"Let me see what the new ability is..."
Kitahara Makoto sat up straight, full of anticipation.
[Ability: Night Song]
[Passive: Child of the Night. You are favored by the night, and your overall attributes are greatly increased in the darkness.]
[Active: Night Kin. You can form a contract with others, transforming them into your kin. When your kin pray and silently chant your name in their hearts, you can choose whether to respond. Once you respond, you will transcend space and descend beside them. At the same time, you can choose whether to share your abilities with your kin.]
[Note: To contract kin, the other party must have feelings of admiration for you. The kin relationship can be dissolved at any time.]
"Looks pretty good..."
Kitahara Makoto's eyes lit up, and he clenched his fist, clearly feeling his strength increase. It was obvious that the passive effect of Child of the Night had already taken effect.
However, Kitahara Makoto was more interested in the Night Kin ability.
"I can instantly move to someone else's side..." Kitahara Makoto's eyes brightened, "It's decided. I'll go and form a contract with Soyo tomorrow!"
"As for Ryo-senpai... we'll talk about it after their bodies switch back."
After playing on his phone for a while, seeing that it was already eleven o'clock at night, Kitahara Makoto turned off the lights and prepared to sleep.
Knock knock knock.
A knock on the door suddenly sounded.
"Hmm?"
Kitahara Makoto sat up in surprise, looking towards the door:
"Could it be Tomori?"
The knocking was very light, indicating it wasn't an urgent matter, but more like a stealthy night raid.
The person who would come for a night raid in the middle of the night must be Tomori. It couldn't possibly be Taki or Mutsumi, could it?
A moment later.
Looking at the expressionless, emotionless girl in an oversized shirt at the door, Kitahara Makoto was surprised to find that he had guessed wrong:
"Mutsumi?"
Wakaba Mutsumi slightly tilted her pretty face, uttering shocking words:
"Want to sleep together."
Kitahara Makoto thought Mutsumi was thinking about dream cultivation, and gently explained:
"Don't worry, Hana's ability range is sufficient. You can enter the dream even if you sleep in the next room."
Wakaba Mutsumi shook her head, her voice completely unruffled:
"Makoto-kun is so warm. Sleeping together can cure insomnia."
Kitahara Makoto: "..."
You want a boy to hold you while you sleep?
Even if you are an emotionless girl, you should know the difference between genders!
By the way, your curse has been lifted, so your body shouldn't be cold now, right?
"Mutsumi, please reconsider," Kitahara Makoto patiently advised, "Sleeping with a boy is very dangerous."
"Not afraid," Wakaba Mutsumi looked up, "Tomori just said Makoto-kun is very safe."
Kitahara Makoto: "..."
Good heavens, so you weren't sneaking over for a night raid, but came openly with Tomori's approval!
Since Tomori agreed, Kitahara Makoto couldn't possibly just send her away. Even an emotionless girl's self-esteem would probably be hurt:
"Come in... But first, I don't have the ability to cure insomnia."
"Thank you, Makoto-kun," Wakaba Mutsumi stepped in, explaining softly, "I've had insomnia since I was a child. That night I slept with Makoto-kun, and I didn't have insomnia."
I didn't realize you were already a seasoned insomniac at such a young age!
"That should just be an exception," Kitahara Makoto closed the door, "Mutsumi, sleep on the window side tonight... Also, I might move my hands and feet around in my sleep, so if I accidentally touch anything, please don't get angry, Mutsumi."
Mutsumi showed no tension or panic, her voice as calm as ever:
"I trust Makoto-kun."
Kitahara Makoto couldn't help but retort:
"Don't easily trust strangers. One day you might be tricked and sold, and you'll have nowhere to cry."
"Makoto-kun is not a stranger," Mutsumi looked up, "He is a very important person."
Kitahara Makoto's mouth twitched slightly:
"We've only known each other for a few days, how are you a very important person?"
Wakaba Mutsumi covered her chest with her right hand, speaking incredibly bluntly:
"Makoto-kun took my first time..."
Hey, hey, don't slander me! When did I take your first time?!
I haven't even touched you... Well, although I have touched you, it was just simple physical contact!
