"Sawa, you… you were eavesdropping on us last night?"
Tokisaki Kurumi, face blazing red, stared at Yamauchi Sawa in disbelief.
"What do you think?" Sawa blinked playfully, firing the question back.
"You… I'm gonna kill you!"
Overcome with shame, Kurumi dove at her, shoving Sawa down onto the sofa and starting to wrestle with her.
Last night was something she didn't dare think about too closely, and now she found out her best friend had been listening at the door the whole time. Didn't that mean every last mortifying sound she made had been heard?!
She wanted to die.
She wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear.
"W–wait! Don't get so worked up!"
Sawa had no time to fight back; she was pinned under Kurumi and couldn't throw her off at all. Physically, they were about the same.
All she could do was barely defend herself and try to calm Kurumi down.
But Kurumi was already completely consumed by humiliation and anger, her reason gone.
She seriously felt like dragging her best friend down with her.
"I don't care! I'm gonna fight you to the death! How could you do that?! Listening at the door—you're such a creep!"
"That's not fair, I only did it because I was afraid you'd be too shy and nothing would happen with Shichen in the end, so I stayed to make sure!"
"I don't care! That's just an excuse! You must've heard a lot, right? Don't tell me you listened all the way to the end!"
"Of course not. I left halfway through—otherwise I was afraid I wouldn't be able to stop myself from joining in."
"What? You listened to half of it?!"
"That's what you're hung up on?"
"You pervert! Closet perv! Wanting to join in is way too normal for you!"
"I am not a closet perv!"
"If you're not, then why were you eavesdropping?"
"I told you, I was worried you'd chicken out."
"I'm not that timid!"
"Please. If Shichen hadn't been that proactive, would you really have 'consummated the relationship' last night?"
"Ugh…"
Kurumi stopped pinning Sawa down. Her friend's words stabbed right through her, leaving her speechless.
"Now's my chance!"
Sawa took advantage of the opening, twisted her body, and reversed their positions, pressing Kurumi down instead, looking at her triumphantly.
"You're such a little weakling. Think about how old you are already and you're still blushing like some middle schooler. Aren't you embarrassed?"
"I…"
"It's not like anyone saw anything. I mean, I saw what you looked like after and I didn't care, so what are you fussing about?" Sawa teased mercilessly.
"Not everyone has a face as thick as yours!" Kurumi shot back, furious.
"Hey, my face isn't thick. I just don't mind you seeing me, that's all."
"How can you not mind… that kind of thing…"
"Why not? How long have we even known each other? We practically know everything about each other at this point."
"Well, yes, but…"
"So what if I heard you? Worst case, next time I'll let you listen in on me. Happy now?" Sawa said, completely unconcerned.
"L–Listen… listen in on you?!" Kurumi froze.
"Why? If you'd rather watch, I don't mind that either."
"I absolutely do not want to watch!"
"Really? You don't want to watch and learn a few positions?"
"You're insane!" Kurumi snapped, mortified.
"What? We're us. You think you're just gonna lie there like a plank when it's the two of us next time?"
"'The two of us' what?" Kurumi frowned, not following.
"You've experienced Shichen's 'strength' now, right? One person's not enough."
"You… you're sick! There's no way I'm doing something like that with you…"
"Didn't Kaguya and Yuzuru already do it together?"
"T–That… that's different!"
"No it's not. We're basically the same as they are."
"We are not!"
"But Shichen would be really happy, you know~ Don't you want to make him happy? Satisfy him?"
"I…"
"It's fine, I'll go first. You can just sit on the side and study," Sawa said comfortingly.
"Sawa… you don't secretly want the two of us together, do you?" Kurumi suddenly narrowed her eyes at her.
"Of course not!" Sawa denied righteously.
"Really?" Kurumi's suspicious stare intensified.
"Really!" Sawa nodded hard.
"…"
Kurumi squinted at her, clearly unconvinced. There's no way someone brings this up out of nowhere. She definitely didn't believe Shichen had told Sawa to suggest it.
Her best friend really had gone full degenerate.
"Just trust me, okay?" Sawa pleaded, resorting to acting cute when she saw Kurumi still doubting her.
"Forget it. Whether it's you or Shichen who wants it or not, I am not agreeing to something like that. Two people together… that's way too perverted!" Kurumi said firmly.
"Geez, such a chicken. Kaguya and Yuzuru can do it together and Shichen probably loves it."
"Then he already has two people with him. He doesn't need us."
"It's not the same. Kaguya and Yuzuru aren't us. What he feels from us would be different."
"…You've definitely lost your mind," Kurumi sighed.
