"Soyo… isn't acting right today…"
After hesitating for a while, Mutsumi finally voiced her thoughts.
After all, with how extravagantly dressed up Soyo was today, anyone could tell something was off.
"…Does she also like you, Mutsuki-kun?"
As everyone knows, when it comes to catching romantic rivals, a woman's intelligence multiplies tenfold.
At this moment, Mutsumi was no longer an ordinary "little cucumber"—she had become the sharp-instincted Cucumber Sword Princess, a super cucumber hero with ten times intelligence.
Aside from Sayaka, no one could compare to her!
Moreover, inside the haunted house, Soyo had repeatedly made blatant moves right in front of her. There was no way Mutsumi wouldn't notice her intentions toward her fiancé.
"Who knows?"
Facing Mutsumi's question, Kamijou Mutsuki showed neither guilt nor embarrassment. He simply shrugged.
At the same time, he didn't play dumb.
One could only say—who could truly understand what Soyo was thinking?
Perhaps even she herself didn't fully understand it.
"Mm~"
However, seeing his seemingly indifferent attitude, even Mutsumi couldn't help but feel a bit resentful.
Then, unexpectedly, she stood on tiptoe, wrapped her arms around his neck—and bit his cheek.
Literally.
The cucumber bites!
Feeling the slight sting on his cheek, Kamijou Mutsuki couldn't help but think that.
"Mutsuki… you playboy~"
Her soft murmur reached his ear.
"…Mutsuki,"
Still holding him like that, after a long moment of silence, Mutsumi slowly spoke again.
"About our engagement… is it still okay now?"
"What do you mean?"
"If I didn't want it… it could be called off."
"Mutsumi,"
Hearing this, Kamijou Mutsuki placed his hands on her shoulders and smiled.
"The past is the past. The present is the present!"
"And if I wanted to leave?"
"My basement isn't exactly small either!"
His reply was just as decisive.
"Oh right, Mutsumi—do you prefer nylon rope or hemp rope?"
"…Those won't be necessary,"
For some reason, Mutsumi's tone sounded noticeably lighter.
"I'm not going anywhere!"
The girl suddenly raised her head and cupped Kamijou Mutsuki's face.
Her golden eyes were filled with such complex and intense emotions that they couldn't be put into words for a moment.
"I'll never leave you, Mutsuki!"
"I'll definitely protect you!"
After saying that, the girl stood on tiptoe and kissed him.
She had long since become unable to leave him—
Just like a cucumber cannot live without water.
Just like Wakaba Mutsumi cannot lose Kamijou Mutsuki.
She really… liked him so much~
However, while Mutsumi was enjoying the moment, the group of NPC "ghosts" hiding in the shadows all wore expressions that were hard to describe.
Excuse me?
This is a haunted house!
If you want to be lovey-dovey, can you pick another place?!
Coming here to work as NPCs only to be force-fed dog food—where's the justice in that?!
For these young ladies, who hadn't even held hands with boys their age before, Mutsumi's actions were unanimously condemned in their hearts.
But in the end, seeing the two completely immersed in their kiss, no one stepped out to ruin the atmosphere.
Meanwhile, while Mutsumi was sharing an intimate moment with the one she loved, Soyo—who had created this opportunity for her—was not having such a good time.
When she came back to her senses, the surroundings were no longer dark. The harsh white lights above made her squint.
Where… did she end up?
Was she still in the haunted house?
Soyo rubbed her head, trying to observe her surroundings—only for her gaze to meet a skeleton directly.
"Uwah~!"
Startled, she instinctively stepped back, bumping into a cabinet. Something tipped over, splashing all over her face.
Reflexively, Soyo reached up to wipe it away—but when she saw the blood-red color on her hand, she almost screamed.
However, the sweet taste at the corner of her mouth made her pause.
She subconsciously licked her lips, analyzing the flavor.
…Strawberry juice?
After calming down from the sudden scare, Soyo took a closer look at her surroundings and realized she had accidentally run into a backstage storage room for props.
The skeleton was a prop, and the "blood" splashed on her face—tasting like strawberry juice—was fake blood.
Truly an unexpected accident.
She glanced at her dress. Thankfully, not much of the "blood" had stained it—most of it had ended up on her face.
With no water or mirror available, Soyo could only grab something that looked like a relatively clean towel and wipe her face.
From her own feeling, it should be clean enough… probably.
But right now, the most important thing was to find Kamijou Mutsuki.
After all, she had finally managed to separate Mutsumi and create a chance to be alone with him—only to end up getting separated from him herself and trapped here instead.
However, in such a short time, Mutsumi probably hadn't found him yet.
So as long as she got out quickly, she still had a chance!
However, Soyo soon realized that forget about meeting up with Kamijou Mutsuki—she couldn't even get out of this place.
The club that had set up the haunted house for the school festival didn't just like haunted houses—they were also very interested in mazes.
That was exactly why the haunted house outside was so large and convoluted.
However, since it was still a haunted house, no matter how winding it was, you could eventually find an exit.
But this place, being relatively isolated from the main haunted house, required a special mechanism to open the hidden door.
Soyo tried to find the spot she had entered from and slammed into it, attempting to replicate how she got in—but all she managed to do was make her arm ache.
After multiple failed attempts, the girl's expression gradually darkened.
It wasn't that she was worried about not getting out.
After all, even though phones weren't allowed inside for the sake of the experience, each participant had been given an alarm device for safety reasons.
But if she used that…
Wouldn't the opportunity she had painstakingly created just go to waste?
What she didn't realize was that the opportunity she created hadn't gone to waste.
…It just benefited Mutsumi instead.
Still unwilling to give up, Soyo began feeling along the walls.
Then, she noticed something—
The texture of a certain section of the wall seemed different.
And there was even a small gap.
However, before she could fully process her discovery, she suddenly heard faint footsteps.
Someone's here?!
Soyo's spirits lifted slightly. She instinctively leaned closer and peeked through the narrow gap.
Then, she saw two shadowy figures.
Due to the poor lighting and the tiny slit, she could only make out vague outlines.
The two silhouettes seemed to be whispering to each other about something—
And then, they overlapped.
Soyo: ?
........................