"Several."
Ren nodded.
Since he and Kaguya exchanged contact information the last time, he occasionally chatted with her, but each time was brief, two or three sentences.
But he never took the initiative to chat with Kaguya; the main reason being he genuinely didn't know what to talk about; he was never good at small talk.
Similarly, when chatting with Nino and Miku, whenever they initiated, he would reply to finish the conversation.
He rarely took the initiative.
"So, what's your opinion on Kaguya-sama?"
Hayasaka wanted to hear what Ren had to say about Kaguya to find out if he would secretly say something negative about her.
"Not bad."
Ren gave his judgment without much thought.
He had a fairly positive impression of Kaguya. Although her initial motives approaching him weren't too good and somewhat bothered him, after letting go of those ideas and becoming friends, he felt that Kaguya was much better than before.
Especially, Kaguya would take the initiative to chat with him, which made him very happy.
Moreover, there weren't many opportunities to practice his conversational skills, and the topics they found were also straightforward, so he didn't have to worry about not being able to respond.
"I see."
Hayasaka wasn't surprised by his answer.
Knowing that she was Kaguya's personal maid, anyone not foolish wouldn't speak ill of Kaguya in front of her.
Therefore, she just casually asked.
This way, she could let Kaguya know that Ren thought well of her when she returned.
This way, she could see Kaguya's reaction to this.
Thinking about it, she felt a little more hopeful.
After chatting briefly about other things, the waitress brought the desserts and drinks they ordered.
When the waitress arrived, Hayasaka and Ren silently understood and didn't speak.
"Try it. This is a restaurant I randomly chose. If it doesn't taste good, you can't blame me."
After the waitress left, Hayasaka made a statement with a smile to lighten the mood.
They could even start a shop, and the taste of these desserts was basically the same.
"Um."
Ren cut a small piece of chocolate cake in front of him with a fork and put it in his mouth.
Seeing him start eating, Hayasaka began to eat tiramisu.
"This..."
As soon as it entered her mouth, Hayasaka realized something was wrong.
It was so oily that she couldn't eat it at all.
But she couldn't spit it out, so she had to force herself to swallow it, and it took a few sips of juice to recover.
Then, she looked at Ren.
Although his face was expressionless, Hayasaka could see the difficulty in his emotions.
"Is it too sweet?" Hayasaka asked.
"It's sweet but also bitter at the same time. It tastes very strange."
Reluctantly swallowing the cake in his mouth, Ren said helplessly.
The cake indeed wasn't good, but it didn't trigger his body's protective mechanisms and didn't automatically block the unpleasant taste.
Saying it tasted good would mean deceiving oneself a little.
At this moment, he finally realized that there were very few customers in this store.
With desserts of this caliber, it would be strange if there were customers.
"It seems I was unlucky and chose the wrong store."
At this point, Hayasaka felt a bit embarrassed and didn't know what to do.
What she initially wanted was to enjoy desserts with him while having a casual chat.
Even if she didn't get any useful information, at least the atmosphere would be good.
But she never expected the desserts in this store to be so unpleasant. It was a miracle the store wasn't closed.
After thinking about it for a while, Hayasaka got a new idea; perhaps she could use this to write some articles.
After sorting out her thoughts for a moment, just as she was about to speak, she found that Ren was still eating a piece of cake that he found both sweet and bitter at the same time.
"Kamikawa-kun, you don't have to force yourself to eat it." Hayasaka persuaded.
"You can't waste food." Ren said.
Even though the cake tasted bad, it was still food, so he couldn't waste it.
Of course, when he ate this cake, his taste sense was blocked.
He wasn't foolish; how could he eat a cake like that?
"This..."
Hearing that, Hayasaka lowered her head and looked at tiramisu.
She originally planned not to eat it, but seeing Ren almost finishing his plate of cake, after hesitating, Hayasaka had no choice but to eat as well.
She didn't intend to waste food, so she would do the same.
"You don't have to force yourself."
When he looked up and saw that Hayasaka was also eating, Ren used what he had just said to persuade her.
While he ate it, his taste sense was blocked, but when Hayasaka ate it, she genuinely ate it.
"It's okay, we can't waste food."
Hayasaka forced a smile.
Finally, after struggling, she managed to get rid of the tiramisu.
At the same time, she also decided that she wouldn't eat desserts again this week.
After finishing the meal and paying the bill under the incredulous gaze of the waitress, Ren and Hayasaka left this strange cafe.
"Sorry for making you eat such a terrible cake."
After leaving the store, Hayasaka turned around to apologize to Ren.
It was indeed her fault; she should have prepared beforehand and not randomly chosen a store.
"It's okay."
Ren didn't mind.
Although the cake tasted bad, he only tasted it, and he actively blocked the rest.
"I know a cafe with very delicious desserts. I'll invite you to eat there this weekend. Consider it my apology. I'm really embarrassed about this today." Hayasaka continued to invite, "If you don't mind, please finish your meal. After that, it's fine for me to walk around with you for a bit."
"Okay." Ren agreed without hesitation.
After all, he had no plans for the weekend, so it was fine to go to a cafe and stroll with her.
"Alright. Then I'll go back first, and the driver will pick me up soon."
Seeing him agree, Hayasaka looked at the time and bid farewell.
"Bye-bye."
After watching Hayasaka fall in love with the familiar black limousine, Ren turned around and left.
...
"What? Are you going on a date with Kamikawa-kun this weekend?"
Kaguya was sitting on the bed, looking at Hayasaka standing in front of her in a maid uniform, asking in surprise.