"The island is very large, and exploring it will take a lot of time. It's normal for Yamada Ryo and me to return a bit late, so everyone doesn't need to worry." Kitahara Makoto said earnestly, "With me here, there will be no danger."
You say there's no danger, but you're clearly the biggest source of danger!
Ijichi Nijika gritted her teeth, glaring in shame, her heart feeling sour and bitter.
Saying that exploring the island would take a long time, weren't they just making excuses in advance?
And Ryo.
Not only did she not avoid her, but she even told her to wear the bracelet and share their five senses…
Too much!
You are really going too far!
Unfortunately, besides Nijika, no one else knew the truth. Kita and Bocchi-chan even spoke up, urging Kitahara Makoto and Yamada Ryo to be careful.
"Nijika, we're leaving." Yamada Ryo waved goodbye nonchalantly, whispering, "Nijika, don't worry, I'll keep it a secret. Even if Nijika uses the shared bracelet, I won't tell Kitahara-kun."
Ijichi Nijika clenched her fists, unable to help but say in shame:
"I would never use something like that!"
"…"
Walking out of the cave.
Kitahara Makoto extended his right hand and directly took Yamada Ryo's soft hand, beginning to patrol the island.
Safety in the Otherworld was paramount.
Even if he was going to take advantage of Yamada Ryo, he would wait until after the important matters were done.
"Ryo-senpai is so open about it, Nijika wouldn't wear the bracelet, right?"
Yamada Ryo said with certainty:
"Nijika will definitely wear the bracelet."
"Why?"
Kitahara Makoto cast a curious gaze.
"Because Nijika is naturally caring. If we don't return for a long time, Nijika will become increasingly worried, and there are no other ways to communicate on the island, so she will definitely wear the bracelet to check on our situation."
Yamada Ryo explained the reason lightly.
Good heavens!
Nijika is completely under your thumb!
"And then there's curiosity," Yamada Ryo tilted her head and looked over. "When I chatted with Nijika last night, I told her a lot of my personal experiences. Although Nijika verbally disliked it, she must be very curious in her heart."
"After all, [censored] is a human instinct, and it doesn't distinguish between genders."
"Yamada Ryo, don't say anymore, or I won't be able to hold back." Kitahara Makoto took a deep breath, suppressing the heat and impulse in his heart. "Let's first patrol the island to eliminate any safety hazards."
"…"
There's no need to elaborate on the process of patrolling the island.
It was quiet all the way; let alone monsters from the Otherworld, not even a single flying insect or walking beast was seen.
Humans possess sufficiently strong rationality to barely resist the primal scent emitted by the eden fruit, but other existences in the Otherworld basically have no brains, and even if they have intelligence, it's not much. They simply cannot control their primal urges, and once they arrive on the island, they will immediately rush towards the Eden Tree like moths to a flame, ultimately becoming nutrients for the towering giant tree.
Aside from the giant tree in the middle of the island, the peripheral areas can be said to be quite safe.
Who knows how much time passed.
Kitahara Makoto and Yamada Ryo returned from their patrol. Looking into the distance, they could already vaguely see the light from the cave.
"Ryo…"
Kitahara Makoto stopped, his gaze burning as he looked at Yamada Ryo beside him.
There is a saying that once an animal tastes human flesh, it must be killed, because an animal that has eaten humans will no longer be able to resist its nature to eat humans.
Kitahara Makoto had originally been dismissive, but now he believed it.
Some things, once experienced, truly can never be gone back to.
"After walking so far, I've sweated a bit, and I want to go to the beach."
Yamada Ryo suggested nonchalantly, her arms crossed over her chest.
Kitahara Makoto: "…"
Good heavens.
He hadn't even brought it up yet, and she had already suggested it. Yamada Ryo's spirit of learning and exploration was indeed exceptionally strong.
"Let's go to the beach now!"
Kitahara Makoto naturally wouldn't object, as every scene was a brand new, unlocked area. He immediately detoured with Yamada Ryo to the side of the cliff, grabbed a vine ladder, climbed directly up, and scaled the cliff face.
Splash, splash.
The clear blue sea came into view.
The Otherworld's sea was exceptionally quiet; besides the rising and falling waves, there were no other living creatures.
"Ryo, shall we take a bath?"
Kitahara Makoto's gaze was burning.
"Wait, wait a moment…" Yamada Ryo's face rarely showed a hint of shyness. "My swimsuit isn't off yet…"
Kitahara Makoto immediately said:
"You don't need to take off your swimsuit; it's more fun to wear it."
Yamada Ryo tilted her head and looked over:
"Kitahara-kun, are you a uniform fetishist?"
"That's right, I am."
Kitahara Makoto brazenly admitted it.
"Actually admitting it with a proud face…" Yamada Ryo clicked her tongue softly. "I regret it."
Kitahara Makoto was puzzled: "Regret what?"
Yamada Ryo covered her chest with both hands, her pretty face slightly flushed: "Kitahara-kun is such a pervert, he'll definitely be forced to play all sorts of terrible fetishes later, right?"
Kitahara Makoto: "…"
When you say that, don't show an expectant expression!
At the same time.
In the cave on the other side of the cliff.
"…Why aren't Kitahara-kun and Ryo back yet?"
The cave had been cleaned, and the girls had even decorated it simply, making it much cozier than before.
