A week passed quickly. Saturday.
Early in the morning, Murasame Shizu came to Shichen's house together with Mikado Ryōko.
Shichen, wearing only sweatpants, came downstairs to open the door for them.
"Good morning, Shichen… Eh—why are you half-naked?"
Seeing him bare-chested, Shizu's heart started pounding; that kind of sight was a bit too stimulating for a four-hundred-year-old ghost.
"What else would I be? I was still asleep," Shichen replied.
"Is that so? Then I'm really sorry for disturbing you." Shizu quickly bowed her head to apologize.
"Shizu, no need to be polite with him. Still sleeping at this hour is his own problem," Mikado said, patting Shizu's shoulder in support.
"Mikado-sensei and Shichen's relationship really has gotten close, huh," Shizu looked up and smiled happily.
"You really seem to like the idea of things going well between me and him," Mikado gave her a sideways glance.
"Hehe~ Mikado-sensei and Shichen are a match made in heaven."
"Match made in heaven, she says… Forget it. You planning to let us stand in the doorway all day?" Mikado shook her head and looked at Shichen.
"Just come in. Didn't you say you don't have to be polite with me?" Shichen stepped aside.
Mikado walked straight in. "We haven't had breakfast yet. When are you making it?"
"I'll make it in a bit—I did just wake up." Shichen rubbed Shizu's head as she followed them in, then shut the door.
Even if she was a four-hundred-year-old ghost, at the end of the day she was still just a girl, and she genuinely cared about him and Mikado. That deserved some praise.
Shizu went a little shy under the head-pat and hurried to catch up with Mikado.
"Sleeping this late—was it that comfortable with an armful of girls?" Mikado asked without looking back.
"Jealous? I invited you to stay, you didn't want to," Shichen said with a laugh.
Over the past few days their relationship had been warming up steadily. Mikado came over every day at noon to have lunch, and sometimes for dinner too.
At school, Shichen would also look for chances to get closer; just yesterday they'd already progressed to zero-distance heartbeat contact.
Mikado was an adult after all. She'd been shy at first, but she adapted quickly.
"I've got some very important equipment at my place. I can't relax if nobody's watching it," Mikado replied helplessly.
"Mikado-sensei, I can keep an eye on it. You should just move in with Shichen," Shizu immediately suggested.
"Quit playing matchmaker, you."
"Hehe~"
"I've got an idea," Shichen walked over.
"What idea?" Mikado looked at him, subconsciously running her eyes from head to toe.
He really was a perfect build, bursting with vitality. As a doctor, she loved that kind of body.
"Mm~" Shizu only took one look before clapping her hands over her eyes—but still peeked through her fingers. The little girl was curious too.
"I can move all of your equipment here. Then you'd be able to live with me, right?" Shichen said.
"How would you do that?"
"Like this." Shichen snapped his fingers. A wardrobe appeared beside him.
"This is…?!" Mikado stared in shock—that was her wardrobe from home.
"How did you do that?"
"Just spatial power. I can completely transplant your home into mine, overlapping the spaces. The room sizes are adjustable."
"Spatial power… that's not one of Princess Lala's inventions?" Mikado asked.
"Lala probably couldn't pull this off. And her inventions tend to bug out—not very safe."
"So you're saying… you actually have spatial powers?" Mikado stared at him, stunned.
"Mhm~" Shichen hummed proudly.
"Just what are you, really?" Mikado couldn't help asking.
"You'll find out before long. For now… I'm your man."
"Shoo." Mikado rolled her eyes to hide the flush on her cheeks.
"So, what do you say?"
"I'll think about it."
"Then let's move it all today," Shichen decided on his own.
If Mikado said "I'll think about it", that meant she'd already agreed.
"Do as you like," she answered calmly.
"What about me?" Shizu couldn't help asking.
"Of course you're living here too," Shichen said with a smile.
"Oh~" Shizu lit up. She'd get to ship her favorite couple from up close.
"You little…" Mikado gave Shichen a suspicious look.
"What did I do?"
"You're not… planning to make a move on Shizu too, are you?" Mikado asked.
