she was truly delighted, Mikado’s guilt vanished a tad bit. With Rinka’s passionate gaze in one corner of this eye, Mikado glanced over at Kisa’s seat. If he were to be too close to his fiance, a knife might just come flying his way.
“Seems like Kisa isn’t here yet.”
“Maybe she will be taking the day off today? Presumably because she doesn’t want the two of us loving each other?”
“I’m pretty sure she’d try everything in her might to ruin it for us though…”
“She hasn’t contacted you either? Maybe via LINE?”
Mikado indeed hadn’t checked his messages yet, and found one of Kisa.
[I’m not feeling good today, so I’ll be taking the day off. Have fun, you two]
It sounded like a calm message, but the skull emote after that spoke against it. Her calm anger was perfectly transmitted. That being said, if Kisa was really taking the day off, the mission should be an easy feat. He didn’t have to worry about Kisa’s affection for him going down the drain, or Rinka getting killed in the process.
“Good morning~! What a wonderful day to take some pictures!” Kokage carried her camera as she walked towards MIkado.
“I’m counting on you. They have to be perfect so that my father will stop doubting us.”
“No problemo, my preparations are complete! I brought some night vision and sound cameras, so I can perfectly see you even in a cave or underwater!”
“Well…we’re not going diving though…”
They were talking about taking pictures normally at school, so Mikado grew a bit worried when he saw Kokage acting off like that. At the very least, he doubted that showing his father diving pictures with his fiance would have much of an impact.
Kokage fidgeted, as she fiddled with her camera.
“But…well…I’m the type to get easily embarrassed, so please don’t do anything too perverted…if possible, please keep your clothes on!”
“Nobody said anything about stripping!”
“Eh, we’re not going to take off our clothes?!” Rinka’s eyes opened wide. “I put a lot of effort in my underwear today!”
“Why?! And don’t say that in such a loud voice!”
“I should have told my parents that I would be returning home late…”
“You won’t be home late! You’ll be back before curfew, so don’t worry your parents!”
The girl was getting misunderstanding after misunderstanding, which left Mikado flustered. At the same time, he could hear the silent murmurs from his classmates.
“Hey, did you hear that…?”
“Shizukawa-san picked out underwear for Kitamikado-kun?”
“And she’ll stay the night…?”
“That’s fiances for you, alright…”
“I think I’m going to cry, this is beautiful…”
“Let’s call the baby Bob!”
“No, it’ll be written as Blade of Light, and read as Light Saber!”
The harsh gazes from their surroundings started to hurt. They even started giving the imaginary baby horrible names. To that, Mikado realized the stress and intimidation of having to name the kid who will one day be the guiding light of Japan.
“F-For now, let’s go outside, shall we!”
“Y-Yes, let’s!”
Mikado and the others hurriedly left the classroom.
“For now, let’s have the two of you walk next to each other! I’d like to take an every-day picture of two fiances at school!” Kokage guided them with the camera in hand, with what their acting began.
They walked down the hallway next to each other, passing the students who had just arrived at school. With a distance not too close, nor too far, they had a normal walking speed. From corner to corner, ten meters at most.
“…We were just walking normally there!”
“it was so natural you didn’t look like fiances at all! You just looked like normal classmates!”
From their distance, it was even unsure if they could clarify as classmates. This would certainly not be enough to satisfy Mikado’s father.
Kokage brought up a proposal.
“Um…how about you hold hands at least? It’ll take down the natural aspect, but as fiances, holding hands shouldn’t be too off…”
“Now that you say it…Okay, one more time, please.”
Mikado wasn’t used to something bold such as holding hands with a girl, but it was required for this operation. Feeling nervous, he carefully reached out to Rinka’s pure white hand with his own.
“Hya?!”
But, Rinka evaded that. When he tried to take it by force, she hid it behind her waist. When he tried to follow that hand, Rinka separated from him.
“Why are you avoiding me?!”
Even Mikado felt hurt, seeing how desperate she was to evade. He even wondered if his fiance actually didn’t like him at all.
However, Rinka just screamed with a beet red face.
