"What I mean is, according to that book, since there are various kinds of spirits, it means there must be spirit contracts related to plants and light."
Nibutani Shinka pretended to rack her brains to come up with chuunibyou settings.
She tried her best to act like she wasn't a chuunibyou patient.
"Right, the book says that kind of spirit is called a forest spirit, mastering the power of nature."
Haru smiled slightly, with an expression of 'continue, I'm listening.'
Takanashi Rikka's eyes lit up as she absorbed others' settings with full attention.
"Last time, when Haru-san said he learned meditation, he contracted with spirits and learned the meditation method, right?"
Nibutani Shinka laughed dryly. "So this time, Haru-san can use the same method—contract with forest spirits to gain tree-like power and master the method of absorbing light energy."
"Haru-san could go to some forest to search for forest spirits."
After speaking, Nibutani Shinka wiped away non-existent cold sweat.
But she was secretly delighted.
She thought to herself how clever she was.
If Haru believed her words and went to search for forest spirits in some forest, it would definitely consume a lot of his energy and time. That way, he wouldn't have the mind to investigate mori-summer's identity.
Thinking of this, Nibutani Shinka couldn't help but praise herself for being a genius, able to think quickly and come up with such a great idea.
"I see."
Haru's eyes lit up, showing an expression of belief.
Seeing this scene, Nibutani Shinka's beautiful eyes couldn't help but show a trace of joy. As expected, this severely chuunibyou Haru believed her.
This was really great.
"In that case, Nibutani-san, let's go to the forest by Gabriel Shrine after school today to make the contract."
"Huh?"
As soon as these words were spoken, Nibutani Shinka was immediately dumbfounded.
Then her pretty face turned red, looking at Haru with some panic.
She seemed not to have expected Haru to suddenly pull this move.
Takanashi Rikka's originally earnest expression of learning also immediately disappeared, then she said with obvious concern: "Haru, why do you want to go to the forest with Nibutani?"
"A man and woman alone, running to the forest—what are you planning to do?"
Even Tsuyuri Kumin's fair skin couldn't help but show a blush as she stared at Haru suspiciously.
"Hey, what are you all thinking?"
Haru was speechless. Looking at these people's expressions, he knew they were all thinking dirty thoughts.
Why did going to the woods with a girl make them think of those kinds of scenarios?
Were modern girls' minds all this dirty? What had the world come to?
Haru sighed inwardly, then said helplessly: "The reason I want to go to the forest with Nibutani-san is the same as last time."
"Having Nibutani-san, this reincarnation of mori-summer, substitute for the spirit."
Only then did the three suddenly understand.
Right, last time when Haru learned the meditation method, it was because he couldn't find spirits, so he used Nibutani Shinka, this reincarnation of mori-summer, to substitute for spirits.
Nibutani Shinka was exhausted. She hadn't expected that after going in circles, she'd trapped herself again.
How depressing.
And thinking that she'd have to go to the woods alone with Haru, her face couldn't help but feel hot.
But for some reason, she didn't feel much resistance in her heart, and was even vaguely looking forward to it.
"So the correct method is for Nibutani-san and me to go to the forest, then follow the same method as last time—listen to Nibutani-san's breathing in the forest and form a contract. This way I can learn the ability to convert light into energy."
Haru's eyes sparkled as he looked at Nibutani Shinka with a conclusion, his face showing a trace of amusement. "Right, Nibutani-san?"
"That's... that's right."
Nibutani Shinka replied with a red face, stammering.
Her heart was pounding.
[Ding, suggestion received]
[Go to the forest with Nibutani Shinka, listen to Nibutani Shinka's breathing for one hour daily for ten consecutive days. Reward: Light Energy Absorption Talent: Can absorb light energy through sunbathing and convert it into energy needed by the host]
The system's voice finally rang out.
Haru immediately breathed a heavy sigh of relief.
His face couldn't help but show a trace of joy.
This reward was extremely important to him.
With this reward, Haru would never again have to worry about energy consumption.
