Non-Human Girls Are Fighting Over Me ~ Do I Get to Refuse? “Nope!” “No Way!” “Not a Chance!” “Absolutely Not!” - Chapter 46 & 47

Chapter 46: Bento and Unsweet Tamagoyaki

—The next day, lunch break.

Sitting on a bench behind the school, Aki flashed a bright smile beside Kazuto.

“I made it again today~! Ta-da♪”

She popped open the bento box.

Tawara rice balls, golden-brown hamburg steak, fluffy tamagoyaki, enoki bacon, crisp lettuce, and sesame-dressed spinach.

Each dish was meticulously prepared, with no trace of frozen food.

Even Kazuto, who rarely cooked, could tell the effort involved.

“Wow, looks delicious. Thanks.”

Kazuto thanked her sincerely.

Aki blushed, fidgeting, stealing a glance at him.

“Um, so… uh…”

After a deep breath, as if resolved—

“Want me to feed you?”

The sheer destructive power.

A blushing, upward-glancing high school girl saying that would knock out any normal boy.

“Got it, thanks. Feed me then.”

…But the voice came from beside them.

Mio, sitting next to Kazuto, held out her chopsticks with a blank expression.

“Wha—!? Y-You! Who are you!?” Aki glared at Mio with narrowed eyes. “Hey, Kazuto-kun, who’s this!?”

Kazuto shrugged awkwardly.

“…Come on, after that message you sent yesterday?”

“Ugh…”

Mio, unfazed, offered her bento to Kazuto.

“Anyway, Kazuto, try this. It’s my masterpiece.”

She picked up a piece of mustard chicken and shoved it into his mouth.

Then, using the same chopsticks, she ate from her own bento—a bizarre intimacy flex.

Mio’s bento had triangular rice balls, mustard chicken, tamagoyaki, kinpira gobo, okra, and cherry tomatoes.

Simple in appearance, but the taste was solid.

Before Kazuto sat two massive bentos, each 1.5 times a normal portion. Combined, three servings.

(…Why do I, one guy, have bentos multiplying at double speed?)

As Kazuto puzzled, Aki and Mio locked eyes, sparks flying.

—Behind the school, on the bench.

Two oversized bentos sat before Kazuto, both painstakingly crafted masterpieces.

Aki, a vein pulsing on her forehead, forced a smile.

“How’s this? I made it this morning~”

She picked up a piece of hamburg steak and held it to Kazuto’s mouth.

“O-Oh…”

Kazuto chewed the hamburg, and Aki, cheeks slightly flushed, used the same chopsticks to eat from her bento.

“Hehe… indirect kiss, right?”

Her soft murmur blended cuteness with calculated charm.

But Mio, beside her, didn’t flinch. Without moving a brow, she said coolly.

“Try the tamagoyaki. I learned it from Mother-in-law. Unsweet, just how Ienari likes it, right?”

—Thud. Words like a direct hit to the heart, as she slipped tamagoyaki into Kazuto’s mouth.

“Grr, grrr…”

Aki clenched her fist.

Her smile held, but her eyes and cheeks twitched.

“W-Well… could you try my tamagoyaki too?”

Fidgeting, steadying the chopsticks, she offered it to Kazuto’s mouth.

“How… is it?”

Kazuto, tongue numb with fear, could only croak.

“Both are delicious~”

In that moment, Aki looked down, her lips curling.

(This is where I strike… Getting mean would make him hate me. So—shake his heart!)

Her shoulders trembled, her voice teary.

“Ugh, ugh… sorry. I didn’t know… I made it sweet. It’s not tasty in this mood, right? Sorry… just throw out my bento…”

With that, she bolted from the bench.

“Aki-chan!”

Kazuto started to stand, but Mio sharply grabbed his arm.

“Don’t chase her!! Stay here.”

“But—!”

“No. It’s her tactic. She’s planting guilt to make you feel sorry for her.”

Mio analyzed calmly, picking up Aki’s bento.

“Well, since it’s here… let’s eat Aki’s bento together.”

Chewing the hamburg, Mio smiled, impressed.

“Delicious… all of it. Honestly, in a straight bento showdown, I’d probably lose.”