“I-In front of other people…h-h-h-holding hands…so shameless!”
“You say that now…? Just a second ago, you were talking about stripping and whatever!”
“I-I was saying that…but holding hands is…too lewd…” Rinka formed fists in front of her chest, biting her lip.
“What’s with that reaction…”
From the depths of his entrails, Mikado awakened to an odd desire of conquering. Normally, he would be taken aback by Rinka’s attempts of winning him over, her evading him made him desire her even more.
“Enough, just come here.”
A desire to catch her no matter what made him forcefully grab Rinka’s hand.
“Ah…………”
A soft voice leaked out of her mouth, as her slender shoulders shook. Her tender ear lobes were burning red, so was the nape of her neck. Next to Rinka with her expression, looking about to die out of embarrassment, Mikado walked down the hallway again.
Behind him, Mikado could hear Kokage taking pictures. Maybe because of her nervousness, Rinka’s footstep was wobbly, and awkward. She didn’t even try to keep eye contact. Making it barely halfway, her legs gave in and she collapsed towards Mikado, who supported her shoulders.
“…You okay?”
“Y-Yesh…I’m…okay…” Her voice was about to cut out.
The scent of her hair softly yet decisively caused chaos in Mikado’s brain.
—She’s too cute!
Mikado was at a loss. It was weird. He should be in love with Kisa. But for some reason, all of Rinka’s gestures, with the embarrassment mixed in, looked way too adorable. Even her scent was more intense as usual.
“Mikado-sama…? Did something happen…?” Rinka gazed upwards at Mikado.
That was enough to send Mikado’s heart beat off the charts. Her worried gaze resting in her eyes, and her passionate feelings lit a small fire inside his chest.
“N-Not, it’s nothing…” He quickly separated his body from Rinka.
He couldn’t properly control his emotions. If he wasn’t careful, he might just embrace her without thinking. He couldn’t do that. He already went off the right path, falling in love with the daughter of the Nanjou Family, and now getting sidetracked off that love with another girl. Hence, he constantly kept himself aware of that, trying not to look at Rinka.
At that time, he heard footsteps approaching them, originating from Mizuki.
“Mikado-kun! You look as cool as always today!”
“You don’t care about this being the high school division as always today!”
“Eh, huh? Why should I care about that?! Since you’re here, of course I would come visit you! Or should I just switch here for good?”
“Don’t be ridiculous…”
Though he didn’t want to admit it, Mizuki’s sudden energetic appearance helped in calming him down a bit. Still, Mizuki visited this area even more than Mikado’s actual first-year Kouhais.
With no embarrassment at all, Mizuki clung to Mikado’s arm.
“Oh yeah, listen to this, Mikado-kun! I just sent Onee-chan a message via LINE, but I didn’t get any reply! I came here to ask her about that.”
“Eh? Didn’t Kisa take the day off?”
“No? She wasn’t at home at least. Is she not here either?”
“No…”
“Weird~ I wonder where she might be~?”
Mikado and Mizuki tilted their heads in confusion, as Rinka joined in.
“U-Um, maybe she went to the hospital? You can’t use your smartphone in the waiting room after all…”
“Huh…?” Mizuki had a puzzled expression, approaching Rinka.
“Rinka-chan……?”
“W-What is it…?” Rinka took a step back, clearly feeling uncomfortable.
Mizuki approached her even further, and buried her nose in her chest.
“Sniff…sniff…”
“Why are you sniffing me?!”
Mizuki ran her red tongue along Rinka’s throat.
“Lick…lick…”
“?!?! Why are you licking me now?!”
“Excuse me for a second~!”
Mizuki stuck her head inside Rinka’s skirt.
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaa?!” Rinka’s scream rang out.
She tried her best to shake off Mizuki, but the girl just clung to Rinka’s legs, not letting go at all.
“Just as always…” Mikado yet again felt terrified at the nonchalant attitude of Mizuki.
Even if she was his fiance, in the off-event that Mikado did this, he would probably be reported for sexual harassment…No, the same would probably happen if he was a girl, but nonetheless, he cursed his brain for being a bit jealous of Mizuki right now.