"Eh—?" Shizu yelped, face turning bright red as she looked at Shichen.
"How could I? I only see Shizu as a little sister," Shichen replied evenly.
"Really?" Mikado fixed her gaze on him.
"Really."
"You'd better."
"Wow, you don't trust me at all. At least trust Shizu, okay?"
"Hmph, Shizu's too naïve. She'd walk right into your hands without noticing," Mikado said.
"Mikado-sensei, I'm not that easy to fool," Shizu protested.
"Oh? Then what do you think of Shichen?"
"Eh? Um… he's a pretty nice person."
"See?"
"Wait! That's not what I meant!" Shizu blurted, blushing.
"Alright, alright, Shizu—she's teasing you. Don't mind her. You and I are perfectly clean," Shichen said, rubbing her head again to comfort her.
"Mm!" Shizu nodded vigorously.
"…" Mikado stared silently at the two of them.
"Anyway, I should make breakfast. You two go upstairs and find Lala and the others."
"I'll pass. I'll just sit here," Mikado shook her head. As an adult, she honestly couldn't quite keep up with Lala and the others' energy.
"Then I'm going!" Shizu, on the other hand, ran upstairs full of excitement.
By now she was pretty familiar with the house—she'd been coming over a lot these past few days.
"Eeeek—!"
She'd barely reached the second floor before a scream rang out, loud enough to shake the whole house.
"What did you do last night?" Mikado asked Shichen.
"Nothing much."
"Don't lie. Shizu definitely just saw something not fit for children."
"They were just sleeping naked," Shichen explained.
"Naked? And you 'did nothing'?" Mikado looked him over again but didn't see any sign of exhausted stamina.
"Anything like that was already taken care of in the bath," he said.
"Tch." Mikado clicked her tongue in displeasure.
"What, you want in too?" Shichen wiggled his eyebrows at her teasingly.
"No. I do not," Mikado replied, expression flat.
"You're not getting away~"
"…"
By the time breakfast was ready, the shrieking Shizu had already dragged Lala and the others out of bed; Kotegawa Yui was there too.
She couldn't live with Shichen and the rest, but she could stay over on weekends. After a single taste, the girl had become addicted; last night she'd taken a lovers' bath with Shichen.
Lala had wanted to join, but Yui still wasn't ready for a three-person bath yet.
Breakfast was lively. With Shizu added into the mix, there were suddenly way more topics to talk about around the table.
Most of the conversation still revolved around magical girl shows; they really loved that stuff.
Even Frieren and Yami chimed in now and then.
Ever since that trip into the game world and meeting Kyouko in person, they hadn't seen her again—only on TV.
She was still plenty busy.
After breakfast, Lala and the others headed to the island ahead of time, while Shichen stayed behind to help move Mikado's home over.
It didn't take long.
He set up a basement for her, moved all her important medical equipment inside, and even expanded her bedroom.
Spatial powers really were convenient.
He hadn't changed much in Mikado's original home; she still needed a base for seeing alien patients.
Shichen didn't feel great about her treating aliens, though. Too many people wanted her ability; who knew how many would use "treatment" as an excuse to kidnap her?
To give Mikado a way to protect herself, Shichen had already decided to find a chance to bite her—turn her into a vampire and make her stronger.
Kotegawa Yui had already fully integrated his blood. With a vampire's body, there was nothing in this world she needed to fear anymore.
It would be a while yet before he could sink his fangs into Mikado.
Once they were finished, the two of them headed to the island together. Mikado had changed into her swimsuit back at home.
A deep red bikini—bold and daring, showing swathes of pale skin, the kind of sight that made you swallow unconsciously.
Among everyone, Mikado was in a league of her own. The moment she appeared she drew all the girls' eyes.
Those looks were full of envy.
Frieren's gaze burned the hottest.
There really wasn't much he could do for her in that department. He'd been "helping" her development for ages, but the results were minimal.
Elves just gave people that petite, fairy-like impression.
She probably wasn't going to see much change in the future either.
Fortunately, Shichen didn't care about size.