Late at night.
Those ghostly things wandering in midair gradually blended into the surrounding environment, becoming more and more translucent. Although they could still occasionally be noticed, overall they were no longer as glaring as at dusk.
After playing the bizarre board game Chika had designed, the mentally battered Maki and Kaguya needed some time to recover, so they returned to their own rooms first. Chika was somewhat disappointed; it seemed she had been looking forward to playing more interesting games. Although, at least for now, the games she designed were still rather difficult for most people to adapt to. Or rather, not very suitable for personalities like Kaguya and Maki, who tended to take things seriously.
Takumi carefully thought over the games Chika had designed and felt that to truly bring out the power of that kind of game, the most suitable setting would probably be a somewhat rowdy boys' dormitory. In that sort of environment, Chika's strange games might genuinely be played in all kinds of creative ways.
"Uwaah, if it ends this early, it feels like it'll be so boring. It's still quite a while before bedtime."
When Takumi left the room and went to the hotel's beverage area to casually grab a bottle of chilled soda before returning, he saw Chika in the corridor, grumbling.
"Next time you could try making a longer game—like running a Call of Cthulhu campaign or something. That way, even if the two of them suffer inside the game, they'll keep going because they want to clear it. Then it won't be a problem."
Takumi walked up to Chika and said this casually, then handed her the soda he had already taken a sip from.
"What's that supposed to mean? The way you say it makes it sound like my games exist just to torment people. The games you like are the ones that are like that."
Still indignant, Chika took the soda from Takumi's hand, took a large gulp, and immediately retorted.
"No, no—the ones I like are just high-difficulty, challenging good games. The difficulty curve is still very reasonable. That doesn't count."
Takumi waved his hand, clearly unconvinced by Chika's words.
"Oh? Then, Takumi — how many of these have you cleared? Consecrated Snowfield with no Spirit Ash, Blood Moon no-light Champion Beast cave, no Bloodhound's Step no-hit Valkyrie?" Chika narrowed her eyes slightly as she looked at Takumi and asked.
"The situations you're talking about are basically self-inflicted torture. And as for the last one, I did manage to complete it—provided she doesn't use Waterfowl Dance at point-blank range. If she does, I admit I still haven't found a way to dodge it."
Takumi, who had nearly choked on his water from several of Chika's examples, hurriedly spoke up. But by the end, he still allowed himself a hint of pride.
"Hmph, you can't describe a game I made that way. I'll get angry, you know."
The girl puffed out her cheeks and lightly kicked Takumi with her foot, tilting her head up as she spoke. The ribbon on top of her head trembled twice along with the motion.
"Yes, yes, I was wrong. I shouldn't have said that, Chika-sama. Then, as compensation—"
One step closer.
Two steps closer.
Takumi lowered his head, and Chika rose onto her tiptoes.
Their lips touched lightly at that moment, then quickly deepened into a kiss.
"Mm…"
A faint cry, a soft tremble.
He could feel her burning body temperature.
Reaching out, he wrapped his arm around the girl's slender waist.
With just one hand, Takumi easily lifted Chika into his arms, raising her feet off the ground so that her whole body pressed completely against his chest, and then continued kissing her deeply.
He only realized it belatedly and released her red lips when the girl in his arms began to tremble slightly and struggle instinctively. Chika then directly leaned against Takumi's chest, breathing softly.
"That kiss was too rough…"
After a few seconds, once she had recovered, Chika lifted her head. There was a hint of reproach in her voice.
"You've made me endure for many days already."
Takumi sounded somewhat helpless. Leaning against the wall, he continued holding Chika, with no intention of putting her down.
At the end of the corridor, a waiter pushing a cart had just entered. Before Takumi and Chika could say anything, the waiter understood the situation and turned around to leave.
Chika, who had originally intended to use the waiter's appearance as an excuse to run away, could not help biting her lip. The flush on her face deepened further.
"It's only been a few days. Takumi is already so unsatisfied—could it be that you're really the reincarnation of some lecherous demon?"
As she spoke, the girl lightly tapped Takumi's chest with her finger. Her nail brushed across his skin, making him feel slightly ticklish.
"Being unsatisfied means not being satisfied. As far as I'm concerned, after that first intimate moment, you kept dangling me for many days in a row. I think I need to properly explain to you what consequences that kind of behavior brings."
Takumi's gaze had already sharpened.
"Wah—at least you can't vent your beastly urges in the corridor. If that happens, it'll be easy for the family to find out."
Startled by Takumi, Chika thought he was already planning to transform on the spot, and she instinctively struggled with a bit more force. Of course, even with A-level reinforcement, it was still somewhat insufficient against Takumi's strength. He merely held her waist with one hand, and that was more than enough to easily suppress her resistance.