In her mind, Mio murmured.

(…Mama, thank you. Without your advice, I’d have been toast.

That girl might be the strongest romantic rival ever.)

Chapter 47: Sake, Tears, Men, and Women

This is the Snack Bar “The Witch’s Cauldron,” quietly glowing in a back alley.

Swirling cigarette smoke and the soft light cast by an antique chandelier.

At the counter’s far end, a red-haired woman tilted her glass alone.

“Mama, another. On the rocks.”

Her slender fingers held the glass, tinged with resignation.

“Izolde… maybe it’s time to stop drinking?”

The massive Mama—Aradia—sighed as she wiped a glass.

“It’s fine! I want to drink! I’ve got money!”

Her voice was childish, petulant.

But her gaze was distant, reflecting deep sorrow.

“Make this your last.”

Aradia shrugged wearily, pouring amber liquid over ice.

“It’s okay… I only have a little time left to drink what I love.”

Izolde murmured, staring at her glass. Her voice was heavy, sinking into the night’s depths.

※

Chime.

The doorbell rang lightly.

“Welcome~”

Aradia called out brightly.

But her face clouded the next moment.

“…Well, rare guest. Long time no see. Doesn’t look like you’re here just to drink.”

Emerging from the door was a delicate platinum blonde girl.

Her form, radiant against the night, was like an incarnation of the moon.

“No way. I’ve got a friend in the back… thought we’d drink together.”

The girl—Agrat—smiled.

But Aradia keenly sensed something hidden beneath.

“Agrat, no trouble in my bar, got it?”

“I wouldn’t dream of it. …And, Aradia, show a little respect to me, the ‘Queen of Witches,’ hmm?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Aradia shrugged, tossing back a playful jab.

“Sit anywhere. What’s your drink?”

“Shochu on the rocks. ‘Mao’ or ‘Angel’s Temptation’… if not, ‘Shiranami’ is fine. And some motsu stew for a snack.”

“Got ‘Angel’s Temptation.’ …Motsu stew too.”

Aradia’s voice melted into the counter’s hum.

Amid the smoke and neon’s afterglow, the red-haired woman—Izolde—clutched her glass, breaking into sobs.

“Ugh… ugh… Why… why’s it like this…”

Her shoulders shook, tears falling into the amber liquid’s melting ice.

Her cries echoed loudly in the small bar.

A soft, strangely sweet voice came from beside her.

“I get it… that feeling. It’s frustrating, right? Scary, right?”

Izolde reflexively looked up.

“What do you know!? Don’t talk nonsense!”

Her gaze met the platinum blonde beauty beside her—Aki.

The woman tilted her head, smiling softly.

Then, with a white fingertip, she tugged her collar, revealing her neck.

There, a black contract sigil was seared.

“So, I was tricked. They called me for a ‘good deal’… then she said, ‘Fight in place of the hero.’ …Can you believe that?”

Izolde’s bitter words carried a forced smile.

“…”

Her tears didn’t stop.

“Yeah, yeah… I know. Same here.”

Aki tilted her neck again, showing the sigil.

The gesture was deliberately flaunting, seductive, provocative.

“They’re filthy. Just want to preserve their forces…!”

“Ugh… ugh…”

Izolde covered her face with both hands, her voice choking.

Aki slid closer, sitting beside her, gently placing a hand on her back.

“It’s tough, right… frustrating, right… such a rotten deal. I’m in the same boat.”

Her voice was comforting, yet laced with calculation.

It slipped into the cracks of Izolde’s weakened heart.

“Izo-chan… you’re like me. Awkward. That’s why we keep drawing the short straw.”

“Aki-chan… what should I do?”

With tear-swollen eyes, Izolde pleaded.

Aki paused, a meaningful silence.

The pause was like a cat toying with prey.

Then, slowly tilting her glass, wetting her lips, she whispered sweetly.

“There’s a way. Depends on you, Izo-chan.”

Her eyes gleamed darker, more bewitching than the night.

From the bar’s speakers, Eiichi Kawashima’s “Sake, Tears, Men, and Women” began to play.

The song’s melody dyed the air, entwining their fates deeper, as if pulling them into its embrace.