Wakaba Mutsumi continued:
"Joy, happiness, and also tension and excitement, my first time for all of these was taken by Makoto-kun..."
Don't talk nonsense!
Joy and happiness came from the Eden Fruit, and excitement came from your dream bungee jumping. Don't get it wrong!
"Stop talking," Kitahara Makoto sighed, covering his forehead, "Go to sleep and rest quickly."
"..."
At the same time.
In the next room.
"Tomori, you actually let Mutsumi go and sleep with Kitahara-kun?"
Shiina Taki's eyes widened. Not only was she not asleep, she wasn't even sleepy at all, saying in disbelief:
"A single man and woman alone in a room is super dangerous, okay? Don't you like Kitahara-kun, Tomori? Why would you agree to let Mutsumi go?"
Takamatsu Tomori gently replied:
"Because Mutsumi said Makoto-kun can cure insomnia, and Mutsumi doesn't lie."
"Even if Mutsumi doesn't lie, don't you care at all?" Shiina Taki said, exasperated, "If something happens between Kitahara-kun and Mutsumi, it'll be too late to regret it!"
Takamatsu Tomori turned to look at her: "Why should I regret it?"
Shiina Taki: "..."
Tomori's rhetorical question directly stumped Shiina Taki.
No.
Anyone would feel betrayed and pained if the boy they liked slept with their friend, right?
How could Tomori not care at all?
Does Tomori have some kind of legendary special fetish?
"If something really happens between Mutsumi and Makoto-kun, that's actually even better," Takamatsu Tomori said softly, "That way, Mutsumi can join the harem, and we'll all be together forever."
"Wait... wait a minute!"
Shiina Taki was about to retort, but suddenly her eyes widened, and she sat up in shock:
"What did Tomori just say?"
"Huh?"
"If I heard correctly, Tomori just said 'join the harem'?"
"..."
Takamatsu Tomori was silent for two seconds, then chose to speak truthfully:
"Taki didn't hear wrong. Makoto-kun wants to start a harem."
"Bastard!!!"
Shiina Taki gritted her teeth in anger, wanting to kill someone.
"Tomori is so cute, and he still wants to cheat?!"
"He's not cheating," Takamatsu Tomori explained, "Makoto-kun wants to give happiness to everyone."
Shiina Taki couldn't help but retort:
"That kind of talk just makes me mad, it's absolutely shameless. Tomori definitely wouldn't agree, right?"
Takamatsu Tomori: "..."
Shiina Taki's unease instantly grew stronger:
"Don't be silent at a time like this, Tomori, hurry up and deny it!"
Tomori said softly:
"I agreed."
"Wh-why would you agree to such a thing?"
Shiina Taki felt completely out of sorts.
Her cherished Tomori actually joined someone else's harem... Unacceptable! Absolutely unacceptable!
"Because I like Makoto-kun."
Takamatsu Tomori spoke softly, her eyes sparkling under the light.
"The first time I fell into the Otherworld, everyone was unprepared. I was swept into the bottom of the sea by the waves, and my foot got stuck in a reef. Just when I was about to suffocate, Makoto-kun appeared and saved me..."
Shiina Taki bit her lower lip tightly:
"Tomori, be clear-headed. That's gratitude, don't confuse it with liking."
"I know," Tomori said softly, "Actually, even before that, I already liked Makoto-kun... Being with Makoto-kun is very comfortable and happy. When we're apart, I miss him, and when I see him, I want to smile."
Shiina Taki: "..."
It's over.
Tomori is truly lost in it.
But for joining a harem, even if Tomori herself agreed, her parents wouldn't agree, right?
"Wait!"
Shiina Taki's eyes suddenly widened as she thought of something else:
"A so-called harem surely isn't just one person, right? So besides Tomori, who else is there?"
Shiina Taki recalled the scenes she experienced in the Otherworld, and an unbelievable thought arose in her mind:
"It couldn't possibly include Soyo and Sakiko, too, could it?"
Takamatsu Tomori said softly:
"Taki guessed correctly."
