"This morning I bought a rare limited-edition rock record, and all of my pocket money is completely gone." Ryo clasped her hands together and closed her right eye, "So Lord God, please give me money. I'll use Nijika as collateral, and if I can't pay it back, you're free to do whatever you want with Nijika."
"What are you saying, Ryo?!" Nijika shouted in bashful irritation, "You're clearly the one borrowing money, so why are you putting me up as collateral!"
"Human beings are not subject matter and indeed cannot be used as collateral," Kitahara 'kindly' reminded from the side, "but she can become a guarantor with joint and several liability."
"Ah, I see..."
Ryo's gaze shifted toward the blonde side-ponytail girl beside her:
"Nijika is my guarantor now. If I can't pay back the money in the future, just go straight to Nijika."
"I refuse." Nijika crossed her arms over her chest, unable to hold back a petulant glare, "Being a guarantor definitely has to be voluntary, right?"
Ryo tilted her head and looked over, arguing with plausible conviction:
"When Nijika was calling for help last night, I stepped up without saying a second word. For the grace of saving your life, having Nijika act as a guarantor isn't too much to ask, right?"
Nijika: "..."
"For the grace of saving a life, acting as a guarantor is naturally not too much." Kitahara smiled as he took out his wallet, pulled out two Yukichi Fukuzawa bills and handed them to Ryo, then turned to look at Nijika, "From now on, Nijika-senpai is my possession."
"Phooey~"
Nijika couldn't help but spit softly.
You two can play your weird roleplay games without dragging me into it!
"Wah, thank you, Lord God!"
Ryo received them with both hands, a bright smile blooming across her pretty face as she raised a hand and blew a kiss:
"Love you~"
"There are still so many guests in the hallway, know when to stop, Ryo." Nijika really couldn't bear watching any longer, grabbing Ryo's wrist, "Hurry up and let's go!"
"..."
Watching Ryo and Nijika leave, Kitahara withdrew his gaze and continued his duties.
Holding up the signboard and heading to the school gate to 'solicit customers', a gentle and pleasant voice soon sounded from behind Kitahara:
"Hello, classmate. Excuse me, could you do me a favor?"
Kitahara turned around and looked at the brown-haired girl standing with her hands folded over her lower abdomen, smiling gently and sweetly with the aura of a Yamato Nadeshiko, and an intense sense of deja vu suddenly welled up in his heart.
He remembered...
The very first time he officially met Soyo was at the school gate, and the opening line Soyo used back then was precisely this sentence.
As time flowed and the seasons changed.
The early spring that once carried a biting chill had quietly turned into a crisp, refreshing autumn.
And the two of them, once complete strangers without a single bond, had now become the closest people in the world.
"Hello." Kitahara smiled and looked over, "May I ask how I can help you?"
Soyo's voice was sweet and gentle. As a light breeze blew past, the girl's skirt hem and strands of hair fluttered softly together, making it impossible to look away:
"I came to hang out with a friend, but I accidentally got lost, so I wanted to ask for directions..."
Soyo paused slightly, her gaze slowly descending from Kitahara's face to settle on his chest, her voice gentle:
"Could you tell me how to get to the path leading into Kitahara-kun's heart?"
"You mean here?" Kitahara pointed at his heart, answering softly, "I'm so sorry, but it has long been occupied by the world's number-one cutie, Soyo-san."
The corners of Soyo's glossy lips curved up slightly as she raised a hand to tuck behind her ear a strand of hair blown by the wind:
"I give full marks to this answer."
Kitahara raised his hand: "Is there a reward for full marks?"
"Well..."
Soyo-chan's eyes sparkled charmingly, her inner little devil trait showing through as she exhaled softly like an orchid, whispering into his ear:
"Seeing as Kitahara-kun's answer was super satisfying, I can agree to some of Kitahara-kun's excessive requests tonight."
With burning passion in his eyes, Kitahara lowered his voice:
"Actually, there's no need to wait until night. I'll be able to switch shifts in a little while."
"You can't do that~" Soyo wagged her finger gently, taking a half-step back, the smile at the corners of her lips charming and tender, "Work hard, Kitahara-kun. Promises made for the night can only be fulfilled at night."
Kitahara feigned disappointment: "Then I still have to wait for so long."
"Mhm~" Soyo placed her hands behind her back and let out a light hum, "Then should I take back the reward?"
Kitahara clasped his hands together: "Please be sure to give me the reward!"
