The horizon was painted in a hazy blue-gray, dreamlike and unreal, as Kyousuke let out the exhaustion he'd carried through the long night.
As that blue-gray began to soften, faint golden rays spilled across the cherry blossom tree that looked as if it had been reborn.
Birds that had been hiding and sleeping among the leaves suddenly spread their wings, flying off to some random plaza in search of offerings from those foolish two-legged creatures.
The dorm, which had been quiet all night, suddenly stirred awake.
Still half-asleep, Eriri trudged down the stairs, mumbling a lazy "good morning" to whoever was around.
Without her glasses she couldn't tell who was who anyway.
Her dazzling blonde hair looked nothing like the polished art piece it usually resembled—now it was just a messy tumble.
But really, that was only natural.
If something could stay flawless without any effort, how could it possibly be enviable?
Barefoot, rubbing her eyes, she wandered toward the edge of the living room.
The crisp scent of dew and fresh grass rushed into her nose, clearing her foggy brain just a little.
She lazily stretched her arms high, arching her back.
"Mmm~ahhh~~"
Her cotton pajamas lifted slightly as she stretched, revealing a glimpse of her soft, pale stomach—gone again the moment her arms dropped.
Planting her hands on her hips, she exhaled, as if all the fatigue of sleep had been released through that stretch.
Her sky-blue eyes sparkled.
"Ahh~ yes, this is why getting up is worth it! Just for the stretch!"
The golden-haired princess laughed proudly at Shouko beside her.
Even without her glasses, someone with that body shape was impossible to mistake.
A chest that big? Other than that woman, Kasumigaoka Utaha, it could only be Shouko.
But if it were Utaha here, then stretching like this would've been a disaster!
"Hehe~ I was worried you wouldn't wake up today," Shouko giggled softly.
She had been standing there since before Eriri got up, gazing at the transformed courtyard—or more precisely, gazing at the thought: As expected of me.
Eriri, after her triumphant declaration, didn't bother continuing the conversation.
For some reason, even though she was awake, she still felt sluggish.
So she decided to push through with another stretch!
Turning toward the courtyard, the golden-haired princess lifted her gaze.
Wow. Beautiful.
Her family's estate garden was a hundred times bigger than this dorm's yard—just their tulip fields alone could supply enough blooms to decorate floats.
But this cherry blossom tree… she could never get tired of it.
Even if every cherry blossom on the streets had already withered, this one bloomed stubbornly, just like her own resilient self.
Even when it shed its blossoms, it would miraculously bloom again overnight—just like her, perfect, beautiful, flawle—
"AAAAAAHHHHH—!!"
A shrill scream pierced the morning air, loud enough to break through even the dorm's reinforced walls.
Eriri's eyes went wide.
Her messy blonde hair practically exploded like she'd been struck by lightning.
Shouko, beside her, only frowned with an awkward smile.
'Eriri, as oblivious as always.'
She opened her mouth, ready to tease her… but before a word left her lips, the blonde girl staggered back, then whirled around and bolted upstairs like a wild boar charging headfirst.
Her bare feet slammed against the wooden stairs with a loud thud-thud-thud.
"AAAAHHHHH—!! Kyousuke!! My eyes are broken! My brain is broken!!"
Her desperate cries echoed through the halls, filled with despair and disbelief.
Shouko could only close her lips with a helpless sigh, tilting her head against the glass door frame, quietly gazing back at the miraculous cherry blossom tree.
Kyousuke, who had only just fallen asleep, stirred groggily awake in his pitch-black room.
He sat up, frowning, not even sure why he'd woken, when the door suddenly slammed open.
His eyes hadn't yet adjusted to the sudden flood of light when a shrill, desperate voice rang out:
"Kyousuke! Help me! My eyes—my eyes…!"
The words were followed immediately by a violent impact. Pain flared in his stomach as he groaned.
It was her. Of course it was her.
Who else in this world could unleash such an attack on Hojou Kyousuke, if not Eriri?!
Still crying out, she charged into his room.
The place might've looked like a vampire's cave with how dark it was, but she knew it so well she could find Kyousuke's bed even while sleepwalking.
Without hesitation, without a shred of doubt, she leapt forward and crashed straight into him.
