Tsurumi Rumi stood in place, lifted her head, and looked at Asakura who was facing directly toward her.
The night settled deep into the woods, the branches and leaves interlacing into a dark dome, and the fragmented moonlight spilled down upon the body of the boy in front of her.
He appeared much quieter in the night compared to his usual mischievous and playful self during the day.
Different from ordinary people, his slightly strange, grizzled short hair reflected the moonlight, looking as if it were covered in a thin layer of silver frost.
The eyepatch over his right eye covered the position where his gaze would originally have come from, yet it gave that face an indescribable sense of unreality.
Meanwhile, his remaining eye quietly gazed at her; though he was letting her make the decision, his gaze was not sharp, yet just realizing what kind of existence he was would still make one subconsciously hold their breath.
The moonlight drew a long, slender shadow behind him, while the darkness quietly gathered beside his shoulders. The little wooden person's face did not have rich expressions like an animal's; it was just quietly waving its hands and feet to express something, but unfortunately Tsurumi Rumi could not understand its meaning at all for the time being.
As the forest wind swept past, the leaves rubbed together in low murmurs, a sound that was infinitely magnified yet quickly dissipated. The fireflies suddenly flew up and scattered; probably starting from where the lights of the campsite became visible, their numbers sharply decreased by a lot, and now, even the last remaining bits of firefly light seemed about to dissolve into the night wind alongside it.
Tsurumi Rumi suddenly realized that she was being enveloped by a wondrous sense of reassurance—in this tranquility where the night and the forest interwoven, the very existence of the person in front of her felt like a pivot point that would never collapse.
Even putting aside the supernatural elements, just being able to have a conversation like this with him gave the girl an experiential feeling she had never had before.
Thereupon, the little one let out a heavy sigh.
Then, under Asakura's somewhat puzzled gaze, she gestured with the flower bud ring in her hand: "I've already accepted this, so I definitely won't leave the little wood thing behind and ignore it!"
The little wooden person immediately waved its hands and feet, becoming even happier.
"Tsunderes have already fallen out of the meta."
Asakura, taking the girl off guard, forcefully rubbed her little head, transforming her hair into a bird's nest before speaking with a chuckle.
"Ouch..."
Tsurumi Rumi covered her head and let out a dissatisfied sound.
Afterward, she looked at Asakura again; he was currently clutching that large snake which had been coiled on her head the entire time.
"Which one is this snake?"
Because she was unfamiliar with the other people at the campsite, Tsurumi Rumi did not know exactly who this snake was either—even though Asakura had already mentioned both of their names on the way, she couldn't match the names to their faces.
"Miura Yumiko."
Asakura said: "The Swiss brioche roll."
"Switzerland doesn't have brioche rolls, only the cake called a Swiss roll." The little one said with a stern face: "What you wanted to say is a French brioche roll, right."
"As long as the meaning is understood," Asakura said indifferently: "Don't you think it's very simple, easy to understand, and vivid?"
The large snake clutched in Asakura's hand looked pitifully toward Tsurumi Rumi, as if it were saying words like 'Feed me peanuts!'.
But the little girl truly couldn't bring herself to speak against her own conscience, so she could only turn her head away, refusing to look at the snake's pitiful appearance, nodding her head as she let out a quiet 'Mm'.
Thus, Miura (Snake) turned her belly over in Asakura's hand, putting on a look of utter despair as if saying 'Just let me die'.
As it turned out, Asakura still did not let Miura (Snake) off, continuing to play with and coil her.
"Um," Tsurumi Rumi looked at that snake getting closer and closer to looking like a dead pig being handled, and couldn't help but ask aloud: "Why do you have to coil her into this kind of shape?"
"Because wasn't she staying on top of your head just now?" Asakura coiled the Miura (Snake) in his hand into the shape of a piece of dung: "So in a broad sense, she can count as your hat, right?"
"Where is there such a thing as a moving hat..." The little one stared at the Miura (Snake) in Asakura's hand, finding it a bit hard to accept: "And no matter how you look at it, this shape is totally wrong!"
"That's true," Asakura looked at the Miura (Snake) in his hand, and the latter instinctively looked over as well; three eyes stared blankly at each other for a brief moment, and then Asakura said tentatively: "How about you die for a second first?"
Miura (Snake) shook its head frantically.
Tsurumi Rumi also came forward to stop him with a face that read 'No need to go that far, no need to go that far'.
To be honest, Asakura didn't care about the obstruction of this little potato at all; he only needed to lightly tip his toes, and it would be a height the little one could never reach in her entire life.
