'I suspect you're lying to me, but I have no evidence.'
Nijika wrinkled her perky little nose, looking all puffed up in anger.
But thinking it through carefully, if she kept fussing over it, the only one who'd end up embarrassed would be herself… so she let it go and looked at the other girls present, wanting to speak but holding back.
Nijika had planned to sneak back to her room quietly after Ryou left, pretending as if nothing had ever happened.
Even though Kita and Miura also knew this secret, since they were sisters in hardship, they'd definitely stick with her and keep the secret in silent agreement.
But now all of that was broken.
'He did it on purpose, didn't he? Definitely on purpose, right?'
The girl glared at the culprit, grinding her teeth lightly, really wanting to bite him.
'What a mean guy!'
———
The next morning, early.
The inn provided free meals three times a day. The taste was average, but the variety was impressive. Guests could also tell the waitress in advance what they wanted to eat, and the kitchen would prepare the necessary ingredients.
Of course, you couldn't make outrageous requests. Things like Australian lobster, foie gras, and caviar definitely weren't available.
Today's breakfast options were plentiful: ham salad sandwiches, grilled sea bream, fried eggs… and so on and so forth. You could pick whatever you liked.
Bocchi took a bite of the fried egg on her plate, feeling a bit confused.
'Why does it feel like... the mood this morning is kind of weird?'
No one was talking. Even the most cheerful Kita and the gentlest Nijika just kept their heads down, quietly eating their own breakfasts, not chatting at all.
'Did something happen that I don't know about?'
After they broke up last night, Bocchi just went back to her room to rest.
She played with her phone a bit before sleeping, or more accurately, she updated her "Guitar Hero" account with a new post.
The content was, [First sweet trip night with the super popular handsome guy from class.] Then, as she scrolled through the comments full of envy from fans, she couldn't stop grinning like an idiot, and eventually fell asleep just like that until dawn.
By the way, even though Bocchi was shy, introverted, and full of self-doubt in real life, so much so that she couldn't even look the convenience store clerk in the eye when buying something, she was a hopeless little social anxiety case, her online identity was entirely self-created.
In her online world, she was a super sociable extrovert with over a hundred friends in her contact list, and even had a school basketball ace as a boyfriend. That was the persona Bocchi made up online.
Of course, after meeting Kaito, that so-called basketball ace boyfriend was swiftly declared "broken up with" in her latest post, and she switched over to another "once-in-a-thousand-years super beautiful boy."
Even though it all sounded super exaggerated, a surprising number of fans actually believed her and even urged Bocchi to post photos, but the guilty little social anxiety case just ignored them all.
Boasting a bit online was fine, but if she really posted a photo of Kaito, there was a good chance that within three days, some rabid fan would dox him, trace the clues, and track him down offline for an assassination.
Just imagining that scenario made Bocchi shiver, 'Totally unacceptable!'
Ahem, back to the story.
Back to last night.
After having an honest chat, the girls decided to stick together through thick and thin. They came together, and they'd leave together.
To show their resolve, each of them went back to their rooms to grab their blankets and pillows, and they all made a floor bed in Kaito's room.
Although Kaito didn't quite understand the logic behind it, 'If you want to show determination, why do you have to crash in my room.'
But Ryou swore up and down that sleeping on the floor together better expressed the idea of "we're a shared fate unit."
Since he didn't have to sleep on the floor himself, Kaito just let them be.
However, this led to another problem.
If Bocchi saw her close friends walking out of Kaito's room early in the morning, she'd definitely be thunderstruck, right?
To avoid that situation, the girls woke up an hour early, brought the bed sheets and blankets back to their rooms, and tried to create the impression that "we slept in our own rooms last night."
Even though that prevented exposure, it made Nijika and the others feel naturally guilty when facing Bocchi, as if they'd done something bad behind her back.
In this kind of situation, naturally no one wanted to say much, afraid that a slip of the tongue would expose the truth.
And so, breakfast ended under that stifling atmosphere.
Today's destination was the most famous place in Hoori Town—Mochizuki Shrine, also the most popular tourist spot here.
After passing through the vermilion torii gates and following the stone steps straight ahead, before long they could see the grand main hall.
Maybe it was still too early, but when they arrived at the shrine, there weren't many worshippers around.
A gentle breeze carried falling cherry blossoms, scattering them across the ground, making the scene feel a bit lonely.
"Ah… it's that shrine maiden from yesterday who was following behind the old lady!", Kita suddenly pointed in a direction and said excitedly.
Following her gesture, they saw a familiar figure in red-and-white shrine maiden robes standing near the ema display not far away, holding a bamboo broom and sweeping the flower petals from the ground.
The shrine maiden clearly didn't expect them to come visit the shrine this early and looked a bit surprised.
But she still greeted them warmly, especially when she saw Kaito, even her professional smile turned noticeably more genuine.
After a brief exchange of greetings, the shrine maiden formally introduced herself: Mochizuki Ayako.
Nijika was still thinking about last night's sludge monster, and after a few sentences, got straight to the point, "Miss Mochizuki, could I trouble you to introduce us to the old lady from yesterday? I have a few questions I'd like to ask."
"You mean Granny Chiyo?"
Mochizuki Ayako hugged her broom and hesitated slightly, "Granny rarely meets outsiders these days. But if you don't mind, maybe you could tell me about your concerns instead?"
'Can we?'
Nijika first glanced at Kaito for approval. Seeing him nod, she made up her mind and explained what happened in the hot spring last night.
At first, Mochizuki Ayako kept smiling like a nun listening to a confession in a booth.
But once she heard the words "a monster resembling sludge in appearance," her smile gradually faded, and her expression became noticeably serious.
Looks like they really came to the right place today.
Seeing Mochizuki Ayako's obvious look of knowing something, Ryou was the first who couldn't hold it in and asked curiously, "Miss Mochizuki, you… seem to know where those sludge monsters came from?"
Facing her scrutinizing gaze, Mochizuki Ayako didn't get upset, she just nodded slightly, "The monsters you're talking about—I do know a bit about them."
"However, their name is not sludge monsters, but—"
"Vengeful Spirits."
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