Chapter 49

[Third Person's PoV]

Futarou leaned against a wall, pretending to use his phone. 'I detected them following me since I left home… and is that Erza? What is she doing with them?'

"Oh wow," Futarou heard Tohru say as she peeked from a corner, followed by agreement from the others.

Futarou did his best to stop himself from smiling; it would have seemed like he was eavesdropping.

"Wait a minute… Why am I here?" Erza said, sounding a bit embarrassed.

"Isn't it obvious? Onee-chan, your boyfriend is going on a date with an unknown girl; you have to be here to watch and see how it develops," Raiha said, speaking as if it were obvious.

Futarou almost shed tears of joy upon hearing Raiha. 'That's my little sis! Always looking out for her big brother.'

"He's not my boyfriend!" Erza shouted, bashfully. "Futarou and I have a very good, pure, platonic relationship."

'Ughhh, what a punch to the gut… I'll have to fix that.'

A bit away from them, Futarou heard four voices exclaim, "HE'S SO HOT!"

'Oh to be so good looking,' Futarou thought to himself before refocusing on the main task of the day.

He looked towards Miku, who was nervously making her way towards him, and smiled.

"Wow, you look very lovely," Futarou said without hesitation.

Miku's cheeks turned red as she muttered, "Thanks… You look good as well."

Miku blushed further and hid her face behind her small purse. "I'm sorry, this was my sister's idea in the first place; they put me up to it. This is too embarrassing."

Futarou chuckled. "I had a feeling. It didn't seem like you were the straightforward type. But I mean, we're already out, and it would be a shame if you dressed up so nicely for us to just end it here. So let's just enjoy ourselves. Think of it like two old friends trying to catch up," Futarou advised, trying to calm her nervousness.

It took Miku a few seconds, but she managed to compose herself and nodded in agreement.

"So shall we, my lady?" Futarou said in a joking tone while gesturing to lead the way.

Thanks to Futarou's earlier words, Miku managed to not be as nervous as she was earlier and lightly chuckled at his words.

She nodded and started leading him to the place they had planned.

As they made their way to the café, Miku occasionally gave Futarou sideways glances.

"What is it?" Futarou asked.

"Hmm?"

"You've been looking at me like you wanted to ask me something but didn't know how to."

Miku slightly flinched, not expecting to get caught. To quickly change the subject, she asked, "How did you know I was Miku when we first met? As you know, I'm a quintuplet, so I could have been any one of the others."

Futarou nodded and lied as easily as he breathed, "I have really heightened senses and memory since I was little, so I recognized you by your mana signature."

Miku, who was sensitive to sounds, didn't detect anything abnormal with Futarou's heartbeat and came to the conclusion that he was telling the truth.

As for the reason she didn't detect anything abnormal, it was because Futarou mixed some truth with a lie, so he wasn't entirely untruthful with his statement.

They quickly arrived at a Café with a sign that read: Shadow_D_Monarch3 Café!

As they sat down and looked at the menu, Futarou asked curiously, since it was a place Miku recommended, "What do you recommend?"

"Oh, you definitely have to try the Matcha Soda," she excitedly suggested.

As they began to decide on what to order, four figures entered the cafe, each wearing sunglasses, beanies, and face masks. They took a seat behind Miku.

Following them, a group of people entered, each wearing glasses with a nose and mustache. Pretending not to know Futarou, they walked past him and sat at the table behind them.

Futarou looked at Scáthach, who was with them, with a straight face that spelled out a 'really?' look.

Scáthach also pretended not to see him and sat with the others.

Ultimately, Futarou decided to ignore everyone and simply focus on Miku, who seemed to have trouble deciding on what to get.

"Why don't we just order two of the things you always order?" he suggested.

Miku began to ponder, "But I order different things here; I really can't decide."

It took Miku a while, but she finally decided to go with what she usually ordered—a Matcha Soda with a fruit tart.

As they placed their orders, Futarou asked, "Are you going to become a hunter?"

Miku nodded upon hearing that. "Yeah…I've already been accepted and will start next week. And guessing by your question, I'm guessing you are as well?"

"I am. I got accepted to T.A.H.A.," Futarou replied.

"Really!? Then that means we'll be going to the same school," Miku said, a small smile forming on her face.

"What class did they say you're in?" Futarou asked curiously.

"A1… though I think I barely made the cut," Miku admitted apprehensively.

Futarou smiled. "That's great then. It just means we'll be classmates."

They continued to converse for a while, and although the conversation started off a bit awkward with Futarou leading most of it, they gradually grew more comfortable. This newfound comfort allowed their conversation to flow more smoothly.

Their order was presented to them, and when Futarou took a sip of the Matcha, he almost spit it out.

'Holy shit is that bitter~' Futarou thought, determined to continue drinking so as not to appear rude.

"So, what do you think? It's good, right?" Miku asked with a smile.

Futarou forced a smile and nodded. "It's good."

Miku looked at him with a deadpan expression before smiling slightly. "You don't have to lie to spare my feelings. I know it may be a bit bitter for other people."

Futarou gave her an apologetic smile. "Sorry… like I previously said, high sense."

"Ah, that's right… sorry, I should have been more considerate."

Futarou shook his head. "It's alright. It's still drinkable."

As they began to eat, they resumed their conversation, resulting in a few chuckles and giggles from both of them.

As they finished, it was time to pay. After a bit of back and forth, it was ultimately decided that Miku would be the one paying.

"It's my way of thanking you, remember? So, I should be the one paying," Miku insisted.

Futarou sighed. "Very well, but for the rest of the evening, I'm the one that's going to be paying."

Miku was surprised they were going to continue, but as she was having fun, she didn't mind and nodded with a smile.

As they exited the café, Miku asked, "So, where are we going next?"

"I was actually thinking of going to an arcade. I've never been to one before," Futarou replied.

Miku looked at Futarou in shock. "You've actually never been to an arcade?"

Futarou gave her a simple shake of the head. "I spent most of my life glued to a book, so I've never been to one."

Still surprised, Miku grabbed Futarou's hand. "We have to get you to experience what being in an arcade is like," and she started guiding him to the nearest arcade she knew.

Meanwhile, everyone else who had been at the café stood up and began heading straight towards the door.

As they made their way out, they stopped and looked at each other before slowly heading in the direction Miku and Futarou had gone.

When they realized they were following the same person, they stopped again and pointed at each other.

"Alright, who are you guys, and why are you following them?" Nino asked suspiciously as she looked at them.

Raiha acted like the leader of their pack as she stepped forward and pointed back towards Nino. "I'm just following my brother. What's up with you guys then!?"

"Miku's our sister, and we're making sure she's alright," Nino replied, looking at Raiha.

Raiha nodded in understanding before sticking out her hand toward Nino. "Let's form a temporary alliance then. We're both siblings worried about our own siblings, so you could say we share the same goal."

Nino looked at Raiha for a moment before nodding and shaking her hand. "Let's not get in each other's way as we supervise our siblings."

Raiha nodded. "We better hurry, then, before they go too far and we lose sight of them."

Everyone from Raiha's group looked at her in complete surprise, wondering, 'What the hell just happened?'

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A/N: im not really all that proud of how this chapter came out ngl.