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"Everything is the Choice of Steins;Gate… Kitahara-kun, what does this sentence mean?"
Kita Ikuyo looked over curiously.
"Don't ask me, I don't know either." Kitahara Makoto complained, "I already tried this morning. This book really answers everything, but whether you can understand it is another matter."
"I know." Futari raised her small hand, "Riddler!"
"Correct answer." Kitahara Makoto rubbed Futari's small head, "Futari is indeed smart."
"Eh heh~"
Ijichi Nijika asked curiously:
"What question did Soyo-san ask?"
Nagasaki Soyo pursed her pink lips: "I was just curious why Kitahara-kun was interested in this book. I really don't know what 'the Choice of Steins;Gate' means."
Kitahara Makoto: "…"
So that's it.
Seeing that there was no riddler, it really was the Choice of Steins;Gate.
If he hadn't taken this book, it would have been an ordinary book, destined to gather dust on the bookshelf, impossible to become a book version of the Magic Mirror.
"Never mind that!" Kita Ikuyo's eyes sparkled, and she eagerly raised her right hand, "Me, me, me, I want to try too!"
Having personally witnessed the drum washing machine that could suck people in and get them stuck, the girls completely believed in the authenticity of the answer book.
Kitahara Makoto said from the side:
"Anyone can ask a question, but each person can only ask once a day, and the daily question limit is five times. I asked once this morning, and now Soyo-san has asked once, so there are only three remaining question opportunities."
"Eh…" Kita blinked, "Then how should we allocate them?"
There were only three questions left for today, and there were Bocchi-chan, Kita, Nijika, Yamada Ryo, and Futari, so it indeed couldn't be allocated.
"I, I won't ask. I don't have any questions I want to ask…" Gotō Hitori quickly shook her head, saying softly, "Futari is still a child, she also doesn't have anything she wants to ask. You guys ask."
Futari tilted her small face: "Sister, I'm already an adult, of course I have questions I want to ask."
"Th-that…"
Bocchi-chan stammered, unsure what to do.
Kitahara Makoto finally made the decision: "Futari will come play tomorrow, save your question for tomorrow. As compensation, I'll buy you a little cake tomorrow."
"Yay!"
Upon hearing that she could both come to play and eat free mini-cakes, the elementary schooler immediately became happy.
"…"
Only Bocchi-chan's face was red as she secretly glanced at Kitahara Makoto, then quickly lowered her head to look at her toes, understanding Kitahara Makoto's intentions perfectly.
(Inviting Futari was just an excuse; he clearly just wanted me to come over and play…)
"Then I'll ask first." Kita Ikuyo excitedly stretched out her small hand, placed it on the answer book, and murmured to herself, "Eh, what question should I ask?"
Amidst her hesitation, a question suddenly surfaced in her mind.
The next second.
The answer book began to move without wind, its pages fluttering.
"Eh eh eh?!" Kita jumped in surprise, "How did the book move by itself?"
Kitahara Makoto said speechlessly:
"Of course, you asked a question."
"I, I haven't asked yet…"
Kita stammered, trying to refute, but it was useless.
Before long, the answer book slowly stopped, and a line of text quietly appeared on the page:
"One second also counts as a kiss."
"Eh?"
"One second also counts as a kiss?"
"What question did Kita ask exactly?"
Seeing the answer in the book, the girls looked at Kita in surprise.
"I'm not, I didn't!" Kita Ikuyo's face quickly flushed red, her voice stammering and full of guilt, "It, it's slandering me!"
Hey, hey, don't panic! Saying a book is slandering someone, even you don't believe it!
You knew the washing machine was dangerous, and there was the precedent with Tsundere Young Miss, yet you still got stuck. Now you're asking in your heart if 'three seconds counts as a kiss.' You really are an idiot!
Yamada Ryo tilted her head to look at Kita, saying expressionlessly:
"By reverse-engineering the answer, Kita just asked in her mind if one second counts as a kiss."
"Extracting keywords, it's one second and kiss."
"To use such a precious questioning opportunity to ask such a question, there's only one possibility, and that is Kita really had a one-second kiss with someone…"
"Ahhhhhh!"
Before she could finish speaking, Kita Ikuyo had already rushed forward and covered Yamada Ryo's mouth, her face flushed red, shouting in embarrassment:
"That was just a misunderstanding! Ryo-senpai, don't say any more!"
"This topic ends here, after all, it's Kita-chan's privacy." Ijichi Nijika pursed her pink lips, subtly glaring at Kitahara Makoto. Although there was no evidence, intuition was enough. After speaking, she took a deep breath, "…Next, I'll ask."
"Nijika-senpai, you are the true god!"
Kita, full of gratitude, offered the answer book with both hands.
Ijichi Nijika placed her right hand on the cover of the answer book, bit her lip lightly, and asked the question that had been on her mind:
"Older female Cousin… how is she doing now?"
Last week, in search of her mysteriously missing Older female Cousin, Kitahara Makoto and his group accidentally entered the Otherworld. However, because the Otherworld was too dangerous, they could only flee in disarray, and until now, Older female Cousin remains out of contact.
Later, because they found a torch left by Older female Cousin, knowing that she had entered the Otherworld prepared, the matter was temporarily put on hold.
But clearly, although Ijichi Nijika had not brought up the matter again, it had always been on her mind, never forgotten.
Whoosh, whoosh.
As Nijika posed her question, the pages quickly turned by themselves, without wind.
Before long, the answer book gave its answer, with only one large, bright red character on it:
"Danger!"
"Older female Cousin is in danger?"
Seeing the answer given by the book, Ijichi Nijika's face immediately showed a look of tension.
Even a primary school student could tell what the character "Danger" represented; the mysteriously out-of-contact Older female Cousin's situation was clearly quite dire.
"Is Older female Cousin still in the Otherworld now?"
Nijika anxiously pressed.
"…"
Unfortunately, the number of questions had been used up, and the answer book remained motionless.
"Nijika-senpai?"
Kita asked softly, her eyes filled with worry.
"I'm fine…"
Ijichi Nijika bit her lower lip and silently walked to the side to sit down.
Good news, Older female Cousin is still alive.
Bad news, Older female Cousin is in imminent danger.
Ijichi Nijika's mind was in a turmoil, not knowing what to do.
Ignore it?
Her Older female Cousin, who she had grown up with since childhood, of course, could not be ignored.
Go to the Otherworld to rescue Older female Cousin?
She alone simply couldn't do it.
Ijichi Nijika was actually very clear that the best way would naturally be to ask Kitahara Makoto, for everyone to go deep into the Otherworld again, and then collectively find Older female Cousin. If she went alone, let alone finding Older female Cousin, she would even be in danger herself.
But such a thought was too selfish. The Otherworld was such a dangerous place; she shouldn't ask others to accompany her.
"So…," Ijichi Nijika bit her lower lip, "what should I do?"
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