It had been less than 24 hours since the Movie Theater Incident—as Ichika was now calling it in his head—and he was still trying to scrub the memory of Cecilia blurting out "ARE YOU TWO DATING?!" in a room full of strangers.

And yet, somehow, things managed to get even weirder.

"I can't believe you dragged me to the store," Chifuyu muttered, adjusting her sunglasses as she walked alongside Ichika. "You're lucky I need soy sauce or I'd have left you to survive on instant noodles and shame."

Ichika, pushing the shopping cart with a proud big-brother-who's-totally-helping-energy, smiled sheepishly. "Hey, this is quality sibling bonding time! Normal stuff! Like regular families do!"

Chifuyu stared at him blankly. "Regular families don't usually have five girls stalking the younger sibling like it's a government operation."

Ichika flinched. "Okay, that was one time. And they're not that crazy."

Meanwhile, in a bush outside the supermarket…

Cecilia Alcott adjusted the oversized carrot costume clinging tightly to her like a snug orange sleeping bag.

"This… is brilliant," she whispered dramatically, adjusting her carrot-top hat. "No one will ever suspect we're spies."

Beside her, Charlotte Dunois was regretting every life decision that had brought her to this moment—particularly the one that had led her into an absurd baguette costume.

"Cecilia," Charlotte deadpanned, "I look like a sentient loaf of French bread."

"You look delicious," Cecilia whispered reverently.

Charlotte side-eyed her hard. "That wasn't a compliment."

The two of them peeked through the bushes, watching Ichika and Chifuyu navigate the produce section.

"Look at them," Cecilia hissed. "So casual. So domestic. She's holding the shopping list like she runs the place."

"She does run the place," Charlotte muttered. "And she's his sister, you lunatic. Why are we dressed like edible cosplay disasters again?"

"It's camouflage," Cecilia replied matter-of-factly. "If anyone sees us, they'll think we're promotional mascots."

"…For what? A vegetable cult?"

Back in the store…

Ichika was holding up two identical jars of peanut butter, squinting. "Okay, one says 'creamy' and one says 'extra creamy.' Is that just marketing?"

Chifuyu didn't even glance up from the shopping list. "Pick whichever one you think has a soul."

Ichika blinked. "...What?"

"You heard me."

Suddenly, Chifuyu froze mid-step, her instincts flaring. She turned slightly and glanced at the store entrance.

"…We're being watched," she said under her breath.

Ichika looked around. "Really? Are the others here again?"

Chifuyu's eyes narrowed as she spotted something that absolutely shouldn't be in a grocery store.

A carrot. And a baguette. Peeking from behind a rack of cereal boxes.

"…No," she said slowly. "It's worse."

Cut to: Cecilia and Charlotte hiding behind a display of discounted canned goods.

"Alright," Cecilia whispered, pulling out a pair of opera glasses she had definitely brought for this exact situation, "we'll follow them down the frozen food aisle. That's when they're most emotionally vulnerable."

Charlotte blinked. "That's… not how that works."

"They'll be cold. Distracted. Their defenses will be down."

Charlotte stared at her, then muttered under her breath, "I'm being out-crazied by a vegetable."

In Aisle 12…

Ichika and Chifuyu were debating the superiority of instant curry flavors when Ichika spotted movement.

He blinked. "Was that… bread? With eyes?"

Chifuyu turned just in time to see Charlotte trip over her baguette foot and crash into a shelf of soup cans with a tragic clatter-clang-CLUNK.

"Abort mission!" Charlotte yelped, buried under a small avalanche of chicken noodle.

Cecilia shrieked, trying to pull her out—only to slip and fall dramatically, her carrot costume rolling over like a tubby traffic cone.

Ichika winced. "Okay, yep, that's definitely them."

Chifuyu sighed and crossed her arms. "Can we just switch grocery stores forever?"

Five Minutes Later, at Checkout

A disheveled Cecilia and a soup-covered Charlotte stood sheepishly behind Ichika and Chifuyu in line.

"You really thought dressing as food would help you spy on us?" Ichika asked, baffled.

"It was clever!" Cecilia insisted, holding her carrot top high.

"You were rolling down aisle twelve," Chifuyu said flatly.

Charlotte groaned. "I told her this was dumb."

The cashier, who had seen way too much for a Tuesday, simply scanned Chifuyu's soy sauce with a slow, judgmental beep.

As the siblings walked out of the store with their groceries, Ichika looked over at Chifuyu.

"Well… at least it wasn't boring."

Chifuyu smirked. "Next time, we let them do the shopping."

"Cecilia would come back with only caviar and cucumber water."

"And Charlotte would try to convince the self-checkout machine it had feelings."

Ichika laughed. "Honestly? I'd pay to see that."

Outside the store, Cecilia turned to Charlotte.

"Okay," she said, panting, "new plan. Next time, we dress like shopping carts."

Charlotte just groaned and walked away.