I quickly changed and ran to the front door. Rena was chatting with my parents.

...I always feel uncomfortable when my parents talk to my friends.

I'm afraid they'll say something embarrassing about me.

If they told Rena that I wet my bed till I was X years old or something,

she wouldn't wait until Monday to tell everybody in my school, or maybe even everybody in Hinamizawa!

"Hey, Rena!

Good morning.

I'm sorry for making you wait."

"Keiichi-ku~n, ahahahahahahaha."

Rena and my parents looked at me and laughed.

I said good morning and they laughed...

...I guess I was too late.

My parents must have already told Rena some embarrassing secrets about me.

I don't want my parents to tell her anything else, so I put on my shoes in a rush and pushed Rena out of the house.

My parents waved at us, smiling.

"Have a nice day.

Rena-chan, please take care of Keiichi!"

"Hauu!

Don't worry!!

I'll take good care of Keiichi-kun!"

"I have no idea why you'd have to do that. I don't need you to take care of me!"

I dragged Rena away from the house, and we were on our way.

We rode our bicycles to the town of Okinomiya. It's a long way away.

It's an easy ride to the town because it's mostly downhill...

But needless to say, it's a hard ride on the way back.

I felt like Rena was giggling whenever she looked at me...

I badly wanted to know what kind of embarrassing information my parents had fed her before I came downstairs...

I tried to give her a new subject to talk about in order to get whatever she heard from my parents out of her mind.

"How come you're so close to my folks?"

"Well,

we are very close

because we talk a lot."

"When do you talk to my parents?

I've never seen you having a conversation."

"I see your mother a lot at the grocery store.

She's there a lot on special bargain and extra point days."

"Ohh, yeah, my mom keeps a close eye on those.

She sticks notes like that on the refrigerator.

They're always all about when and where she can get things cheaper."

"Whenever I see her at the store, we talk about what we're making for dinner that night and we do the shopping together.

A few days ago, she told me that curry sauce was on sale and that she was going to have curry and rice for dinner that night, so I did the same!"

"I remember we had curry and rice the day before yesterday.

So, you had curry and rice that day too, huh?"

"Yeah.

You had pork curry, didn't you?

Pork was on sale that day, so your mom and I both bought some.

So, when I was eating my curry at home, I knew you were having the same dinner.

Hauu☆."

...So she knows what I'm eating for dinner almost every day...

It didn't bother me, but I did kind of feel embarrassed.

"I usually see your father with your mother at the grocery store.

Your parents get along very well, huh?"

"Yeah, they like to go grocery shopping together.

...I think they're a good couple, for their age."

"I think it's very important that your parents get along well.

It's cute that they still go grocery shopping together."

"That's enough about my parents.

What about yours, Rena?

Do they get along well?"

"Yes.

They do.

They're always hugging and kissing.

...So, hauu...

I feel like there's no room for me in the house."

Her parents are a lovey-dovey couple, huh?

...I've never met Rena's mother, but I imagine she's just like Rena.

I could easily imagine her mother going crazy about the spot her husband missed when shaving, because it looks so cute to her, like sesame seeds on white rice.

...She must love to touch her husband's chubby stomach because it feels so soft.

It was funny how easily I could imagine her mother doing those things.

"Aha ha ha ha ha ha!"

"What's so funny...?"

"I'm curious about your mother now.

I'm going to go to your house next time and meet your mother!!"

"What?!

No! No, no, no!!"

"You talk to my mother.

It's only fair that I talk to yours too, isn't it?"

"Hau, but my mom isn't as interesting a person as you think...

She's normal and boring."

"I can even picture how she looks!

I know it!

She looks just like you, doesn't she?"

"What? What?!

No, she doesn't!

She doesn't look like me at all!"

"...Then, why are you acting so weird? Your reaction tells me everything.

Anyway!!

I'm really interested in your mother now!!

I'm going to see her sometime. Be prepared!"

"Hauu... No no no way!

If you really do come to my house, I'll be so mad at you!"

"Your daughter has been a great friend to me...

No, wait. It'll be more fun if I say something like,

'I've been seeing your daughter, and I'm serious about her.'

Aha ha ha ha ha!"

"...Hauu...

If you come to my house... I'll tell Mii-chan and the others the stories from when you were little, little..."

"What? ...What kind of stories are you talking about exactly?"

"Well... the one that I heard from your mother is

about when you were four years old.

