"So, what exactly are we doing here today?!" Shinpachi complained once again before turning to Kagura. "And why did you join in with the 'oh'?! You're just a host now! Just a host! This has nothing to do with women! Besides, except for Kyuubei-san, there aren't any real women here!"
"What did you just say?! You idiot!!" Otae and Kagura yelled, white-eyed with anger, as they kicked Shinpachi.
...
Meanwhile, in Yoshiwara, after dinner, Kawaki was still completely absorbed in his game.
"What are you doing?" Kawaki asked as he finished a round, turning to see Tsukuyo standing by the door, frowning at her phone. "You've been staring at your phone for a while now. Who is it? Your boyfrie—"
Before he could finish, a kunai struck him squarely in the forehead, and Kawaki fell to the floor, eyes rolled back.
Thud!
"It's just Otae," Tsukuyo said coldly as she put away her phone.
"I see..." Kawaki mumbled as he struggled to sit up, pulling the kunai from his forehead and sticking on a bandage. Holding his head, he muttered, "Next time, could you just tell me directly? You don't need to throw a kunai before you speak to get my attention. Please..."
"You..." Tsukuyo glanced at Kawaki again, "Have you been to a host club recently?"
"Host club?" Kawaki looked at her with a puzzled expression. "Why would I go to a place like that? I don't even like men."
"In the past..." Tsukuyo turned her slightly flushed face away, "Didn't you once work part-time at that host club in Kabukicho? What was it called again...?"
"Huh? Did I?" Kawaki pointed to himself, confused.
"What on earth is wrong with your memory?" Tsukuyo sighed, rubbing her forehead in exasperation.
"Sorry, sorry," Kawaki scratched his head, chuckling sheepishly, "I tend to forget unimportant things right away. Ahahaha..."
"Just... don't go to those places anymore."
"By the way... why did you suddenly bring up host clubs?" Kawaki suddenly thought of something, tapping his hand with a smile. "Oh! I get it! Tsukuyo, you want to go to a host club, don't you?"
"Of course not, you idiot!" Tsukuyo's face turned red as she clenched her fists and retorted, white-eyed.
"Tsukuyo, Kansai dialect really doesn't suit you..." Kawaki muttered quietly before squinting and smiling. "But if you want to go, you should just go, right?"
"I said I don't want to go!"
Ignoring Tsukuyo's flustered state, Kawaki suddenly had another thought. Raising a finger with a smile, he added, "But remember, no drinking. If Tsukuyo drinks, things could get out of hand. You might even tear down the place."
"I said I don't want to go!!"
"Alright then, bye-bye. Have fun," Kawaki waved with a smile, dismissing her.
"Are you even listening to me?! Can you stop making assumptions?!"
"I can't believe Tsukuyo has reached the age where she wants to go out and have fun at those places~" Kawaki chuckled and shook his head. "Time sure flies~"
"Just die already!!" Tsukuyo, who had somehow moved behind him, stomped on Kawaki's head, driving it onto the floor.
But that stomp was just what Kawaki needed to remember, something he'd forgotten...
"Tsukuyo... urgent..." Kawaki, still holding onto Tsukuyo's ankle, spoke urgently as his voice came out muffled from the floor. "I... finally remembered what I'd forgotten."
"W-What is it?" Tsukuyo asked, swallowing nervously as she watched Kawaki pull his head out from the floor, a pained expression on his face. "Hey, let go of my foot! And where are you looking?! Do you want to die?!"
Kawaki let go of her foot, rubbing his chin as he mumbled, "It's the first time I've seen Tsukuyo in a cat..."
Before he could finish, Tsukuyo stomped his head back onto the floor without mercy.
"Tsukuyo, now's not the time to discuss such trivial matters." Kawaki pulled his head out of the floor again, this time with blood streaming down his face, and spoke gravely. "There's something much more important that I need to do. If I don't hurry, it'll be too late!"
