After a short walk hand-in-hand in the park, as they occasionally encountered passersby, the girl's shyness eventually took over. Togawa Sakiko, with a flushed pretty face, put her hands behind her back and said softly:
"Let's stop here for today... I'll go back first to see if rotten old man is home. I'll leave the rest to Kitahara-kun."
"Leave it to me."
Kitahara Makoto made an OK gesture, feeling a strange sense of reluctance in his heart.
After the mission was over, and he confessed about wanting to create a harem, this beloved Togawa would probably vanish as quickly as an epiphyllum, right?
The two went their separate ways.
Togawa Sakiko first returned to the rental apartment to check the situation.
Kitahara Makoto, on the other hand, walked home, preparing to bring the Beast Eared Girl over.
Half an hour later.
Outside the old apartment building.
"Kitahara-kun, come in, come in." Togawa Sakiko opened the door, her voice clear and bright, "Rotten old man isn't back yet."
"Excuse me for intruding."
Kitahara Makoto entered the house with the Beast Eared Girl.
"Hana-chan, do you remember me?"
Togawa Sakiko leaned over, supporting herself on her knees, and looked at her.
The Beast Eared Girl looked up, naturally remembering Togawa Sakiko:
"Good person."
Except for Nijika, all other girls were Good person.
"Ah, you really haven't forgotten me."
Togawa Sakiko smiled, her smile as bright as sunshine, and turned to bring out a small cake:
"Hana-chan, here's a small cake for you."
"..."
Easily charming the Beast Eared Girl, Togawa Sakiko stroked Hana's small head while looking up at Kitahara Makoto:
"I just asked rotten old man, he said he'd be home in half an hour."
"Perfect timing." Kitahara Makoto nodded, "Let's go to the bedroom first and wait. Once your rotten old man comes home, Hana can weave the dream."
Togawa Sakiko nodded gently:
"Kitahara-kun, come with me to the room first."
This apartment was old and small, and Togawa's room was also very small. It only had a bed, a wardrobe, and a barely adequate small desk. Besides that, there was no room for anything else.
However, the quilt was neatly folded and clean.
"This is my room, rotten old man's room is next door." If it were Soyo or Tomori, Togawa Sakiko would not want them to see her difficult situation, but with Kitahara Makoto, it was fine, "The ten-meter limit can definitely be met... Kitahara-kun mentioned before that once we enter the dream, our physical bodies in reality will fall asleep, right?"
"That's right."
Kitahara Makoto nodded in affirmation.
"In that case..." Under the light, Togawa Sakiko's fair, doll-like pretty face flushed slightly, and she said softly, "You'll just have to make do with squeezing in with me, Kitahara-kun."
Kitahara Makoto looked over in shock: "Wait, what do you mean by squeezing in?"
Togawa Sakiko's pretty face flushed slightly: "It naturally means lying together."
You call this making do?
It's clearly a reward!
The room was very small, so the bed naturally wouldn't be big. Kitahara Makoto looked at the single bed, which was fine in length but only 1.2 meters wide, and decisively shook his head in refusal:
"I'm all sweaty, I'll just sleep on the floor."
"No." Togawa Sakiko quickly vetoed, "The floor hasn't been mopped for several days... It's not that I don't want to clean, it's that the house is too old, and the air during the rainy season is too humid. If I mop the floor, it won't dry, and there will be a very unpleasant smell."
"So Kitahara-kun, please lie on the bed with me..." Togawa Sakiko's voice was shy, and she said softly, "I don't mind."
Kitahara Makoto still wanted to struggle a bit:
"I'm really sweaty..."
"Then take a shower." Togawa Sakiko's pretty face was crimson, but her gaze was quite firm, "Anyway, rotten old man still has half an hour until he comes back. Kitahara-kun, go to the bathroom first, and I'll get you a towel."
"..."
At Togawa Sakiko's urging, Kitahara Makoto had no choice but to go to the bathroom for a quick shower.
"Kitahara-kun, open the door." Togawa Sakiko's voice sounded from outside the bathroom door, "I won't give you rotten old man's pajamas, but I have two bathrobes, I'll give you one."
"...I'm very grateful."
Kitahara Makoto opened the door a crack, reached out, and took the bathrobe and towel inside.
Bang.
The door closed softly.
Not hearing Togawa say she would come in to help scrub his back, Kitahara Makoto couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Now it seemed Soyo had been very prescient to make him swear that oath in advance... Togawa, when she took the initiative, was simply terrifying!
After quickly showering, Kitahara Makoto dried himself and was about to put on the bathrobe when he suddenly caught a faint, orchid-like, musky scent from it.
"It's Togawa's scent..."
Kitahara Makoto felt a subtle shift in his mood.
Undoubtedly, this bathrobe was clearly one that Togawa had worn.
Resisting the bad impulse to sniff it longer, Kitahara Makoto put on the bathrobe and walked out of the bathroom.
"I'm done."
Kitahara Makoto said softly.
"Kitahara-kun, have some water first." Togawa Sakiko handed him a cup of barley tea. "You go to the room and wait for me. Take good care of the Beast Eared Girl. I'm going to take a bath too. Don't worry, my dad won't come into my room."
"Okay."
Kitahara Makoto silently agreed and led the Beast Eared Girl into the room.
The floor couldn't be sat on, and the stool in front of the desk... wait, where was the stool?
Could Togawa have put it away?
Kitahara Makoto searched carefully and confirmed that the stool was gone. He twitched his lips slightly and could only sit on the bed.
The soundproofing of the room was average. Although the door was closed, Kitahara Makoto could still vaguely hear the sound of water rushing in the bathroom. Thinking that Togawa was bathing outside, his mood became incredibly subtle.
Just yesterday, they were still front-desk and back-desk colleagues... The progress today was too fast, wasn't it?
Buzz, buzz.
While he was lost in thought, his phone suddenly vibrated.
Kitahara Makoto looked down and saw that it was a message from Nagasaki Soyo.
"It's almost nine o'clock. Has Kitahara-kun arrived at Sakiko's house? How are things now?"
Kitahara Makoto: "I've already arrived at Togawa's house and am waiting for Sakiko's dad to come back."
Nagasaki Soyo: "That's good. I just messaged Sakiko, but Sakiko didn't reply. What is she doing?"
Kitahara Makoto: "Togawa-chan is taking a bath."
Nagasaki Soyo: "What is Kitahara-kun doing?"
Kitahara Makoto: "I'm on Togawa's bed."
Nagasaki Soyo: "...!!!"
Although far away, Kitahara Makoto seemed to hear the sound of a famous sword shattering in Soyo's heart.
Before long, Tomori also sent a message asking about the situation. Kitahara Makoto didn't intend to take advantage of Tomori Tomari, so he honestly explained the situation, then took out his notebook from his backpack, prepared the questions, took a photo, and sent it to Bocchi-chan, telling Bocchi-chan to finish it tonight.
During this time, Kitahara Makoto heard the sound of a door opening and footsteps outside, followed by Togawa Sakiko's voice:
"Dad, you're back? How was the job search?"
Then came a man's drunken voice: "I interviewed a few companies, but I wasn't satisfied with any of them."
"You drank again?"
"I was too bored. I had a little at the izakaya at the intersection... Oh, by the way, I used up the last of my money interviewing today. Give me some more. I haven't paid the bill at the izakaya at the intersection. Remember to go pay it tomorrow after school."
"..."
After a moment of silence.
Togawa's voice finally sounded outside, surprisingly calm:
"I know."