And the other one is about the slide when you were six years old, and

...and another one is about when you were..."

"You got me, Rena-san.

I'll never get within a 100m radius of your house as long as you live."

"Ahahahahahahaha! Thank you!"

Dammit, Mom!

I'll remember this!!

We arrived at the station. The place we were going today is right near there.

It's a restaurant called Angel Mort. We were meeting up with the others there.

I was surprised when I saw the restaurant.

It's usually a normal and quiet restaurant... but today, there were many people in front of it.

They didn't look like they were waiting in line to get inside. It looked more like they were just loitering around.

They should just line up and go inside like normal people.

"Wow! What's going on?

There are so many people here!"

"The restaurant has a big event today.

I heard that many people are coming from far away."

There's a flag saying 'Dessert Festa' in front of the restaurant.

I heard that Angel Mort holds events like this several times a year, and a lot of people come to attend from all over.

"Today, only people who have a ticket can get into the restaurant.

And one ticket allows up to four people to get in."

"I see. So, these people are waiting for friends who have a ticket."

"Not exactly.

Some people have tickets but don't have four people to go with."

"...So you're saying that

these people are just here to find someone who'd like to share their empty seats?"

At that time, the crowd of people roared in excitement.

What was going on?

"This guy has a ticket!!"

"He's trying to get inside alone when he can bring three more with him!! How rude!!

Please let me join you!!!"

"I-If you let me join you, I'll honor you with a rare Angel Mort trading card!!"

"I'd come with Front Field's newest Summerket issue and its Limited Edition book!!!"

"I'll give you the beta version of Higurashi with a mode that lets you change everyone's outfits!"

"Make a deal with me for a modded version of G's figure!!"

"I... I'll give you 10,000 yen in real money!!"

"YOU FOOL!!!

RMT is prohibited!

Report!

Report!

Account,

BANNED!!"

"...I have no idea what they're talking about..."

"...Ahahahahaha.

The fans of this restaurant are a little scary, huh...?"

"Anyway, what about our ticket...?

There are five of us.

How are we all going to get in?"

"Shhhh!

...You know, Mii-chan's family owns this restaurant.

...So, you know!"

"Mion is so cool sometimes..."

Rena makes a fist and gets all fired up.

"Well... Let's go!

We're going to dash through the crowd without stopping!"

"That seems like the best course of action, actually.

...Okay."

We nodded at each other.

Since we were a group of two at present,

it looked like we had two more seats to share.

These people might try mobbing us in order to get a share...!

We crouched down, getting ready to run.

The crowd of people seemed to notice us.

"Look!!

Look at them! They're going to force their way through!!"

"And he's trying to fill a booth alone with his girlfriend! How reprehensible!!"

"We're going to sit with them and crush their lovey-dovey mood!!"

"Fight back to the last round!

Show them the iron will of the Germans!!"

Damn. They were going to tackle us!

They'd do whatever it took to stop us from getting inside the restaurant!!

"Today is the day Mii-chan and the others suffer their punishment!

If we can't get inside, our victory yesterday will have been in vain."

"I can't let that happen.

We exhausted ourselves to obtain that victory.

To watch our friends undergo the punishment is our right and..."

"Our duty as well!!"

"...But, no matter how cool we sound, what we're really after is one thing..."

"Hauuuu!!

I can't wait to see how Satoko-chan and Rika-chan look!!

I'm taking them home with me!!"

"Hey you, young couple!!

Share your empty seats with us, all nice and quiet-like!!"

"Hya hya hya!

We won't let you go through!!"

"I won't allow you to use your ticket for yourselves!!

You have to share the empty seats with us!!"

They reached their hands towards us like zombies!

They gradually got closer and closer...!

We were actually taking it easy, though.

In fact, I'd say the situation was rather enjoyable.

"Aha ha ha ha. It's like we're still in the middle of the game we played yesterday."

"Yeah, it's getting fun!

Let's kick their asses!!"

"Yep, roger that.

It's a lot easier to fight against them than against Mii-chan and Satoko-chan, you know? You know?"

"Indeed.

I'd say with even 20 to 30 of them... It's still easier than fighting against the other club members.

They don't have enough people to stop us!"

"Ahahahaha!

Great! Let's do this!"

"Yeah!!"

Our enemies number about 20 to 30!

If they wanted to stop us, they should've gotten ten times more people than that!!

Ohhhhryaaahhh!!!