"Then I'll coil it even better, yes, just like this." Asakura said to Miura (Snake) with a beaming smile.
This has just become even more like dung, hasn't it!
Tsurumi Rumi screamed in her heart.
Could it be that she really was in this kind of shape when she was resting on my head? No wonder Asakura-nii always had an expression of wanting to laugh but holding it back every time he looked over!
In any case, when Miura (Snake) was coiled by Asakura into a proper bamboo hat shape, his superpower finally judged the other party to be a hat.
Thereupon, amidst Tsurumi Rumi's astonished gaze, he successfully pulled a silver-white fine chain out from the inside of the dung... ah, no, from the inside of the snake bamboo hat.
"This is..." Tsurumi Rumi narrowed her eyes: "Enoki mushroom? Ouch..."
Before she could even finish her sentence, Asakura chopped her on the head.
"Don't talk nonsense, Miura (Snake) isn't real dung."
Asakura said.
So even you think she looks like a pile of crap, right! Tsurumi Rumi grumbled indignantly in her heart.
However, Asakura subsequently handed that silver-white fine chain over to her.
At this moment, Tsurumi Rumi discovered that it was a slender, silver metal chain very commonly seen among necklaces.
The chain links were fine and uniform, like lines condensed from moonlight; it felt light and icy-cold when held between the fingers, gleaming with a soft and quiet light.
"That ring is a bit too large for you. Don't even think about wearing it on your hand until high school at least. String it on the chain and use it as a pendant," Asakura said.
"This is..." The girl looked at the fine silver chain in her hand with some surprise.
This is a variation of the Sword-in-a-Hat! A free erotic novelty toy!
"This is magic," Asakura said righteously, his entire body exuding an air of awe-inspiring integrity.
Tsurumi Rumi did not doubt him; she pulled out that ring from her pocket, threaded it through, and wore it around her neck.
Honestly speaking, even as a necklace pendant, the flower bud ring was still slightly on the larger side.
However, Asakura did not meddle further in such trivial matters. After all, perhaps for the girl herself, carrying something with a slight sense of foreign body sensation could better remind her that she was no longer completely alone in the world.
"Then next, the cr—" Before the girl could finish her sentence, Miura (Snake)'s head gave a violent jerk, its snake face staring at her with an unfriendly look:
"Ah, I mean, what should we do about Big Sister Miura and the others?"
"Dung should be sold into the fields! ...Just kidding," Asakura poked the shivering Miura (Snake), and smoothly snatched the Tobe (Snake) off Tsurumi Rumi's shoulder as well: "By the way, this fellow is Kakeru."
"Kakeru?"
"The most frivolous guy."
"Oh."
Tobe (Snake) distorted his body frantically in protest, though it was unclear whether he was protesting because Asakura's movements were too rough and hurt him, or because he was being described as the most frivolous—of course, what was even harder for him to accept was that the little girl in front of him actually understood the other party's meaning instantly, revealing an expression that read, 'Oh, so it's him.'
Dammit, do I really look that frivolous?
"Seriously, your movements couldn't be any lighter... Huh, I've changed back into a human... Holy f*ck it's hot, hot, hot?!"
"I'm on fire?! Mom, I'll never dare to roast marshmallows again! Help, help, hel—"
Tsurumi Rumi looked at the two snakes suddenly changing back into human form, and then physically bursting into flames. Her little face couldn't help but turn completely numb.
"What's going on? Are they really going to be okay?" Although she usually appeared somewhat cold, the little girl—who was fundamentally a good kid—couldn't help but ask out of concern.
"This is the Great Memory Restoration Technique," Asakura said with a perfectly solemn demeanor, gripping the two human heads.
"No, no, no, no matter how you look at it, this doesn't look like memories are being restored, does it?" Tsurumi Rumi couldn't help but criticize.
"It is indeed memory restoration—the erasure of memories that shouldn't (supposedly) exist is also a form of memory restoration," Asakura continued to say with an air of absolute righteousness.
Tsurumi Rumi: "..."
At this moment, the little girl felt incredibly fortunate that she had chosen to stand on Asakura and his companion's side just now.
Regardless of whether Asakura was a savior or a Great Demon King, in short, it was truly wonderful that she didn't have to turn into a braised rabbit head like this...
Once Asakura had more or less finished restoring (?) the two unfortunate fools' memories, he finally let go, allowing Miura and Tobe to collapse onto the ground.
"Uwah, that looks like it hurt a lot to fall like that..." Tsurumi Rumi said in a small voice.