After chatting for a brief while, people around were already looking over curiously. Although Soyo still wanted to keep acting coquettish, she knew that lingering would cause trouble, so she could only wave gently:
"I'll go play first. Work hard, Kitahara-kun."
As Soyo waved and walked away, Kitahara could only hold up the signboard again and continue soliciting guests.
After being busy the entire morning, the shift-change time finally arrived.
"Phew..."
Handing the signboard over to a female classmate, Kitahara let out a soft breath. Just as he was preparing to stroll around and grab something to eat, he suddenly heard a gentle and pleasant voice ring out:
"Good morning, Kitahara-kun."
"Hm?"
Kitahara turned his head to look over, and two girls he had crossed paths with once before came into view.
The girl on the left had brilliant blonde hair and a bright smile, while the girl on the right wore a black leather jacket and had medium-length black hair, giving off a cool and tough metallic vibe.
They were none other than Taki's two classmates and friends, Uika Misumi and Umiri Yahata.
"Good morning, Misumi-san, Yahata-san."
Kitahara replied politely.
"Today is the weekend, so Umiri and I planned to invite Taki to come over and attend the school festival together." Uika Misumi's voice was crisp and pleasant, a gossipy look surfacing on her pretty face, "But when I sent Taki a message, Taki said she had already arrived... Is she not together with Kitahara-kun?"
"Not really. I've been quite busy today and didn't even carry my phone." Kitahara shook his head and explained softly, "I haven't seen Taki all this time; she's probably with Tomori."
"May I ask where Tomori is?"
Umiri Yahata crossed her arms over her chest, asking in a soft voice.
Attending the school festival was fun, but being able to walk around the festival with good friends doubled the joy instantly.
"Walk straight down the hallway." Kitahara pointed out the direction, "The second-to-last classroom at the very end; Taki is most likely in there."
"Thank you, Kitahara-kun."
Umiri Yahata bowed slightly, thanking him politely, and prepared to leave together with Uika Misumi.
"Um..." Uika Misumi took a few steps, the hesitation on her face growing heavier until she finally stopped and said softly, "Umiri, you go look for Taki first, and send me a message once you find her."
"Hm?"
Umiri Yahata tilted her head slightly, her gaze puzzled.
"What does Uika want to do?"
Glancing toward Kitahara not far away, Umiri Yahata's expression quietly turned serious, pursing her lips and lowering her voice:
"Uika, Kitahara-kun is Taki's dating partner. Don't tell me you..."
"Not at all! Don't misunderstand, Umiri!" Uika Misumi's pretty face flushed red as she hurriedly waved her hands to explain, "I just wanted to ask where Saki is, that's all!"
"I sent so many messages to Saki this morning, but she didn't reply to any of them, so I was worried... that's really all!"
"I absolutely, definitely don't have any other thoughts!"
"Kitahara-kun is indeed an outstanding boy, but in my heart there's only..."
Uika Misumi's face burned hot, and her remaining words came to an abrupt halt, feeling too embarrassed to say them out loud.
In my heart there's only Saki alone, but if I say that, Umiri will definitely misunderstand again, won't she?
"I understand." Umiri Yahata didn't press further, nodding lightly to agree, "Then let's split up and stay in touch via phone."
"Mhm, mhm." Uika Misumi breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly nodded, "I'll talk to Saki for a bit and head over to find you guys shortly."
"..."
Kitahara was standing in the hallway sipping a drink when he quickly caught sight of Uika Misumi walking out.
"Excuse me, Kitahara-kun." Uika Misumi walked over, her eyes filled with anticipation, "If I remember correctly, you and Saki are classmates, right? May I ask if you know where Saki is?"
"I sent Saki a message this morning, but she still hasn't replied to me."
"Saki is helping out inside the classroom." Kitahara said casually, "It's normal that she doesn't have time to check her phone."
"I see." Uika Misumi looked over with hopeful eyes, "May I ask where Kitahara-kun's classroom is?"
"Right here."
Kitahara pointed toward a classroom not far away.
"...Eh?"
Looking at the 'ghost' receptionist at the entrance wearing a blood-colored long dress, the smile on Uika Misumi's face quietly froze:
"I-It's actually a haunted house?"
"That's right, Saki is playing the ghost inside to scare people," Kitahara said casually. "It's only three hundred yen—would Misumi-san like to try it out?"
When high schoolers run a school festival, having fun is the most important thing; making money is just a trivial bonus.