Kita and Bocchi-chan sat together watching videos they had downloaded in advance on their phones, while Rinko sat on a foldable inflatable chair, leisurely reading a book. Only Ijichi Nijika paced back and forth in the cave, filled with worry.
"It's been almost two hours, hasn't it?"
In the Otherworld, clocks and similar tools malfunction, and the time displayed on phones is inaccurate, but purely mechanical items are unaffected, such as an hourglass.
At this very moment, an hourglass that takes an hour to empty was about to run out for the second time.
"After so long, the island patrol should be over… Did Kitahara-kun and Ryo encounter danger, or are they doing that kind of thing?"
Ijichi Nijika bit her lower lip, and a thought suddenly came to her mind:
"What if I put on the Kessoku Band bracelet to check?"
After the thought emerged, the temperature on Ijichi Nijika's face suddenly rose, and then she quickly shook her head.
"No!"
"No, no, no!"
"After putting on the Kessoku Band bracelet, we can share our five senses… What if Ryo and Kitahara-kun are doing that kind of thing?"
She took a deep breath.
Ijichi Nijika banished the terrible thought from her mind, walked to the cave entrance, and stood on tiptoe to look out.
Unfortunately, she still didn't see Kitahara Makoto and Yamada Ryo.
Time quietly slipped away, minute by minute.
The sand in the hourglass quietly ran out again. Ijichi Nijika stretched out her right hand, flipped the hourglass over again, and watched the fine sand trickle down little by little. Finally, she took a deep breath and made up her mind.
"No."
"I can't wait any longer."
"They haven't returned after so long, maybe they encountered danger…"
Ijichi Nijika opened her backpack and carefully took out the black Kessoku Band bracelet.
Don't ask why she put the Kessoku Band bracelet in her backpack; if you ask, Ijichi Nijika herself doesn't know. When she came to her senses, the Kessoku Band bracelet was already in her backpack.
"I'm going out for a bit…"
Ijichi Nijika tried to greet the others in a casual tone, then walked out of the cave.
Better safe than sorry.
If Ryo and Kitahara-kun were really doing that kind of thing, under the circumstances of shared senses, she might make terrible noises… After all, that's how it is in those movies.
To be safe.
Ijichi Nijika walked out of the cave, went to a secluded corner, and then took out the Kessoku Band bracelet from her pocket.
The black Kessoku Band bracelet looked ordinary, every stitch woven by Ijichi Nijika herself.
However, at this moment, Ijichi Nijika suddenly had a subtle premonition—this Kessoku Band bracelet was like the golden hoop on the head of a fated person; once worn, there would be no going back.
"Hoo…"
Ijichi Nijika exhaled lightly, pushed the jumbled thoughts out of her mind, then, with a blushing face, closed her eyes and carefully put the inconspicuous Kessoku Band bracelet on her right wrist.
The next second.
A vast blue ocean appeared "before her eyes."
"This is the scene Ryo is seeing… Strange, why is it the ocean?"
"Could Kitahara-kun and Ryo have climbed over the cliff and gone to the seaside…"
The thought was just a fleeting one.
Because in the next instant, Ijichi Nijika's ability to think suddenly shattered into pieces.
"Eh eh eh eh eh?!"
Indescribable, a terrible feeling she had never experienced surged and swept through every corner of her body. Ijichi Nijika only felt as if she had turned into a small boat, and her whole being was bobbing up and down in the ocean.
"It… it really is…"
Ijichi Nijika's pretty face instantly flushed, and her breathing involuntarily became rapid. She frantically tried to take off the Kessoku Band bracelet.
But it was too late.
"Mm…"
Even biting her teeth tightly, the terrible impact still made Ijichi Nijika let out a low groan.
Ijichi Nijika only felt her legs weaken, and her whole body involuntarily knelt to the ground.
The five-sense sharing effect of the Kessoku Band bracelet could achieve true 100% empathy.
What was happening to Yamada Ryo at this moment was simply unbearable for Nijika, who had never had any experience.
"D-damn it…"
"Ryo is clearly crying, b-but he still won't stop…"
"Too much!"
"It's too much!"
Ijichi Nijika bit her lower lip tightly, trying to use the pain to keep herself clear-headed. With great difficulty, enduring the dizziness, she managed to touch the Kessoku Band bracelet. An indescribable sensation suddenly erupted, making Ijichi Nijika's mind go blank instantly.
After an unknown amount of time, it felt like an instant, yet also a long time had passed. Ijichi Nijika dazedly opened her eyes, and what met her gaze was a painting-like sky and the vast blue ocean beside it.
"Strange… why am I seeing the ocean…"
Ijichi Nijika murmured, not yet fully recovered.
The next second.
Kitahara Makoto's voice suddenly rang in her ears:
"Thank goodness, Ryo is finally awake."
"I…" Ijichi Nijika's head was fuzzy, and she instinctively said, "What happened to me?"
Kitahara Makoto retorted:
"You're both bad at it and love to play; you just fainted."
"Fainted…"
Ijichi Nijika blinked, her floating soul finally returned to her body, and then her pretty face quickly flushed.
Fainted?!
So, that period of blankness, as if her memory was broken, was when she fainted?
No wonder Ryo said only she would break; it turns out it wasn't an exaggeration, but she really would break!