Advancing to the constant concentration realm, he wouldn't have to worry about being sucked dry. And later, advancing to even higher realms requiring more energy would be completely fearless.
After all, in this world, light energy was virtually inexhaustible.
"Wait, I want to go too!"
Just when everything was settled, Takanashi Rikka suddenly spoke up, staring at Haru with obvious concern. "I want to learn this light energy absorption ability."
"If Master is going, I want to go too!"
Seeing that Takanashi Rikka wanted to go, Tsuyuri Kumin naturally couldn't be left out either, immediately raising her hand excitedly.
"Uh—alright, then let's all go together."
Haru laughed dryly, naturally unable to refuse.
But he secretly thought this was a mistake.
Going to the woods alone with one girl versus going with three girls were obviously different concepts.
Going alone with Nibutani Shinka would be equivalent to a date, and Haru could take the opportunity to deepen his relationship with Nibutani Shinka.
But going with three people meant he could only behave properly and do nothing.
"Next time I should find people individually for suggestions."
Haru sighed and had to prepare to look for the next opportunity.
Similarly, Nibutani Shinka was also somewhat disappointed.
Actually, she was quite looking forward to being alone with Haru.
In a blink, time came to the weekend.
Early in the morning, Haru arrived at the station.
Today's task was to complete the extraordinary vision task he had agreed with Rikka—watching the Madoka movie, five showings together.
He didn't wait long.
"Haru!"
Haru heard Rikka's voice from not far away.
Looking up, his eyes couldn't help but brighten.
He saw that today, Rikka was wearing white-toned gothic clothes, her slender legs wrapped in blue and white striped stockings, her whole person exuding a youthful and cute aura.
Takanashi Rikka's small face was flushed red, obviously somewhat nervous, but she pretended to be calm as she jogged toward Haru.
"Rikka, you're really cute today."
Haru smiled slightly, unconsciously expressing his inner admiration.
When girls should be complimented, definitely don't be stingy with praise.
Especially when on a date.
Seeing such a cute Rikka, Haru was looking forward to today's solo date.
A whole day—he couldn't just play around like before with no progress.
Haru's eyes sparkled.
Since he had decided to start a crystal palace, he naturally had to start taking decisive action.
Wasting youth was completely unacceptable behavior.
Haru naturally knew long ago that Rikka had feelings for him.
Several times when he got close to other girls, she would unconsciously interfere.
Unlike Megumi Kato who would casually bring up a topic to subtly interrupt ambiguous moments, Takanashi Rikka's interruptions were much more crude.
Moreover, with Takanashi Rikka's personality of most enjoying playing with Tsuyuri Kumin, the fact that she didn't invite Tsuyuri Kumin to watch the Madoka movie on the weekend was telling.
With such obvious intentions, how could Haru not see through them?
Since that was the case, Haru felt it was time to clarify their relationship.
Of course, he couldn't be as direct with Takanashi Rikka as he was with Yui.
After all, Rikka was too timid in this regard—if he wasn't careful, he'd scare her away.
So how to control the pace was something Haru needed to consider.
Hearing Haru's praise, Rikka's pretty face with fair skin immediately turned completely red.
Her brilliant beautiful eyes seemed to show steam, too shy to look up and talk to Haru.
After a long while, she took a deep breath and said weakly: "Thank... thank you."
Takanashi Rikka was obviously much more nervous than usual today.
Even after arriving at the movie theater, she still followed beside Haru with a red face, not daring to speak casually.
"You two lovebirds are buying tickets for 'Cherry Blossom Lovers,' right? There's a couples discount today!"
The ticket seller saw this handsome couple of Haru and Takanashi Rikka and unconsciously showed an enthusiastic smile.
"Th-th-that, we're not—"
Hearing this, Takanashi Rikka's pretty face immediately froze, then her whole body tensed up, her small face turning completely red as she hurriedly tried to explain that they wanted to watch Madoka, not some Cherry Blossom Lovers.
However, when she saw the poster for this new Cherry Blossom Lovers movie, Takanashi Rikka's eyes flashed with hidden longing.
