"D-Date?!"
Hearing Fang Zheng's words, Honoka Mitsui's eyes widened in surprise. She stared at Fang Zheng, then looked at Shizuku Kitayama.
"Shizuku, when did you two become that kind of couple?"
"Calm down, Honoka."
Unlike the flustered Honoka Mitsui, Shizuku Kitayama remained composed. She first reassured Honoka, then turned to Fang Zheng.
"What do you mean?"
"We're just going out for coffee and talking about something."
"That's all?"
"Sure. When a man and a woman go out together, isn't that a date?"
As he spoke, Fang Zheng narrowed his eyes and looked at Honoka Mitsui.
"How about you come along too?"
"Huh? Wh-What?!"
Though she had acted astonished, after school, Honoka Mitsui still followed Shizuku Kitayama to the café. Fang Zheng was already waiting for them there.
"Yo, you're here."
Seeing the two of them, Fang Zheng chuckled and waved.
"Have a seat."
Hearing Fang Zheng's words, the two girls nodded and sat down. Honoka Mitsui looked awkwardly from Fang Zheng to Shizuku Kitayama, while the latter watched Fang Zheng expressionlessly and asked,
"What is it?"
"Here's the thing. The higher-ups pushed a troublesome job onto me."
Fang Zheng snapped his fingers, and a waiter soon brought drinks and cake for the two girls. At the same time, he began explaining.
"You know about the thesis competition, right? Since I previously published papers with Kitayama Industries on the Universalization of Flying Magic and the Automatic Calculation Core, the school wants me to compete. I really didn't want to deal with something so troublesome, but I reluctantly agreed in the end."
"So you want to cooperate with Father again?"
Shizuku Kitayama quickly understood what Fang Zheng meant, and he nodded.
"We already have a foundation for cooperation, so that's only natural. Besides, you know I'm not interested in all that troublesome