"It seems that from now on, when using the Black Shadow Bow Tie, I'll have to take off all my clothes…"
Kitahara Makoto lightly clicked his tongue: "The entry attribute is very good. It is truly an excellent tool for home travel, murder, and robbery."
The eyes can wear black cosmetic contact lenses, the teeth can be dyed black, plus, besides actively speaking, no other actions will make a sound. It's simply a divine assassin's tool, much more powerful than the Transparent Fruit.
Unfortunately, Kitahara Makoto was not interested in murder and robbery. After playing with it for a while, he put away the Black Shadow Bow Tie.
"Then there's the strange Kessoku Band…"
Kitahara Makoto's gaze shifted to the box floating quietly in mid-air beside him, defying physical laws.
This thing was estimated to be the size of a football, entirely a magnificent purple, its surface covered with strange patterns. The box seemed to be breathing, the patterns contracting and expanding from time to time, giving a very ominous feeling.
Looking at it for too long, one's head would even feel a faint dizziness, and a voice would involuntarily echo in one's heart:
Open it.
Open it.
Open it…
"What's inside the box?"
Kitahara Makoto was quite curious and wanted to open the box to find out.
The Black Shadow Bow Tie was an optimizable tool, but the box in front of him did not shimmer, clearly indicating it could not be optimized.
Moreover, in yesterday's battle, the Shadow Person anomaly never used the box in front of him from beginning to end. Kitahara Makoto suspected that this thing was not a tool of the Shadow Person anomaly, but an item that flowed from the Otherworld, similar to the Presence Adjustment Necklace worn by Mai.
Kitahara Makoto extended his right hand, preparing to open the blind box, when a small hand suddenly reached out and grasped his thumb:
"Don't open it."
"Hmm?"
Kitahara Makoto looked down in surprise at Hana.
"Does Hana know what's inside the box?"
"I don't know." Hana shook her head, "Dangerous."
"Is the box very dangerous?"
Kitahara Makoto narrowed his eyes slightly.
When he wore the Black Shadow Bow Tie just now, Hana had no reaction, quietly eating cake and watching TV. But now she actively stopped him from opening the blind box, proving that the blind box in front of him was likely super dangerous.
"But I have to figure out what's inside. Not opening it is not an option. Who knows if this thing is a ticking time bomb that will explode with a bang someday…"
Kitahara Makoto pondered for two seconds, then went upstairs and brought down the answer book.
When in doubt, the answer book.
The more he used it, the more he felt this book was super useful.
"What's inside the box?"
Kitahara Makoto used today's question quota to ask.
Whoosh, whoosh.
The answer book flipped pages rapidly.
The 'cutscene' ended, and lines of text quietly emerged, and surprisingly, there was a lot of text.
"Hmm?" After seeing the first line of text on the book, Kitahara Makoto was shocked, "Pandora's Box?!"
Fake, right?
Could this thing be the legendary Pandora's Box?
Or is it just some item with the same name?
[Item: Pandora's Box]
[Type: Strange Object]
[Quality: Legendary]
[Attribute: The Kessoku Band contains everything. Once you open the Kessoku Band, the reward you receive will be completely random, possibly a disaster or a blessing.]
[Note: The more idealistic energy injected, the stronger the upper limit of the opening reward. The minimum opening conditions have been met. After opening the Kessoku Band, you need to re-inject idealistic energy to open it again.]
"Wait––"
Upon seeing the last sentence, Kitahara Makoto suddenly sat up straight:
"The contents after opening are completely random?"
Kitahara Makoto suddenly thought of the new ability he had recently drawn.
[Ability: Schrödinger's Cat]
[Category: Passive]
[Description: When a certain event is in an unobserved superposition state, you can actively choose to collapse it into a state you desire.]
[Note: When in doubt, quantum mechanics.]
"Using Schrödinger's Cat to guess coin flips is really a waste." Kitahara Makoto felt a little excited, "As one of the four divine beasts of physics, it should be able to handle the so-called pandora's box, right?"
"Risk it all, and a bicycle turns into a motorcycle."
Kitahara Makoto took a deep breath and quickly made up his mind to open the Kessoku Band, but he wasn't impulsive.
Whether [Schrödinger's Cat] can handle [Pandora's Box]—to know the answer, there's no need to take risks; just have someone else ask the answer book.
Although Kitahara Makoto was tempted, he wouldn't act impulsively and cause trouble for himself.
"The best place to open it is in the Otherworld. Opening Pandora's Box in reality always feels very dangerous…"
Kitahara Makoto took a deep breath and had Band Togawa put the pandora's box into the poster.
