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Scene shift—
The sky above Itogami Island had turned completely dark.
In his apartment, Kuroka sprawled across the sofa in the same kimono she'd worn at dinner. One arm propped up her chin while the other stretched forward holding her phone, wrist bent at ninety degrees to angle the screen toward herself. Her pale legs kicked idly in the air behind her—the picture of someone who'd been bored for far too long.
The next second, golden light flashed through the living room air as the youth appeared carrying multiple packages. Kuroka's cat ears immediately perked up, twitching alertly. She tossed her phone aside, pushed herself up from the sofa with both hands.
"Mmm~ Bokue, you're finally back! Big sis waited so long she almost fell asleep on the sofa, nya."
Though she complained, Kuroka moved quickly—rolling off the sofa in one smooth motion, bare feet padding across the floor in quick steps to reach him. Then she leaped up like an oversized caterpillar, wrapping herself around him face-first.
And immediately started sniffing all over Bokue.
"Mm-hmm, just as I thought. Even though you showered, that rich lady's scent is still obvious. And... oh, this seems to be that silver-haired head maid's perfume. Never thought you'd conquer even that cold-looking head maid, Bokue. Wonder what Rias would think if she knew about all this, hehehe... can't wait to see..."
"Kuroka, hold on a second..."
Bokue couldn't move at all with her wrapped around him.
His left hand held a box containing a TV, his right held a gaming console box, and tucked under his elbow was the space mirror Venelana had given him before he left.
In this state, he couldn't free his hands to pry Kuroka off, forced to stand still like a cat tree while the cat-eared girl rubbed against him.
At least Kuroka didn't shed...
"Hm? What's this?"
After pawing at him for about half a minute, thoroughly investigating every corner, she finally noticed the mirror tucked under his arm.
Though you couldn't tell it was a mirror just from looking—Venelana had wrapped it in cloth before he left. Combined with the full-length mirror's elongated shape, it looked like a wrapped surfboard at first glance.
"It's a mirror Lady Venelana gave us," Bokue answered honestly.
"A mirror?"
Kuroka wasn't so easily fooled. The cat-eared girl raised an eyebrow.
"Sure it's for 'us' and not just for you, Bokue? And why would she give us a mirror? Is it a proper mirror?"
"She said we can travel between the two realms anytime through this mirror..."
"Hmph, I knew it!"
As if she'd expected exactly this, the cat-eared girl snorted coldly.
"A space mirror—essential equipment for affairs and stealing lovers. Like anyone in the demon world doesn't know what this thing is for... I was wondering why Lady Venelana would suddenly think to give us a mirror. This is clearly for herself!"
Bokue: "..."
Well, he'd wondered if its reputation was really that notorious. Apparently he'd underestimated.
If even Kuroka knew, then it really was quite infamous.
"Alright, alright, let me put these things down first."
Bokue urged Kuroka to get off him while looking around the apartment.
"By the way, where's Ravel?"
"Back in her room."
Kuroka reluctantly unwrapped herself, feet touching the ground as she glanced toward the hallway leading to the bedrooms.
"She went back after dinner. After all, you weren't here, and she and I don't have much to talk about... Oh right, Rias came by after you left. Said we should come over for a bath now that they've moved in."
"Now?"
Bokue instinctively checked the clock.
He'd finished dinner around seven, and it was already past ten.
"They've definitely finished already, but we could still try."
Unlike her usual attitude, Kuroka eagerly encouraged him this time.
Bokue didn't think much of it, just gestured with the items in his hands.
"Sure, let's go. But let me put these down first."
❁❁❁❁
Meanwhile, in the old school building's first floor, all the lights were off except for one in the hallway connecting the entrance to the stairs.
The white-haired cat girl in children's pajamas stood at the empty storage room door at the hallway's end, knocking gently.
"Gasper, we're all going upstairs. I added water and firewood to the bath, so you can come out and bathe whenever you're ready."
"..."
No response came.
But that was enough.
Having sufficient experience communicating with the extremely shy vampire, Koneko left after speaking, turning off the hallway light before heading upstairs to her room.
One minute passed...
Two minutes passed...
Three minutes passed...
After about five minutes, the storage room door finally cracked open slightly. After confirming no one was outside, it opened fully.
Then... out crawled a cardboard box slightly larger than the daytime version.
If you listened closely, you could hear a muttering inside.
"Clothes... check. Game console... check. And the waterproof case too, or it'll be ruined if it falls in the water..."
After confirming everything once more, satisfied nothing was forgotten, the box on the floor began moving, slowly inching toward the bathroom, leaving faint shuffling sounds as cardboard scraped against wooden floors.
The scene looked exactly like stealth gameplay from Metal Gear.
But when Gasper finally reached the bathroom door, extending a pale, delicate hand through a hole cut in the cardboard to slide it open, the light from inside made the vampire hiding in the box squint.
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