The moment our eyes met.
"So you bought both of them in the end."
"Ugh, one is for me to wear, so it doesn't matter."
As we walked along a path where purple wisteria bloomed in profusion, I gave the two paper bags in my hands a little shake. The President, her face flushing slightly, snatched her bag from me.
In the end, we decided on a yukata as the gift for the Russian exchange student.
The reasoning was that a kimono was too formal and difficult for a foreigner to put on by herself, making it an unsuitable gift.
Well, with the festival season just a few months away, a yukata wouldn't be a bad gift at all.
"Anyway, let's just take a walk. A walk."
As if wanting to change the subject, the President said this while clutching the paper bag to her chest and quickening her pace.
I lengthened my stride slightly to keep up with her and asked.
"It seems like we're done with our business for today. What are your plans for after this?"
The President, who was walking ahead, paused and turned back.
"Are you talking about after the walk is over?"
"Yes. It's a rare day off. It would be a waste to go home after only doing student council work."
Choosing the gift finished sooner than expected, so it was only two o'clock.
Even with a short walk, there was still plenty of time until evening.
The President hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"Then how about Nakano Broadway? I heard from Minami that it's a great place for young students to hang out."
"Ah, that's a good place. But it'll take quite a while to get from Asakusa to Nakano by subway."
"That's fine. We can just call for a car."
As expected of a rich young lady, her way of thinking was on a different level from that of an ordinary student.
"Then let's have lunch in Nakano."
"Fufu, sounds good. I was just starting to feel hungry myself."
Just as we reached an agreement and were about to continue down the path…
*Click!*
"Huh?"
Hearing the sound of a camera, I turned around to see a man and a woman who looked like a couple taking a picture with a selfie stick.
Just a moment ago, I was sure it was just the President and me. When did they get here?
"Aren't you coming?"
I tilted my head in confusion, but at the President's urging from ahead, I quickly followed.
***
"I-I thought we were caught."
"If he's gone, get off me."
Akagi Shinjiro and Akagi Minami had been secretly taking pictures while following Kumiko and Kim Yu-seong.
It was for a report they would later give to their Young Lady, but they hadn't expected Kim Yu-seong to suddenly turn around, so they had hastily pretended to be a couple.
"This is why I told you not to get too close."
"But we can't get good pictures if we don't get this close."
Minami replied bluntly while checking the photos she had just taken. Akagi Shinjiro, the Vice President, glared at the back of Kim Yu-seong's head as he walked away.
"That lucky bastard. He doesn't even know someone like the Young Lady likes him."
"Brother, I don't care if you personally dislike him, but you know you can't show it in front of him, right?"
"...I know."
The two had been serving Saionji Kumiko for a very long time.
Perhaps since the moment they were born.
As such, they possessed a blind loyalty that made them willing to do anything for her.
They had been raised that way from the very beginning.
After checking all the photos on the camera, she inserted a backup memory card into her smartphone and folded the selfie stick in her right hand.
"The Young Lady will be calling for the limousine soon. We need to go clean the back seat beforehand."
"Then we'll have to take a taxi."
"Call one in advance if you can. We need to get to Nakano Broadway before the Young Lady and Kim Yu-seong to do some reconnaissance."
"Understood."
The two smoothly coordinated their plans and set off once more.
Everything was for their beloved Young Lady.
***
The President and I took a limousine we'd summoned by phone from Asakusa to Nakano.
It would have taken about an hour by subway, but since we went by car, it only took about forty minutes.
When the long, black limousine, the kind you'd see in movies, stopped in front of Nakano Station, the gazes of passersby naturally fell upon us.
I got out of the car first and, feeling an inexplicable sense of embarrassment, pulled the hood of my jacket over my head.
"Shall we go?"
The President, who got out after me, gave a slight nod in response.
"Alright."
After the limousine that dropped us off glided away down the road, the President and I watched it go before slowly starting to walk toward the red and white building in the distance.
***
Nakano Broadway.
One of the landmarks that comes to mind when you think of Nakano, it's one of the three holy sites of the otaku world.
