"Bring it on!"
Kita planted her hands on her hips, her face full of confidence as she spoke in a clear, spirited voice:
"There's no way I'm losing to Kitahara-kun today!"
The main reason she kept losing last semester was that she was too shy, but now... well, they'd even shared a mixed-gender onsen bath. Surely, a simple Pocky challenge was something she couldn't possibly lose!
Kitahara clicked his tongue lightly:
"Don't go crying if you lose later, Kita."
"I won't cry."
Kita lifted her chin and gave a cute, playful huff before sitting down next to Kitahara and looking at Hitori:
"Believe in me, Hitori—we're definitely going to win today."
"Mm-hmm."
Hitori nodded in agreement and offered some quiet encouragement:
"Good luck, Kita."
Kita turned her face toward Kitahara:
"Kitahara-kun, where's the Pocky?"
"Right here."
Kitahara opened his bag, took out a box of matcha-flavored Pocky, and leisurely pulled out a single stick:
"Do you want a moment to prepare, Kita, or should we start the challenge right now?"
"Ah..."
Kita's mouth fell open slightly, and her actions made her choice clear.
"Let's start now, then."
Kitahara held the Pocky stick out toward Kita's lips.
Kita gently clamped her teeth onto one end of the stick—careful not to snap the crispy biscuit—and looked at Kitahara with bright eyes, signaling him:
"It's your turn, Kitahara-kun."
Kitahara leaned in and bit onto the other end; the challenge had officially begun.
Crunch, crunch.
The stick, which wasn't very long to begin with, rapidly shortened as both of them nibbled away at it, until only a tiny piece remained.
The distance between them was now mere inches; they could feel each other's breath and even clearly sense the warmth radiating from the other's face.
Well, mostly the warmth from Kita's face, of course. Despite her brimming confidence, this was an intimate challenge after all—and with Hitori watching from the sidelines, the temperature on Kita's face rose noticeably. Yet, while her eyes held a shy glint, there was no trace of wavering or panic:
"Heh heh, you know what they say: 'Look at a man with fresh eyes after three days apart.' I've grown so much this summer; I'm not the same person I was last semester."
Snap, snap.
Kita kept munching on the biscuit stick. To prevent it from snapping prematurely in the middle, she even turned her face slightly to the side, ensuring their noses wouldn't accidentally bump.
As for the risk of an accidental kiss...
So what if we do?
It's not like we haven't kissed before!
In Kita's mind, once you've scaled the highest peaks and trekked through the deepest valleys, a simple kiss is something you can take in stride.
"I'm finally going to win..."
Seeing victory within reach, Kita's large, sparkling eyes crinkled into crescents as she began to celebrate prematurely.
But the very next second—
A hand landed on her waist—just a light touch.
"Ah...!"
The waist is a vulnerable spot for any girl, and Kita was especially sensitive; at Kitahara's touch, her body jerked backward as if she'd been shocked by electricity.
Snap.
The final bit of the biscuit stick suddenly broke in two. "Th-th-that's going way too far!"
Kita quickly swallowed the biscuit stick in her mouth, clenching her small fists tight as her cheeks puffed out in indignation.
"Kitahara-kun, you touched my waist on purpose—that's a foul, a serious foul!"
"I had a valid reason." Kitahara calmly raised his right hand and held it out in front of Kita. "See for yourself, Kita. A mosquito had just landed on your waist; I was simply swatting it away. You didn't say I couldn't swat mosquitoes for you before the challenge started, did you?"
"There really was a mosquito..."
Kita's eyes widened as she looked at the black mosquito in Kitahara's palm, her gaze filled with suspicion.
"Kitahara-kun, you didn't happen to have that mosquito ready beforehand, did you?"
Kitahara certainly wasn't going to admit to that.
"I didn't even know you were coming over, so how could I have prepared a mosquito in advance?"
"I suppose that's true..."
Kita thought it over and found no holes in his logic; her puffed-out cheeks slowly returned to normal.
"Let's try the challenge again!"
"This time, even if there's a mosquito, you don't need to swat it—just let it bite me. Basically, no matter what happens, you aren't allowed to touch me!"
