Late April. Friday night, with Golden Week just around the corner.

I, Misaki, stood at the entrance of an Italian restaurant with one of the most beautiful night views in the city, feeling like my heart was about to leap out of my mouth.

“Thanks for waiting, Misaki-san. Sorry, did I keep you?”

When I turned at the voice suddenly calling from behind, there stood Naoya-kun, smartly dressed in a navy setup. Even though it was ten minutes before our meeting time, he wasn’t out of breath at all and wore a soft, refreshing smile.

“No, I just got here too. Even so, Naoya-kun, you look really wonderful.”

“Thank you. Your dress today is very spring-like and suits you perfectly. Now, let’s go inside. I’ve made a reservation.”

With that, Naoya-kun opened the door with a perfectly natural motion and escorted me in first.

‘...Amazing! This is Naoya-kun, who received Shizuku-chan’s teachings!’

A fanfare of joy resounded in my mind.

In this insane world with a gender ratio of 1:15, a man making a date reservation in itself is a miracle on the level of a natural monument. Most men have the attitude of “since I’m walking with you, the woman should find the place and pay for it.”

And yet, far from sizing me up, he complimented my outfit, opened the door, and showed perfect escorting.

“Welcome. You must be the Yanagi party, table for two.”

We were shown to a special window seat with a sweeping night view. Naoya-kun smoothly pulled out my chair and waited for me to sit before taking his own seat. In those flowing movements, there wasn’t even a trace of the former shut-in young man.

‘It’s only been two weeks since that face-to-face at the café. Naoya-kun is perfectly tracing Shizuku-chan’s aura... Nanase Shizuku’s perfect man training program is terrifying...’

In my heart, I pressed my palms together deeply toward the great six-year-old—no, now seven-year-old—Master.

But Naoya-kun’s all-out offensive began from here.

“Misaki-san, can you drink alcohol? If you’re not fond of it, they seem to have non-alcoholic cocktails too.”

“Ah, I can drink a little. I like wine and such.”

“I see. Then let’s toast first with champagne. The meal is a course, but do you have any foods you dislike or allergies?”

Naoya-kun led the conversation, matching my pace while looking at the menu.

‘...How comfortable this is. There’s never an awkward pause, and he listens to my stories with such delight.’

The food that arrived was exquisite, too. When I nearly dropped my bread, Naoya-kun swiftly offered a small plate, and when my glass was nearly empty, he called the waiter and smartly ordered the next drink. Everything was done without a hint of obligation, as naturally as breathing.

“Naoya-kun... you’re really thoughtful. Honestly, I’m surprised.”

As I murmured that, partly helped by the wine’s intoxication, Naoya-kun swirled his glass with a wry smile.

“You think so? …Well, my ‘senpai’ thoroughly drilled it into me.”

‘Senpai... = Shizuku-chan, of course!’

“Yeah. A senpai who was incredibly strict. When we went out to eat together, I got lectured at an izakaya until the last train about things like ‘never let the other person feel any stress. Constantly observe the state of their glass and their expression.’ But if thanks to that, Misaki-san is smiling now, I have to be grateful to that senpai.”

Naoya-kun narrowed his eyes with a look that was both nostalgic for somewhere far away—and filled with overwhelming respect.

‘...Shizuku-chan! Just what kind of terrifying genius education did you put Naoya-kun through!? Lecturing him until the last train at an izakaya playing house? Just how many times has that seven-year-old lived through life!?’

I was so moved that I desperately held back the tears that threatened to spill from my eyes. The “Escort Power Genes of Shizuku-chan” within Naoya-kun were melting my emotions into a puddle.

“Ah, that’s right. Misaki-san. Here.”

Just as our after-dinner coffee arrived, Naoya-kun placed a small paper bag on the table.

“Huh... a present?”

“Yeah. You always take care of the children at the kindergarten until late, right? I felt like your hands were getting a little rough, so... this is a hand cream I recommend. It’s lavender-scented, and if you apply it before going to bed at night, you can relax.”

My heart gave the biggest leap of the day. Hand cream. The scent of lavender. Words of appreciation. That pierced the softest part of my heart hundreds of times more than being handed an expensive brand-name item.

‘He sees me not just as a “woman,” but as a “person doing her best”... What is this, it’s way too perfect! He’s completely sublimated Shizuku-chan’s teachings into his own!’

With trembling hands, I accepted the paper bag, and my tear ducts, having reached their limit, finally burst.

“...hic... thank you, Naoya-kun... I’ve... never been treated so kindly before...”

“Huh!? H-hey, Misaki-san!? You’re crying that much!? No, it’s really nothing that big!”

Naoya-kun hurriedly offered me a handkerchief. Clutching that handkerchief, I sobbed like a child in the restaurant with the night view.

“I’ll go out with you, Naoya-kun! For you, I’ll make delicious meals every day, and I can put all my salary into the household budget! So please don’t abandon meeeee!”

“I won’t abandon you, I won’t! Calm down, Misaki-san! And also, I’m good at housework too, so let’s split it!? I have no intention of being kept!”

And so, the long marriage hunting of the around-thirty teacher at her breaking point reached the emotional finale of starting a relationship, thanks to the young man’s “perfect hospitality date,” forged in the Sales Department Section 2 of a past life.

* * *

[Shizuku’s Perspective]

Around the same time.

I was in my living room at home, waxing a snowboard while glancing at my smartphone. The screen had the chat rooms of two messaging apps open.

The first was a message from Naoya.

‘Senpai, I successfully secured the contracted relationship, it’s started! Just like you advised, I listened to her work complaints and gave her the lavender hand cream, and she burst into tears and decided on the spot. As expected, senpai’s hospitality method of “lavender and sympathy for the tired office lady” is the strongest in this world too. I’m seriously grateful! I’ll treat you to a meal sometime!’

And the second was a message from Misaki-sensei.

‘Shizuku-chan... I’m going to start dating Naoya-kun! His escorting perfectly inherited your aura and was truly the best! Thank you so much for training him into such a splendid “male” for me! You’re my lifelong benefactor, Shizuku-chan!!’

“…………”

I gently set my smartphone on the table and stared up at the ceiling with distant eyes.

‘Jeez... all I did was advise Naoya to “entertain her with the spirit of sales from our past life,” I didn’t train him or anything like that...’

Apparently, in Misaki-sensei’s mind, it’s become a setting where I imparted some legendary martial art to Naoya.

Or rather, that Naoya guy is totally treating a date with his arranged meeting partner as “entertaining a client.” It seems both he and I haven’t shaken off that past-life corporate slave mentality.

‘Well, if Misaki-sensei seems happy, I guess it’s fine.’

In this insane world, Misaki-sensei, who has ended up with a decent adult man, is absolutely a super winner. If my cute junior from my past life will treasure her, I’m happy about it too.

“…Shizuku? What are you grinning about? You look creepy.”

My mom, fresh out of the bath, looked at me with a puzzled expression while drinking milk.

“Nah, it’s nothing. Just that an acquaintance’s ‘business negotiation’ went well, it seems.”

“A seven-year-old shouldn’t use words like business negotiation...”

Feeling a sense of accomplishment—perhaps for successfully bringing together one couple—I resumed waxing, humming a tune.

However, at this time, I was completely off my guard. I had deluded myself into thinking that the adult love trouble had been safely resolved and that peaceful days had returned.

I had no way of knowing then, that after the string of holidays in May, Aoi and Anju’s “crushingly heavy love” would finally begin a full-blown runaway catfight around me.