"It's not a magic trick."
Hayasaka examined it carefully and repeatedly. She couldn't see the slightest flaw.
So why would a phone float in mid-air on its own?
Magic?
Psychic powers?
Or perhaps... aliens?
In any case, one thing was certain: these two definitely weren't ordinary people.
So what about the young miss?
Hayasaka quickly thought of it.
Did Kaguya know about these two's abnormality?
She probably did.
And that pink-haired airhead clearly knew as well.
Hayasaka quickly found the thread.
They'd had absolutely no connection at school before. Then, a while back, they suddenly renovated the abandoned classroom into an activity room and started meeting there frequently in the mornings. This was the truth behind it all.
Hayasaka held her breath and narrowed her eyes. Information that an ordinary high school girl wouldn't know surfaced in her mind.
School Hypno—Series?
Time Stop?
Devil App?
Once ordinary people gained supernatural powers, they very likely couldn't control the desires in their hearts and would slide into the abyss—especially male high school students.
The young miss, that airhead Fujiwara, and Kitagawa—setting aside personality, they were all quite beautiful, admirable young girls.
It wouldn't be strange at all for that boy Natsuki Amamiya to lose control of his inner desires and make a move on them.
So right now...
"The wind blows fierce—retreat!"
Hayasaka silently raised her guard, already prepared to withdraw.
A gentleman does not stand beneath a dangerous wall.
As a spy maid, when she discovered the known intelligence about a target was incorrect, the proper course of action was naturally to retreat in time, continue gathering intelligence, and formulate a new operational plan.
Knowing the target was abnormal and still staying to execute the original plan—that was foolish.
Hayasaka's hiding spot was on the balcony. Having made the decision to retreat, she prepared to leave.
At that moment, a bout of dog barking suddenly rang out from downstairs—exceptionally piercing in the silent night.
"Could it be that evil spirit catching up?"
Kitagawa Marin jumped in fright.
Natsuki stood:
"Let's go take a look."
The two walked together toward the balcony.
"Oh no."
The spy maid's expression changed slightly. She quickly moved to the edge of the balcony, used a rope she'd prepared beforehand to descend toward the ground—and accidentally bumped into laundry hanging at the balcony's edge, causing a piece of clothing to fall with the night breeze.
Thud.
Hayasaka landed steadily, quickly retracted the rope, then grabbed the falling garment and pressed herself tightly against the wall.
Natsuki and Kitagawa came to the balcony and looked down at the street.
The street under the cold lamplight was deserted—looking especially desolate. But in the eyes of Natsuki and Kitagawa, the nighttime street was quite "lively."
Compared to daytime, the number of evil spirits at night was clearly much higher.
"Is that guy under the streetlamp the one?" Kitagawa Marin pointed.
"No." Natsuki squinted and looked. "That's a faceless man in a black suit holding an umbrella."
"Looks like it hasn't caught up yet."
"Let's go back. Tonight we'll have Grandma Kaguya keep watch."
"Okay."
"You can go take a bath now."
"..."
Hayasaka quietly breathed a sigh of relief—when suddenly, the footsteps above her head paused.
"Wait."
Natsuki suddenly stopped walking.
"Eh? What's wrong?" Kitagawa Marin tilted her head to look at him.
"Something seems to be missing..." Natsuki observed carefully and quickly discovered what was gone. "Where did the underwear I hung on the balcony go?"
"..."
Hayasaka silently looked down at the blue boxers in her hand. If she threw them out now, she'd very likely expose herself.
"It was probably blown off by the wind, right?" Kitagawa Marin folded her right arm across her chest and analyzed: "What kind of pervert would steal a boy's underwear anyway?"
Hayasaka couldn't help but puff out her pink cheeks.
I'm exactly that perverted—I'm truly sorry!
The footsteps quickly left the balcony.
Hayasaka quietly emerged from the shadows. Looking at the boxers in her hand, she hesitated briefly, then stuffed them into her pocket. They might come in handy later.
And the streetlamp...
The spy maid turned to look at the streetlamp in the distance.
The lamplight was dim. There was no one below—only a few insects flying endlessly around the lamp. As for the faceless man in a suit holding an umbrella? He didn't exist at all.
A cold breeze blew past.
Hayasaka shivered lightly. She couldn't help but pull her collar up to cover her mouth and silently departed at high speed.
"Do you want to take a bath?"
Natsuki looked at the blonde gyaru.
"I do." Kitagawa Marin drained the rest of her cola in one gulp. "I already bathed at home, but I rushed over in such a hurry that I worked up a sweat. If I don't bathe, I'll feel uncomfortable."
"Then you go first."
"Thanks."
After bathing in unremarkable peace, before they knew it, it was already past ten at night.
"The scythe spirit doesn't seem to have caught up yet." Kitagawa Marin made another lap around the balcony, then came back and yawned. "Amamiya-kun, how do we sleep tonight?"
Natsuki said:
"You can sleep in the guest room. It's right next to my room."
"No way." The blonde gyaru refused outright. "Knowing there's danger and still sleeping in a separate room—that's exactly like those idiots in horror movies."
