My Mental Choices Are Completely Interfering with My School Romantic Comedy

In the Amakusa household’s living room, it was nearing around 7 PM.

“Seriously…?”

As I gazed at the spread of dishes on the table, a voice of admiration slipped from my lips.

A thick, rich sauce dripped from a juicy steak, a platter of various fish arranged as a carpaccio, pasta with a three-dimensional presentation, a steaming bowl of white stew, and a colorful, fresh salad. These were dishes that far exceeded the usual dinner fare.

But I hadn’t cooked any of this.

“It’s my first time making dinner for Kanade-san… so, I may have gone a little overboard.”

Despite it being nearly half a day since the sudden and shocking transformation, Chocolat was still maintaining this composed demeanor.

During class, she didn’t sleep or slack off, took notes properly, and even answered the questions posed to her with precision, surprising the teacher. During breaks, she answered her classmates’ probing questions with logical, well-structured responses, leaving them bewildered.

With a smile that never faltered, she was graceful, demure, and yet never made anyone feel distant. Her behavior was perfectly composed, like the ideal image a man might imagine in his dreams.

When would this “dream” end? I had been watching in a dazed state, almost as though I was watching a vision, but no matter how many times I pinched my cheek or slapped my face, there was no sign of it ending. And now, here I was.

“No… this is…”

Seeing me at a loss for words while staring at the food, Chocolat calmly slipped her hand into her chest and pulled out a bundle of bills.

“Ah, of course, this came out of the necessary expenses, so it hasn’t affected the household finances in the slightest.”

Well, that wasn’t what I was concerned about… I’d seen her actually cook, but the fact that this beautiful meal had been made by Chocolat was still hard to believe.

“Now, please eat before it gets cold.”

“Ah, yeah…”

Reluctantly, I reached out to the food, still struggling to process the situation.

“…This is amazing.”

Of course, I already knew that food this well-presented couldn’t possibly taste bad, but the flavor completely exceeded my expectations.

“This is at a level where you could charge money for it…”

I had some confidence in my cooking skills, but the quality of the dishes in front of me was on an entirely different level.

Chocolat clasped her hands in front of her chest and smiled softly.

“I’m so happy that Kanade-san is enjoying it.”

“Ugh…”

I suddenly felt an uncomfortable heat rise in my cheeks. I quickly tried to cover it up, nudging her.

“Ch-Chocolat, you should eat too.”

“No, I’ll wait until Kanade-san is satisfied first. Then I’ll have whatever is left.”

…I couldn’t believe my own ears.

No matter how much her memory had returned, I never expected that that appetite-driven demon would speak such words.

“I-I’m not really into that kind of thing, so let’s just eat together.”

“As you wish, Kanade-san,” Chocolat replied calmly.

She proceeded to take small portions of each dish and bring them to her mouth.

Her movements were the epitome of grace, entirely different from the loud, exaggerated chewing sounds of her past eating habits. It was a stark contrast.

I found myself mesmerized by the picture-perfect scene.

Noticing my gaze, Chocolat stopped, and with a hint of embarrassment, she spoke.

“Kanade-san… um… it’s a little embarrassing for me if you keep staring while I’m eating…”

“Ah, sorry…” I quickly looked away and took a bite of my food.

“…”

Both of us silently eating, the atmosphere was strangely tense.

“Sh-Should we turn on the TV or something?”

Unable to bear the silence, I reached for the remote.

“Mmm… …Ah…”

What appeared on the screen was a passionate kiss scene. The couple, locked in a tight embrace, fell onto the bed.

“Oi, why is this on at seven o’clock…—ugh.”

As I reached to change the channel, I accidentally locked eyes with Chocolat, who had been staring intently at me. Her cheeks were faintly flushed.

“Ah, s-sorry. I just told you not to watch this earlier, and now here I am—”

“It’s fine, really…”

“…”

We both immediately looked away, and the silence returned… What the heck was going on with this atmosphere?

“Thank you for the meal.”

Only a few minutes later, Chocolat announced the end of her meal.

“Eh, already over?”

“Yes, this is enough for me.”