In a certain sense, even if one day Takumi were able to break free from the Sacrifice Game, he would already have no way to establish a marital relationship with an ordinary woman. He could only look for players—and sufficiently strong players at that. Because, how should he put it… lives would truly be at risk. Even if he restrained himself as much as possible, it would still very easily cost someone their life. Only a player like Chika, who had received A-level Dusk-level reinforcement and whose physical condition had reached the limits of human capability, could be physically compatible with Takumi.
"Then—back to my room, or yours?"
Takumi stared at Chika closely and asked in a calm tone.
"…We can't go to my room. The reason Takumi's room isn't on the same floor as ours is to avoid suspicion. So… wah, don't carry me while walking, it's so embarrassing…"
Seeing Takumi carry her and head toward the stairs, Chika's cheeks flushed even deeper.
She really had found a boyfriend with strong desires. But somehow, that also felt quite pleasant—like being completely handled by him, almost like a toy.
Still… he should already be unable to endure any longer, right?
Although she was still somewhat reluctant to leave that broad embrace, since she had already decided in her heart to give the next time to Maki, she naturally would not go back on her word so easily.
Because of that, before she had complained in the corridor earlier, she had actually already knocked on Maki's door.
So by now, it should be about time. That girl would not be able to continue enduring at this point.
Click—
"Y-you two, what shameless thing are you trying to do?!"
An exasperated Maki rushed out, gritting her teeth as she directly pounced toward Takumi and Chika at the stairway.
"Hm?"
Having focused a bit too much on Chika, Takumi failed to sense Maki's appearance in advance this time and paused slightly in surprise.
Chika seized the opportunity to slip out of Takumi's arms and move a few steps away. A faint red glow appeared in her eyes as she briefly invoked the power of her blessing, controlling the charging Maki for an instant before directly throwing her toward Takumi.
"Well then, Maki-chan, I'll leave today to you. Be careful—"
By the time the last sentence fell, Maki had already landed in Takumi's arms, while Chika had darted into her own room and decisively shut the door.
"Huh?"
Takumi still had not processed what was happening.
"Huh?"
As for Maki, she was completely stunned.
The silence in the corridor lasted for about three seconds. Then, without saying a word, Takumi simply held Maki in his arms and continued walking upstairs.
The girl in his arms, wearing only a yukata, pondered slightly. Then she suddenly understood, and a layer of heat rapidly rose to her cheeks.
"Y-you put me down! What are you doing? Don't tell me you really want me to replace Chika and satisfy your desires?"
Maki struggled hard, kicking her legs and fighting with all her strength, yet she could not break free from Takumi's embrace. Her face flushed red from holding her breath, and she grew more and more anxious.
But Takumi simply ignored her resistance and continued carrying her, accelerating all the way back to his room on the second floor. He brought the girl inside and, as soon as they entered, directly locked the door from the inside.
Now that Takumi had finally set her down, Maki felt as though her heart was about to leap out of her chest.
"All right. At least this way we don't have to worry about being overheard. Honestly, you should pay a bit more attention to your image."
After locking the door, Takumi turned to look at Maki and sighed, then pointed at her legs and hands.
Only then did Maki react. Lowering her head, she realized that both her sleeves and pant legs were stained with quite a bit of water—damp—and smeared with dust and grime.
She recalled how, when she had noticed something unusual outside her door and realized Takumi and Chika might be doing something, she had chosen to crawl across the floor on all fours to minimize noise, imitating a cat in order to move as quietly as possible. She had crept to the door and pressed her ear against it to listen.
Whether it was unseemly was one thing; being covered in dust was another. On top of that, she had used the bathroom in her room earlier and spilled some water onto the floor, which only made her current appearance look worse.
Moreover, because she was wearing a rather loose bathrobe, much of her calves and wrists were exposed, and now they also looked somewhat dirty.
"Do you want to rinse off and change into another set of clothes?"
Takumi pointed toward the bathroom in his room.
"…Yes."
Although she had many, many things she wanted to say right now, after a moment of silence, Maki still nodded lightly and turned to walk toward the bathroom.
Then, suddenly realizing something, she turned her head toward Takumi, who seemed about to follow her in. She quickly pushed him back a short distance with force, then rushed into the bathroom and shut the door.
Not surprised at all, Takumi nodded lightly, turned, and walked over to the wall at one side. He tapped it gently and softly said, "If you keep eavesdropping, I'll drag you in here," thereby scaring off Ai in the neighboring room. After that, he went and sat down on the sofa in the room.
The sound of running water soon began to flow from the bathroom not far away.
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