Uika Misumi hesitated for two seconds, and her gaze quickly grew resolute:
"I want to try it."
Ever since that day when she was trapped in the endless stairwell and almost became monster food, the psychological trauma had lingered in Uika Misumi's mind, making her feel that places like haunted houses were super dangerous.
However... Saki was acting as a ghost inside!
If she missed this, she would definitely regret it immensely later, wouldn't she?
No!
She absolutely couldn't leave behind any regrets in life!
"Thank you for your patronage."
After finishing making change, the girl in charge of the cash register at the door pushed the door open a crack:
"You may go inside now, classmate! Have fun!"
"Th-Thank you..."
Uika Misumi's face was pale, her smile exceptionally forced. After taking a deep breath, she summoned her courage, reached out, and pushed the door open.
In the next second.
Uika Misumi's eyes snapped wide, and a shriek almost escaped her throat.
"Ah..."
"Gh-Gh-Gh-Ghost!"
The girl at the cash register poked out the tip of her tongue:
"This is a haunted house, after all—having ghosts is completely normal."
Uika Misumi: "..."
A haunted house put together by students naturally couldn't compare to an amusement park; the props and decorations were very cheap. In order to scare guests, they could only get creative with the environment and atmosphere.
For example, the most common 'doorway jumpscare'.
Before a guest entered, the girl at the cash register would give a stealthy signal. Once the students inside the classroom received the alert, they would hoist a dummy into midair ahead of time, with someone fanning air from the shadows to create the swaying appearance of a hanged specter.
Uika Misumi was already a bird startled by the mere twang of a bow; suddenly facing the doorway jumpscare of a hanged ghost, getting scared to tears was super normal.
Meanwhile.
Kitahara was just preparing to continue strolling around to see if he could find any extra gains, but after taking only two steps, a hand suddenly grabbed the corner of his clothes.
"Misumi-san?"
Kitahara turned his head, raising an eyebrow at the blonde girl behind him.
"S-Sorry..." Uika Misumi raised her head, a misty haze in her eyes, an embarrassed and awkward expression on her pretty face. "Could I please trouble Kitahara-kun to accompany me into the haunted house?"
Hey now, if you're that scared, don't force yourself!
Kitahara said gently:
"Misumi-san doesn't need to push herself; you can get your money refunded."
"No." Uika Misumi quickly shook her head, her pearly teeth biting her lower lip. "Saki is inside... I want to see Saki."
Saki is just working inside, not suffering; there's no need to worry at all!
Just as Kitahara was about to refuse, his brow furrowed slightly, and his expression turned grave as he looked toward the haunted house.
"Kitahara-kun, what's wrong?"
Uika Misumi's heart skipped a beat, and she grew tense in spite of herself.
Kitahara said in a deep voice:
"An intense malice has appeared inside the haunted house."
Humans possess intricate emotions and desires; because emotions are too mixed, the concentration of any single feeling is never very high. Yet right now, the malicious aura emanating from the haunted house was extraordinarily intense—a dense, concentrated malice full of hatred toward all living beings. Clearly, it was either an evil spirit or an anomaly.
"Eh?" Uika Misumi blinked, holding her breath nervously. "C-Could it be another anomaly?"
"I don't know. It might be some random mess that slipped into the haunted house, or perhaps someone degenerated into a monster."
While speaking, Kitahara strode toward the haunted house.
"Phew..."
Uika Misumi took a deep breath, decisively grabbed the corner of Kitahara's clothes, and barged into the haunted house alongside him.
Kitahara turned to look at her:
"Misumi-san, wait for me outside..."
Before he could finish his sentence, Uika Misumi cut him off, the blonde girl looking at him imploringly:
"I'm very worried about Saki's safety, so please take me with you, I beg you!"
Even though she's frightened to tears, the moment she hears Saki is in danger, she charges right in without a second thought... Succubus Saki's sins are truly heavy!
"Then stay behind me."
Kitahara looked away and strode into the depths of the haunted house.
Since she was already inside, chasing her out would only waste time.
As for whether it would be troublesome...
[Emotion Perception] activated.
[Supernatural Vision] activated.
[Health Bar Warrior] activated.
To ordinary people, the light inside the haunted house was dim; stepping inside abruptly from the outside made it pitch-black and hard to see. But in Kitahara's eyes, the dim haunted house remained as bright as day.
