"Eh eh, it's Kaguya-chan!"
Chika snapped awake instantly. With a burst of effort, she pushed Natsuki off of her. "Oh no—I forgot to close the livestream!"
The pink-haired girl quickly grabbed her phone from beside the bed. Sure enough, it was still on the video call screen.
On the other side of the video, the black miasma radiating from the ice queen was on the verge of overflowing through the screen.
Too much.
This was way too much!
Amamiya-kun had clearly been trying to get down the whole time, but you just kept petting his head and holding him in your arms without paying any attention to the time. You really are the Cancer of the Earth! An Ōpai alien who unconsciously tempts people into depravity with body fat!
"Kaguya-chan, let me explain..."
Chika was about to speak when she suddenly saw Kaguya's eyes fly wide open in the video—as though she'd witnessed some unbelievably terrifying monster. Her pretty face flushed crimson at a speed visible to the naked eye. Immediately after, the video feed shook violently—and soon all that remained was the ceiling of the room. The phone seemed to have accidentally slipped from Kaguya's hands.
"Eh, what happened?"
Chika froze, instinctively turning to look behind her—and her pretty face immediately flushed crimson as well.
"Bi-bi-big..."
The pink-haired girl quickly averted her gaze, clearly startled.
Scary.
So scary!
After boys grow up, their bodies become so terrifying—nothing like how cute they were as kids!
"Amamiya-kun, hurry and put your clothes on!"
"Then give me my clothes!"
Natsuki couldn't help but retort.
Drawing in a deep breath, Natsuki turned to look at Mrs. Kaguya, who wore a cheerful smile beside him: "Give me my clothes."
"Here you are."
Mrs. Kaguya quickly handed over the hidden clothes.
Natsuki reached out, accepted them, and began quickly getting dressed.
Chika, meanwhile, took her phone and obediently walked to the door, facing the wall in reflection.
"Done." Natsuki let out a breath, finally relaxing. "Don't use the sheep transformation in reality anymore."
"I understand." Chika nodded pitifully. "Everything was fine in the game—who knew it would be like this in reality?"
"At least it was Amamiya-kun." The pink-haired girl muttered quietly. "If it were some other boy, I'd have gotten a stye."
Natsuki's expression was disdainful: "Didn't you read adult doujinshi?"
"Manga is manga—I've never actually seen it in real life." Chika stammered, recalling the terrifying thing she'd just witnessed. The heat in her face rose once more. "...Hurry, hurry—Amamiya-kun can go home now!"
Natsuki had Mrs. Kaguya scout ahead first. After confirming that Fujiwara Moeha was in her room, he finally left the bedroom and quietly headed downstairs.
No accidents occurred along the way. Natsuki quickly arrived at the entryway, changed his shoes, and left the Fujiwara residence.
"Amamiya-kun, see you tomorrow." The pink-haired girl said her quiet goodbye.
Natsuki replied:
"Won't see you tomorrow."
"Eh?" Chika froze, then quickly caught on. "Oh right—tomorrow's still Golden Week. Then I'll see you at school."
"I'm leaving."
"..."
The second day of Golden Week passed uneventfully and peacefully. Nothing happened at all.
In the blink of an eye, the third day arrived.
Natsuki was playing the newly released Elden Ring when he suddenly received a message from Miko.
"Kyosuke says he wants to go to the zoo to see the pandas. Want to come along?"
"The zoo, huh..."
Natsuki quickly replied: "I'll change clothes."
Golden Week lasted nine days total. He couldn't just stay home playing games the entire time—he'd get moldy. Going out for a walk now and then wasn't bad.
Natsuki turned off the TV, changed his clothes, and stepped out the door. He immediately saw the siblings waiting outside.
"Morning, Natsuki-nii."
Yotsuya Kyosuke greeted him. As Miko's younger brother, the little guy had already inherited Miko's slacker attributes at such a young age.
"Morning." Natsuki nodded and walked up to the siblings, looking at Miko. "Which zoo are we going to?"
Today was a day off. Yotsuya Miko wasn't wearing her school uniform or gym clothes. Her upper half was covered by a white blouse, her lower half by a brown skirt and black knee-high socks. Her black, straight hair remained unchanged. The dark circles under her eyes were just as prominent.
"Haah..."
Yotsuya Miko raised her hand to cover her mouth and let out a yawn, speaking listlessly: "Ueno Zoo—the same one we went to last year."
"It's nine in the morning and you're already yawning." Yotsuya Kyosuke squinted at her critically. "I feel like Onee-chan is getting more and more slothful."
"That's right." Natsuki nodded in agreement. "Too slothful—you're not even smiling."
"You're both so noisy." Miko shot them an annoyed look. "Hurry to the train station."
"..."
The three chatted as they walked, quickly arriving at the station.
"Miko-chan, good morning!"
A short-haired girl wearing a white blouse, with a figure so voluptuous it drew glances, waved cheerfully at the intersection. It was Yuri Kawahana.
"Yuri's coming too?" Natsuki looked at Miko. "Didn't you say she was going on a trip out of town?"
"Hana's leaving with her family tomorrow." Miko said offhandedly. "She just messaged me saying she was bored at home alone and wanted to hang out, so I invited her to the zoo with us."
Boing boing~
A subtle bouncing sound reached Natsuki's ears.
Miko's close friend quickly ran up to the three of them, her smile brighter than sunshine: "Amamiya-kun, good morning."
"Good morning."
After exchanging greetings, the close friend raised both fists above her head and stretched happily: "It's been forever since I went to the zoo. Let's go, let's go!"
"Onee-chan." The elementary school brother tugged at Miko's sleeve and sighed quietly. "What happened to our date?"
Yotsuya Miko was speechless: "It was never a date to begin with."
Besides that...
Miko pressed her lips together, looking at the various evil spirits wandering the streets and alleys everywhere. She sighed quietly to herself.
What was the point of going out on a date? It was better to stay home and play games together.
Boarding the train.
Natsuki suddenly spotted a familiar girl's figure.
Satin-like waist-length blonde hair, beautiful pink contacts, a black collar around her neck, the top button deliberately undone, and flashy manicured nails... a textbook gyaru.
"Amamiya-kun, good morning."
The blonde gyaru's eyes lit up. She waved cheerfully.
"Good morning."
Natsuki nodded in response.
"Come sit here."
Kitagawa Marin happily pointed at the empty seat beside her.
Today was a day off. The train had a rare abundance of empty seats.
Natsuki walked over and sat down beside Kitagawa Marin. Miko sat on his other side.
"Miko, where are you guys going?"
Kitagawa Marin leaned forward, asking curiously.
"To the zoo." Miko yawned and answered while rubbing her eyes. "What about you, Marin-san?"
The group had all been middle school classmates—knowing each other wasn't strange.
"I want to go to the zoo too. The weather's so nice—you should go out and walk around." Kitagawa Marin's smile was as bright as sunshine, her voice crisp. "Being home alone is so boring, so I went out for a walk. I was still thinking about where to go today... Let's go to the zoo together, then!"
"That's fine with us."
As the train slowly began moving, the group soon stopped talking.
Natsuki pulled out his phone and scrolled through the news.
The train swayed its way to the next stop. Suddenly, Natsuki felt someone lightly poke his arm.
"Amamiya-kun, a weird evil spirit just got on the train."