At this moment, it was deep into the night. The room was lit only by a dim yellow light, faintly illuminating the dark night.
Kita walked into the room, her mood a little curious.
At school, she was undoubtedly the center of attention, able to get along with everyone, the kind of top-tier normie who could casually post a status update and easily rake in hundreds of likes. Her popularity good enough to make the socially anxious cry.
But she didn't have much experience interacting with boys her age, and all her close friends were girls.
Just a few hours ago, she had come to this very room with Nijika and the others, but coming alone was different from coming with friends, the experience wasn't the same.
'This can probably be counted as… what the books call, a man and woman alone together in a room, right?'
'Heh, hehe…'
Still sitting on the sofa, maybe it was purely coincidence, the spot Kita chose happened to overlap with where Nijika had been sitting.
"…Weird… why is the cushion warm?", The moment she sat down, Kita noticed something was off. The sofa cushion still retained a faint warmth, as if it had just been heated by someone.
"Because that's where I was sitting just now," Kaito's face didn't change, brushing it off calmly.
"Ohhh," Kita didn't think too much about it. She saw two unopened bottles of pineapple juice on the coffee table and curiously asked, "Kaito-kun, you couldn't sleep either? Were you just sitting here playing on your phone?"
"…That's right, I was just playing on my phone earlier."
Kaito paused for two seconds, then went along with it, "You guessed it, such a clever little Kita."
"Ehehe~ I'm not that amazing~", Kita scratched her head a little embarrassedly, grinning like a fool.
Kaito wasn't fond of teasing kids, and with two girls in the closet still watching like hawks, he didn't plan to waste time. He got straight to the point, "Kita, coming to see me this late, is it also because of the Inugami matter?"
"Mm, because… the thought of possibly having to go against a legendary god makes me a bit uneasy."
"Wait, also? What do you mean 'also'? Did someone else come see you?"
"No, you misheard."
'Is that so?'
Kita found it a little strange, but her thoughts were occupied with something else right now. She lightly bit her lip and hesitated, "Kaito-kun, do you think… Senpai Ryou will be in danger?"
Even though Ryou always borrowed money and never paid it back, loved freeloading meals, was good at pretending to be harmless to earn sympathy, and was a pro at playing with girls' feelings, but to a normie girl, Ryou was once the senpai she admired.
That street performance of Ryou's back then had given Kita a huge shock, and it gave her the thought of 'wanting to join a band.' For that reason, she even lied about knowing how to play guitar and applied to join Senpai Ryou's band, just to get closer to her.
Even though she quickly panicked about being exposed due to not knowing how to play guitar and ran away before the performance, causing a lot of trouble for Senpai Ryou and Senpai Nijika, with Bocchi-chan's help, Kita rejoined the Kessoku Band and started learning guitar, steadily improving.
The senpai she once admired had now become a close friend.
Emotionally and logically, Kita didn't want to see Senpai Ryou get hurt.
"If we're talking danger…", Kaito paused for a moment, "Does being punished afterward by Nijika's iron fist count?"
"Nijika-senpai's not that violent…", Kita was speechless but amused. Thinking about it carefully though, this actually seemed very likely.
They say every force has its counter. Ryou might seem like a cool and aloof ice queen with a strong personality who's hard to approach.
But in front of Nijika, who knew her true nature, she was completely dominated. Even little Bocchi would be hounded by Senpai Nijika to repay debts, if not, no meals for her.
Still, Nijika was too softhearted. She'd say "no food," but as soon as Ryou acted pitiful, she'd still share her fries.
'So maybe… those two are actually mutually restraining types?'
A simple joke lightened Kita's anxious mood a lot, her earlier worries gone.
Even though she wanted to stay a little longer, even if just to chat idly…
She remembered it was already late, so the girl reluctantly said goodbye, "Then… I won't disturb you any longer, Kaito-kun."
Kita stood up, ready to leave, but as she turned to go, she suddenly doubled back and sneak-attacked Kaito with a quick peck on the face, "Th-this is just a thank-you for comforting me."
With both hands behind her back, her face flushed red as fire, the girl still wore a big smile, as bright as the first ray of morning sunshine.
"Kaito-kun, good night," Kita turned to leave, this time she really meant to go.
Though it was just a light, dragonfly-touch kiss, and the target was the cheek, not the lips…
This was still the first time in her life that Kita had such intimate contact with a boy. She was dying to rush back to her room, hug her pillow, and roll around on the bed to vent all her nervous excitement and joy.
But she had barely taken two steps when her wrist was caught by Kaito.
'Ehh, eehhh???'
The girl jumped in shock, 'C-c-could it be! Kaito-kun is going to…'
She didn't dislike him, but that kind of thing should wait until after they started dating, right? Besides, she heard it hurts the first time for girls, and she had to go to the shrine tomorrow to gather intel. It would totally affect her performance…
Just from looking at her expression, Kaito could basically guess what this girl was thinking.
He helplessly pointed toward the door and sighed, "If you don't want to bump into someone else, it's best not to leave through the front door."
'What does that mean?'
Before Kita could react, the door was knocked on, followed by Senpai Ryou's voice.
"Good evening, Ultraman. I am Rena. May I come in?"
'W-wait a minute! Why did Kaito-kun know Senpai was arriving in advance?'
'That's not the point.'
The point is… she had just stolen a kiss from Kaito, and now Kita was full of guilt.
Suddenly hearing Senpai's voice made her feel like she'd just been caught cheating, panic rising out of nowhere.
'…But I am clearly the one who came here first, so why do I have such a weird feeling?'
'No no no, I need to find a place to hide!'
Kita had thought about just casually greeting Ryou, 'But Senpai is a smart girl. She might notice from some small clue what I have just done, then I will really have no face left to show anyone.'
'Under the bed? No good.'
'Behind the curtain? No good.'
The room was big, but there weren't many places to hide.
At last, a plain-looking wardrobe caught her attention.
Kita's beautiful eyes lit up. Without another word, she dove in.
And then…
Two people, smiling awkwardly yet politely, waved at the red-haired girl who hadn't figured out what was going on yet.
"Kita-chan… good evening?" x2
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