The Kansai Villain’s Rebirth: I Accidentally Ended Up With a Harem.

A Kansai Guy Enjoys a Stay-at-Home Date.

“See you later, Mama!”

With Reika-san—who had just routed Yamada—seeing us off, Shi-chan and I finally began our date.

“Have fun! Tennouji-kun, take good care of Shina, okay?”

“Yes, ma’am. Leave her to me.”

We headed straight to my house. Today’s Shi-chan was dressed in the landmine-style fashion I’d suggested. This wasn’t just because I thought it suited her—it was camouflage. Natsume Shina equals gal. This outfit completely shattered that image. She hadn’t even told her gal-group friends about it; it was date-only attire reserved exclusively for me. Only Mio-chan, Rinko, and I knew the truth. Her hair was back to black, and at my pleading “Please try it!”, she’d styled her long locks into twin tails. Not with scrunchies, mind you—she’d gone all out with proper black ribbons. That attention to detail showed just how seriously Shi-chan took fashion.

“Nihihi! Hey, Dai-chan! Am I cute?”

Classic landmine look: a pink-and-black lace-trimmed blouse overflowing with frills and ribbons, a black miniskirt, over-knee socks, and adorable pumps. Paired with those twin tails. Anyone who could look at this and still say “That’s Natsume Shina!” would have to be me, Mio-chan, or Rinko. Reika-san, by the way, was absolutely thrilled.

“A brand-new side of Shina! Tennouji-kun, you really know how to make a girl cute, don’t you?”

No, I don’t have that kind of talent… Shi-chan just took my offhand “Landmine style might be nice” and elevated it with her own impeccable sense.

“Super cute. I’m honestly impressed you tied the ribbons so perfectly.”

“Nihi! It took forever~ But… I’m happy!”

She threw her arms around me the moment the words left my mouth. God, she’s adorable. All my girlfriends are. At the same time, the whole point was to make people think, “Tennouji’s got another unknown girl with him.” Let them scramble trying to figure out who she is—that’s the fun part. Even if someone like Cha-ko spotted me, she’d never dream this was the Shina she’s desperately searching for. Hilarious, right?

“Hey, what about lunch? Want to hit Mikudo?”

“I was thinking we’d eat at home. Maybe make some tamagoyaki.”

“Tamagoyaki! I love tamagoyaki!”

“Ah, not that kind of tamagoyaki. I mean what people usually call akashiyaki.”

“Akashiyaki?”

“It’s like takoyaki, but fluffier, and you dip it in dashi broth. Really good.”

“Whoa, that sounds amazing! I wanna eat it! I’m definitely eating it!”

“Alright then, let’s shop first and head home.”

“Yeah!”

Sometimes I just crave dashi over sauce, you know? Today I’ll make it perfect. A delicious lunch with Shi-chan—can’t wait.

We didn’t go to our usual supermarket; we picked one a little farther away. Places we frequent are easier to watch, so this was another small step to keep those idiots’ eyes off us. Not sure how effective it is, but anything that might prevent Shi-chan from being recognized is worth doing. Better to tap every stone before crossing the bridge right now.

“Huh? Daiki? Shopping all the way out here?”

Busted already—or so I thought, until I recognized the voice.

“Shouma-kun?”

“Yo, Daiki~ What a coincidence.”

It really was Shouma-kun. Off from club activities today, apparently. Beside him stood his girlfriend Makino-san—there had to be at least a forty-centimeter height difference.

“Hello, Tennouji-senpai!”

“Hello, Makino-san. On a date today?”

“Yes! We’re on a date!”

“Dating’s great and all, but this area’s gotten kinda sketchy lately, right? We were just wandering around trying to figure out what to do~”

Yeah… those semi-criminal morons are restricting everyone’s movements. At Sumizome Academy we’ve been told to avoid downtown areas as much as possible—arcades especially. Malls are probably fine, but still, deciding where to go is tough. Sorry… all those NTR types popping up like mushrooms is partly my fault…

“Another beauty on your arm, huh. Akitani and the others are gonna cry.”

