Ch. 25 - A Date with Alya and the third-wheel Imouto!

'Well, this is a problem.' Kenshin mumbled under his breath as he was flanked by two girls on each side.

To his left is Alya—calmly holding onto her book with a soft smile on her face.

On the other side is Tomoko, holding nothing but a glare towards Alya.

And finally in the middle is Kenshin, avoiding the gazes and whispers of the onlookers around them.

"What a womanizer!"

"Why? Why him!"

"Oh my, what a handsome young boy, hmm~"

The last line made him shiver and squint his eyes at the old lady waving her hand at him with a flirty smile that was painful to look at.

"L-Let's hurry up." He cleared his throat and stuttered before hastening his pace.

Tomoko and Alya glanced at each other before snapping their heads away with a harrumph.

***

"Suugeeiii~" Tomoko's eyes shone in delight as she took in her surroundings with amazement.

'It's just like the malls in my dating sim visual novels!' She mentally made a slight noise of enjoyment.

However, her face soon took a sour turn when she realized that this would've been a date with her brother if it wasn't for an albino gorilla that was walking side by side with them!

'I swear I'll have my revenge!' She declared in her heart as she once again, cast a glare toward Alya, who simply smirked and puffed her chest in return, causing Tomoko to grit her teeth.

"Tomoko, you said that you wanted ice cream, earlier, right? Well then, pick your poison." Kenshin, who had long noticed the silent battle going on between the two, cleared his throat and interrupted them.

"Huh?' From the looks of it, she had been so engrossed in admiring the mall and glaring at Alya—her love rival that she failed to see that they were already standing in front of an ice cream store.

"O-Oh right." She embarrassingly scratched her cheek before joining her brother at the counter.

Seeing the two being so close, Alya felt a wave of jealousy in her heart.

'Why am I even jealous? It's not like I like him or anything and besides, that's his little sister, there's no way he would form a relationship with her beyond siblings, right?' However, the more she repeats the question to herself, the more she starts to doubt.

Knowing that she's in Japan, a country where most people fantasize about Incest relationships, she felt like the two siblings in front of her might be the same.

'No no, that's impossible, he clearly doesn't hold his sister in that regard.' She reassured herself, calming her down.

"Here..." Suddenly, her thought process was interrupted when she felt an ice-cold breeze on her cheeks.

Looking to the side, she saw Kenshin holding a cone of vanilla ice cream.

"For me?" Her eyes gleamed in light as she slowly took the ice cream cone from Kenshin's hand.

"You didn't have to..." Guilt then flashed on her face which Kenshin was quick to notice.

"It's on me, don't worry, consider it an apology for teasing you earlier." Adding Kenshin's smile, the wave of guilt slowly faded as she softly smiled before taking a lick of the ice cream.

Her eyes then widened as her taste buds exploded with a sweet flavor.

Before she knew it, she was already devouring the ice cream with gusto.

Chuckling at this, Kenshin calmly ate his while Tomoko, sneered at her 'love rival' being such a glutton.

The first one to finish was of course—Alya, followed by Kenshin and then there's Tomoko who was unable to finish hers and had to give it to Kenshin.

"Where do you want to go next?" Once everyone had recovered, Kenshin finally asked.

However, Alya's face turned guilty as she replied in a shy manner.

"Uhm, I have to go first, I still have to go to the library for the book signing, it will end in a few hours."

Hearing this, Tomoko's face beamed with happiness and she cheered in her mind. Why wouldn't she? She's finally about to have her real date with her older brother without her albino gorilla love rival interrupting her progress!

'Yes! Yes! Yes!'

"Sure, how about we go together? It's not like we have anywhere else to go, we're just here for sightseeing." Only for her own flesh and blood sibling to betray her.

'No! No! No!' Her face turned sour and she fell to the ground on all fours—defeated.

"Hmm? What happened, Tomoko?" Noticing the sound behind him, Kenshin saw her and asked confusedly.

"N-Nothing, I'm also curious about this book signing." In the end, she was unable to express her desire to have a date alone with Kenshin and had no choice but to ride along.

***

The library that Alya was going to wasn't that far from the mall, it's just a few streets away. So by the time they got there, two hours were still left and the line wasn't that long. Though the said library looks more like a cosplay convention rather than a library Kenshin knew when to keep his mouth shut.

"What's the book even about, Alya-san?" While standing in the line, Kenshin couldn't help but ask—curious about the book signing that took her to ride the train and bus just to have the book signed. He hadn't even seen the book yet as she sharply hid it earlier during their meeting.

"I-It's actually not a book, I'm sorry I lied." Her face turned beet red as she finally revealed the book.

And she was right, It wasn't a book but a different one.

"That's a manga!" It was Tomoko—with her 50 years of experience as a shut-in otaku—who quickly deduced based on the artwork, visual image, and the title on the book cover.

"Manga? Although I didn't take you to be a fan of mangas, I don't see any reason to lie about it—just make sure to not get too addicted and end up like my shut little sister here." Kenshin cruelly pointed at Tomoko behind him.

"Gakh! O-Onii-chan, t-that's a bit of an exaggeration, I just like to read them, that's all..." Even with her entire being cracked, she still tries to regain her dignity.

"Say that to the countless wet blankets mom had to wash every week, pervert," Kenshin replied to her with a sneer.

"H-How did you know that?!" Right now, Tomoko feels like her soul just left her body and now she wants nothing but to dig a grave and bury herself forever out of embarrassment.

Ignoring his sister, Kenshin shifted his attention back to Alya and asked.

"So what's the manga even about?"