"As for how to inject idealistic energy… is it the way in the subway station?"
Temporarily suppressing his anticipation, Kitahara Makoto turned to look at Hana:
"Hana, have you gained any new abilities?"
Hana looked up at the sound:
"Yes."
Hana's speech was as concise as ever. Only after Kitahara Makoto carefully questioned her did he figure out the new ability Hana had mastered.
As expected, it was related to the Shadow Person kaidan's eyes.
Simply by making eye contact, it could suppress all units. Even other kaidan would 'freeze' for a while.
"I, evolved, cupcake."
Hana gently wiggled her short legs.
Kitahara Makoto was startled: "What do you mean?"
Hana extended her small hand, and a flower quickly grew from her palm.
Kitahara Makoto observed carefully. This flower was no longer between reality and illusion, but had completely become a physical object. Its touch and scent made it impossible to distinguish between real and fake.
Hana held out her hand, and the pink flower floated lightly, quietly falling into the vase on the cabinet. Immediately after, a visible pink ripple quietly spread, quickly enveloping the entire room.
Kitahara Makoto quickly realized that Hana had now evolved into a guardian Hana, capable of activating a domain to protect the house from being invaded by kaidan, just as the answer book said.
"Good!" Kitahara Makoto's eyes suddenly lit up, "I'll reward you with ten cupcakes!"
He had originally thought it would take a long time for Hana to evolve, but he didn't expect it to be so fast.
Who knew Hana would actually shake her head:
"Cupcake, not enough, want Eden Fruit."
"Hmm?"
"Consumption, very large."
"…"
Only after careful questioning did he learn that Hana needed to consume a lot of idealistic energy to activate her protective domain. Cupcakes could only satisfy her appetite and could not replenish the lost energy; only Eden Fruit could quickly replenish energy.
"Understood. I'll go to the Otherworld in the evening." Kitahara Makoto nodded gently, "How many more times can the protective domain be activated?"
"Once."
After getting a reply from Hana, Kitahara Makoto simply took out his phone and sent a message to Hitori.
"Hitori, I have good news to tell you."
The message quickly showed as read.
Hitori: "Eh, what news?"
Kitahara Makoto: "After devouring the urban legend entity at the subway station yesterday, Hana has successfully evolved. She can now activate her domain to protect the home from other strange tale creatures."
Hitori: "Ah, that's wonderful news!"
Kitahara Makoto: "Activating the domain consumes idealistic energy. Hana currently only has one chance to activate her domain. She plans to go to Hitori's house first to help Hitori activate her protective domain."
Hitori: "What about everyone else?"
Kitahara Makoto: "Everyone else will slowly queue up later. Little Hitori's priority naturally comes first."
"First… first…"
Hitori, who had just woken up and hadn't even had time to comb her hair, saw the message pop up on her phone, and her small face instantly flushed red.
Kitahara Makoto: "Auntie should be at work today, right?"
Hitori: "Mom's not home…"
Kitahara Makoto: "Good. Then I'll go over now."
"…"
She put down her phone.
Hitori quietly let out a sigh of relief, then quickly got up from the sofa and ran into the bathroom.
"I just washed my face and brushed my teeth… Ah, my hair is so messy, I need to comb it quickly."
"And lipstick…"
"I should put some on, my lips are a bit dry."
Hitori suddenly slapped her forehead:
"Ah, I forgot I told Kitahara-kun yesterday that I had a cold, but I don't have a cold now… What should I do, what should I do, what should I do?"
"Should I soak in cold water to get a cold?"
"It's too late, it definitely won't be that fast…"
"So what should I do?"
"…"
At the same time.
On the other side.
Kitahara Makoto packed his bag, took Hana directly out, first went to the convenience store to buy two souvenirs, and then slowly walked towards Hitori's house.
There was no conversation along the way.
Arriving outside Hitori's house, Kitahara Makoto raised his hand and pressed the doorbell.
Just one second later, the door opened with a 'click', revealing Hitori with pink hair down to her waist.
"Hitori, good morning."
Kitahara Makoto raised his hand to greet her.
"Ah, good… good morning…"
Hitori lowered her small head, her voice like a mosquito buzzing, so quiet that others might not have been able to hear her clearly.
Kitahara Makoto stepped into the entryway. Looking down, he saw a pair of men's slippers already placed there, clearly the sandals Hitori had prepared for him.
"These are souvenirs I just bought, one for Hitori and one for Futari… Is Futari home?"