“Fufufu~ I see, I totally get it now!”
Mizuki came forth from inside Rinka’s skirt again, puffing out her chest in a confident manner. This might be the first time for Mikado to see someone as nonchalant as her.
“What…are you talking about…?” Rinka raised one eyebrow as she glared at Mizuki.
She tightly pulled down the hem of her skirt so that Mizuki couldn’t get inside again, and that sight was rather sensual.
Mizuki pointed at Rinka like a detective.
“No matter how good you can hide it, you won’t be able to deceive me! This scent, taste, panties, there’s no mistaking it! Rinka-chan…No, your identity has already beenmguguh—!”
Rinka swiftly closed off Mizuki’s mouth mid-sentence. No, not just her mouth, but also her nose, not allowing her to breathe, her face turning pale.
“M-Mikado-sama…Can I request some girls’ time with Mizuki-san…?”
“Y-Yeah…?”
Rinka’s face twitched in anger, so Mikado just slightly nodded along. A fearful aura was leaking from Rinka’s body, making it impossible for Mikado to talk against it.
“Mgggh! Mghhhh!”
Mizuki’s eyes were desperately looking for help from Mikado, but she was pulled off down the hallway. At the stairs, their appearances disappeared. Kokage’s face grew pale.
“I-I feel like I heard a ‘Mikado-kuuuun, I don’t want to die!’ scream in there…?”
“P-Probably just your imagination…?” Mikado decided to wait as a cold sweat ran down his cheek.
Rinka quickly returned. Without Mizuki.
“We’ve finished. Mizuki-san decided to go back to the middle school division.” Rinka tried to act calm, but she was out of breath.
For just normal girl talk, she was back way too quick.
—Did she silence Mizuki somehow…? But, could Rinka really do that…?
Mikado felt like something was off, but Rinka just flashed a kind smile next to him. The ominous aura emitting from her had vanished completely.
“Let us back to the classroom. Homeroom is about to begin.”
“Yeah…?”
Rinka just stopped the conversation, as she headed back to the classroom.
He spent the entire day with Rinka like this. Sharing a textbook while having their desks next to each other, rushing over towards Mikado to talk with him the entire break time. Since Kisa and Mizuki were gone, Rinka could keep Mikado all to herself, and the other classmates didn’t want to bother some sweet fiance time, so they didn’t approach them either. Watching them, Kokage continued to take pictures.
The operation was moving smoothly. But, it was too smooth, Mikado felt like something was off. For some reason, Kisa didn’t intervene at all. Not to mention Mizuki’s weird acting before (leaving aside the worries if she actually died or not). And, what exactly was Rina’s taste Mizuki mentioned about.
His thoughts were drifting everywhere, even as he cleaned the school building, when Rinka joined him.
“I have borrowed a mowing sickle from the utensil storage shed. This should make it easier.”
“Thanks, that’s a good help.”
Mikado accepted the sickle, and started cutting the grass. Because of the recent rain, weed like this had been growing like crazy.
Rinka sighed.
“How troublesome, all this weed growing here. They should just put gravel here to take away that work.”
“I think it would be a waste. A lot of these grasses are actually pretty useful.”
“Really?” Rinka’s eyes opened wide.
“Yeah, this mugwort can be turned into tempura, or rice-flour dumplings, the chameleon plant can be used for lotion, plantain can be used as medicine for the throat, and the wild rocambole is often used as a substitute for garlic if you boil it. Coffee can be created from dandelions, and when you couldn’t get coffee beans during the war times, you could use it for some tea time. They are all valuable resources, so wasting them would be such a shame.” Mikado shrugged, to which Rinka sent him a gaze of admiration.
“You really have a high survival skill, Mikado-sama. So reliable.” The sight of her crossing her arms in front of her chest, as she looked up, was very lovable.
This left Mikado with even more of a feeling of discomfort.
“Why do you know about my survival skill…?” Mikado asked with a deep voice.
