"Phew! I'm saved…"
In the severely dusty small toilet stall, Yoshiwara Aina knelt deeply before the laminated composite board, her face filled with the relief of a near-death experience.
At this moment, she was immensely grateful that the operator of this elementary school was at least somewhat decent; the toilet stalls actually had locks! This strong sense of security was incomparable to open-air stalls!
Although there was no rule that ghosts couldn't walk through walls, it was an unwritten convention, just like covering your head with a blanket at night and not daring to stick out your hands and feet!
"Thank you, Kouhei. If it weren't for you, I probably would have been caught…"
"…"
A sincere thank you. After waiting a few minutes and not hearing any movement of the twin ghosts chasing them, Yoshiwara Aina finally relaxed and spoke.
To be honest, when those two children appeared, she had completely gone numb. This kind of plot, full of twists and turns, was no less than a crushing blow of Kirov airship bombing level to her small heart!
Fortunately, Kouhei picked her up and ran in time. Although the posture was a bit disappointing, the fact that he immediately thought of her instead of running away alone was enough to move her!
At the same time, the adrenaline generated by fear caused her dopamine and hormone production to skyrocket. Amidst her gratitude, her confused brain dragged the yesterday's abruptly ended question back into her mind—
How did Kouhei really feel about her? A friend? Or the opposite sex?
"Kou, Kouhei…"
Her small face was flushed from the intense exercise, and the after-effects of the scare were setting in. Yoshiwara Aina felt a mess in her head, and her heart rate continued to accelerate.
Adding to that, a man and a woman were confined in a small stall, with danger lurking outside. The shared adversity atmosphere prompted her to blurt out the remaining half of her question— "Why did you choose to save me first?"
"…"
In the quiet small space, the echo of the voice, no matter how long it lasted, was swallowed by the silence.
However, just like before, there was no response from behind. Yoshiwara Aina could only hear her own heart beating strongly. Besides that... there was no second sound of breathing?
"Kouhei?"
This time, her call carried a hint of confusion. She turned her head blankly and saw Imamura Kouhei with his eyes rolled back, looking like he was already dead.
"Kouhei, ahhhhhh!!!"
"Don't yell... I'm not dead yet…"
His voice was faint, like a wisp of smoke. Imamura Kouhei's vision was reduced to a small area focused on Aina. In fact, as a gaming otaku and sports idiot, it wouldn't be wrong to say he was dead right now.
Two high-speed sprints less than ten minutes apart, with the latter carrying a heavy weight of almost one hundred pounds—it would be strange if he could do it without adrenaline kicking in!
But a body that has been overdrawn must pay the debt, and he was undoubtedly in the recovery phase, similar to after a physical fitness test.
Forget speaking, he was too lazy to even maintain simple breathing!
"Uwah... I thought you were dead! It's good that you're still alive, Kouhei, hold on, the seniors will be here to save us soon!"
Almost scared to death by the silent Kouhei, Yoshiwara Aina instantly burst into tears and threw herself onto his chest, crying loudly, her words slurring and incoherent.
This rambling continued for a long time, until the strong heartbeat against her side face numbed the girl, and she changed from crying hysterically to quiet sobbing.
"So... Kouhei, you must have heard what I said just now, right? Why, why did you do it!"
"Aina, that's a bit too much…"
He initially thought it was fine for Aina to cry a little to release the pressure, given her timid nature. As for his Larako, which was now wet with tears and snot... he could wash it later!
But when Imamura Kouhei stroked the back of her head, only to hear Aina pressing for an answer even while sobbing, he instantly lost his composure!
"We're running for our lives right now! Is this important!?"
"It is very important!!!"
Suddenly raising her small head, Yoshiwara Aina's eyes were red from crying, but the stubbornness in them remained undiminished.
Biting her lip, she lifted half her body off Kouhei. In the darkness, the two could barely make out each other's eyes using the moonlight from the window, and the meaning contained within—
"This relates to what I should do next... please tell me honestly!"
"…"
Knowing that Aina's stubborn streak had flared up again, Imamura Kouhei sighed, his lips moving but no sound coming out.
Facts proved that even with the addition of the blond scumbag attribute, a two-dimensional otaku is still a two-dimensional otaku; expecting them to clearly express what's on their mind is about as likely as hoping for knives to rain from the sky!
However, just as he was about to turn his head away to avoid the question, the gleam of tears in the corner of Aina's eye froze his movement.