"I-It's nothing, just a slice of life manga, it's boring." Just by the beads of sweat on her forehead, Kenshin didn't have to think twice and could already tell that she was lying.

However, just as she hid the manga behind her, someone already beat her to it.

"It's called 'That time I witnessed a magician on the street and fell for him.' I already read it a few weeks ago, it's kinda plain, boring, and repetitive, it was written by a trashy author who calls himself SlimeSage." Tomoko, who surprisingly managed to sneak on Alya's behind and read the title of the manga she was deliberately hiding.

"Y-Y-You!" Alya jumped back like a cat feeling threatened and pointed her finger at Tomoko accusingly—all while bearing a flushed face.

Tomoko, on the other hand, had a sly smirk on her face as she playfully stuck her tongue at her.

"I-She-It's not what it looks like..." Alya quickly turns her attention to Kenshin and tries to explain.

"Hmm? Me? I'm not saying anything." Kenshin bore an innocent face and feigned ignorance.

Eventually, the line was soon finished, and it was her turn to sign the manga with the author.

"Thank you for supporting a trashy book!" Waving his hand, a chubby black-haired male wearing glasses bid them farewell after having signed Alya's manga.

"What a weird author..." Kenshin muttered as he looked back and saw the guy still waving his hand at them, ignoring the next fan who wanted his manga book to be signed.

As the three of them prepare to leave the convention, a loud voice resonating through a speaker garnered their attention.

"Good morning everyone!"

Followed by several quips and yells from the surrounding crowd.

"Look! It's Takada-chan! She's actually here!"

"Takada-chan! Please look at me!"

"Takada-chan!"

Soon enough, a large crowd gathered around a stage where a fancy-looking female, dressed in a colorful dress, was waving her hand around while bearing a bright smile on her face.

"Takada-chan looked at me! She looked at me! I think I'm pregnant!"

"Idiot! Clearly, she was looking at me, not you old geezer!"

Seeing and hearing the interaction between the idol's fan community, Kenshin's lips twitched and he couldn't help but mutter to himself.

"She doesn't even look that good, I'm not sure why everyone is acting like she's an angel sent from above."

Unbeknownst to him, he failed to see that his little comment would gather the attention of someone.

"What did you just say about my dear Takada-chan, huh?" From behind him, someone spoke, followed by a harsh grab on his shoulders.

Kenshin's face soon turned cold as he slowly turned around to see who harshly slapped his shoulder.

However, much to his surprise, instead of seeing a fat and greasy discord-mod-looking man, there stood a man taller than him, wearing a purple shirt that was covered by a black jacket that rested on his shoulders. Even with the clothes on, Kenshin could tell how much explosive muscle was packing underneath.

The man's face looked chiseled and his black hair was styled in a top bun with the said bun being shaped like a flower.

The most notable thing about his appearance was the huge scar that ran down on the left side of his face.

Alya and Tomoko froze in fear at seeing a muscular man looking down on Kenshin in a threatening way.

However, unlike them, Kenshin remained calm.

Not only because the man in front of him barely threatens him but also because he knows who the man in front of him is.

'Aoi Todo, didn't expect to see him here, if that's the case then Takada-chan must be the idol he's blubbering about in the series.' While mentally muttering to himself, he made his move.

Slapping Todo's hand from his shoulder, Kenshin looked directly into Todo's eyes and said.

"I said, she looks mid."

"O-Onii-chan!?" Seeing her older brother standing up to the mean-looking thug, Tomoko panicked, she didn't want to see her brother's pretty face being smashed by the scary man's fist after all!

On the other hand, Alya simply looked at the man coldly and silently pressed 110, ready to support Kenshin and call the police in case things went awry.

"I see...Everyone has their own opinion." Much to their surprise, Todo simply nodded his head and continued.

"My name is Aoi Todo. Can you tell me your name?"

"Kuroki Kenshin." He replied.

"Then, can you answer my question, Kuroki-san? What do you prefer in a woman, boobs or butt?" As soon as he finished his words, Kenshin almost chuckled while the two girls behind him blushed hard.

"W-What kind of question is that?! Are you a pervert?!" Tomoko wiped the trail of blood from her nose and she accusedly pointed her finger at Todo.

However, the man ignored him and continued to stare at Kenshin's eyes, waiting for his answer.

On Kenshin's left side, despite blushing hard from the question, Alya cannot help but slightly glance at Kenshin's face—wondering what would his answer be.

"Good question..." Kenshin replied solemnly, his face bearing a serious expression—as if the question wasn't silly and perverted.

"I prefer personality..." Kenshin finally declared, causing Todo to reel back in disappointment before closing his eyes, a tear escaping through the gaps of his closed eyes.

Even Alya and Tomoko were surprised by his answer.

'I didn't expect him to have such pure thoughts about women.' The two of them couldn't help but blush.

However, their reactions were short-lived when Kenshin continued.

"....With a slice of ass and perky breasts that is neither too big nor small and fits my palm just right." Kenshin flashed a genuine smile while closing his fist like some kind of shounen protagonist.

Crack!

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[Please give some powerstones for support and to expose the fanfic to the Powerstone rankings which will encourage me to write! Also, an honest and detailed review would be highly appreciated!]

[Also, if possible, I want to do an attendance check similar to a fanfic I recently read. It kinda helps me keep track on how many readers I still have and if it's increasing. So at the end of every chapter we'll be doing some attendance checking. Doesn't matter if you send a gif or a simple hello. All matters for attendance.]

[Attendance check here!]

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[Next Chapter: Ch. 26 - Smashing Todo!]

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