“Momodani-kun! It’s me, it’s me!”

“Hm? New phone scam?”

“Nooo! It’s me—Natsume! Natsume Shina!”

…I would’ve preferred she didn’t say her name, but oh well. Can’t have people thinking I’m cheating either.

Staaare… spinning, spinning… “Oh! Yeah, now that you mention it, it does kinda feel like Natsume~!”

“Ehh!? Natsume-senpai!?”

“Yup. Looks like a completely different person, right?”

“Wow… the outfit alone, but if you hadn’t said it was Natsume I’d never have guessed.”

“A-Amazing… Natsume-senpai! That’s landmine fashion, right!? And the makeup is incredible…! I-I’d love for Natsume-senpai to teach me makeup! Mio-senpai said if it’s makeup, ask Natsume-senpai!”

“Oh? Really? Well, I studied it a lot back when I was a gal. But Kana-chan, was it? You’re already cute without any makeup, you know?”

“U-Um… Shouma-san asked me to try it once…”

“I see! Ahaha! You want to look even prettier for your boyfriend, right? Sure, I’ll teach you!”

“Sweet, that’d be awesome. But aren’t you two heading somewhere today? We can do it another time.”

“Nah, we were planning a stay-at-home date at my place anyway. So we’ve got plenty of time.”

“Yeah. Dai-chan, is it okay if Momodani-kun and Kana-chan join us?”

“No problem at all. Shouma-kun, Makino-san— we’re about to shop and then make akashiyaki at home. Want to come along?”

“What’s akashiyaki?”

“Basically takoyaki dipped in dashi broth. We came to buy octopus.”

“Takoyaki!! Daiki’s takoyaki!? I’m in! Absolutely in! Kana, right!?”

“Y-Yes! Tennouji-senpai’s takoyaki was delicious♪”

Shouma-kun’s eyes lit up like fireworks. He and Kentarou-kun were the ones who got totally hooked on my takoyaki—devoured the most during all those test batches.

“Then come shopping with us. We’re heading in now.”

“Kana-chan, nice to meet you~ I’ll teach you makeup at the house!”

“Yes! Thank you so much!”

“Takoyaki takoyaki~ Oh, here!”

Shouma-kun smoothly pulled out three thousand yen. Uh…

“No freeloading. This is for me and Kana’s lunch!”

“That’s a bit much.”

“Don’t sweat it! If anything it’s too little. Octopus is expensive. Here, another thousand!”

“No no no, that’s way too much! Three thousand is plenty!”

“Hawawa, Shouma-san! I’ll pay for myself!”

“One of my dreams was treating my girlfriend to meals on dates~”

“You’re always the one getting treated!”

“Details, details, Kana~ But freeloading shows no respect to the cook. So please accept it.”

Respect for the person cooking, huh. Exact words I once told Mio-chan. Hearing it back makes me kinda itchy. W-Well, since he insists… It’s still more than friend-price, but I’ll gratefully accept.

“We were struggling to find somewhere to go anyway. Double stay-at-home date it is. Just hanging out and chatting will be fun!”

“Haha, yeah. Makino-san gets makeup lessons from Shi-chan—perfect.”

“Even drugstore stuff can look this good! I’ll recommend some products for you later, Kana-chan!”

“Yes! Looking forward to it!”

“Alright—gonna devour so much akashiyaki… wait, akashiyaki!”

“Hell yeah, we’ve got tons of war funds! Keep ’em coming!”

“Dai-chan, can we get this!?”

“Choco Pie, huh. Sure, snacks are good too—makes it feel like a proper tea party.”

“Full service, huh. Daiki~ add another thousand~”

“Hawa! I’ll pay~!”

“Don’t worry about it~”

I grabbed everything needed for akashiyaki… and a ton of octopus! Shouma-kun eats like a beast, after all. Then Choco Pies, potato chips…