For just a second—a fragment of a second, barely visible to the bare eye—Rinka’s expression stiffened up. But, that disappeared immediately, as Rinka smiled with her hands together.
“I know everything about Mikado-sama after all.”
Still, it can’t be. Mikado has never told Rinka about the Kitamikado survival techniques. Since Rinka didn’t have any stalking tendencies, she shouldn’t have found out about it herself either. Mikado tried to put a trap in his words, based on this odd feeling.
“That reminds me, back when we were smaller, we often went to catch fish, right.”
“Yes, that sure takes me back. When you made a casket out of grass, I fell for you all over again.”
—Alright, got her!
Mikado screamed in the face of success. She probably tried her best to fit with the story, but Rinka and Mikado didn’t have a past like that. It was obvious that she was putting up a lie. On top of that, the memory she was talking about happened with Kisa on the deserted island, where he had revealed his survival skill to her.
Arriving at that thought, Mikado understood why Mizuki was silenced like that, why he hadn’t seen Kisa the entire day, and why Rinka’s gestures and scent seemed so off from usual.
The Rinka in front of him was actually Kisa in disguise.
—She’s probably using some specially made makeup…
With the swindling and strategic skills of the Nanjou Family, it was definitely doable. But, the light reflected in her eyes was overlapping with Rinka’s. Slightly teasing, doubtful, and bashfulness residing in it. He assumed that she would try something to hinder today’s operation, but Mikado didn’t expect her to become Rinka herself.
The real Rinka must be far away from school right now because of some fake urgent business. Even if it’s the Nanjou Family, they wouldn’t just abduct the young lady of the Shizukawa Family.
“…Mikado-sama? Did something happen?”
Mikado stared at Rinka (Kisa), who tilted her head in slight discomfort.
“…Well, your eyes are so beautiful, I lost myself in them.”
“Eh?! W-Why would you say that out of the blue like that?! I don’t need any flattery!”
“It’s not flattery. They really are beautiful. I can’t take my eyes away from them.”
“T-Those words are wasted on me…” Rinka (Kisa) put both her hands on her burning red cheeks.
Her eyes were watery as well. Just as expected, her reaction was different from the actual Rinka. The real one would have accepted Mikado’s compliment more honestly. But, Kisa had lower tolerance towards that, which is why she seems this awkward.
—This…is a chance!
Mikado thought. Right now, no matter how much he praised Rinka (Kisa), no matter how bold of an approach he tried, it wouldn’t count as a show of affection towards Kisa. Kisa right now was [Rinka]. With this, he could inflict as much damage as he wanted on Kisa, without having to fear the repercussions. It was a pure one-sided…no, bonus game.
“Once home room is over, can you come with me to the materials room?”
“Eh, why?” Rinka (Kisa) asked a bit awkwardly.
“Remember, we have to film the kissing scene with Kawaraya, right?”
“K-Kiss scene?! Y-Yes, that’s right! That’s perfectly right!” Rinka (Kisa) almost jumped at Mikado.
Yet again, another action the Yamato Nadeshiko known as Rinka wouldn’t do.
“Well…it’s actually just an excuse so that the two of us can spend some time together.”
“You want to be…together with me…?”
Mikado decisively approached Rinka (Kisa) to a level where she was pushed against the wall of the school building. Her tender shoulders were tensed up. Not using any name, Mikado said the words he wanted Kisa to hear.
“Yeah. I want to spend time with you, just the two of us. There’s things we can’t do here after all…Will you come?”
Rinka (Kisa) furiously nodded along with a tomato-red face.
Distant thunder could be heard. During home room class, the clear skies suddenly started to get reigned by dark clouds. A stuffy heat followed, with lighting visible here and there outside the window.
Though it was rather unfortunate for the photoshoot, it was the perfect atmosphere for the battle with Kisa. Having taken her to a material room in one corner of the school building, he went through the plan of attack inside his head, and mentally prepared himself.
In the opening of a mountain of documents, he could see the lens flickering, meaning that Kokage was on stand-by. Although he wanted to use this opportunity for the bonus game, he couldn’t forget about the ‘Passionate two-shot of Rinka and Mikado’, the main reason for the entire day.
