The Witch and Her Companion: I'm Just a Normal High School Student, but I Became the Familiar of the Highest-Ranked Witch. Also, It Seems I'm the Only Guy in the Witch Organization I Joined - Chapter 70: A Date with Scarlet – Part 1

Chapter 70: A Date with Scarlet – Part 1

Tatsumori Haruto

“──N-No way, Haruto-kun, not in a place like this!”

“Scarlet, calm down. Just leave it to me.”

“B-But… I just can’t, it’s… too embarrassing!”

“…Scarlet, if you keep getting flustered, nothing’s ever going to start, you know?”

“Y-You’re right… sorry. But… I’ve never really shown this to anyone before, so… don’t stare too much, okay!?”

“I’ll try to be mindful of that, but I can’t exactly promise. There are things that need to be looked at, after all.”

“F-Fine… then—come here?”

To explain why I ended up doing this with Scarlet, just the two of us, I need to rewind the story back to yesterday.

***

“Wait, a… date?”

“Yep, and not just one—everyone who wants to go out with you gets a turn.”

Late at night, after once again postponing my decision on whether it was going to be execution or marriage, I returned to my cell in the underground dungeon—only to be visited by Bumblebee.

And of course, she came bearing trouble.

“Uh… I don’t really get what you’re saying.”

“Really? I already explained it this afternoon. Everyone has their own reasons, but the fact is—they all want to marry you. So to be fair, each of them gets a one-on-one date with you, one per day.”

“And my opinion in all this…?”

“Not relevant. Once you’ve gone on a date with all of them, Brush will be by your side to ensure you choose a bride.”

Brush being there means I won’t be able to lie—just like during the first interrogation.

Which means, no matter what, by the end of this whole mess, I have to choose someone to marry. Saying “no” isn’t an option, huh?

“By the way, just to check… who exactly are the ones who want to date me?”

Judging by the way she’s talking, there’s more than one. Hopefully, not too many.

“First up is Scarlet. Then Bubblegum. After that, Lilac, followed by Ys. And last is Snow. Man, you’re quite the popular guy.”

“That’s all of them!! And some of these people literally said they’d kill me after we got married!!”

“Yup. Oh, and the dates start tomorrow, in that order. Have fun!”

“Have fun,” she says?! No good—this whole thing is already in motion. My will has absolutely nothing to do with it.

“Uh, for the record… I do have someone in mind already.”

“Oh? But come on, Haruto, you’re a guy, right? You can’t be satisfied with just one! Now go out there and win over every single one of them!”

Quit spouting nonsense. There’s only Fuu for me. Only Fuu. But… if fate says a man can have multiple soulmates, then… maybe… just maybe… going on dates wouldn’t be so bad? I mean, I’d still choose carefully…

***

“Good morning, Tatsumori-kun. Did I keep you waiting?”

“Good morning, Scarlet. Not at all—I got here an hour early.”

The heavy door of the dungeon creaked open, revealing my first date partner: Scarlet.

Lately, she’s been getting better at cooking, and aside from the fact that her room is a mess, she really doesn’t have any major flaws.

Among all the witches I’ll be dating, she’s probably the most normal.

Still, having the meeting spot for our date be the underground dungeon? That’s pretty bleak.

Not that I have a choice—without today’s date partner unlocking the door, I can’t even leave.

“Mind if I come in?”

“Of course, go ahead.”

The door clicked open, and Scarlet stepped inside—in a school uniform.

“Hehe, how do I look? Think it suits me?”

“Understatement of the year—you look ridiculously cute.”

Though she called it a “uniform,” it wasn’t a Ravens Academy uniform. Not that grim, black-and-red attire with zero color variation.

No, this was a normal school uniform—

A navy blazer, paired with a red plaid skirt that complemented her hair color. If not for the horns and tail, she’d be indistinguishable from a regular high school girl. But those horns and tail are exactly what make her so charming. Absolutely adorable.

“But why a uniform?”

“You’re a high schooler, right, Tatsumori-kun? So we all decided to match you. It’s a uniform date!”

This whole mysterious dating competition, forced on me without my consent, at least took my situation into account.

Whoever came up with this idea—props to them.

“Uh, I know it’s weird for me, the guy, to be asking this but… what’s today’s date plan?”

“Geez, you don’t have to be so considerate, you know? You’ve been stuck in a cell all this time, so we should be the ones planning. And as for me—”

Scarlet grinned.

“—I have absolutely no plan!”

“Wait, did someone just hijack your personality at the end there?”