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
Shiina Taki shook her head vigorously:
"Soyo aside, Sakiko is an extremely proud person. How could she agree to share a boyfriend with others?"
Takamatsu Tomori's tone was faint:
"Sakiko agreed."
Shiina Taki's mind buzzed. She couldn't believe that such a proud Sakiko would actually agree to her beloved boy having a harem.
"Tomori is lying to me, right?"
"I'm not lying."
Although Tomori was usually quiet, she was actually very clever: "Makoto-kun didn't secretly deceive anyone's feelings. In fact, he openly said he wanted to have a harem a long time ago."
"Although Sakiko didn't verbally agree, she clearly tacitly approved... otherwise, she would have cut ties with Makoto-kun long ago."
Shiina Taki: "..."
It had only been half a year since they last met. What exactly had everyone gone through?
This world was changing too quickly!
Tomori turned sideways and whispered:
"Taki, do you want to join the harem? That way, everyone can be together forever."
"Absolutely not!"
Shiina Taki gritted her teeth and flatly refused.
Even if she remained single her entire life and jumped from a building, she would never join Kitahara's harem!
The night passed without a word.
The next day.
When Kitahara Makoto woke up after his Dream World training, he found something indescribable filling his palm and instinctively squeezed it.
"Mm..."
A soft moan entered his ears.
Kitahara Makoto opened his eyes, his consciousness quickly clearing, and saw a Mutsumi with slightly furrowed brows, biting her lower lip, looking at him with a wronged expression.
His gaze shifted downwards, and after seeing where his right hand was, Kitahara Makoto silently withdrew his right hand:
"I'm very sorry..."
Actually, there was no need to apologize.
They had agreed to use the pillow as a boundary last night, and he just looked; it was clearly Mutsumi who had rolled over at some point, so it wasn't his fault.
As for holding something he shouldn't... he couldn't control it when he was asleep, could he?
"It hurts..."
Wakaba Mutsumi spoke softly, her voice uncharacteristically carrying a hint of grievance.
"My deepest apologies."
Kitahara Makoto apologized sincerely again.
Wakaba Mutsumi said softly:
"Makoto-kun, be gentler next time."
Hey, hey, what does 'gentler next time' mean?
You should say there won't be a next time! Are you still half asleep?
Kitahara Makoto took a deep breath and decisively got up, saying:
"I'm going to the bathroom."
He had to leave.
Mutsumi was completely unguarded, and it was early morning, the time when a male high school student's impulses were strongest. Kitahara Makoto was worried he wouldn't be able to control himself and would trick Mutsumi into eating imported candy and drinking deoxyribonucleotides!
Stay calm!
Don't let your Dao Heart be disturbed!
Deceiving and playing with a Three-Noes girl would truly make him lose his qualification as a human!
It was still very early, only five in the morning. The house was dim, not yet bright.
Kitahara Makoto went downstairs to the bathroom, finished his physiological needs, then went to the kitchen to drink a glass of water, and then sat on the sofa, preparing to wait for dawn.
Thump, thump, thump.
Footsteps suddenly came from upstairs.
Kitahara Makoto turned his head and saw a small figure walking down.
"Who is it?"
Seeing the dark figure sitting on the sofa, the girl's nervous voice quickly rang out.
"Taki-san, it's me." Kitahara Makoto said softly, "I just came downstairs to drink a glass of ice water."
Seeing that the person in the living room was Kitahara Makoto, Shiina Taki breathed a slight sigh of relief, then suddenly quickened her steps, coming thump, thump, thump to Kitahara Makoto's front.
"Is there something wrong, Taki-san?"
Looking at the huffing potato-mine girl staring at him, Kitahara Makoto was utterly confused.
Last night in the Dream World, they barely interacted, so why did she look so angry now?
"Tomori told me everything last night!"
Shiina Taki clenched her fists, glaring huffily.
Kitahara Makoto was startled: "What?"
"Of course, it's about you wanting to have a harem!" Shiina Taki gritted her teeth, "Your behavior is clearly playing with everyone's feelings!"
"If the roles were reversed, and Tomori was dating multiple boys, and Kitahara-kun was just one of them, could you accept that?"
