Mashu's Secret Experience / Fujimaru Ritsuka's Mission / First Meeting with Akuta Hinako-san

Thump.

Thump.

Ian felt his heart pounding fiercely in his chest.

This wasn't just a random physical palpitation, but a warning from his Onmyōji instincts—there was a non-human presence nearby.

To be precise, it was the black-haired girl with twin high ponytails who was currently walking towards their table.

She was not "human" in the conventional sense.

Clack, clack.

The figure approached little by little.

The literary girl holding a book arrived at Ian's group's table.

However, upon seeing so many people, she visibly paused, her eyebrows conveying her complete surprise at the situation.

But she quickly composed herself and asked in a soft voice,

"Um... is Fujimaru Ritsuka-san here?"

"Me, me, me!"

Fujimaru Ritsuka, while keeping her fingers touching Ian's under the table, raised her other hand.

"I'm Fujimaru Ritsuka."

The literary girl looked the other person up and down, then adjusted her glasses.

Ian could sense a hint of disappointment from her slightly furrowed brow—it seemed the Fujimaru Ritsuka before her didn't quite meet some expectation she had.

However, she didn't directly show this disappointment on her face, but instead nodded very politely and introduced herself.

"I see."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Akuta Hinako."

The literary girl who introduced herself as Akuta Hinako-san scanned the people present.

"And these people are?" she asked, her gaze lingering on each of them for a moment.

"Oh... they're all people from the group chat," Fujimaru Ritsuka explained, introducing the others to Akuta Hinako-san.

"This is Ian, and this is Mashu."

"And that's Mordred."

"Mordred?" Akuta Hinako-san looked at the blonde girl on the other side of the table. "Is there someone with that name in the group chat?"

"Ah, um, I'm not in any group chat!" Mordred explained, then pointed to Ian across the table.

"I'm a Servant summoned by him!"

"A summoned Servant?"

Akuta Hinako-san's eyes suddenly brightened a bit.

The slight disappointment she had felt earlier upon meeting Fujimaru Ritsuka in person vanished at this moment.

Clutching her book, she asked in a soft voice,

"Then Ian-san, may I sit down?"

Even though she had come to meet Fujimaru Ritsuka-san, Akuta Hinako-san's gaze was now focused on Ian, as if he were the "Fujimaru Ritsuka."

Ian hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded.

"Yeah, Akuta Hinako-san, please sit down."

He should first see what her purpose was.

If anything seemed off later, he would notify the Director immediately.

"Okay."

Akuta Hinako-san sat down next to Mordred, but her gaze remained fixed on Ian across the table, without any change.

It was a rather strange scene.

Akuta Hinako-san, who said she was looking for Fujimaru Ritsuka-san, had instead become fixated on Ian.

Even the slightly oblivious Mordred realized that something was amiss.

"Um..." Mordred poked Akuta Hinako-san beside her with a finger.

"Do you know my Master?"

"No," Akuta Hinako-san shook her head. "This is the first time I've met him."

"Then why are you staring at him all the time?"

Mordred was getting a little anxious.

She hadn't even dealt with these two yet? And now there was another girl staring at him?

What kind of trouble had her father gotten into at Chaldea?!

"Oh... you're asking about that?"

Akuta Hinako-san didn't seem nervous at all.

She adjusted her glasses and then began to answer,

"Because he's the only male at our table."

"I felt it was a bit odd, so I looked a little more than necessary."

"..."

"..."

Not a strange explanation, and one could even say it was reasonable.

Everyone's gaze (except for Mashu's) was focused on the man—though their thoughts were all very different.

Ian realized that she had deliberately steered the conversation this way, incidentally helping him out.

This person was not simple.

"There's nothing strange about it," Ian explained calmly. "After all, I'm practically a bodyguard for Mashu and Ritsuka."

"But you, Akuta Hinako-san."

The man's gaze focused on the literary girl holding the book across the table.

"Why did you send Ritsuka a private message as soon as you joined the group chat and then ask her to meet you?"

"Do you have something you absolutely needed to discuss with her privately?"

Ian kicked the topic back to Akuta Hinako-san.

But she remained unfazed.

"If you ask me that... then it's naturally because I wanted to meet the legendary person who could fly a helicopter to Chaldea all by themselves."

Akuta Hinako-san explained her reason.