To her surprise, Kitahara shook his head. "I refuse."
"Huh?"
Kita looked at him in bewilderment. "A loss is a loss; if you want a rematch, we can talk about it tomorrow." Kitahara turned to look at Hitori beside him, his gaze intense. "Now it's Hitori's turn."
"Ah..."
Hitori was startled; she had been standing quietly on the sidelines, merely watching the show, and hadn't expected to become the target. Her face flushed crimson instantly as she stammered in a low voice:
"U-Um... why not let Kita-san continue the challenge?"
"No way." Kitahara shook his head decisively. "If it were just Kita and me doing the challenge, Hitori would surely feel lonely and left out."
Hitori: "...Sorry, but I wouldn't feel lonely or left out at all."
Kita crossed her arms over her chest, having already seen through Kitahara's little scheme:
"Kitahara-kun is clearly afraid of losing, which is why he's making Hitori-chan step up."
"Whether I lose or not is a problem for tomorrow." Kitahara patted the spot beside him. "Anyway, Hitori, hurry up and come over to do the challenge."
"..."
Left with no choice, Hitori walked over with a blushing face and sat down next to Kitahara.
"Let's get this straight." Kita puffed out her cheeks. "When you're doing the challenge with Hitori, no matter what happens, you aren't allowed to make a surprise move on her. Any foul play means an automatic loss."
"Understood." Kitahara nodded in agreement. "If there's any physical contact with Hitori during the challenge, I'll count that as a loss."
Kita wrinkled her cute nose. "You have to keep your word, Kitahara-kun."
Kitahara raised his right hand and swore: "If I break my promise, I'm a puppy."
"No." Kita's face flushed red as she recalled past times she'd been teased. "You have to pick a different oath; 'puppy' is completely useless."
"Alright, then..." Kitahara mused for a moment. "If I break my promise, I'll become impotent."
Kita: "..."
Hitori: "..."
To think he'd swear on the one thing a boy cares about most—it seemed he really intended to keep his word this time.
"Hitori, open your mouth."
Kitahara pulled out a biscuit stick and held it out in front of Hitori. "Ah..."
Hitori's face flushed pink; shyly, she opened her mouth and gingerly bit onto the Pocky stick.
"You can do it, Hitori." Kita clenched her right fist, cheering her on from the sidelines. "Win this challenge and show Kitahara-kun how much we've grown."
With the Pocky stick already between her teeth, Hitori couldn't speak; she simply took a deep breath and, face still blushing, began the challenge.
Crunch, crunch.
The Pocky stick began to shorten bit by bit.
Compared to Kita's speed and steadiness, Hitori was noticeably slower, her movements far more cautious.
"Hang in there just a little longer, Hitori—there's only a tiny bit left." Kita clenched her fists, cheering enthusiastically. "We're about to win the challenge!"
"..."
Hitori couldn't speak; she could only carefully regulate her breathing, her gaze darting about shyly—she didn't dare make eye contact with Kitahara at all.
(So embarrassing...)
(But... but I really have grown a lot, haven't I?)
(Last semester, I never would have been able to hold out this long...)
(Come on, I can't let Kita down!)
"Kitahara-kun, remember the vow you made earlier." Kita glanced over, looking concerned. "You aren't allowed to touch Hitori; if you do, you automatically lose the challenge."
Kitahara gave a thumbs-up, then reached into his pocket, unlocked his phone, and opened the camera app.
Click.
The sound of the shutter rang out suddenly in the quiet storage room, startlingly clear.
"Ngh...!"
Hitori's composure was already teetering on the edge; seeing Kitahara actually raise his phone to take a picture caused her embarrassment to finally snap.
And then...
Snap!
The Pocky stick suddenly broke in two.
"Kitahara-kun, that's a foul! A major foul!"
Kita's rosy cheeks puffed up in indignation, and she stomped her feet:
"To think you'd use a photo to startle Hitori—that's just too much!"
Kitahara unhurriedly put his phone away, looking completely composed and unbothered:
"Did I keep my promise not to touch Hitori in any way?"
"But you took a picture..."
"Taking a picture is a personal matter; I didn't break any rules, did I?"
"..."