Through Emotion Perception, near the window in the middle of the classroom, the intense malicious aura stood out as distinctly as a candle flame in the dark night—it was a female evil spirit on the verge of grotesque distortion, its stretched neck several meters long and squirming like a venomous serpent, looking extraordinarily creepy.
Unfortunately, it was all bark and no bite.
The health bar above the female evil spirit's head was a mere seventy points; Kitahara didn't even need to activate his True Damage ability, as an ordinary punch would be enough to reduce it to flying ashes.
In short, all Kitahara needed to do right now was step forward and exorcise it with a punch, so keeping Uika Misumi beside him wouldn't cause any trouble at all.
"This feels... so strange."
Holding a hand over her chest and looking at Kitahara's back, Uika Misumi felt subtle shifts in her mood.
She had assumed she would be shivering in terror after entering the haunted house, but once inside, the tension and fear from before vanished into thin air, leaving an inexplicable sense of peace in her heart.
"Is it because of... Kitahara-kun?"
Uika Misumi wasn't an idiot; she naturally understood where this sense of security came from.
(No wonder Taki, who rarely smiles around boys, would date Kitahara-kun in secret...)
(Still... what kind of relationship does Kitahara-kun have with Saki?)
(Why did Saki adjust Kitahara-kun's collar at the yakiniku restaurant that day? No matter how you look at it, that gesture was way too intimate, right?)
Amid her wandering thoughts, Uika Misumi's eyes adjusted to the darkness, and she finally saw the eerie female evil spirit lurking in the classroom.
Their eyes met.
A surging wave of intense malice swept over, turning Uika Misumi's blood cold as ice, confirming one thing in an instant.
The eerie woman before her was definitely not a haunted house worker, but a genuine evil spirit!
"H-Help..."
Uika Misumi instinctively opened her mouth to cry out.
Boom!
Before the cry could leave her mouth, Kitahara had already clenched his right fist and punched straight out, his fist landing squarely on the female evil spirit's head.
Under Uika Misumi's shocked gaze, the female evil spirit's body froze instantly, then exploded with a poof, dissolving into flying ash and vanishing into thin air.
"S-So amazing..."
Uika Misumi went weak at the knees, her taut nerves finally relaxing.
Even though it wasn't the first time seeing it, she still found it hard to believe.
Everyone is a high school student, yet it feels like they aren't even the same species anymore...
In the next second.
An object suddenly plummeted from the ceiling above them.
Uika Misumi instinctively looked up, only to see a half-bodied evil spirit dropping straight from the ceiling.
"Kyaaaaa!"
The sheer terror of an evil spirit in her face made Uika Misumi's mind go completely blank; while screaming, her body instinctively ducked toward Kitahara.
"Calm down, don't be afraid," Kitahara's voice quickly rang out. "That's just a prop hanging from the ceiling."
Uika Misumi sniffled, her soul—which had practically been scared out of her body—quietly returning to its place, only to realize that she was tightly clinging to Kitahara's arm.
"S-Sorry..."
Uika Misumi's pretty face flushed red as she hurriedly and flusteredly apologized.
Only in the next second, a familiar voice sounded out in surprise:
"Uika, Kitahara-kun... what are you doing?"
Uika Misumi: "..."
Watching Sakiko stand up from the staff hiding spot, Uika Misumi felt like her entire world was collapsing. She hurriedly released Kitahara's arm, saying nervously:
"Saki, listen to me explain!"
"..."
Although caught red-handed by Saki, an upright person fears no shadows, and Kitahara felt no guilt whatsoever.
After explaining the situation clearly, Saki didn't get jealous or suspicious; she simply instructed Kitahara to lead Uika out of the haunted house, saying they could chat properly once she finished her shift and came outside.
"Misumi-san, let's go."
Kitahara led Uika out of the haunted house. Adhering to the principle of seeing a task through to the end, he took Uika Misumi to find Taki and Umiri.
"Uika, why are your eyes red?"
Taki knitted her brows slightly, eyeing Kitahara with suspicion.
"It has nothing to do with me," Kitahara said with righteous confidence, entirely composed. "Let Misumi-san explain to you."
"Um, I was just scared by the haunted house earlier..."
Uika Misumi quickly explained in a small voice.
After listening to the explanation, Taki waved her hand:
"Leave Uika to me. You can leave now—hurry along."
Kitahara stepped forward half a pace, lowering his voice:
"Taki, come with me to the rooftop at noon."
"Huh?"
"I'm going to confess to Taki."
"..."