The inside of the room smelled moldy, and it was pretty dark. Mikado used the switch on the wall to put the lights on.
“Could you close the blinds? I don’t want anybody looking inside.”
“W-What are we doing that nobody should be seeing us…?” Rinka (Kisa) threw Mikado a reproachful gaze.
“The same as usual?”
“The same as usual?!” Rinka (Kisa) was dumbfounded, and Mikado yet again grew aware of his own superior position.
These words just now had the risk to lower Kisa’s affection towards him. However, he had to make sure that he really was dealing with Kisa. He couldn’t risk pulling an approach like that to the actual Rinka.
“I was just joking. For some reason, I don’t have the confidence to hold back my desires today.”
“Are you that hungry…?”
“I’m not talking about hunger!”
“Maybe you should take a nap in the nurse’s office…”
“I’m not sleepy either! You should know what I’m talking about, right?!”
“Ugh…” Rinka (Kisa)’s face turned beet red.
This was the proof that she understood perfectly well what Mikado was talking about.
“Just to make sure, right?”
“Y-Yes…”
The two split the work to pull down the blinds on the windows, as well as the ones next to the floor. Not even a few minutes had passed, as they succeeded in sealing off this room. Kokage swallowed her breath, erasing her entire existence.
Rinka (Kisa) took some distance from Mikado, carefully observing him. Naturally, Mikado felt the same. But, he had to follow through now. He tried to control his beating hard as best as possible, and tightly hugged Kisa’s body.
“H-Hold on, Mikado?! Sama…” Caught in his arms, Rinka (Kisa) panicked.
That resistance was yet again too lovable, making him grasp her even tighter.
“I always…wanted to do this…”
“…” Rinka (Kisa)’s body shivered at Mikado’s heartfelt murmur.
“Today, you’re just way too cute. Once there’s an opening, you come towards me like a small puppy, you want to be by my side, your face is blushing, it’s too much…”
“T-Too much…” An embarrassed voice leaked from her white throat.
“That reaction. If you make that face, I just can’t help but want to touch you. But, there’s other people with us, so I can’t. Our circumstances aren’t that easy after all…”
Just slightly, he put meaning in his words only Kisa would be able to understand. Although it was a scheme, a chance to one-sidedly strike her down, Kisa’s entire existence was the ultimate weapon against Mikado. Being this close to the person he had fallen for, Mikado’s reasoning was equally slowly clipping away. If he didn’t land the final hit before that, he would be done in first.
Mikado approached Kisa’s lips with his mouth.
“That’s why…Just for now…let me stay with my most beloved you.”
“…!!! Please stop this!” Rinka (Kisa) pushed away Mikado with both her hands.
Because of the sudden physical impact, Mikado staggered. He was truly afraid if he had actually grossed her out with his words.
“If you stay any closer to this filthy woman, your soul will be sullied, Mikado-sama!”
“Filthy?!”
“Yes, very much so! I am the kind of woman to pick up trash off the side of the road, and eat it! Be it empty bottles or cans, I gulp it down with no restraint!”
“You’re not that kind of human, are you?!”
“Yes, I doubt you can even call me human anymore…I am nothing more but a creature in human skin, bringing misfortune. Very much not fit to be together with Mikado-sama…I am the world’s greatest trash!” Rinka (Kisa) put one hand on her chest, as she spit out unreasonable words with her chin lifted up.
This might be Mikado’s first time to see someone call themselves trash in such an arrogant way. Most likely, because of his attack on Kisa, she is trying to ruin Rinka’s image that he has.
“That is why, instead of wasting your time with me, feel free to confess your love to Nanjou-san! She is always shining brightly, and the perfect match for you! Like a fairy, a fairy of love!”
—This turned into an absolute mess…
Mikado let out a sigh. Only Kisa would be able to call herself a fairy of love like this. Her confidence was as strong as ever at the very least.
“Calm down for a second. You aren’t filthy or anything…”
“Don’t come any closer!”