"So what exactly is it?" Tsukuyo asked, suspicious. "It better not be some game or console release deadline, because no one's going with you for that."
"No! It's not about that at all!" Kawaki clenched his fists, his face full of regret. "I've been too careless, remembering something this important at the last minute!"
"Something more important than a game?!" Tsukuyo's expression shifted as she widened her eyes in surprise. "What is it?!"
"Tsukuyo, can you help me?" Kawaki looked up at her thoughtfully. "If anyone can help, it's you since you're closest."
"I... If it's not too much trouble..." Tsukuyo huffed, looking away. "I guess I can help you."
"Great! Let's go then!"
Without waiting for her to react, Kawaki grabbed Tsukuyo's sleeve and dashed toward the window.
"Listen, Tsukuyo, time is of the essence!" Kawaki said seriously as they ran toward Yoshiwara's gates. "We don't have much time left! What time is it?"
"Nine twenty..."
"We only have a few minutes left!" Kawaki said, barely containing his anxiety. "We have to make it in time!"
Seeing Kawaki so severely, Tsukuyo couldn't help but feel a bit frightened.
But just as they reached Yoshiwara's gate, Tsukuyo suddenly remembered something. She stopped and pulled on Kawaki's sleeve. "Wait a minute, didn't Kagura say you shouldn't go out today...?"
"This isn't the time to worry about that!" Kawaki's face was full of urgency. "If I don't make it, I'll regret it for the rest of my life! Please, Tsukuyo! Hurry!!"
Seeing Kawaki so desperate, Tsukuyo thought about Kagura's message and, in the end, chose to follow him outside.
"Well, as long as I'm watching him, it should be fine…" Tsukuyo thought to herself.
...
At a cinema somewhere in Edo.
Tsukuyo sat in silence, her head down, watching as Kawaki held a popcorn bucket and soda in one hand and a movie ticket in the other.
"Come on, let's go in, Tsukuyo!" Kawaki urged. "If we don't hurry, we'll miss the last show! Today's the last day for the final EVA movie! I kept thinking I'd forgotten something, and it turns out it was this! Good thing I remembered at the last minute!"
"So you dragged me here just so you could get me to treat you to a movie?! You idiot!" Tsukuyo, also holding popcorn and soda, snapped.
"I couldn't help it. I spent all my money on games," Kawaki shrugged, speaking in a tone of helplessness. "I'm down to my last yen this month. Of course, if you don't want to watch, you can leave. It's not like it matters if I watch alone or with someone."
"I..." Tsukuyo struggled to suppress her rising anger.
"But hey, Tsukuyo..." Kawaki squinted and smiled, "I remember we watched Transformers together before, right? You said you liked robots and mecha back then."
"Huh?" Tsukuyo paused, remembering the time they had indeed watched a movie together. She thought, "Could it be that this guy remembered that and wanted to bring me along because of it? No way... This guy can't even remember what he had for lunch yesterday..."
"Phew…" Kawaki silently sighed in relief. "Looks like that excuse worked. Good thing I remembered that day; otherwise, this would've been harder to explain. If she knew I dragged her here just to buy me a movie ticket, she might have actually gotten mad…."
"Fine, I guess we can watch it," Tsukuyo muttered, turning away. "Kagura did say I should keep an eye on you…"
"Alright, let's go in!" Kawaki said with a smile.
...
Just before entering the theater, Kawaki suddenly stopped, a thought striking him.
"Wait... I just remembered something else..." Kawaki muttered, furrowing his brow. "There was someone who said they wanted to watch the EVA movie together..."
"Hmm?" Tsukuyo looked at him in confusion.
"No, it's probably nothing, just a misunderstanding." Kawaki brushed it off and took the lead into the theater. "Come on, Tsukuyo, hurry up. The movie's about to start! I don't want to miss a single second!"
"Oh... okay..." Tsukuyo followed after him.