Having just sat up, Kyousuke was instantly knocked flat, the whole bed shaking violently.
Now perched atop his abs—which had gone rock hard from the sudden jolt—Eriri trembled in fear, even as the familiar, comforting scent of him surrounded her.
Because what had she seen?
The cherry blossom tree, bare just last night, was now in full bloom.
Overnight! What kind of sick joke was that?!
The cherry blossoms had already fallen for the season!
Her eyes—were they broken? Or was her brain broken, hallucinating things that weren't there?!
AAAAHHHHH!!
Realizing her sight—or her mind—had failed her, sheer terror took hold.
She felt how fragile she truly was.
Instinctively, she rushed to the one person who could make her feel safe.
In his arms, this weak, pitiful, helpless girl could finally find protection.
So Eriri clung desperately to Kyousuke's neck, wailing her despair at the top of her lungs.
Meanwhile, Kyousuke's eyes rolled back, his consciousness slipping.
Yesterday alone, he'd fought three times—once at the kendo club, once at Haruna Mountain, and once with the Yamazakura group.
Altogether he'd probably flattened over a hundred people.
For anyone else, that would've meant at least a week bedridden, but for him, that was just another day.
What really drained him was painstakingly reattaching every single petal to the branches of "As Expected of Me" until the tree looked like it had bloomed anew.
He'd slept less than an hour before being hit with a full-force "human battering ram."
Sure, the girl was petite and light, but she attacked with terrifying sincerity—charging like a wild boar!
Add in Kyousuke's passive trait of "losing all ability to resist at critical moments," and she nailed him square in the gut, leaving his stomach churning like stormy seas.
And she wasn't done.
The one now sitting astride him clearly understood the importance of finishing blows.
One body slam wasn't enough—she had to grab his neck, squeeze with all her strength, and shake him violently, tighter and tighter—
"My eyes! My eyes are broken! And my brain—my brain's broken too!!"
Eriri's tear-filled cries grew louder as she shook him.
'Mom, I'm glad I was born your son.'
'Sakura, I'm so grateful I met you. Shouko, your voice is really beautiful.'
'And Eriri… you're way stronger than you look…'
As his saliva literally shook free from his mouth, Kyousuke saw the lights of his life flashing before his eyes—his utterly exhausting life surrounded by troublesome, beautiful girls replaying in one endless loop.
"Stop it already, you idiot! What the hell are you doing?!"
Eriri, still drowning in despair, froze when she heard that voice—the one she hated most.
Of course.
That's exactly how demons worked, swooping in to prey on you at your weakest.
The golden-haired princess suddenly felt the back of her neck seized—not by fate, but by her collar—as someone yanked her backward.
Yet even as she was dragged away, she stubbornly clung to Kyousuke's neck.
Only Shouko's timely intervention saved him.
"What's wrong with you, losing your mind first thing in the morning? You're like some gorilla throwing a tantrum because it can't peel a banana."
Eriri sat there on the bed in a duck-like squat, tears still brimming in her eyes, staring blankly at the black-haired woman whose lips moved nonstop, spitting out poisonous words.
Those blood-red eyes flashing ominously only confirmed it—this had to be a hallucination brought on by demonic possession.
"D-Do gorillas even peel bananas?" the blonde princess asked dumbly, as though cowed by the demon's aura.
"I know that one!" A small, excited voice piped up.
Hojou Kasuko had waddled into the room without anyone noticing, waving her hand like she was answering a quiz show.
"All gorillas have type-B blood! And people with type-B blood are really good at peeling bananas!"
The instant this little cutie squeezed herself into the scene, Kasumigaoka Utaha's expression softened in a blink.
The speed of that change startled more than one person.
"That's right. But your Sawamura-oneechan isn't type-B, so it's perfectly normal that she doesn't know how to peel a banana," Utaha explained gently, crouching down to Kasuko's level.
"That's not true at all!" Eriri snapped, finally coming back to her senses. "Who in the world can't peel a banana?!"
"Then what, are you type-B blood?" Utaha shot back without even looking at her.
"…No!"
Utaha gave Kasuko a smug little see, I told you smile.
Kasuko beamed happily in return.