Mikado tried to soothe her, but Rinka (Kisa) had her hair standing as she took a step back. Then, a heavy thunder rang out, and the lights in the room went out.
“A blackout?!”
The room was wrapped in darkness.
“Kyaaa?!”
Kisa’s shriek rang out, with the flashy sound of her tripping, documents falling like an avalanche. Because of the darkness, Mikado couldn’t tell what was happening. He just ran towards the loud sound.
“You okay, Kisa?!”
His hand touched something soft. So that Kisa wouldn’t suffer any injuries, Mikado protected her in his arms.
“I-I’m fine. I’m not hur—Eh?” Kisa’s body twitched.
At the same time, Mikado realized his mistake. Even in this darkness, Rinka (Kisa)’s face was clearly visible as she looked up at Mikado.
“Y-Y-You…realized…?”
“No, not at all. I have no idea what you are talking about.” Mikado shook his head.
“Lies! You definitely realized! You did, and decided to tease me, right?! You enjoyed my reactions, didn’t you! You’re the worst!” Her face looked like she’d die of embarrassment, hitting Mikado’s chest with her tender arms.
Because she was this flustered, she couldn’t put any strength in it, just making her look cute. That being said, Mikado received the most damage today.
“N-No, I wasn’t teasing you, that’s the game, right?! …Did I get you flustered?”
“Of course not—?!” Kisa let out a shriek, hiding her face inside Mikado’s chest.
Apparently, she couldn’t bear to show Mikado her burning red face. That being said, being clung to in darkness like this left Mikado without any possible reaction. Since it was revealed that he had caught onto her scheme, he couldn’t broadly hug her again. Still, coldly pushing her away was not an option either.
“U-Um…what should we do now…?”
Reflexively, he sought help from Kisa herself.
“…We can only go along the operation, right?” Kisa muttered, still inside Mikado’s chest.
“Along the operation?”
“A-Again…w-we have to kiss…so that Kawaraya-san can take a picture, right?” Kisa’s nails cut into Mikado’s shirt.
“Y-Yeah, you’re right.”
“I-I am right. As of right now, I am looking exactly like Shizukawa-san, so finishing the photoshoot now…would be the fastest.”
Was it just Mikado’s excessive confidence that he heard a wish of Kisa wanting him to kiss her instead of Rinka? Did she put in all this effort to look like her so that Rinka couldn’t steal Mikado’s first kiss? Mikado couldn’t help to think like that, his head spinning in confusion. He couldn’t help getting his hopes up. After all, Kisa’s eyes, even in darkness, shone bright with desire. Disregarding what she felt, Mikado himself desired her lips.
“Alright…”
“…Yeah.”
Mikado softly grabbed the girl’s chin, bringing his face closer. Normally, the girl would never keep quiet as time went on, but she had perfectly gotten quiet, her eyes closed as she waited.
Her shoulders were shaking ever so slightly, but she still didn’t dare to run away. Mikado was entranced at the sight of her, at her dampened lips. He would be able to kiss her, unrelated to the game. She gave her permission, and accepted it.
Mikado’s heart was beating at an alarming speed. Kisa’s own chest was moving up and down heavily as well. He had completely forgotten about this being a part of the photoshoot.
Mikado brought his lips closer to Kisa—
“Eh”
His lips touched her lovable forehead.
Kisa’s shocked voice.
The sound of the camera clicking, followed by a blinding flash.
Having finished her job, Kokage let out a sigh.
Everything should have gone well, and yet Kisa looked dissatisfied.
“Why…not on the lips?”
“Why are you asking…?” Mikado threw the question back at ther.
“N-Nevermind! This is all, right?! I’m going home!”
Kisa opened the door, running away almost in a panic. He heard the sound of her tripping over, followed by a cute shriek. Peace finally returned to the room, and Mikado’s heart had calmed down. In this room, still filled with this sweet scent, Mikado muttered.
“As if…I could tell you…”
It wasn’t even related to the game, or him being too embarrassed. He wanted his first kiss to be with the real Kisa, and not in disguise.
CClaw Translations 
Mizuki is really fearless! ^^
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