Facing Shiina Taki's accusation, Kitahara Makoto's expression was calm, as he had expected this.
If Taki said nothing after learning about his harem, then it wouldn't be her.
After spending several days together in the Otherworld, Kitahara Makoto had a rough understanding of Taki's personality: serious, unsmiling, sharp-tongued, and exceptionally strict with herself and others, with the sole exception of Takamatsu Tomori, of course.
People with this kind of personality inevitably had some stubbornness and assertiveness, and their words would occasionally make people uncomfortable.
Kitahara Makoto calmly retorted:
"How old is Tomori this year?"
Shiina Taki blurted out:
"Sixteen."
Kitahara Makoto asked again:
"Does Tomori have any intellectual disabilities or family difficulties?"
"Of course not." Shiina Taki furrowed her brows, crossed her arms over her chest, her gaze sharp, "Are you changing the subject?"
"Not at all, I just want Taki-san to recognize a fact." Kitahara Makoto gently shook his finger, "Tomori is already sixteen this year, her intelligence is normal, her family is harmonious, and her values and personality have already formed. In other words, Tomori's choice is based on her independent will. I did not force her, nor did I deceive her."
"..."
Shiina Taki was silent for two seconds, then spoke again:
"That kind of independent will is invisible and intangible, and easily influenced. Many adults in their thirties and forties are still deceived by scammers, let alone Tomori who is a love-struck fool."
Kitahara Makoto raised an eyebrow and retorted:
"Even if Tomori is a love-struck fool, are Soyo and Sakiko also love-struck fools who would be easily deceived by me?"
"..."
Shiina Taki couldn't help but fall silent.
Tomori might be a love-struck fool, easily falling into it and being deceived, but Sakiko definitely wasn't.
In Shiina Taki's mind, Togawa Sakiko was a genius on the same level as her older sister. Such an wonderful Sakiko definitely wouldn't be a love-struck fool, right?
"People can never truly empathize with each other." Kitahara Makoto spoke again, softly, "Does Taki-san know why Tomori wanted to come for Dream World training?"
Shiina Taki crossed her arms over her chest:
"Tomori said she hadn't sung for a long time and wanted to come and sing to her heart's content."
Kitahara Makoto retorted:
"Then why did she only call you over and not Soyo and Sakiko?"
"..."
Shiina Taki's breathing paused slightly. She noticed a blind spot she hadn't paid attention to before and couldn't help but ask:
"Why?"
"It was actually for you." Kitahara Makoto's voice was calm as he spoke the truth, "When we returned from the Otherworld the day before yesterday, Tomori said you were very disheartened, so she asked me for help to let you enter Dream World training and quickly catch up to the older sister you admire."
"Tomori..."
Shiina Taki's lips parted slightly, and she murmured, deeply moved. She couldn't believe it.
No one in her family had even noticed her staying out all night, yet Tomori had kept it in her heart all along. She truly was the best Tomori in the world!
Kitahara Makoto continued:
"Actually, Taki-san doesn't really admire your older sister, do you?"
Shiina Taki's small face instantly tensed, and she frowned, looking at him:
"What do you mean?"
"Tomori is an only child and doesn't have siblings, so she doesn't understand the situation of families with twins." Kitahara Makoto interlocked his fingers, resting his chin on them, "In Tomori's eyes, Taki-san admires your older sister, but in my eyes, Taki-san actually really dislikes it when people compare you to your older sister, right?"
"Having an older sister who is excellent in every aspect at home will only make one feel suffocated, and even develop a sense of 'inferiority', right?"
"…"
Shiina Taki parted her lips. Although she really wanted to retort, the words got stuck in her throat and she couldn't utter them.
"You see, that's the problem," Kitahara Makoto spread his hands and said softly, "Everyone's life path is different. Looking at others from one's own perspective, or even demanding how others should act, often leads to counterproductive results."
"Taki-san said I was deceiving Tomori's feelings, but have you really understood Tomori's thoughts and feelings?"