"Someone capable of doing such a thing must be an extremely remarkable individual."

"And since this was just my personal wish, there was naturally no need to bother the others in the group."

Hearing Akuta Hinako-san's reason, Fujimaru Ritsuka suddenly realized that she seemed to have caused some strange rumors to spread in Chaldea.

She quickly began to explain,

"Akuta Hinako-san, that's not how it is!"

"Eh, isn't it?"

Akuta Hinako-san gave a faint smile.

"Then what's the truth? Could you tell me?"

"No problem!"

Watching Fujimaru Ritsuka start explaining to Akuta Hinako-san, Ian's expression became a bit complicated.

He could sense that she didn't have any major malicious intent—after all, she had proactively brought up the helicopter incident, so she probably wasn't the mastermind.

However, her ability to skillfully divert the topic was quite frightening.

And she was a non-human existence.

First Ophelia, then Akuta Hinako-san.

Why were all the Master candidates in Chaldea such strange people?

Just as Ian was thinking this, he felt his sleeve being tugged.

He saw that it was Mashu who had taken action during the brief moment when Fujimaru Ritsuka was explaining to Akuta Hinako-san.

"Mashu, what's wrong?" Ian asked without changing his expression.

"Senpai..."

Mashu blushed and whispered in Ian's ear.

"It's so itchy down there... it's really uncomfortable."

"..."

Ian certainly hadn't forgotten that his hand under the table was still caressing the legs of the two girls.

Fujimaru Ritsuka's unaffected demeanor had led Ian to believe that this kind of caress wouldn't have any effect.

But he hadn't expected Mashu to be so sensitive—no wonder she had been silent all this time.

However, it wasn't surprising either.

Judging from their experiences over this period, Mashu, who had zero experience, actually had a lot of potential for development.

It was fortunate that she had met a good person like him.

Otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

"I understand."

"In that case—"

"Let's just take care of it right here, a little bit."

"R-right here?" Mashu's voice trembled slightly.

"Yeah."

Ian's hand on Mashu's thigh moved a little further inwards.

"It's just taking care of it right here," he whispered, his fingers gently probing.

Feeling the change in position, Mashu's face became even redder, but she still nodded silently.

"Senpai... I understand."

Mashu was truly very sensitive.

Even without deep exploration, just by visiting the outer edges of her garden, Ian could feel a dampness.

However—

The action couldn't stop there.

Ian's fingers slipped inside Mashu's black lace panties and gently parted the soft folds, gradually creating enough space for free entry.

At this moment, Mashu's breathing became slow and shallow—because she was so afraid of making a sound.

Ian's fingers went in a little further.

Mashu's whole body shivered.

This was her first time experiencing something like this, and it was in a crowded restaurant.

So nervous, so scared.

This was something even easier to discover than the phone photos.

Mashu lowered her head and bit her lip tightly.

Her legs wriggled incessantly.

Finally.

The girl lost control.

In this crowded restaurant, under this inconspicuous table.

The sound of flowing spring water came from the girl's garden.

And she could only accept it all with a flushed face.

Ian asked at this moment,

"Is it still itchy?"

"Um... no, it's not itchy anymore," Mashu replied, her face red. "But Senpai, it's all wet down there..."

"It's alright, it's just a normal physiological response," Ian said, withdrawing his hand.

"Now just let it flow out without worry, no one will notice."

"I'll find a way to help you get used to this feeling in the future, so don't worry."

"...Understood."

Drip, drip.

Mashu, experiencing this kind of thing for the first time, couldn't stop flowing, occasionally causing a small splash.

She didn't dare say anything, but just held her drink, taking one sip after another in silence.

She seemed to want to achieve a dynamic water balance in this way.

Fujimaru Ritsuka had also finished explaining the ins and outs of the helicopter incident to Akuta Hinako-san at this time.

Her hand under the table began to stir again, feeling like it wanted to continue the earlier mutual touching.

Ian knew that at this time, he absolutely couldn't let her notice Mashu on the other side, otherwise things would definitely become more complicated.

He had to make her like Mashu.

That way, she wouldn't have the energy to pay attention to other things.

However—

He couldn't directly apply the same solution as with Mashu.

After all, the two girls' reactions were completely different.

If he applied it directly, she might really cry out.

Thankfully.

