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Monday.
Kitahara Makoto stood on the Train Station platform, waiting for someone while checking the daily quests that had refreshed today.
[Daily Quest One: Five Hundred Squats]
[Quest Description: Omitted]
[Daily Quest Two: Man's Speed Bump]
[Quest Description: Watch one episode of 'Forged in Fire'. Fire and passion, this is a true man's dream.]
[Daily Quest Three: Desiring to buy osmanthus and drink wine together, but ultimately, it's not like the youthful journey.]
[Quest Description: Participate in a club activity and leave precious memories for your school life.]
[Daily Quest Four: Monday's Warmth]
[Quest Description: In this cold world, only breasts can warm people's hearts. Please obtain a chest button given by a girl.]
It must be said that today's daily quests were all very simple, basically freebies. Only the last one, [Monday's Warmth], was slightly difficult.
If this were when Kitahara Makoto had just transmigrated, this quest would most likely have to be abandoned. Asking a strange girl for a button from her chest?
You're dreaming.
It was very likely that the moment he spoke, the other party would extend his right hand with a surprised look and say, "Tongxue, you don't want to suffer social death, do you?" and then extort all his money.
But now, there was no need to worry at all.
"Hitori-chan, I'm at the Train Station."
Kitahara Makoto took out his phone and sent a message to Little Miss Anxiety.
Gotō Hitori: "I'm sorry, my mom insisted I eat all my breakfast without leaving a single bite. I ate a lot of things when I got home last night, so I'm on my way now."
Kitahara Makoto: "No rush, there's plenty of time… The thing I asked Hitori-chan to bring, you didn't forget it, did you?"
Gotō Hitori: "No, no."
Kitahara Makoto: "Are you sure it's the chest button? Buttons from other parts won't do."
Gotō Hitori: "Y-Yes…"
Kitahara Makoto: "That's good. Although I don't know why, Hana-chan specifically asked for Hitori-chan's chest button. If I didn't agree, she would roll around on the floor. It's really a headache."
"…"
He didn't mishear.
Kitahara Makoto directly shifted the blame to the Beast Eared Girl, Hana-chan.
If he said the button was for himself, Bocchi-chan would definitely be super shy, but if he said it was for Hana-chan, then it naturally wasn't a problem.
Anyway, Hana-chan was muddled and wouldn't know how to cry foul. In the future, anything that happened would be pushed onto her.
As a mount, it was reasonable for her to share her master's worries, right?
Kitahara Makoto put away his phone and continued to wait patiently.
Not long after, a girl with beautiful pink hair, carrying a guitar on her back, was secretly tiptoeing along the shadows of the wall. It was Bocchi-chan.
If Bocchi-chan was a hermit crab, then Kita was the protective shell on her back. Once Kita wasn't blocking in front of her, Gotō Hitori's social anxiety would flare up. She wouldn't even dare to look up when walking, and because she kept looking down at her toes, she even appeared slightly hunched.
"Hitori-chan, good morning."
Kitahara Makoto stepped forward and blocked Gotō Hitori in the shade of a tree in front of the Train Station.
"Ah…"
Gotō Hitori was startled, like a little tortoise diligently hurrying with its head down, suddenly startled by a big bad wolf. She couldn't help but let out a soft cry, and the little rabbits on her chest showed signs of bouncing along.
Although Bocchi-chan's eyes were timid and she was timid, her little rabbits were very energetic, which could be said to be a complete contrast.
"G-Good morning…"
Little Miss Anxiety nervously looked up, confirmed that the person blocking her was Kitahara Makoto, and then covered her chest, quietly letting out a sigh of relief.
After greeting, without Kitahara Makoto even needing to speak, Gotō Hitori quickly stood on her tiptoes and extended her fair, doll-like small hand in front of Kitahara Makoto, her small face flushed, and she stammered in a low voice:
"The b-button Kitahara-kun wanted…"
"Thank you very much."
Kitahara Makoto reached out and took the button from Little Miss Anxiety's palm. Perhaps due to nervousness and the hot weather, Gotō Hitori's palm was slightly sweaty.
At the same time.
The Life System popped up a notification:
[Daily Quest: Monday's Warmth]
[Current Status: Completed]
[Quest Reward: You have obtained a button filled with a maiden's heart. Your Charm attribute has permanently increased]
"As expected, she's a down-to-earth person…"
Kitahara Makoto sighed in his heart.
If he asked someone else, they might try to cut corners, like Ryo-senpai. Who knows what part of the button she would give, but Bocchi-chan was different. As long as she agreed to something, she would fulfill her promise diligently, even if it meant inconveniencing herself.
"Hitori-chan, you mispoke. This isn't the button I wanted." Kitahara Makoto corrected her seriously, "Hana-chan wants your button. I'm just temporarily keeping it and will give it to Hana-chan when I get back."
"Oh…"
Gotō Hitori blinked blankly, not knowing if she believed that excuse.
It didn't matter if she didn't believe it. Anyway, with Little Miss Anxiety's personality, she definitely wouldn't dare to ask too many questions.
"Um… why do you want my button?" Gotō Hitori asked softly, gathering her courage.
Kitahara Makoto shook his head: "I don't know."
"Eh?"
"I asked." Kitahara Makoto's expression was innocent, "But you know, Hana-chan often speaks in a way that's hard to understand… How about Hitori-chan comes to my house after school this afternoon and asks Hana-chan yourself?"
"N-No need."
Gotō Hitori frantically shook her head, her small face quickly turning red.
Going to a boy's house alone after school?
Too, too scary!
"Hitori-chan, how were things after you went back last night?" Kitahara Makoto asked curiously, while putting the girl's chest button into his backpack, "I sent you messages later, but you didn't reply, which made me worried."
"B-Because I was too sleepy last night. After taking a bath, I fell asleep in my room in the blink of an eye, and when I woke up, it was already morning…"
Gotō Hitori quickly explained in a low voice. Unconsciously, she could already communicate with Kitahara Makoto without much difficulty, but her voice was still very soft, requiring great concentration to hear clearly.
"Last night, Futari helped open the door and said that Mom and Dad were very angry…"
"I, I thought of Kitahara-kun's suggestion. After entering the house, I immediately prostrated myself to Mom and Dad in a super standard posture…"
"Then Mom and Dad forgave me…"
Kitahara Makoto: "…"
Indeed, in Japan, there was nothing that prostration couldn't solve.
A politician caught cheating?
Prostrate.
What to do if earthquake relief was not timely, leading to tens of thousands of people becoming homeless?
Prostrate.
What to do if the famous pharmaceutical company Kobayashi Pharmaceutical had been falsifying data for forty years?
Still prostrate.
I've already prostrated myself, and you still won't forgive me?
Is there still law?! Is there still justice?!
"The train is here." Kitahara Makoto said softly, "Let's get on first."
"Mm-hmm."
Gotō Hitori nodded quickly, then hugged her backpack and skillfully hid in Kitahara Makoto's shadow.
With Kita not by her side, Kitahara Makoto became Bocchi-chan's new 'hermit crab' protective shell. As for walking side by side with Kitahara Makoto… it didn't exist, it simply didn't exist.
(Society is so scary, the pedestrians on the road are so scary. When I leave home, everything outside is terrifying. I can only feel safe walking in someone else's shadow.)
(Ah, as expected, the Otherworld with no human presence is more suitable for me…)
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