Kita puffed out her rosy cheeks and fell silent.
"Kita, I'm sorry..."
Hitori apologized with her head down, her face burning hot.
"It's not Hitori's fault," Kita said, waving her hand. "Kitahara-kun was clearly just bullying us on purpose. But that trick won't work a second time; we'll definitely win the challenge tomorrow."
"We'll worry about tomorrow when it comes." Kitahara smiled and stood up. "For now, let's go soak in the hot springs."
"Huh?"
Kita's face flushed, and she hurriedly looked over in alarm:
"Aren't we going in to eat the Eden Fruit?"
"It's so hot out; it's only natural to soak in the hot springs after eating, right?" Kitahara said matter-of-factly. "I won today's challenge, so I call the shots."
Kita finally sensed trouble and turned to make a run for it:
"I just remembered I have something to do... See ya."
"It's too late to run now." Kitahara grabbed Kita's slender wrist. "Besties share the burden, right? You wouldn't want to see Hitori getting taken advantage of all alone, would you?"
"..."
The light warped slightly, and the three figures vanished into thin air. It wasn't until ten minutes before class started that Kitahara returned from the hot springs with the two girls.
"See? We didn't miss class." Kitahara took out his phone, waved it in front of the girls, and said cheerfully, "Let's go—we can head to the classroom now."
Hitori's face was burning hot; she stared down at her toes, too embarrassed to look anyone in the eye. Kita was no different, her face flushed a deep crimson. (I can't believe I ended up helping out alongside Hitori... This is a disaster! An absolute disaster!)
(I am never, ever going to a onsen with just the three of us again!)
Naturally, I can't go into the details of what happened at the onsen resort. Suffice it to say that while Kitahara remained shameless as ever, Kita and Hitori would likely be too embarrassed to speak to each other for quite some time.
The day flew by.
After school.
Kitahara first headed to the club room to finish up club activities with Tomori, then went with Sakiko to the Togawa family estate to continue their "Reliving Youth" gig.
Since the incident in the shopping district, the mastermind behind it had gone quiet and launched no further attacks. Kitahara had wanted to use the "Book of Answers" to pinpoint their location and strike first, but the book wasn't truly omnipotent; whenever it touched upon key information regarding the mastermind, the text would garble into nonsense, leaving him incredibly frustrated.
7:00 PM.
Shimokitazawa Live House.
"Good evening, Ryo-senpai."
Kitahara, holding a glass of iced fruit juice, greeted "Ryo" with an air of nonchalance.
"Hmph."
Seika let out a soft huff, her gaze sweeping over Kitahara's face with undisguised disdain.
"Move aside. Don't get in the way of me serving customers."
Until they swapped bodies back, Seika naturally had to shoulder Ryo's duties—serving drinks alongside Kita and Nijika, and helping the others with the workload.
Kitahara stepped aside to let her pass. "We haven't seen each other for just one day—why have you suddenly turned so cold, Ryo-senpai?"
Cold, huh?
If I weren't worried about exposing our secret, I would've kicked you flying by now!
"Get lost. I don't have time to chat right now."
Seika hurried away, carrying a tray of drinks.
Customers had been streaming in non-stop lately, making for exhausting days; even though they'd hired two new part-time girls, they were still struggling to keep up with the rush.
In contrast, the real Ryo had it much easier; she sat behind the counter, resting her chin on her right hand, idly playing on her phone. "Ryo-senpai, how are things going?"
Kitahara walked up to the counter and asked quietly about the situation.
He had actually overheard the conversation between Nijika and Seika in the "Otherworld" yesterday, so naturally, he was curious about the aftermath.
"It's not looking good."
The "trashy" Ryo wore a serious expression.
"Huh?"
Kitahara raised his eyebrows in surprise.
If the situation were truly dire, given the personalities of Nijika and the manager, they wouldn't even be acknowledging him today, would they?
Ryo rested her chin on her right hand:
"We were planning to play four-player mahjong today, but the manager is clearly unwilling. It looks like you won't be getting your wish anytime soon, Kitahara."
Kitahara's lips twitched slightly as he put on a righteous face:
"I have absolutely no interest in four-player mahjong."