"Because I don't want to gently embrace Tobe." Asakura said.
"What about the French brioche roll big sister then? Doesn't she look quite pretty?"
"I believe in gender equality," Asakura replied casually. "From now on, pretty much stop talking; they are about to wake up."
The moment the words left his mouth, a painful groan already began to escape from Tobe's mouth.
"Ugh... it hurts so much... it feels as painful as having my feet tied up and being dragged along the ground for several kilometers, and then thrown into a bonfire to be roasted..."
The frivolous blonde youth woke up groggily, and then murmured in agony while covering his face: "My face hurts so much, I couldn't have been disfigured, could I..."
"There is no such thing," Asakura comforted him. "The operation was very successful; you are a woman now."
"Huh?!"
Tobe opened his eyes and sat up.
"Do you still remember what happened?" Asakura asked.
"I remember... marshmallows... bonfire... and what the f*ck, it burst into flames?" Tobe clutched his forehead, looking somewhat in pain. "I... seem to have done something bad? Oh no! The fire!"
"It's alright, the fire has already been extinguished for you," Asakura comforted him.
"Really?" Tobe instantly felt at ease.
"However, because I didn't have a handy tool on hand, it was extinguished using you."
"...What do you mean by extinguishing the fire using me? No, wait, what do you mean I just happened to be a handy tool? Was that being dragged and being burned by fire just now not a dream?"
"Haha."
"Don't think about using a face full of bright, cheerful smiles to gloss over this, ah!"
Tobe clamored loudly.
However, immediately following that, he discovered Miura right beside him, who was knitting her brows tightly and also rapidly waking up.
"Eh, isn't this Miura? Why is she here?"
He asked.
"It's a long story," Asakura sighed. "The matter must be told starting from after you went missing."
"Me?" Tobe pointed at himself. "Missing? When? Where?"
"Now, right here," Asakura said with an air of seriousness.
Tobe looked around blankly for a moment, then looked toward the primary school student on the side.
The latter also nodded her head with absolute certainty.
"Because you went missing trying to roast marshmallows, Rumi, who was the only one to catch a glimpse of your back at that time, planned to go look for you."
"S-so that's how it is..."
"Miura happened to see Rumi walking into the woods all by herself at that time, so she followed along as well. As a result, she stepped on a tree root on the way, tripped, fell, and fainted." Asakura explained.
"What about you then?" Tobe asked out of the blue.
"At that time, I happened to see Miura, who happened to see Rumi walking into the woods so she was about to follow her, so I followed Miura."
"What kind of strange chain-stalking is this..."
"As the chief culprit, you have no right to say that kind of thing, do you?"
"Ugh, sorry..."
Just at this moment, Miura also finally woke up completely.
She was first startled by Asakura and Tobe—after all, the fireflies had all flown away by now, and the woods had become completely pitch-black, saturated by the night color. However, because of the lights from the distant campsite, it hadn't reached the point of being so thoroughly dark that you couldn't see your own fingers in front of your face. It was precisely this kind of feeling where you could indistinctly see but couldn't see clearly that appeared even more terrifying.
However, after Asakura pulled out his mobile phone for illumination, she quickly let out a sigh of relief.
Following that, Asakura recounted the explanation once more according to what he had said just now.
This time, because there was testimonies from the three of them—Asakura, Tsurumi Rumi, and Tobe—coupled with the fact that Miura also vaguely remembered that she indeed seemed to be following behind Tsurumi Rumi, wanting to see where the little one was going before she stepped into the woods, she did not harbor too many suspicions either.
"I have a question right now."
Miura said.
"Please ask," Asakura replied gentlemanly.
"What is that thing on your shoulder?"
Asakura turned his head back, and caught sight of the little wooden person currently waving its hands and feet.
"It's a stick insect," Asakura turned his head back straight and replied calmly.
"No, no matter how you look at it, it doesn't look like a stick insect, right? Rather, it resembles more of a tiny... wooden person?" Tobe scrutinized it and said, "Look, it can even dance."
Asakura took a deep breath.
Tobe: "Ah-ray? Why did you suddenly clasp your hand over my head?"
Miura: "Ugh, don't randomly touch a girl's head."
"Great Memory Restoration Technique, activate."
"Huh? Wait... it's burning, burning up!"
"Eek-eek-eek? Am I going to be burned too? Wwahhh——!"
Looking at the scene in front of her which was clearly quite tragic and absolute-hellish yet inexplicably joyful, Tsurumi Rumi let out a helpless sigh.