"'A Manual for Raising a Loyal Boyfriend'... There's actually such a book?"
Shinomiya Kaguya widened her eyes in disbelief.
It was her first time encountering the term loyal boyfriend, but she easily understood the implication—if you raise a boyfriend into a loyal dog, is he still a boyfriend or just a pet?
"Where there's demand, there's a market," Hayasaka said nonchalantly as she popped the lollipop out of her mouth with a soft pop. Twirling her hair lazily around a finger, she licked the candy with her pink tongue and continued, "I also saw One Hundred Days to Make a Rich Woman in Tokyo Fall in Love with Me and A Step-by-Step Guide to Conquering the Wife Next Door at the bookstore…"
"Wait—aren't those last two titles kind of weird?!"
Kaguya couldn't help but raise her voice.
Pursuing a Tokyo rich lady was one thing, but conquering the wife next door? That was a whole new level of shameless!
"Don't sweat the details," Hayasaka said, leaning against the door with a bored expression. "You're a total love rookie with zero real experience. You need material like this. Otherwise, you'll just watch the boy you like get snatched away."
"You're overthinking things!" Kaguya's voice spiked defensively, a faint blush rising to her cheeks. "It's not like I like him or anything!"
"The volume of your voice doesn't affect how convincing you sound." Hayasaka shrugged. "You've had no appetite for days, and you've got dark circles under your eyes—all because of him."
"That's because…"
Kaguya bit her lip.
The other day's strange incident still weighed on her. She'd reported it to Hayasaka immediately—but without proof, Hayasaka hadn't believed a word of it.
"Whatever. Let's go home," she said, her tone returning to calm.
Hayasaka raised an eyebrow. "Want me to toss the book, Miss?"
Kaguya paused, then silently took the book and slipped it into her bag. Her expression was composed as she said evenly, "Don't litter."
It doesn't matter if it's a manual for raising a loyal boyfriend… There's bound to be some manipulative tricks in it. Might as well learn something useful.
That's right. I'm only reading it to better exploit that guy!
On the Way Home
Amamiya Natsuki happened to run into Miko and Yurikawa Hana.
"Good afternoon, Amamiya-san!" the cheerful blonde waved with a bright smile, completely opposite from the cold look on Miko's face. "Shall we study together again today?"
"Haaah…"
Miko stifled a yawn with one hand, her dark circles even more pronounced than before.
Amamiya walked over and looked at her in concern. "Didn't sleep well again?"
"No…" Miko bit her lip, frustration on her face.
Spirits could pass through walls—closing the door was useless. They were more annoying than flies or mosquitoes.
Last night, after Amamiya left, Miko had finally hoped for a peaceful sleep… only for a spirit covered in eyeballs to crawl right through the door and slide under her bed like it owned the place.
She didn't dare look.
Didn't dare move.
She lay there for who-knows-how-long before finally falling asleep. No wonder her dark circles had worsened.
They chatted all the way and soon reached the front door.
"Let's study at Natsuki's place today?" Yurikawa suggested brightly, raising her hand.
Amamiya turned slowly. "Isn't it dangerous to visit a strange boy's home?"
"It's fine—Natsuki and I are already friends!" Yurikawa beamed as she hugged Miko's arm. "Besides, Miko's here. There's no way you'd dare try anything."
Miko's eyes drooped slightly as she murmured, "Sorry, but I'll just turn a blind eye."
"Wha—how could you?!"
"…"
Amamiya took out his key and opened the door. "Come in. Slippers are in the cabinet. Help yourselves."
Yotsuya was already used to this and slipped into her usual salted-fish slippers.
"Thanks, Natsuki-san."
Yurikawa was more polite. After changing shoes, she even arranged all three pairs neatly before happily reaching down to pet the dog.
"What do you want to drink?" Amamiya opened the fridge. "Barley tea, oolong tea, or cola?"
He paused.
There was a human-headed ghost lying inside the refrigerator.
Yeah, that's a jump scare.
"Barley tea."
"Oolong tea."
The girls answered without hesitation.
Amamiya activated his anti-evil aura silently. The ghost screamed and dissolved into mist, dissipating harmlessly.
Breaking into someone's house is bad enough, but hiding in the fridge? That's just rude.
He handed the drinks to Miko and Yurikawa and led them upstairs to his room.
"Excuse us."
Yurikawa entered behind Miko, curiously glancing around. "Wow—it's so clean! I thought it'd be a total mess."
"I cleaned it yesterday," Amamiya replied, dragging in a folding table from the balcony.
"Huh?"
"It's usually messy. No room to walk. Supernatural stuff happens all the time."
"Supernatural?!"
Yurikawa clasped her hands nervously.
Amamiya lowered his voice, adopting a serious tone. "Not long ago, I woke up one morning and noticed something important was missing. There were no signs of forced entry. Doors and windows were all locked. No one could have gotten in."
He paused dramatically.
"No matter how hard I searched, it was gone—vanished from the face of the earth."
Yurikawa's voice trembled. "Could… could it be a ghost?"
Miko propped her head on one hand and asked flatly, "So what did you lose?"
"That's the right question," Amamiya said solemnly, intertwining his fingers. "That morning, I got dressed and found I only had one sock. The other one was missing. I searched everywhere. It never turned up."
"Wait, it was socks?!" Yurikawa stared at him in disbelief.
"What were you expecting?" Amamiya asked.
The blonde girl puffed out her cheeks like a hamster hoarding seeds. "Natsuki-kun, that's so mean!"
"I'm sorry," Amamiya said without the slightest guilt. "But I wasn't lying. Randomly disappearing socks are one of the top three supernatural events in everyday life."
Yurikawa, holding her oolong tea, blinked. "Um… what are the other two?"
"You want to know?" Amamiya turned to her.
"Uh-huh." Yurikawa nodded eagerly, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.
Amamiya calmly pulled out his workbook. "Too bad. Not telling."
"Wha—Miko, he's bullying me! Do something!"
Yotsuya Miko flopped onto the table like a salted fish. "Sorry. I'm too tired to care."