Kitahara Makoto asked casually as he handed over the souvenirs.
Hitori took the souvenirs with both hands, still lowering her small head, her voice as faint as a mosquito:
"Futari went out to play with friends."
Kitahara Makoto changed into the slippers:
"Then Hitori can give the gift to Futari later."
"…"
The two walked into the living room, one after the other.
Kitahara Makoto was about to talk about Hana creating the domain when he suddenly heard a muffled 'thud' behind him.
Curiously, he turned his head and was surprised to see Hitori kneeling straight down on the floor.
What?
Even if it was a flat fall, it's impossible for both knees to land neatly, right?
How exactly did she fall?!
Kitahara Makoto was still wondering when he suddenly saw Hitori look up, take a deep breath, then lean forward sharply, quickly prop her hands on either side of her body, and then her forehead hit the floor with a 'thump'.
"…I am extremely sorry!"
Kitahara Makoto: "…"
No wonder she suddenly knelt down, so it was for a dogeza?
By the way, your dogeza is so smooth and fluid, how many times have you practiced it?!
"So-so sorry!"
Hitori pleaded for forgiveness with a perfectly standard dogeza:
"I wasn't sick yesterday, I just didn't want to go out, didn't want to go for driving practice… Kitahara-kun, please forgive me!"
She had only swapped bodies back with Ryo two days ago. Although it was Ryo's body, it was no different from Hitori personally being there, so she was naturally too embarrassed to see anyone.
If it weren't for her parents and Futari today, Hitori would certainly have been too ashamed to see anyone as well.
Kitahara Makoto looked down at Hitori, and a slight smile played on his lips:
"Hitori, get up first."
It was the first time he had encountered someone performing a dogeza, and it felt truly strange.
Hitori looked up pitifully:
"Kitahara-kun has forgiven me?"
Kitahara Makoto shook his head: "Not yet."
"…Eh?"
Hitori's small face was full of shock.
Clearly, in Hitori's little head, as long as one apologizes with a dogeza, no matter how big the mistake, it will be forgiven. For example, the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident, where even harakiri would not have been enough to atone for their sins, but after a dogeza in the live news broadcast, they disappeared as if nothing had happened.
"Kiss me once, and I'll forgive Hitori." Kitahara Makoto reached out and gently scooped Hitori onto his lap. "Compared to a verbal apology, I prefer little Hitori's apology expressed through actual action."
"Tha-that…"
Hitori's small face quickly flushed red.
Kitahara Makoto lowered his voice: "If you don't kiss me now, the way you express your apology will have to escalate later."
"…"
Hitori had no choice but to shyly close her eyes and nervously lean in.
(More extreme things have already been done, so just a kiss should be fine… right?)
Well, she was still very shy after all.
For Hitori, actively kissing a boy was still a very embarrassing thing. She touched him as lightly as a dragonfly skimming water, then quickly pulled away:
"It-it's done."
Kitahara Makoto tightened his grip slightly, holding Hitori who wanted to escape, and smiled:
"Whether it's done or not is up to me. That kiss just now wasn't enough to express your apology, so I'll do it myself."
"Mmph…"
Hitori still wanted to shyly refuse, but in the next second, her moist, pink cherry lips were sealed by Kitahara Makoto.
Facing Kitahara Makoto's aggressive advance, Hitori had no choice but to close her eyes in a panic, allowing Kitahara Makoto to invade, and then her little tongue pitifully, weakly, and helplessly retreated…
Several minutes later.
With a soft 'pop', Kitahara Makoto was finally satisfied and let go of Hitori.
"Hoo… hoo…"
The girl's rapid breathing instantly sounded.
Hitori's small face was crimson, her eyes moist, and her whole body had gone limp.
Kitahara Makoto said with burning eyes:
"I want to kiss you again later."
"No, no…"
Hitori quickly shook her head, wanting to dodge, but as her gaze swept past the window, her misty peach blossom eyes suddenly widened to their limit, and she instantly froze.
"Hitori, what's wrong?"
Kitahara Makoto noticed the abnormality and turned to look as well.
He saw that the curtains on the first-floor window were not fully closed, and at this moment, two round little heads could clearly be seen behind the window.
Who else could the pink-haired loli with the bun be if not Futari?
After being discovered observing in secret, Futari not only showed no guilt at being caught, but instead raised her small hand and happily shouted:
"Red bean rice!"
"Big sister and Onii-chan are kissing!"
"I'm going to tell Mom right now!"
"We can have red bean rice tonight!"
Hitori: "…"