The dishes on the table had barely been touched—she had only sampled a little bit. What the hell… compared to the old Chocolat, this seemed way too little for any girl.

“Hey, you don’t have to worry about me so much, you know.”

“Thank you for your consideration, but as servants of the gods, we are highly energy-efficient, so we don’t need to consume much nutrition from food.”

“…Huh?”

“The act of eating itself is enjoyable, so I did share lunch with the girls at school. But if you only consider it from the perspective of survival, having a meal this size once every few days is more than enough. So, I’m already full.”

“…”

“Um… Kanade-san, is something wrong?”

After hearing that shocking revelation, I remained silent, staring at Chocolat’s stomach.

If what she said was true, then what in the world were all those massive amounts of food that had disappeared into her just yesterday?

Noticing the confusion on my face, Chocolat placed both hands on her now-flushed cheeks.

“Ah… I am terribly sorry. I… I was acting strangely until yesterday. It’s unbecoming of a girl to eat so greedily…”

“Well, it’s not that big of a deal… But if you’re not eating anymore…”

There was still enough food on the table to feed at least five people. I had thought she’d made it all with me in mind.

“So… this is all for me?”

“Sorry, it’s too much, isn’t it…” Chocolat lowered her head, visibly deflated.

“Well, there are some things that can be stored, and if you want, we can just throw some of it away—”

“No, I’ll eat it all.”

“Kanade-san…”

As a man, I was on the smaller side when it came to food, but I couldn’t just leave a meal that a girl had gone through the trouble of making for me untouched.

I steeled myself and dug in.

Yeah, it’s still delicious. The taste is truly top-tier, so that was a relief.

“…Hm? What’s wrong?”

After a while, I noticed something strange with Chocolat. She was fidgeting, looking like she wanted to say something.

“Um… since I’ve caused you trouble with my clumsiness, I’d like to help you eat, if that’s okay…”

“Help me eat?”

“That is… well…” She faltered, picking up a piece of steak with her chopsticks and bringing it to my mouth.

“…This is what I mean.”

Wait, hold on, is she…?

“…Aahh~”

The words “ahh” came from Chocolat’s mouth hesitantly, freezing my thoughts for a moment.

“T-This a bit too much in my opinion…”

Without thinking, I recoiled from her, but Chocolat’s eyes shimmered lightly.

“…Did I… inconvenience you?”

“Ugh…”

Her expression was almost criminal.

“F-Fine, I’ll do it…”

Immediately, Chocolat brightened, nodding eagerly.

“Okay, ahh~”

I took the steak she offered, feeling conflicted but still putting it in my mouth.

“…Mmm, it’s really good.”

I slowly chewed it, giving an honest compliment.

But for some reason, Chocolat quickly averted her gaze.

“What’s wrong?”

“Well… it was… more embarrassing than I thought…”

What was with that?

“…I-I see. If it was embarrassing, then I guess it can’t be helped.”

“Sorry, I just… I can’t go any further than this…”

“Ah, it’s fine, you can leave the rest to me.”

“Y-Yes…”

“…”

Seriously, what the heck is with this atmosphere…

Amidst the countless awkward silences throughout the day, I continued to silently move my chopsticks.

***

“Ugh…”

About an hour later, I had finished every last bit of food.

“T-Thank you for the meal…”

“No, thank you for the food.”

Chocolat smiled happily and then bowed her head politely.

“But honestly, I’m not just saying this to flatter you—it was really delicious… Now then…”

I stood up, rubbing my now-fully-stuffed stomach.

“Kanade-san, is something wrong?”

“Huh? Oh, I was just thinking of washing the dishes.”

“If that’s the case, then please leave it to me. You can relax.”

“No, no, you made it for me, so I should at least do this much.”

“No, I am just a guest, so please let me do it.”

As someone who was used to doing housework daily, it felt strange to do nothing, but it seemed like Chocolat wasn’t about to back down on this.

“Well, if you insist that much, I guess I’ll leave it to you… What should I do then?”

“Oh, how about taking a bath? I already cleaned and started filling the tub while you were eating, so it should be ready by now.”

I hadn’t realized she had been doing all of this while I was eating.

