After leaving the white space, Shichen realized he was back in his own bedroom.
The room had been tidied up. When he left, he hadn't even made the bed—and Kurumi was still asleep on it. That night, Kurumi had stayed with him. She still hadn't accepted her best friend's suggestion about doing things "together."
That step was… difficult for now. But once someone crosses that first line, it's usually easy to stop holding back afterward.
The hardest part is always the first step.
Shichen did look forward to Kurumi agreeing someday, but he wouldn't force it. Things like that should depend on their mood and their willingness. Voluntary and proactive was always best.
If she ever got talked into it by someone else, though… well, that would just mean the others were very persuasive.
He wasn't advocating for it or against it.
As long as everyone was happy—fine.
A faint, lingering scent still clung to the room—not just Kurumi's, but also Tohka's and Kotori's. It didn't feel like it was left just moments ago.
He checked the world's time flow and confirmed that a full day had passed since the moment he'd left.
Normally, he could step out and come back with only a minute or two of difference. This time, it was a whole day—meaning he must have spent a long time inside that white space.
Thinking back, it really had been about a day.
His "fight" with Tenka had lasted most of it, followed by the power fusion… and when he remembered that "fight," his throat went a little dry. The aftertaste was dangerous.
Tohka's face—but a totally different expression. Dominant. Bold. Refusing to lose… and then, at the end, she'd lost and still—
No. Stop. Don't think about it.
"You bastard! Don't you dare relive it!"
A flustered, authoritative voice burst out inside him—Tenka.
"How do you know what I'm thinking?" Shichen asked, half amused.
"What else would you be thinking about?!" Tenka snapped.
"Hey, don't slander me. I'm not some idiot led around by instinct," Shichen shot back.
"You know exactly what you are. Aren't you doing that every night?"
"…."
"Don't think about it! And also—don't tell Tohka about what happened between you and me!" Tenka barked.
"Why?" Shichen asked, smiling.
"Because I said so! Stop asking questions! If you tell her, I'll—"
"You'll what?"
"Hmph!" Tenka huffed. She couldn't actually do anything to him—so all she had was a verbal threat.
"I can agree not to tell Tohka," Shichen said.
Tenka immediately narrowed her eyes. "You? Being nice? Since when?"
"Not for free. There's a condition."
"I knew it…" Tenka's voice rose, mortified. "What do you want? Don't tell me you want to—no! Absolutely not! I'm never doing that with you again!"
"Huh, that's a shame. You were pretty enthusiastic back then."
"I was not!"
"You got proactive halfway through, too."
"I said I wasn't!"
"Alright, alright. Fine. I'm not asking you to do that again."
"…Really?" Tenka sounded genuinely surprised.
"Why are you so shocked? What kind of person do you think I am?"
"A complete pervert."
"…Anyway, it's something simple," Shichen said, forcing the conversation back on track.
"What?"
"Stop calling me 'you bastard' and 'you guy.' Use a different name."
"That's it? Wait—don't tell me you want me to call you 'Dad'?" Tenka exploded. "Not happening! Never!"
She could admit Shichen was kind of her "father" in a sense, but that didn't mean she was going to say it out loud—especially not with what their relationship had become. She refused to become that kind of girl.
"Why so resistant? You were calling me that pretty naturally earlier," Shichen teased.
"I wasn't! You heard wrong! Stop talking nonsense!" Tenka shouted, fully panicking.
"Fine. Then be normal—just call me by my name."
"…That's… okay?" Tenka asked, suspicious.
"It's that simple. With what we've been through, you can't even call me by name?"
"We don't have anything going on," Tenka insisted. "And don't tell Tohka—understand?"
"Yeah, yeah, I promised. Now can you say my name?"
"…." Tenka hesitated.
"You can't even say it?"
"It feels weird… suddenly calling you by your name," she muttered.
"What's weird about it? Unless you actually want to call me 'Dad.'"
"As if! Who would think that?! …Shi—Shichen. There. Happy?"
"Mhm. Good. From now on, say it more. If you call me 'you bastard' again, I'll tell Tohka everything."
"You're threatening me?!"
"Yep. I'm threatening you."
"Then—don't you feel guilty toward Tohka?!"
"What's there to feel guilty about? She already knows plenty about what I'm like."
"You shameless, fickle jerk!"
"And you don't need to feel guilty either. Who knows—Tohka might even be happy that you and I get along."
"No way! Just—don't say anything!"
"Got it."
"That's it. I'm going to sleep."
"Still not recovered? Want me to heal you?"
"In your dreams!"
Shichen sighed, shook his head, and left the room.
Truthfully, he didn't care much about Tenka's bluster. He'd only been using the exchange to steady his own head—because he still didn't know how to face Mio.
But he had to face it eventually. Cowering wasn't his style.
Stepping into the hallway, his eyes swept the space on instinct. He didn't see her.
He let out a quiet breath of relief.
"Shichen—welcome back!"
Tohka—now an adult like everyone else in this story—sprang up from the sofa and rushed to him.
"Yeah. I'm back." Shichen crouched and hugged her.
"Are you okay?" Tohka looked up at him, worried.
"Of course. It's all resolved." He ruffled her hair with a smile.
"Really?"
"You don't believe me?" he teased.
"Um…"
"Hmph. You look like you're facing an enemy army. How could we not notice?" Natsumi walked over and bluntly called him out.
"I looked that tense?" Shichen blinked.
"Well, what else would it be? So… did something happen?" Natsumi hesitated, then added more softly, "If it's dangerous… you can tell us too. We can help."
Shichen looked at her shy sincerity and felt oddly warmed. "Are you worried about me?"
"At a time like this—"
He chuckled and pulled her in, hugging her along with Tohka.
"Hey—!"
"Relax. It's nothing serious," Shichen said gently, resting his forehead against them. "I was just… avoiding something. But thanks to you, I'm fine now."
"Really?" Tohka asked.
"Really." Shichen nodded.
Natsumi studied him, then turned her face away and huffed, pretending she didn't care. "G-good. I'm not worried about you or anything. I just didn't want Tohka to worry."
"You two are so close—are you like this because of that one time you… you know?" Shichen teased.
"W-what?! No way!" Natsumi yelped.
"Y-yeah!" Tohka turned bright red too.
"Mm. Fair. Probably you were close first, so you ended up doing things together later," Shichen said, acting thoughtful.
"You…! Forget it. Tohka, don't talk to him—let's go—mmph!"
Natsumi didn't get to finish. Shichen leaned in and kissed her—just briefly.
Her eyes went wide.
He pulled back with a smile. "Natsumi… thank you. And you too, Tohka."
Then he leaned in and kissed Tohka's forehead.
Tōhka's face turned even redder.
"Wait for me. I'm going to face it now," Shichen said, ruffling both their hair. His tone returned to normal. "When I'm back, I'll cook you something amazing."
"Where are you going?" Natsumi asked.
Shichen paused, then answered as casually as he could.
"To campus."
"…Huh?"