"I'm not sure. I just felt that Aina is a very important person, someone I couldn't abandon, and my body just moved on its own…"
"Ugh... Then, why didn't you save Azusa-senpai?"
"...Maybe, it's because I like Aina more?"
Dong! Dong! Dong!
Although he didn't say it explicitly, compared to the subtle hint by the sickbed, this spontaneous expression of true feelings was an all-out confession!
Her small body began to tremble. Yoshiwara Aina had gotten the answer she wanted, but this did not alleviate the situation; instead, it intensified her trembling.
In Kouhei's eyes, Aina was completely blurry, looking no different from someone having an epileptic fit!
"Aina? Are you okay?"
"I-I'm fine!"
She sprang up from Kouhei's body with a whoosh, her hand stabilizing her head.
But according to the law of conservation of energy, although the trembling of her body stopped, her pupils began to perform uncontrollable Brownian motion in her eye sockets.
Kouhei actually likes her, and to the point where he couldn't abandon her! How is this possible!
What should she do? Logically, she should show some sign of appreciation after being rescued by a hero, right? That's what they show on TV...
"Aina?"
"Kou, Kouhei, can you close your eyes first!"
"I can do that, but..."
Although still very worried, seeing Aina with mosquito coils spinning in her eyes and looking like she was about to cry, Imamura Kouhei had no choice but to comply.
Taking a deep breath and puckering her lips, although she couldn't reciprocate his feelings, Yoshiwara Aina's confused brain still came up with a very typical answer for her: How about I kiss him and then reject him? That's what they do on TV!
Good! That's what she would do...
"Beep!!! STOP!"
Knowing he had to keep an eye on them, Hamaka Azusa saw Aina on the verge of a CPU crash and making the worst possible choice. She immediately blew her whistle and flashed between the two of them, forming an "X" with her hands.
"Stop everything! Hands up!"
"Yikes!"
Like a child caught doing something wrong, Yoshiwara Aina screamed, very cooperatively raised her hands, and closed her eyes, not daring to move, looking pitiful like a small rabbit in a cage.
"Azusa-senpai!?"
"NO! I am a pitiful girl who was pushed into the campus lake by jealous female classmates and died with her eyes open in unrequited despair, and a poor senior who was abandoned by her junior!"
"The strange settings are increasing again!!!"
Although still very weak, Imamura Kouhei still dutifully shouted his complaint, as this was a fine tradition of the Pab Club that could not be lost!
However, he remembered that Azusa-senpai and Yuu were left behind when he ran away. Did the evil spirits not drag them to hell?
"Well~ After all, I'm not like little Aina and little Chisa, I'm just a pitiful senior nobody wants~ Sob sob!"
"Azusa-senpai, can I put my hands down now? And what about the elementary school sibling ghosts?"
"Yes, you can~"
Aina was indeed cute, it would just be better if she wasn't so naive sometimes.
Waving her hand to let Aina do as she pleased, Hamaka Azusa chuckled, cleared her throat twice, and took off her wig to gloss over the matter: "As for the ghosts~ there are no such things at all!"
"Eh! But..."
"Those were special actors that Yuu hired with two boxes of popsicles and other snacks to help out, the children of other backpackers, aren't they cute~"
"Cute my foot! To conspire with a scumbag like Yuu, hurry up and grow up and inherit the Pab Club legacy!"
Calming down, he realized that there was no such thing as a ghost. Imamura Kouhei now just wanted to twist the head of that bastard Yuu and kick it like a ball!
As for the children... damn it! Although he really wanted to make them pay for their prank, he felt like he would be severely punished!
"Tch, Aina, help me up, my legs are weak…"
"Huh? Oh, okay!"
With Azusa-senpai interruption, Yoshiwara Aina finally realized what she had been thinking about earlier. With clouds of steam rising from her head, she lowered her head and walked over to help Kouhei up.
"By the way, Azusa-senpai!"
Suddenly realizing there was an important question, Imamura Kouhei angrily turned his head before gathering with the seniors, asking Azusa-senpai, whom he dared not provoke because Yuu would perform an Earth-Slam on him if he did: "Why did you say 'Stop' just now? Did something happen?"
"Ugh…"
"Oh, did something happen?"
Looking at the adorably whining Aina, Hamaka Azusa secretly gave her a two-finger sign and then fooled him: "Greek-style nono~"
"Damn it... Yuu! I'm coming for you—!"