"All done."
Chika quickly stood back up, dusted off her hands, tilted her chin up, and let out a proud little hum. "Let's go—to my room... Eh? Why is your face red?"
Natsuki said:
"It's hot."
"It was a bit hot during the day, but it's cooled down now, hasn't it?" Chika folded her right arm across her chest, her left hand supporting her chin as she activated detective mode. "I remember very clearly—your face wasn't red just now, but suddenly it is... There must be something fishy going on here."
Stop deducing! If you keep deducing, you're going to be the one who can't handle it!
"Hurry to your room." Natsuki's expression was perfectly blank. "Quick resolution—I want to go home and rest early."
"Oh, oh—let's go."
Chika led Natsuki upstairs. The two deliberately lightened their footsteps. No accidents occurred along the way, and they arrived safely on the second floor.
"This is my room."
On the right side of the second floor were three rooms total. Chika stopped in front of the middle room. A panda-shaped sign hung on the door, reading "Resting."
"The left is Moeha's room, the right is my older sister's room..."
The Fujiwara family had three sisters total. Little sister Moeha was in middle school, Chika was the middle child, and the eldest sister was currently in university and had already moved out to live independently.
"Come in, come in."
Chika spoke as she pushed open the door. A draft happened to blow through just then. The pink-haired girl wrapped her arms around her chest and couldn't help but let out a soft cry:
"So cool."
The next moment.
Chika's footsteps suddenly halted. She whipped her head around to look at Natsuki. Her already-large eyes flew even wider. Her jade-white pretty face seemed to flush as though rouge had been applied—turning crimson in an instant.
"Why are you blushing?" Natsuki's tone was somber.
"Amamiya-kun just now, did you..."
Chika puffed out her cheeks.
"I didn't see anything." Natsuki denied it.
The pink-haired girl's cheeks puffed out even more. She covered her chest and took half a step back: "I haven't even finished my sentence yet!"
"They're too small—I couldn't see clearly..."
On second thought, Natsuki swallowed those words back down.
That line could be used on the ice queen. Using it to fool Chika would be going against his conscience.
"The light was too dim—I couldn't see clearly."
Natsuki spoke as he shifted his gaze away, taking in the room's environment.
Shelves packed full of books, various plushies on the bed, anime posters on the walls, a yoga mat on the floor, and a pleasant fragrance drifting through the air... a textbook girl's room.
The desk held many carefully framed photos—some of Chika alone, others of the sisters together.
Wait.
What was that four-person beach swimsuit photo doing there?
"That was taken at the beach last summer." Chika quickly calmed down—the girl's nerves were remarkably thick. "The one in the middle is Mom. Next to me is Moeha. Next to Mom is my older sister."
Looking at the woman standing in the center—dignified in bearing, beautiful in appearance—Natsuki had only one thought.
This doesn't make sense.
Your mother clearly has a flat chest on the same level as Kaguya's—so why are all three daughters Ōpai aliens?
It makes absolutely no sense!
"Your curiosity can be satisfied now." Natsuki changed the subject. "Let's look under your bed."
"Wait a moment."
Chika picked up her phone and placed a video call. Shortly after, the call connected successfully. An ice queen in pajamas appeared on the other end.
"Kaguya?"
Natsuki looked at the phone with curiosity.
Chika explained:
"While I was bathing earlier, I chatted with Kaguya-chan and said I'd livestream the entire exploration process for her."
No singing, no dancing—just looking under a bed. What's worth livestreaming about that?!
"It's Little Kaguya!"
Mrs. Kaguya's eyes lit up beside them. She waved at the phone screen—though Kaguya couldn't see her.
"Kaguya-chan, Grandma Kaguya is waving hello to you." Chika said from the side. "She says she hasn't seen you in a whole day and misses you so much."
"We only haven't seen each other for one day..." Kaguya wore pajamas and sat at her desk, her expression slightly exasperated. "Just hurry and look under the bed. I'm going to sleep soon."
Going to bed promptly at nine o'clock every night—the ice queen's sleep schedule was more regular than an elementary schooler's.
"Amamiya-kun, you hold the phone." Chika handed it over. "Help livestream this for Kaguya-chan."
"So what exactly is the appeal of this livestream supposed to be?"
Natsuki grumbled as he accepted the phone.
"A girl's adventure log?"
"Your own bedroom doesn't count as an adventure."
"..."
Since it was the place most familiar to her, and Natsuki was right beside her, Chika's sense of caution was remarkably low. She knelt halfway beside the bed, lifted the hanging bed skirt, and peered underneath.
The next moment.
"...Ahh!"
The girl's scream echoed through the room.
Natsuki's brow likewise jumped.
He'd assumed it was a shut-in evil spirit hiding under the bed—but the moment the bed skirt lifted, they came face-to-face with the spirit's countless densely-packed eyes. Only someone with a poker face could remain completely unfazed.
"You... can see me!"
A cold, hollow voice emerged from beneath the bed. Immediately after, countless strands of hair—like a black tide—came surging out from under the bed at high speed. In the blink of an eye, they covered the entire bed and wrapped toward Chika.
Natsuki said nothing. He immediately activated his "Evil Spirit Repelling" aura.
The invisible halo enveloped the entire room. The moment it made contact with the long-haired evil spirit, it was like sparks falling into gasoline—transparent flames erupted.
This spirit that liked squatting under beds was slightly stronger. It wasn't incinerated immediately. Screaming, it transformed its hair into tentacles and lunged at Chika.
Natsuki pulled the pink-haired girl backward, dodging the attack.
Fortunately, the evil spirit only held out for a few more seconds before being burned to ash.
"That was so mean." Chika covered her chest, a rare mist appearing in her eyes—clearly she'd been genuinely frightened. "I thought it was just hiding under the bed. I had no idea it'd been watching us this whole time from underneath!"
"The facts prove: don't randomly look under your bed when there's no reason to." Natsuki returned the phone to Chika. "I'm heading back."
The moment he finished speaking, a bang bang knock suddenly sounded at the door.
"Onee-chan, are you okay?"
A clear, pleasant unfamiliar girl's voice came from outside.
"It's Moeha." Chika quickly said, "I'm fine."
"Liar. Your voice was so loud just now—I heard you perfectly clearly." The girl outside began turning the doorknob. "I'm coming in."
"Wait a moment."
Chika grabbed the doorknob in one motion, blocking the door to prevent her sister-beast from entering.
"Onee-chan, what exactly are you doing? Why won't you let me in?" The sister-beast's voice carried a note of suspicion. "Don't tell me a burglar broke in?"
"Of course not!" Chika quickly denied it. "I'll open the door right away—just wait."
The pink-haired girl spoke as she looked toward Natsuki. Suddenly her eyes lit up:
"Amamiya-kun—sheep transformation!"
"Turn into a sheep and hide on the bed!"
Natsuki hesitated briefly, then nodded in agreement.
The effectiveness of the sheep transformation had already been verified by Yukino. More importantly, Natsuki wanted to experience what it felt like to transform into a sheep.
[Player 'Cancer of the Earth' is using Sheep Transformation on you. Do you resist?]
A game prompt quickly appeared before Natsuki's eyes.
"Don't resist."
The moment he spoke the words silently in his mind, Natsuki felt his field of vision suddenly widen and expand. The pink-haired girl before him abruptly grew taller.
Wait—what's with the clothes falling to the floor?