Scarlet is, at her core, an incredibly kind person. She’s considerate, her speech is polite—unlike Ys—and she’s truly someone without any faults.

Well… except for those rare moments when she turns into a complete airhead, especially when she gets flustered.

“Uu… I’m sorry.”

“You seriously have no plan at all?”

“Well, actually… I ended up spending the whole night just picking out—or rather, searching for—this uniform… So yeah… I’m sorry.”

I see. So this cute uniform wasn’t something she had tailored for this occasion, but something that was already in that room. Meaning… it was in that room all along, huh…?

“Ah—Scarlet? If you don’t have anything in particular you want to do, would you mind if I made a suggestion?”

“Eh, Tatsumori-kun, you’re going to plan the date?”

“Humbly, yes. I mean, isn’t it usually the guy’s job to take the lead?”

“Oh, look at you saying something so cool. Alright then, I’ll leave it to you.”

As things stand, Scarlet is overwhelmingly my number one candidate for a bride. She’s the only witch who’s actually said she’ll send me back home. The others are… well, let’s just say they’re far worse.

The problem is, I have no clue what Ys is thinking.

Regardless, when the fated day of judgment comes, with Brush as the witness, I plan to choose Scarlet. When that time comes—

“I don’t wanna die, so I guess I’ll marry Scarlet by process of elimination.”

—I must not let those words slip out. I have to make sure I genuinely like Scarlet from the bottom of my heart.

“Hey, since this is a date and all… Can I… call you Haruto-kun? I-It’s not like I got jealous hearing Ys call you by your name or anything!”

“I don’t mind. You can call me that all the time if you want.”

Well, even without overthinking things, Scarlet is already plenty adorable.

—But, just in case, I should make sure to do what needs to be done with Scarlet.

＊ ＊ ＊

“Y-You want to come to my room? Why?”

“Scarlet, are you really going to make me say it out loud?”

“…! T-That’s… but isn’t that something you should be saying!? No, but then again, I am older…”

After we got out of the underground prison, I told Scarlet that I wanted to go to her room.

“I don’t think age has anything to do with it.”

“R-Really? But if I’m the one inviting you, it just feels… improper, or like… is that really how things go nowadays? Going straight to that on a first date…?”

“…I have a feeling there’s some kind of misunderstanding here.”

Scarlet’s face is completely red, and her tail is swinging around wildly. Her responses are all over the place too… Yeah, she’s definitely misinterpreting what I meant.

“Eh, misunderstanding? What do you mean?”

“What do you think my reason for wanting to go to your room is?”

“S-So direct…!”

“Wait… Are you getting embarrassed?”

“I am not embarrassed! I-It’s not like I was thinking about se-…”

“Nope. Not even close.”

That was dangerous. What was she about to say just now?

“Eh? It’s not?”

“I just wanted to help you get rid of the rats in your room. You mentioned before that they show up a lot, didn’t you?”

Well, technically, what I really want to do is clean up her room. But if I clean it, the rats will probably disappear too, so it’s not a lie.

“R-rats, oh, right! rats! Gosh, and here I was, thinking you meant se-…”

“Scarlet-san!?”

You were just blushing a second ago, and now that you know it was a misunderstanding, you’ve completely let your guard down!?

“But… is exterminating rats really something you do on a date?”

“Where I’m from, it’s totally normal. First dates are either at an aquarium or a mouse hunt.”

I would hate to live in that kind of place.

“H-Hmph… I-It’s not like I found that educational or anything!”

And now, in the present.

“H-Haruto-kun, we really shouldn’t… Not here…”

Scarlet’s cheeks are flushed, her eyes moist with emotion. She’s probably overwhelmed with nerves about what’s about to happen.

“Scarlet, calm down. Just leave it to me.”

“B-But… No, I can’t… It’s embarrassing!”

“Scarlet… If you keep being embarrassed, nothing will ever get done.”

I somehow managed to bring Scarlet all the way to her room’s door. Now all that’s left is to go inside and clean up.

Once that’s done, Scarlet will be completely flawless, and I’ll be able to confidently declare her as my bride in front of Brush.

“Y-Yeah, you’re right. Sorry. But I haven’t really let anyone see it before, so… don’t stare too much, okay?”

She says that, but Ys has drilled a hole in her closet to hide alcohol in there, and I’ve come into this room plenty of times to grab it.

“Well, I’ll try to be mindful, but I can’t make any promises. There are some things I have to look at to get the job done.”

“O-Okay… Then… fine. Come in…”

And thus, the gates of hell swung open.