"Hoo…"
Shiina Taki took a deep breath, her heart indeed wavering. She turned her small face away and said:
"I'm going to the bathroom. From now on, I will carefully observe how you treat Tomori. Once I find you deceiving or hiding things, or if Tomori is wronged and sad, then I will definitely separate you two!"
"Wait," Kitahara Makoto called out to the long-haired girl, "I probably have a way to solve Taki-san's sense of inferiority."
Shiina Taki's steps paused slightly. She looked up, waiting for him to continue.
"Is the drum kit really the area Taki-san excels in?"
Kitahara Makoto raised an eyebrow and asked.
"What do you mean?"
Shiina Taki's small face hardened, and she frowned as she looked over.
"You see, you're getting anxious again," Kitahara Makoto gestured downwards with his hand, "What I mean is, everyone has an area or talent they are better at, it's just that most ordinary people never know what talent they possess from beginning to end."
"For example, on Niconico, I saw a person playing with a slingshot, specifically using it to shoot the eggs of apple snails. He was truly accurate, hitting whatever he aimed at, reaching a level that ordinary people could not hope to match."
"In my opinion, that is what talent is—a field that ordinary people cannot reach even with practice makes perfect."
He paused, then Kitahara Makoto lowered his voice:
"Last night in my dream, I listened to Taki-san's drum kit. Although it was good, it was only at the level of ordinary people who have practiced enough."
"You need to know when to stop!"
Shiina Taki clenched her fists in anger, unable to resist the urge to hit him.
The field she had worked so hard in was dismissed with a single sentence. She was furious!
Extremely furious!
"You see, you're getting anxious again," Kitahara Makoto soothed, "Ordinary people cannot know what their talent is, but I can know Taki-san's true talent."
Shiina Taki furrowed her delicate brows: "How do you know?"
"It's simple," Kitahara Makoto said righteously, "I can ask the answer book."
Shiina Taki: "…"
"So, Taki-san, do you want to know what your true talent is?"
Kitahara Makoto asked with a smile.
Shiina Taki's lips slightly parted and closed. No matter what, she couldn't utter a word of refusal.
She knew her own situation.
The reason she chose to play music back then was actually influenced by her older sister, but her sister having musical talent didn't mean she did too… Kitahara-kun was right, her drum kit skills were indeed only at the level of an ordinary person who had practiced enough.
"If Taki-san doesn't speak, then I'll assume you want to know," Kitahara Makoto said with a smile, "The book is upstairs. Should I get it for you now, or wait until daylight?"
"Hmph~"
Shiina Taki let out a soft hmph, turning her head to look elsewhere, feeling her ears burn:
"Wait until daylight."
After saying that, Shiina Taki was about to leave:
"I'm going to the bathroom first."
But before she could stand up, footsteps suddenly thumped from upstairs.
"Oh, it seems to be Tomori."
Upon seeing the figure descending the stairs, Shiina Taki immediately felt guilty.
She had been talking downstairs for so long, and at some point, she had even sat next to Kitahara Makoto. If Tomori saw them… she would definitely misunderstand, right?
No!
She absolutely couldn't let Tomori misunderstand!
Shiina Taki nervously scanned her surroundings, searching for a hiding place, but unfortunately, there was nowhere to hide.
"That's right, the sofa!"
Shiina Taki's eyes suddenly lit up. She quickly reached out and pushed Kitahara Makoto's chest, lowering her voice:
"Kitahara-kun, lie down quickly!"
After Kitahara Makoto lay down, Shiina Taki quickly leaned over, like a cat, and lay on her side next to Kitahara Makoto.
The sofa wasn't big. There was no problem for one person to lie down, but two people clearly wouldn't fit.
Seeing Shiina Taki slide, about to fall off, Kitahara Makoto instinctively reached out and easily pulled Shiina Taki into his embrace.
Kitahara Makoto was underneath, and Shiina Taki was lying on him, no longer worried about slipping off.
However, new problems followed…
Their eyes met.
Their breaths mingled.
Smelling the fresh scent of the long-haired girl, Kitahara Makoto suddenly inwardly cursed, and a certain sewer hero's line involuntarily popped into his mind:
"…The beast slumbering within my body has awakened!"