“I’ll also prepare a change of clothes for you, right away.”

“Ah, no, you don’t need to go that far…”

I tried to stop her, but she dashed off before I could protest.

A few minutes later, Chocolat returned with a cheerful smile, handing me a bath towel and a full set of clothes.

“Here you go.”

“Ah, ah, thanks…”

I was taken aback by how considerate she was, and I couldn’t hide my confusion.

“Kanade-san, what’s wrong?”

“Ah, no, it’s nothing.”

Standing there, not heading to the bathroom, Chocolat seemed to misunderstand something.

“Kanade-san… um, could I have just a moment to prepare myself, mentally?”

“Huh?”

“The way you’re looking at me… It means you want us to bathe together, right?”

“No, that’s not it…”

I immediately denied it, but Chocolat seemed to have entered a strange, imaginative mode and wasn’t listening.

“Um… I’ll do my best with your back… But… I’m embarrassed and can’t wash your… um, bottom…”

“I said, that’s not what I meant at all! I’m not even asking you to wash my rear!”

“Ugh… I… I really can’t do the front…”

“What is this, some kind of ero-manga!?”

I left Chocolat, who was blushing for no reason, behind and rushed into the bathroom.

“Kanade-san, how’s the water temperature?”

After getting out of the bath and drying my hair with a towel, I returned to the living room, where Chocolat, now in an apron after finishing the dishes, was waiting.

“Ah, it was just right.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

The sight of her refined smile… Even though I had seen it multiple times today, it still didn’t lessen the strange feeling inside me.

“Chocolat, can I talk to you for a moment?”

“Yes, of course. What is it?”

If we keep dancing around this strange situation without addressing it, nothing will be resolved. I need to have a proper conversation with Chocolat.

I motioned for her to sit on the sofa, then prepared two glasses of juice from the fridge and sat across from her.

“Today has been full of surprises, and I haven’t had a chance to really talk to you properly. I want to understand your situation better now.”

“…Yes, you’re right. I’ve been so focused on wanting to serve you, Kanade-san, that I haven’t properly explained things.”

After this, Chocolat began speaking about herself.

“We, the servants of the gods, exist to carry out the tasks assigned to us by the gods themselves…”

When I combined what Chocolat was saying with the information I had already gotten from the gods, it came together in a timeline like this:

1. Chocolat (normal version): Working energetically under the gods, fulfilling her duties.

1. At some point, memory loss: The reasons for it are unclear. With this, her personality also changed, and she became the “broken” version of herself.

1. Living lazily, just passing time.

1. A letter from the gods: It orders her to go to someone named Amagusa Ganadur (a completely unrelated person living in another world, but confusingly, he also uses the name Amakusa Kanade). At around the same time, a similar order was likely sent to a different, outstanding servant to come to me.

1. The gods, angry, curse the current god, and she retreats into seclusion while pregnant.

1. Chara-gami, the god of seclusion, takes over as her replacement.

1. Chocolat and the excellent servant are sent to their respective worlds, but due to some mistake, their roles got swapped, and Chocolat ended up here with me.

1. Chocolat’s lazy, broken existence as a shut-in came.

1. This morning, her memory came back… and that’s where we are now.

There are several things I’m curious about, like how she lost her memory or why the switch happened. But the most complicated part of this situation is the god who’s been hiding away.

The god, who should know the situation, has been hiding away for some ridiculous, soap opera-like reason. Because of that, no one really knows what’s going on, and I just end up doing the missions as I’m told. No, that’s not right.

From Chara-gami’s story, I remember that the god of seclusion didn’t even know much about the curse and was being forced to do it by someone else. That means there must be someone else—someone behind the scenes. Someone who’s been sending me these strange missions, sending me on these tasks that make no sense.

So, there’s a “third god” I don’t know about.

Based on what she said earlier, Chocolat only knows the god of seclusion, so I don’t expect to learn anything useful about this “third god.”

“Um… Kanade-san…”

Chocolat’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts, her tone hesitant.

“Ah, yeah, what is it?”

“I can only take care of you, but… is it okay if I stay by your side onwards?”