Before Eriri could launch into another defense, Kasuko clambered up onto the bed.
She wriggled into Shouko's arms and snatched Kyousuke back into her own, shaking him vigorously.
"Onii! Did you fall asleep again, Onii? Kasuko is talking to you, Oniii!"
Her chubby little hands slapped Kyousuke's cheeks with surprising force, as though trying to physically beat the sleep demons out of him.
At his sister's voice, Kyousuke who had just moments ago felt himself drifting into paradise in the warmth of an embrace—finally cracked his eyes open.
"Good morning, Kasuko," he murmured, pressing his forehead lightly against hers.
"Good morning, Onii. I thought Eriri had killed you." Kasuko said it with genuine worry.
"I did not kill him! Hugging doesn't count as killing!" Eriri yelled in protest. "Even if Kasumigaoka Utaha—that fat cow—sat on him, that still wouldn't—mmph, mmphhh—!!"
Her words were cut off as Utaha promptly clamped a hand over her mouth.
The black-haired beauty gave the room a serene, elegant smile… all while trying to smother both Eriri's mouth and her nose at the same time.
"Ahh! Eriri's rolling her eyes!" Kasuko squealed, clapping her hands like she'd just witnessed a circus trick.
The chaos was only broken when Hojou Mikiko appeared at the doorway, giving Kyousuke a chance to finally get dressed.
Out in the courtyard, a pure white table set had already been arranged neatly on the grass.
Some stood, some sat, but all eyes were fixed on the miraculous cherry blossom tree—withered yesterday, blooming again today.
"What was I supposed to do?! Any normal person would've freaked out at the sight!"
Eriri slammed her milk cup down with a duang and puffed her cheeks indignantly.
"Last night I was literally telling Sakura how the blossoms were all gone for the year, and then this morning—bam!—the bare branches were bursting with flowers again. Of course a normal person would think they were hallucinating!"
Her voice grew more confident with every word, pride seeping back into her tone.
"Wouldn't a normal person first think they were just seeing things? Especially when you're as nearsighted as you are."
Utaha sipped her tea, giving the blonde girl a sideways glance.
The milk froth clinging to Eriri's lips only made her look more ridiculous.
"Hmph! Only indecisive fools waste time on such useless, cowardly doubts. A perfect, brilliant, and courageous girl like me will always make the correct call immediately!"
Eriri tossed her head back with a proud huff.
After all, only she knew what it was like to see the world through severe nearsightedness.
To instantly confirm it wasn't just her vision and decisively conclude her brain must be broken—that couldn't even be described as excellent anymore.
If the boy with the axes had possessed her level of judgment, he would've robbed the River God blind instead of settling for just three measly axes.
Kasumigaoka Utaha, that busty airhead, would never understand her greatness!
"As expected of you," Utaha said with a tone of admiration.
"If it were me, I'd never believe something was wrong with my brain. Only Sawamura-san could arrive at that conclusion so quickly. Impressive."
"Exactly! That's because you eat too much, and all your brain's nutrients get stolen by your body!"
The blonde princess accepted her enemy's submission with perfect composure.
"You're so cute, Lily," Mikiko laughed, cheerfully dabbing the milk off Eriri's lips with a napkin. "The first thing you did when you couldn't handle something was shout for Kyousuke. Adorable."
"Ugh… w-well, that's just because he's always getting mixed up in this kind of nonsense! Of course I'd think of him first when I needed someone to yell at!"
Eriri's cheeks flushed pink as she craned her neck in denial.
Everyone could hear her tsundere contradiction loud and clear, but her words had already shifted the group's focus toward the boy slumped over the table.
The little tea table wasn't big to begin with.
With two people sprawled across it, there was barely any space left for teacups.
Yes—besides Kyousuke, Yamauchi Sakura was also there, equally drained from staying up late.
Both lay collapsed on the table: Kyousuke half-playing a staring contest with Kasuko, Sakura dazedly gazing at the blooming cherry blossoms.
Even Sakura, who had the superpower of sleeping through anything, couldn't stay unconscious after Eriri's screaming.
"So beautiful…" she whispered softly.
The blossoms really had bloomed, just like Kyousuke said they would.
As long as spring remained, the cherry blossoms would never truly fall.
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