Although she was a chuunibyou patient, Takanashi Rikka wasn't completely ignorant about romance topics that girls most liked to discuss.
Cherry Blossom Lovers was this year's most popular movie. Even Tsuyuri Kumin had mentioned to Takanashi Rikka many times that many students at their school got together the same day after watching this movie at the theater.
Thinking of this, Takanashi Rikka's breathing couldn't help but quicken. However, no matter how moved she felt, she was too embarrassed to say she wanted to watch this movie, since she had agreed with Haru to watch the Madoka movie.
For the first time in her life, Takanashi Rikka felt a trace of resistance toward magical girl movies.
She secretly regretted not telling Haru she wanted to watch the Madoka movie, but rather that any movie would be fine.
Just when Takanashi Rikka was feeling regretful—
"Two tickets for Cherry Blossom Lovers, adjacent seats."
Haru suddenly spoke up.
Takanashi Rikka's breathing immediately stopped, her beautiful eyes showing shyness and surprise as she looked at Haru in disbelief.
She saw Haru smile slightly: "I heard from others that this movie is very good. How about we watch it first?"
Takanashi Rikka's heart was pounding like a drum, her face already burning hot.
"Mm..."
In the end, she only buried her head and responded as quietly as a mosquito.
Haru's face showed a trace of amusement. He wasn't stupid—between a romance movie and an anime theatrical version, which was more suitable to watch with a girl was crystal clear.
Cherry Blossom Lovers truly lived up to being the most popular movie of the moment.
Almost all the seats had been booked early.
Fortunately, there were still two seats in the corner.
So Haru and the increasingly nervous Rikka sat together in the corner.
Looking around, the seats were almost filled with couples.
Even before the show started, many couples were already cuddling together.
Rikka's delicate body was tense, her hands pressed on her tightly closed legs, her face extremely red.
When she had watched movies before, she had also seen many couples.
But at that time, when she saw those couples being intimate, she only felt slightly shy.
But today, for some reason, she felt that those couples' actions were all too glaring. Any random couple holding hands made her so nervous she didn't dare move.
At this moment, Rikka felt so nervous she could barely breathe.
"Rikka, don't be so nervous."
Haru looked at Takanashi Rikka with amusement.
He hadn't expected that even before the movie started, Takanashi Rikka already looked like she was about to explode.
Her heart was really too small.
"If you keep being this nervous, I suspect I'll have to call an ambulance early," Haru joked.
"Haru, you're mean."
Hearing Haru's joke, Rikka puffed her cheeks in annoyance.
However, she also relaxed a bit and wasn't as nervous as before.
As the movie began, Rikka became immersed in the film.
Even Haru couldn't help but admire that this movie truly deserved to be the romance film sweeping across Japan.
In every aspect, it could be called extremely excellent.
The plot was especially moving. By the mid-section's tear-jerking scenes, sobbing sounds could be heard everywhere.
However, as the plot intensified, Haru gradually discovered the story had reached an embarrassing moment.
Mainly an embarrassing moment for Rikka.
Because the plot was so excellent, many couples in the theater began kissing on the spot.
This made Rikka, who had finally escaped her nervousness, turn into a little lobster again.
At a loss for what to do with her hands and feet, she didn't dare look up at Haru.
But she kept stealing glances at him.
Seeing this scene, Haru also clearly understood that the heaven-sent opportunity had arrived.
Not making a move now would simply be criminal.
"Rikka." Haru grasped Rikka's hand that didn't know where to go, his gaze fixed on Rikka's eyes.
Rikka's delicate body immediately stiffened.
Then, a crimson face slowly lifted up, her eyes filled with indescribable panic and shyness, while joy and disbelief surged forth.
She seemed to have never imagined that Haru would suddenly make such a bold move toward her.
Their burning gazes met, and Rikka's breathing stopped.
"Don't speak."
Haru smiled slightly, then, while the other party seemed completely overwhelmed, he lowered his head.
Without mercy, he claimed her first kiss.
Complete Book Available on: patre on.com/Bored_Mortal