"Kaguya... I was wrong!"
Kaguya, who had just heard Chika's shout, turned her head and was immediately hit by the heaviest face-wash impact.
That impact, coupled with an intense feeling of suffocation, left Kaguya with only one thought.
This pig, whose nutrition all went to her chest, wants to suffocate me.
She struggled desperately to break free from Chika's suffocating embrace, then gasped for air in large gulps.
"Inhale... exhale..."
The incident happened too suddenly, leaving her no chance to adjust before the suffocation directly suppressed her still-insensitive nerves.
"Fujiwara, are you trying to suffocate me?"
"Ugh, Kaguya, I'm sorry."
A wronged Chika apologized pitifully, then once again shoved Kaguya's head into her chest.
This plunged Kaguya back into a struggle.
Everyone who witnessed this scene had one question.
Is this an apology?
Looking at Kaguya still struggling in Chika's chest, then at Chika's apologetic face, they could only think that an apology meant suffocation.
However, Chika's actions were quickly stopped.
Ren walked into the villa from behind. He glanced at Chika and Kaguya, sighed helplessly, then raised his hand and lightly tapped Chika's head.
"Dong!"
A very light collision sound made the agitated Chika stop.
"?"
She turned her head questioningly toward Ren, only to see him point at her chest. She then noticed Kaguya, buried in her chest, had stopped moving, and finally reacted.
"Ah! Kaguya, are you okay!"
Watching Chika's flustered movements, Ren turned his gaze to Hayasaka.
"Hayasaka, help her."
"Yes."
Hayasaka, who had been observing for a while, finally took action, taking the nearly suffocated Kaguya from Chika's hands.
"Hoo... hoo..."
Rescued this time, Kaguya was breathing even more rapidly than before.
Having been ambushed twice in a row, she was truly on the verge of being suffocated, and what was more shameful was that it was by her good friend... that pig whose nutrition all went to her chest.
"You really wanted to suffocate me, didn't you!"
Kaguya took a few breaths before steadying herself with Hayasaka's support.
Despite her complaints, she knew this person sometimes acted overly naive.
Hmm, this pig has always been unaware that she could chest-kill someone by suffocating them.
"Tell me. Why are you suddenly so agitated after skiing back with Ren?"
At that, Chika completely deflated.
"Because when I was teaching Ren how to ski just now, this person cheated. Because the Clown can control body coordination and balance very well, and can also completely control body tissues, this person learned to ski very quickly."
"It took me a very, very long time to learn how to ski back then."
It was evident how much resentment Chika held in that last sentence.
Ah, so that's how it is.
The others probably understood by now.
Ren led by example, making Chika realize how unacceptable achievements gained through cheating were. Then, prompted by Ren, she reflected on the victories she usually gained by cheating in games and began to show some introspection.
As the others realized, Kaguya, of course, had also realized.
She gave the deflated Chika an exasperated look.
"So you finally know how annoying your previous behavior was. I thought you would realize quickly, but who knew you would need Ren to remind you."
Hearing her friend say this, Chika knew that Kaguya and the others had endured for a long time, and she lowered her head in embarrassment.
"Because the Spectator's power was too easy to use, I got a bit carried away..."
"You weren't just carried away, you habitually cheated."
Kaguya never thought Chika was just carried away. Of course, one could use power if they had it. But this woman made cheating a habit.
"Cheating has become a habit for you. You liked to use such methods even before you had the Spectator's power. Now that you don't even need those methods, can you resist not cheating?"
"Ugh..."
These words left Chika unable to lift her head.
But this was the truth. She also knew she often cheated when playing games. In the past, she adhered to the principle that it was not cheating as long as she was not caught.
But after gaining extraordinary abilities, she suddenly threw her principles out the window. That was what led to the current problem.
"Fujiwara."
Seeing Kaguya unearth Chika's problem, Ren called out from behind.
"Mm."
Chika responded, then solemnly made a promise:
"Kaguya, I will never cheat again when playing games in the future. Especially not by using the Spectator's ability."
After finishing with Kaguya, Chika turned to the others:
"I promise I will never use the Spectator ability to cheat again. So, can everyone continue to play with me in the future?"
When one makes a mistake, one needs to admit it.
Chika was not unable to face her own problems. In fact, she dared to admit them.
Otherwise, no one in her circle would truly play games with her anymore.
"If you don't cheat, then it's no problem."
Hinagiku was the first to answer.
She had not left Hakuo Academy, and she did not have many opportunities to play with Chika normally.
It was only on weekends that she was cheated a few times when playing games, so the damage was not very serious.
As long as Chika promised not to cheat when playing games in the future, she would not stubbornly refuse to play with her.
"I have no problem either."
Nagi waved slightly.
As long as she did not directly read minds using the Spectator's ability, she agreed.
"I think others probably will not refuse either, as long as you don't violate the game rules yourself."
"I promise!"
To salvage her reputation, Chika was extremely serious this time.
Seeing that the matter was more or less settled, Ren took over the conversation.
"Chika's matter is in the past, so let's talk about what Chika and I encountered while skiing."
"Another story has gotten involved."
Ren's words caught everyone's attention.
(To be continued.)