As a special countermeasure, Ian had long ago prepared a set of words based on Ophelia's advice that could be used on Fujimaru Ritsuka.

He used the hand that had just been freed from Mashu to send a message to Fujimaru Ritsuka on his phone.

[Ian]: Ritsuka, I asked about the magic circuits, and there's a discovery.

[Fujimaru Ritsuka]: Tell me quickly!

[Ian]: Um... it's just that I heard self-stimulation can promote magic power circulation, thereby achieving an increase in magic circuits.

[Fujimaru Ritsuka]: ...

[Fujimaru Ritsuka]: Are you serious?

[Ian]: I heard it from someone, but the other person is a very skilled blindfolded magus, so what they said should be highly credible.

[Ian]: Of course, believe it or not is up to you.

[Fujimaru Ritsuka]: ...

[Fujimaru Ritsuka]: Are you saying I should do it right now?

[Ian]: Of course, I didn't mean that.

[Ian]: But if you do it now, we can check it directly later.

[Fujimaru Ritsuka]: Will you be the one checking again?

[Ian]: Yeah.

Fujimaru Ritsuka didn't ask any further questions, but Ian could feel that she was clearly excited when she saw the last message.

And the hand that had been touching Ian's hands gradually moved to her own garden—she didn't doubt what Ian had said at all.

And compared to Mashu's incredibly shy appearance, Fujimaru Ritsuka was a completely different kind of person.

She seemed a bit excited when self-stimulating in this environment, occasionally gently touching Ian with her foot.

Her expression seemed to say, "I'm following your instructions properly, 0721."

Something was wrong.

Very wrong.

Ian was starting to think that Fujimaru Ritsuka wasn't just trusting.

But—

Regardless.

Ian's two hands were finally freed up while ensuring that Mashu and Fujimaru Ritsuka didn't cause any trouble.

Truly gratifying.

The man looked at Akuta Hinako-san, who was talking to Mordred across the table.

Her voice was very soft, and her tone was quite gentle.

If he had to describe her with one word.

Then it would indeed only be "literary girl."

Loved reading, looked pretty, and had an introverted personality.

No one fit the description better than her.

However—

Ian wasn't fooled by first impressions.

Because his body was constantly warning him of the same thing—that the Akuta Hinako-san before him was not a normal human being.

Since that was the case, there must be some purpose behind her approach.

He had to be cautious.

While Ian was thinking about all this, Akuta Hinako-san glanced over here.

Then, she said to Mordred,

"Excuse me for a moment, I'm going to the restroom, I'll be back to chat later!"

"Oh, okay!"

Mordred nodded.

It was clear that she didn't dislike Akuta Hinako-san.

"Go ahead!"

Akuta Hinako-san nodded, then hugged her book, looked at Ian, and got up to walk towards the restroom.

Ian watched her back, feeling that this wasn't as simple as going to the restroom.

And this thought soon became a reality.

Ian's phone lit up.

He had received a private message—but the sender was someone he hadn't expected at all.

It was Akuta Hinako-san.

[Akuta Hinako]: Can we talk outside?

[Akuta Hinako]: Just the two of us.

To be fair, Ian knew that this kind of invitation was very dangerous.

After all, if what she wanted to talk about was normal, there would be no need for such a private meeting.

However—

Ian's intuition was telling him that he had to go.

Otherwise, he would miss out on a lot.

After much consideration, he decided to accept the invitation.

After all, he at least had to figure out if she had any hostility towards Mashu and Fujimaru Ritsuka.

He didn't want any of them to get hurt.

"I'm going to the restroom too."

"Mordred, protect them for me, I'll buy you something you like to eat when I get back."

"Eh, oh."

Before Mordred could even finish her reply, Ian had already left his seat.

Her nose twitched, and she muttered softly under her breath.

"Why does it feel like there's a fragrant smell..."

As soon as he got outside the cafeteria, Ian immediately saw Akuta Hinako-san waiting there.

"Akuta Hinako-san, you wanted to see me..."

"No need for pleasantries," Akuta Hinako-san said, staring directly at Ian.

It was a completely different presence from her earlier gentle demeanor.

"Tell me."

"What price do I have to pay to be able to summon Servants like you?"

"Otherwise—" she leaned in slightly, her voice dropping to a low whisper.

"I'll tell everyone what happened under the table just now."