Her best friend was absolutely not like this before. How did one round of "consummation" turn her into such a maniac?
Or was it just the joy of having her wish granted?
Thinking about it, that actually made sense.
She could understand it—but accepting it was another matter entirely.
It was already embarrassing enough with just one person. The fact that someone had listened in had almost killed her. If there was someone watching from the side next time—and even participating… she didn't even dare imagine it.
"In any case, I'm not agreeing. You can give up on that idea."
"Sigh, why are you such a weakling, Kurumi?" Sawa shook her head when she saw she hadn't persuaded her.
"…Say whatever you want."
When Shichen finished cooking, he found the atmosphere between them distinctly off.
They weren't sitting close together at all, their backs practically turned, both facing away like sulky kids.
But somehow it didn't feel like a real fight.
"What's with you two…?" Shichen asked.
"Nothing," Kurumi said, shaking her head.
"Shichen, listen to me—Kurumi is way too selfish!" Sawa bounced up and latched onto Shichen's arm.
"Selfish?"
Sawa clung tighter, her tone turning soft and sugary. "Yeah! Just because she got embarrassed, she doesn't care at all about your pleasu—"
"Sawa!" Kurumi snapped, immediately cutting her off.
"What?" Sawa looked at her with a teasing smile.
"You are not allowed to say another word! Especially not in front of Shichen!"
"Eh? Why not? You're trying to hide it from him now? What happened to your 'loyalty'?"
"Loyalty my foot! That kind of thing doesn't count as loyalty!" Kurumi yelled, flustered.
"What are you two talking about?" Shichen asked, feigning ignorance.
His hearing was hardly average, and the kitchen wasn't far—of course he'd heard their earlier argument.
And it was just like he'd thought: Sawa really was the ultimate support-type partner.
With Kurumi and Sawa as a pair, there was no way he wouldn't think about that kind of thing. He was a normal man, after all.
Not that he could say it out loud.
What he hadn't expected was that Sawa actually understood his thought process.
"You really don't need to worry about it, Shichen, it's not that big a deal," Kurumi said quickly.
"Eh? Really?" Sawa said with mock innocence.
"Sawa… enough. Whatever it is, we'll talk about it later, okay? I still have school," Kurumi said desperately.
"You said it yourself?"
"I did!"
"Then we'll leave it there. Shichen, let's eat~" Sawa tugged Shichen over to the sofa.
"So what is it, exactly?" Shichen pressed.
"You'll find out later~" Sawa replied, grinning.
"Great, now you're doing the cryptic thing too."
"Heehee~ I mean, I am already moulded into your shape," Sawa said sweetly.
"Sawa!" Kurumi glared at her, outraged.
"What? Am I wrong? You're Shichen-shaped too, aren't you?"
"…"
Breakfast was, despite everything, surprisingly peaceful.
After they ate, Kurumi headed off to school, and Shichen got ready to leave as well.
Sawa had wanted to keep him a bit longer—to maybe "review" yesterday—but Shichen decided it was better to let her rest for a day.
A support that good couldn't be allowed to burn out from overuse.
When he got home, just as he expected, everyone had already gone to school.
Shichen changed into his work clothes and headed in himself; he had classes today.
Of course, he got thoroughly interrogated by Tohka and the others.
The head of the household staying out all night was a serious matter.
He didn't tell them everything, but he didn't bother hiding the fact that he'd spent the night at Kurumi and Sawa's place.
Kurumi's change was obvious enough that even if he'd stayed quiet, everyone except Tohka would have figured it out.
At least among them, there was nothing he had to keep secret.
At lunch, Shichen and Murasame Reine ate together in the teachers' cafeteria.
Reine did something rare: she started the conversation.
"Shichen-kun, what are you planning to do next?"
"Next? First, I'm going to make sure all the spirits are protected. After that, I'm going to find her," Shichen answered between bites.
The "her" was, of course, the First Spirit. That wasn't much of a secret anymore; everyone in Ratatoskr knew.
"And after you find her… hm. Then, do you know how many spirits there actually are?" Reine asked.
"No idea," Shichen said, glancing at her, shaking his head.
"Besides her, there's one last spirit," Reine replied calmly.
"The last one? How do you know?"
"Based on my calculations, the number of spirits should match the number of 'sephira' on the World Tree—ten in total," Reine explained.
"The World Tree, huh… Then what about the First Spirit? Doesn't she make eleven?"
"The First Spirit is the origin of everything. She's the World Tree itself… Though nobody knows why she chose to split her power and give it to humans."
"I see… So there's just one left," Shichen said quietly.