Chapter 457: Hey, About That Kiss

“Ahh, this is good!”

Himekoji was buried in eating his noodles, slurping loudly, stuffing his mouth full.

This behavior, of course, caused Rikka’s displeasure—

“Mr. Himekoji, are you even listening?!”

“Oh, yes, yes, I am. But what did you just say?”

“That means you weren’t listening at all!”

As she spoke, Rikka was staring intensely at Himekoji and blinked. Then, as if realizing something,

“Wait! What are you eating?!”

Her face flushed crimson once again.

Her forehead seemed to overheat, smoke almost seemed to rise from it.

“Instant noodles.”

He managed to look up between chews. Himekoji slurped the noodles, answering vaguely.

“N-no! Th-this… this one— I just ate from that!”

“Mhm, you didn’t finish it. Would’ve been wasteful.”

He quickly finished them off. It was so tasty, Himekoji even licked the chopsticks afterward.

“S-so I’m saying… you Pervert!!”

Unable to take it, Rikka lunged forward and snatched the chopsticks from Himekoji’s hand.

“Stop licking them!!”

“Huh?”

Himekoji blinked, finally grasping the situation. He found it amusing and burst out laughing.

“So even the Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye cares about this sort of thing? I thought someone like her, who’s been through life and death, would be more mature.”

“Huh?”

Hearing him say this only made her more flustered.

“I don’t care! I don’t care at all! Of course I’m mature! I don’t care about stuff like this! I-It’s just an indirect… indirect kiss…”

She was clearly trying to act tough.

It was obvious at a glance. The hand clutching the chopsticks was trembling slightly with tension.

So was her crimson cheek.

If she were truly mature, she definitely wouldn’t be getting shy over this.

But this was really cute too.

Truly, Rikka was still Rikka, even in this script where she appeared as the wielder of the Evil Eye of the Wicked Lord.

…

“Hey, we woke up so early for once, and the weather’s this nice. Wanna go out?”

Himekoji stood up, stretched, and suddenly suggested.

“Huh?”

Before Rikka could refuse, Himekoji had already grabbed her hand and practically dragged her out of the room.

Aquarium, Amusement Park, Cinema.

Every place they visited felt novel to Rikka, as if she’d never been before.

“Whoa, fish! Such a big fish!”

“C-can we skip this ride? S-s-scary…”

“Huh?! H-how are they all inside the screen?!”

She seemed happy.

No, to be more precise—she should have been happy.

But Rikka seemed worried about something, uneasy, afraid. She never managed to fully relax and enjoy herself.

It wasn’t about the phone that might ring suddenly.

Because the Brave was injured, the usual daily battles would pause for the next few days.

So, that should be a good thing, right?

Yet, after the movie, as they left the cinema, Rikka seemed a bit gloomy and downcast.

“Is it true? That they wake up after a kiss?”

As they walked, Rikka suddenly looked up at Himekoji beside her and asked.

It was the plot from the movie they just watched.

The heroine, cursed into a deep sleep, woke up after receiving the hero’s kiss.

“Most movie plots can’t be taken seriously.”

“Most? So some can be true?”

Facing Rikka’s complicated look, Himekoji shrugged noncommittally.

“Who knows?”

“Mr. Himekoji, can I ask you something?”

“What?”

“What kind of person… is Rikka?”

At first glance, the question might seem strange.

Rikka herself was asking Himekoji what kind of person she was.

But Himekoji didn’t show any particular surprise. He just thought for a moment, then answered seriously.

“How to put it… She’s the kind of person who can be really annoying sometimes?”

“Huh?”

Not expecting that answer, Rikka froze slightly.

Himekoji continued—

“When she makes you angry, you often feel like giving up on her. But the next moment, you just can’t leave her alone. Delusional, immature, childish… All in all, I guess the best way to sum her up is… cute?”

Thinking of Rikka inevitably brought back memories of tutoring her after school — truly a laugh-and-cry situation.

A soft, gentle smile unconsciously appeared on Himekoji’s face.

“No way? Putting all that together, it doesn’t sound cute at all?”

Rikka was utterly confused.

“Um, you really don’t have to care about my feelings. Just say it honestly.”

“I’d say the same to anyone who asked.”

Himekoji chuckled and tugged lightly on the unruly strand of hair sticking up from Rikka’s head.

“R-really?”

As if to confirm, she stared intently at Mr. Himekoji’s face.

Yet, there was no doubt about it – Mr. Himekoji’s smile as he talked about Rikka was completely genuine.

The brighter his smile became, the darker the light in Rikka’s own expression seemed.

“Hey, Mr. Himekoji… want to have a kiss?”

Rikka suddenly spoke, with her head down.

“…”

Mr. Himekoji didn’t answer.

His expression, however, looked like he had expected this all along, and he quietly watched the girl before him.

“Hey, Mr. Mr. Himekoji… let’s kiss?”

Head hanging low, Rikka wasn’t looking at Mr. Himekoji. Her gaze was fixed unblinkingly on her own toes.

Receiving no reply, she opened her mouth again. Her voice cracked and trembled.

It sounded like a timid, uneasy, and humble plea.

“Le-let’s kiss…”

“Feeling a bit needy, Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye?”

Mr. Himekoji quipped.

He wanted to lighten the mood again. Besides trying that, he couldn’t think of anything else.

“It doesn’t matter what! Let’s kiss!”

She didn’t even argue back. She just made her claim once more.

As her words ended, Rikka lifted her head. Her chin raised as high as possible to form an angle suitable for kissing.

Rikka pressed her lips together tightly. Her eyes were squeezed shut, her eyelashes fluttering faintly. She was nervous and unsettled.

“You dummy!”

Mr. Himekoji formed a hand into a chopping motion and tapped it lightly on Rikka’s forehead.

“Ow, that hurt…”

Rikka opened her eyes with a pained sound.

Mr. Himekoji hadn’t tried to kiss her. Instead, he vigorously rubbed her head, tousling her hair until it was a messy nest.

“I forgot to say earlier,” he spoke softly, “The Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye is cute too, you know. She’s hardworking and brave. And now… she’s thinking so kindly about Rikka, thinking about Touka. But sometimes, you need to think about yourself a little more too.”

He paused for a slight moment before continuing.

“For me, the Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye is just as important as Rikka. So… please live well.”

“…”

No words could come out. Rikka’s face was tilted upwards – no, it should be said it was the Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye with her face tilted up. Her pupils started to moisten, tears pooling in her eyes. And then, in an instant, they spilled over, tears streaming down her face.

“I… don’t have any memories.”

The Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye cried these words out to Mr. Himekoji, as if finally pouring out her suffering.

“I know. I know.”

Mr. Himekoji gently stroked her head.

Personality is built from memories.

So the Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye, without Rikka’s memories, is just the Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye.

“Every time big sister calls me Rikka… I’m so scared… I’m the one who took her Rikka away… It was me…”

“How could that be? This isn’t your fault, Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye.”

Mr. Himekoji gently wiped the girl’s tears and spoke softly, even though he was worst at things like this.

“I don’t have memories!”

The Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye cried out the words again, emphasizing them.

“But aren’t we… creating them right now?” Mr. Himekoji asked quietly. “Memories… belonging to the Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye.”

…