She looked up at me with a slightly anxious expression. It seemed like she was worried that she hadn’t provided me with any useful information, and that was bothering her.

“Like I said in the classroom earlier, I’ll do everything I can to make up for my previous mistakes. I’ll give it my all.”

“No need to overdo it. I’m not going to ask you to leave or anything.”

“R-Really?”

The moment she heard that, Chocolat’s expression shifted from one of doubt to a radiant smile, as if blooming into a flower.

“You’re really that happy?”

“Yes, it’s my joy to serve you, Kanade-san.”

Her feelings hadn’t changed, even if her personality had. She was still determined to stay by my side, no matter what.

But still… this is a bit too strange, right? Back when she was in her more docile state, I didn’t think much of it, but now, with this more serious Chocolat, when she’s giving me this affection without any clear reason, it leaves me wondering why.

As I mulled over these thoughts, Chocolat suddenly stood up.

“Kanade-san, may I sit beside you?”

“Eh, sure, I don’t mind.”

The moment I answered, she quietly walked over and sat right next to me.

“Excuse me.”

“Ah, yeah…”

This was… really too close. I didn’t mind her sitting next to me, but it felt like she was almost too close.

The moment she sat so close, her arm and thigh completely pressed against mine…

Chocolat, despite being the one to initiate this closeness, seemed a bit embarrassed as well.

As a result, both of us fell into an awkward silence.

“…”

Seriously, how many times has this happened now…? Could someone please do something about this awkward atmosphere…?

“Um, Kanade-san, this might be a bit confusing, but… could you listen to me?”

After a few seconds, Chocolat hesitantly spoke up, breaking the silence. If this could help us escape this awkward situation, I didn’t care what topic she brought up.

“What’s up?”

“I like you.”

“Bwah!”

I couldn’t help but spit out the juice I was holding in my mouth.

“Ara ara, this is terrible…”

Without showing any sign of irritation, Chocolat reached up and tried to wipe the juice off my mouth with her fingers.

“N-No, I can do it myself! But… what did you just say?”

“Well, when you say it like that, it’s kind of embarrassing… but… I like you.”

“Y-You… like me?”

It wasn’t the first time I’d heard those words, but when they came from this version of Chocolat, the impact was something else entirely.

“So… Kanade-san, what do you think of me?”

“Ugh…”

Chocolat gazed up at me, her face close to mine.

“I-I can’t just answer something like that all of a sudden… wait, what’s going on?”

Just as I instinctively pulled away, Chocolat’s demeanor suddenly shifted.

“Kanade-san… do you really want to eliminate Absolute Choice?”

Her eyes rapidly lost their light, becoming empty, hollow.

“Huh? Well, of course, but why are you asking—”

“Then, please obey me.”

“What are you suddenly talking about… Whoa!”

Before I could process it, she grabbed both of my shoulders and pushed me down onto the sofa.

“Chocolat… what are you…?”

I couldn’t catch up with this sudden shift. Even if I tried to shake her off, her strength was far beyond normal, and I couldn’t resist.

Chocolat straddled me, her vacant gaze never leaving my face.

“Could you kiss me?”

“Wha…?”

Before I could even react to her shocking request, she leaned in, her face coming closer.

“Ugh…”

Looking at her again, her beauty was almost unfair. Her face was flushed, which created an odd contrast with her vacant expression, giving her a strange kind of allure.

At this moment, I knew she wouldn’t resist whatever I did. If I kissed her, or even went further… she would accept it, as if it were exactly what she wanted.

That thought was filled with an almost irresistible charm.

But… this is wrong.

Chocolat, desperate and eager, brought her lips dangerously close to mine.

“If you won’t kiss me, then I’ll—”

“Wait a second!”

“Kyaa!”

With all my strength, I pushed myself up. Chocolat, who had been straddling me, tumbled off the sofa and onto the floor.

“Hah… hah…”

I didn’t want to reject her this strongly, but if things had continued, we would have definitely kissed.

Standing up first, I reached out a hand to her.

“A-Are you okay, Choco—”

Before I could finish, Chocolat jumped up and threw herself at me.