Since it consists of just a single building, it differs in scale from the electronics district of Akihabara or Ikebukuro's Otome Road, but the darkness lurking within is said to be in no way inferior to those two.
I had never actually been here myself, but in the memories of Kim Yu-seong that remained as knowledge, there was the experience of having visited Nakano Broadway often.
It seems he came here at least once a month, making time for it like a treasure hunt, since there were quite a few rare items that could only be found here.
On the first floor of Nakano Broadway, there were various shops, the main branch of Mandarake—famous for its used books—a DVD rental shop, and an arcade.
Perhaps because it was Golden Week, wherever you looked inside the building, it was bustling with people.
"Wow. There are so many interesting things."
The President, perhaps visiting a place like this for the first time, was looking around in fascination.
It seemed her "commoner experience," which she'd been pursuing since we first met, was still ongoing.
"Is there any place you'd like to go?"
The President crossed her arms with a thoughtful expression, then stated her opinion without hesitation.
"Let's eat first. We can have fun after that; it won't be too late."
A wise answer, indeed.
We hadn't eaten anything since meeting at noon, aside from ice cream.
"Then lunch is on me. I have a regular spot I always visit when I come here."
To be precise, it wasn't my regular spot, but the real Kim Yu-seong's.
"Oh, alright. I'll trust your choice today, Kim Yu-seong-kun."
As I stepped onto the escalator going up to the second floor, I asked the President.
"Do you happen to like ramen?"
***
The place I brought the President to was a ramen shop that Kim Yu-seong used to love.
Perhaps because it was known as a great spot among people, all the seats inside were already taken.
We had no choice but to sit at the counter, where an employee naturally handed us menus and water.
The President, who had never been to a commoner's restaurant like this before, looked around and commented.
"The layout of this shop is interesting."
I flipped through the menu and replied.
"It's because the actual floor space is small. They try to squeeze in as many seats as possible, so even separate tables end up packed closely together."
Having decided on my order, I handed the menu to the President and asked.
"What would you like to have, President?"
The President read the menu items listed on the menu one by one.
"Tonkotsu ramen, miso ramen, shio ramen, tsukemen?"
"My personal recommendation is the shio ramen. I've heard women really like it because of its clean taste."
After some thought, the President made her decision.
"Then I'll have the shio ramen."
With the President's order decided, I flagged down a passing employee and ordered one tonkotsu ramen and one shio ramen.
The ramen would probably take about ten minutes, so I excused myself to the President and stood up.
"I'm going to the restroom for a moment."
"Alright. Go ahead."
Having received her permission, I headed to the restroom to take care of my business.
***
*Gurgle-*
*'Hmph!'*
Akagi Shinjiro, who was secretly watching the Young Lady and Kim Yu-seong in the ramen shop, furrowed his brow at a sudden signal from his body.
He asked Minami, who was staking out the shop with him.
"C-can I go to the restroom for a minute?"
"What? All of a sudden?"
"I think the cream bun I ate in the car went bad."
*Gurgle, gurgle-*
The intensifying stomachache made him cross his legs involuntarily.
Seeing his obviously distressed state, Minami shook her head and said.
"Geez, you should have been more careful. Go on, hurry. It'll probably be a little while before the Young Lady and Kim Yu-seong move on to the next place."
"Thanks..."
*GURGLE!*
"Urgh!"
There was no more time to hesitate.
With his sister's permission, Akagi Shinjiro immediately headed for the second-floor restroom and entered a stall.
About five minutes later.
Just as he had finished putting out the urgent fire and was about to leave…
*Fshhhhhhh!*
He heard the sound of someone washing their hands outside.
Assuming it was just another customer, Shinjiro thought nothing of it, flushed the toilet, and stepped out of the stall.
*'Huh?'*
But the moment his eyes fell upon a familiar back, his body froze like a stone.
Kim Yu-seong, the very target he and his sister were supposed to be secretly monitoring, was standing right in front of him.
Kim Yu-seong, who was in the middle of washing his hands, must have spotted his reflection in the mirror, as he spoke with a surprised expression.
"Vice President?"
Akagi Shinjiro realized that this tailing mission was a failure.