Even after stepping out of the dressing room, Fujiwara Chika still kept her head down, her face flushed and her eyes unfocused, looking like her brain was overloaded.
"Takkun, you're too slow! You're going to get fined, fined~"
Suddenly, a charming voice brought Fujiwara Chika back to her senses.
She instinctively looked ahead, only to be dazzled by a cluster of lively girls.
Walking at the very front was a pink-haired girl with a mochi bun, wearing a scarlet komon kimono. The cute-style kimono wrapped around her peach-colored skin, and the light green juban peeking from the collar exuded the sweet fragrance of cherry blossom frosting. An orange-pink obi bloomed into a cosmos shape at the bow, with a hanging vermilion obi-jime adorned with bellflower ornaments, making delicate rustling sounds as she lifted her hem.
Her mochi bun, much fluffier than usual, was adorned with a Glass color flower hairpin, and strands of light gold hair, clinging with a few artificial cherry blossoms, were gilded by the warm lamplight into melted honey. Her feet, encased in apricot-colored tabi, turned slightly inward, and a silver bracelet tied with a red string peeked from the edge of her furisode sleeve. The hand-knots were embroidered with crooked Shiba Inu patterns—likely failed embroidery projects from this class's home economics lesson.
The voice just now must have been hers.
If this girl was the sun, then the black-haired girl walking behind her was undoubtedly the moon.
Her frost-dyed navy furisode hung slightly with her relaxed posture, and gold-threaded snowflake patterns quietly bloomed on the moon-white lining. Her long, raven-black hair, like a waterfall, intertwined with the star-dust-like silver flecks on her fabric. A pearl earring on her left ear dangled gently with each turn of her neck, casting fragmented moonlight into the hollow of her collarbone. A silver hairpin with a karakusa pattern was tucked into her raven-feathered sideburns, but more captivating than these adornments was the girl's swan-like, snow-white neck peeking from the dark kimono's collar. If one were to lean in a little closer and examine it from above, one might even glimpse her delicate, lovely collarbone.
Due to her background, Fujiwara Chika had actually met many Japanese-style beauties in real life, but even she had to admit, the moment she saw this black-haired girl, that she was one of the people most suited to kimonos she had ever seen.
Incidentally, the reason there was still a 'one of' was because her friend, Shinomiya Kaguya, was also quite suited to kimonos.
Thinking of this, Fujiwara Chika's gaze instinctively swept towards the other girl's chest.
Hmm, even here it's pretty similar. Indeed, this is also a necessary condition for a kimono to look good...
Her gaze moved past the black-haired beauty. The brown-haired girl behind, though also very pretty, was still somewhat within the realm of ordinary people, and the luxuriousness of her kimono was also a bit less than the first two. If the first two were deluxe versions worn by models specifically for display, then this brown-haired girl, whose hairline was slightly high, wore a server's version. It wasn't bad, just a bit too uniform...
Then Fujiwara Chika noticed that there was actually a little girl, less than ten years old, sandwiched between the three girls.
The little one was also wearing a children's kimono, but the embroidered patterns were all cute cats (it was clear who chose this outfit). Her long hair, like flowing gold, was also tied up, but because the person styling it wasn't very skilled, it ended up as two asymmetrical twin buns—though it was still very cute.
A taiyaki-shaped hairpin was also stuck in her buns, further enhancing the little one's cuteness.
'So cute! I want to kiss, hug, and nuzzle her face!'
Fujiwara Chika shouted in her heart.
Perhaps because Asakura, her anchor, was there, Fujiwara Chika now seemed completely unconcerned about her best friend...
Perhaps sensing Fujiwara Chika's fervent gaze, the little Eriri, dressed in a kimono, squirmed uncomfortably, instinctively wanting to hide behind Asakura, but realizing that going that way would be walking into a trap, she simply hid behind Asagumo Chihaya instead.
"Are you a leader from somewhere?"
Asakura quipped to Yuigahama Yui.
"Takuma-kun, who is this?"
Asagumo Chihaya smiled and asked, glancing at Fujiwara Chika, who was still instinctively clinging to Asakura's arm for a sense of security.
Fujiwara Chika also noticed the other's gaze and then realized she was still holding Asakura's arm. She immediately let go, but upon doing so, she felt an inexplicable sense of loss.
"An innocent civilian caught up in a supernatural incident."
Asakura didn't notice these details and simply replied casually, then introduced to Fujiwara Chika: "They are all my subordinates."
"I am Fujiwara Chika, greetings, my henchmen."
"No, just collaborators."
Yukinoshita Yukino frowned and emphasized to the overly familiar large-breasted pink-haired girl.
She keenly noticed the glasses on Fujiwara Chika's face. In her impression, those were Asakura's glasses, but they had suddenly disappeared two days ago. She had thought he just wanted a change of style, but she never expected to see them on another girl's face.
"It's a club member, not a subordinate!"
Yuigahama Yui also said loudly, hands on her hips.
"Compared to that, since even the survivor has been found, has Takuma-kun made any new discoveries?"
Asagumo Chihaya asked.
"There really is."
Asakura told everyone about the situation in that alternate space.
Yuigahama Yui and Yukinoshita Yukino, who had experienced similar situations before, both showed complex expressions upon hearing this.
"So what do we do now?"
Yuigahama Yui asked curiously.
"Fight poison with poison."
Asakura said, "I'm going to use the remaining Holy Grail to make a wish and forcibly end the other party's wish."
"Huh, isn't that a cursed item?"
Yuigahama Yui blinked her light pink eyes: "Takkun, are you sure it's okay to make a wish with that?"
"It's fine, this thing's curse is ineffective against me. If worst comes to worst, I can even beat the curse into submission before using it."
Asakura said indifferently.
This wasn't blind confidence; he had already absorbed the magic power of a Holy Grail before, so he was mentally prepared for the strength of its power.
To put it bluntly, the power of this thing's curse might not even require him to activate the "Scale"; he could probably resist it just by wrapping himself in magic power—of course, that's just talk. To be safe, he would definitely activate the "Scale" when making the wish. After all, Asakura is neither a Saiyan nor a Mihail, and he doesn't have a habit of being reckless when things are going smoothly and then desperately trying to turn the tide after a rollover.
"Remaining Holy Grail…"
Yukinoshita Yukino thought for a moment, "That's from Yanami's side…"
Just as Asakura was about to say something, his phone suddenly rang.
Picking up the call, he found that it was Amakusa Shino contacting him.
"Hello, why didn't you use Line and called specially instead?"
[Of course, it's because it's urgent.]
The other party said, [That little one is still with you, right?]
Asakura glanced at the timid little Eriri holding a book: "Yes, what's wrong?"
[President Nijima has gone to the address she mentioned, but there's no one there anymore…]
"Ah?"
[To be precise,] Amakusa Shino's voice sounded a little strange, [that place has turned into a park.]
"Huh?"