Ryo glanced over with an indifferent look:
"If you're going to say that, you should probably wipe the drool off the corner of your mouth first."
Kitahara: "..."
Okay, so he was slightly interested, but it certainly hadn't reached the point of drooling!
After chatting for a while, Kitahara learned from Ryo about Nijika's stance: although she felt jealous and concerned, she ultimately chose to turn a blind eye for the sake of her sister's lifelong happiness. Seika, on the other hand, remained as tsundere as ever—meaning there was still a long, arduous road ahead for the "sisters" relationship.
Before long, it was eight o'clock in the evening.
As the performance entered its second half, the girls finally had a moment of free time. "Manager, I need to tell you something."
Ryo rested her chin on her right hand, idly twirling a lock of hair against her chest:
"Kitahara just said he'd share his [Exorcism Constitution] with me. Just so we're clear, though—I don't fight. If anything weird actually shows up, I'm turning tail and running immediately."
Upon hearing this, Seika gritted her teeth:
"I'm going to find that brat later and make him share that [Exorcism Constitution]. If anything weird appears, I'll handle it."
Ryo lowered her voice:
"You know, whenever I'm alone with Kitahara, he gets pretty rough."
"Rough..."
Seika's face flushed instantly as the humiliating treatment she'd endured in Otherworld yesterday involuntarily flashed through her mind:
"I am never letting that perverted brat get his way again!"
"Huh?"
Ryo tilted her head and looked over:
"Why did you say 'again,' Manager?"
Seika realized her slip of the tongue and quickly turned her head away:
"You misheard me; I didn't say that word."
"Well, the music is so loud, it's only natural to mishear things." Ryo's lips curled into a slight smile. "But why has your face suddenly turned bright red, Manager?"
Seika: "..."
She could gloss over her words, but there was no explaining away the burning flush on her face.
Ryo lowered her voice:
"Don't tell me you and Kitahara have already..."
"I didn't! It didn't happen! Don't talk nonsense!"
Seika hurriedly denied it three times over—like a cat whose tail had been stepped on—though her guilty expression was painfully obvious.
It couldn't be helped; despite being twenty-nine years old, Seika simply had no talent for lying.
"Well, if you say it didn't happen, then I guess it didn't." Ryo smiled, clearly delighted by the mischief. "But you really need to be careful, Manager."
"What do you mean?"
Seika looked over in confusion, not quite catching the implication at first. Ryo held up a finger and wagged it gently:
"Don't get me pregnant; after all, I'm still a high school student. Getting pregnant now would be a real headache."
Seika: "..."
After taking a moment to compose herself and steel her nerves, Seika gritted her teeth and sought out Kitahara.
"...Come with me for a moment."
"Coming."
Kitahara stepped forward to follow her, accompanying "Scummy Ryo" to the break room at the back.
"What is it, Ryo-senpai?"
Kitahara asked softly, feigning curiosity.
A flush crept up Seika's cheeks as she averted her gaze:
"Share that ability with me."
Kitahara asked in a low voice:
"Which ability do you want, Ryo-senpai?"
Seika crossed her arms over her chest: "That... [Exorcism Constitution] one."
"That's strange." Kitahara deliberately put on a puzzled expression. "Why do you suddenly want to share the [Exorcism Constitution], Ryo-senpai? You usually ask for [Supernatural Vision], don't you?"
Seika gave a soft hmph: "Can't I just want a change of pace?"
"Of course." Kitahara's gaze grew intense. "In that case, let's go to the [Onsen Village]..."
"We aren't going to the onsen resort!" Seika immediately became wary. "Right here—I have to go back to work later!"
"Alright..." Kitahara looked disappointed. "We don't have to go to the onsen resort, but you have to agree to one condition, Ryo-senpai."
"What condition?"
An ominous premonition quietly welled up in Seika's heart.
Surely this brat isn't still trying to get something lewd out of this?
Like making me do it in some other way...
"Don't worry, it's nothing lewd."
Kitahara spoke up, looking completely serious:
"It feels like it's been ages since I heard your 'triple-threat' act of acting cute. If you perform that for me, I'll share the ability with you."
Seika: "..."