"Then how do you want to sleep?" Natsuki asked in return.
"Mmm..."
Kitagawa Marin folded her right arm across her chest. After pondering for two seconds, a teasing smile suddenly appeared on her pretty face. She closed one eye: "How about we sleep together?"
Natsuki agreed: "Sure."
"Eh eh eh?!" Kitagawa Marin covered her chest with both hands, her pretty face slightly flushed. She quickly said: "I meant sleeping on the tatami together!"
Natsuki turned and walked to the closet, opened it, pulled out a futon from inside, and smiled: "That's what I meant too. What else did you think I meant?"
"...Amamiya-kun is teasing me!"
Don't you know the saying—taste your own medicine? If you like teasing people, getting teased back is perfectly normal!
"Lay out the futon yourself."
"Okay."
After laying out the tatami, Natsuki turned off the lights. The two each lay down.
"Little Marin doesn't need to worry. Leave the night watch to me."
Mrs. Kaguya accepted the night watch duty.
As a ghost who didn't need sleep and wouldn't doze off, she was perfect for keeping watch.
"The aura is already active." Natsuki turned his head to look at the blonde girl beside him. "You don't roll around in your sleep, do you?"
"Mmm... I used to roll around a lot as a kid. I probably don't anymore."
"Then there's no problem."
"..."
At the same time.
The Shinomiya family villa.
Hayasaka successfully returned. She first took a bath to calm her emotions, then returned to her room in a bathrobe and opened her computer.
After a series of operations, images from inside Natsuki's house soon appeared on the computer screen.
The monitoring equipment had come in handy right away.
"Are they planning to sleep in the living room?"
"They didn't do it. Didn't kiss. Didn't even have physical contact... tch."
"So it's not that kind of runaway girl relationship."
"Normal friends?"
"And that phone..."
Hayasaka bit her fingernail and looked at the live feed.
In the video, a phone still floated in mid-air above the sofa, the screen continuously changing.
It was just like... something invisible was operating the phone.
Unscientific.
Very unscientific.
Hayasaka absolutely could not comprehend the scene she was witnessing. Curiosity kept her eyes glued to the monitor as she continued surveillance.
As time passed, the phone even automatically connected to a charger and began charging.
The night passed without incident.
The next day.
Seven o'clock in the morning.
Awakened by her biological clock, Kaguya Shinomiya rose promptly.
"Young miss, good morning." Hayasaka stood beside the bed. "Today's breakfast is French bread and milk."
"Good morning."
Kaguya tied her hair with a red ribbon. She suddenly said in surprise: "Eh, Hayasaka—why do you have dark circles under your eyes?"
"Ah..." Hayasaka hesitated for a second, then quickly spoke in a casual tone: "I found a really interesting manga last night and accidentally lost track of time."
This was a lie.
The truth was she'd watched the surveillance feed all night without sleep.
Unfortunately, she hadn't gained any useful intelligence.
"Setting aside intelligence for now, I need to verify whether the young miss's chastity is still intact..."
Hayasaka produced a pair of boxer shorts from behind her back. "Young miss, what is this?"
"It looks like shorts..." Kaguya looked over curiously and examined them carefully. "The style is so strange."
Hayasaka carefully observed Kaguya's expression and demeanor.
Not the slightest flaw.
The young miss clearly didn't recognize boys' underwear.
But to be safe, she needed to test once more.
"This is something I found in the garden this morning. If it's not the young miss's, I'll dispose of it later." Hayasaka glossed over it in one sentence, casually putting the boxers away, then continued: "I have a question."
"What?"
"In physics, when an object is stretched, it becomes longer and thinner. Please give a special counterexample."
Kaguya furrowed her brow and thought for a moment. She truly couldn't come up with one: "What's the counterexample?"
Hayasaka yawned: "I don't know either."
"Then what's the point of that question?"
Kaguya couldn't help but complain.
"...The point is significant."
For instance, it proved one thing: the young miss was still the same unworldly young miss who hadn't been corrupted.
With that established, all that remained was investigating that boy's true identity.
Meanwhile.
Natsuki opened his eyes to the sound of his alarm. After lying still for a while, his consciousness gradually returned to full wakefulness. He turned his head and saw the blonde girl curled up like a cat, sleeping soundly.
"Good morning, little Natsuki."
A sweet, pleasant voice reached his ears.
Mrs. Kaguya sat on the sofa, her smile sweet, her body once again transparent.
Natsuki had long since become accustomed to the sight. He sat up: "Did the scythe spirit show up last night?"
"No." Mrs. Kaguya shook her head. "If it had appeared, I would have woken you both immediately."
As they spoke, Kitagawa Marin groggily opened her eyes and sat up.
After all, she was away from home—she wouldn't sleep too deeply.
"Amamiya-kun, good morning..."
The blonde girl spoke as she stretched—and the shoulder strap of her pajamas suddenly slipped down.
A phrase suddenly appeared in Natsuki's mind:
Slippery shoulders—cunningly enormous.