Natsuki naturally didn't know he was being "livestreamed." He methodically finished his shower and began soaking in the bath.
In the blink of an eye, it was 10:30 PM.
Natsuki finished his bath and came out. He looked at Kitagawa sitting on the sofa playing on her phone: "How's your foot now?"
"Much better. It still hurts a tiny bit. It should be fine when I wake up tomorrow morning." Kitagawa Marin put down her phone and stretched. "Let's go. Let's go upstairs and refill Kaguya-neesan's mana."
"Mm."
The two were about to go upstairs when the doorbell suddenly rang.
"Eh?" Kitagawa Marin turned toward the entrance. "Someone's ringing the doorbell this late—could it be Miko?"
"...I'll get the door."
A subtle premonition arose in Natsuki's heart.
The person ringing the doorbell is very likely not Miko, but rather...
Walking to the entrance, he opened the door.
Before his eyes was the cool, water-like night.
In the bright moonlight, a pink-haired girl with a black bow in her bangs smiled brightly. Both hands raised, she made peace signs, her voice crisp:
"Amamiya-kun, good evening."
"..."
As expected, it's you, Chika Fujiwara!
When you sent that message earlier, I already had a vague premonition.
Chika Fujiwara's smile was radiant, making even the cool moonlight seem brighter: "Surprise or not? Unexpected or not?"
Natsuki sighed: "Yes yes, very surprising."
"That's way too perfunctory!"
"..."
"Eh, Chika?"
Hearing the commotion, Kitagawa Marin walked over, her eyes widening in surprise. "Weren't you supposed to be playing overseas for a few more days? How come you're back?"
"Because I was very worried about you all." Chika Fujiwara pulled her suitcase inside. "You and Amamiya-kun will eventually separate along the way—what if you encountered that evil spirit? How dangerous."
"I told Mom and Dad I had something very important to do, so I came back early."
"Chika-chan."
Kitagawa Marin's eyes welled with tears.
Natsuki raised a brow:
"When you messaged me, you'd just gotten off the plane?"
"Hmph, that's right." Chika Fujiwara planted her right hand on her hip. Hearing this, she raised her chin and hummed proudly: "I said there'd be a surprise—of course I wouldn't go back on my word."
"I, Chika Fujiwara, do what I say."
"Little Chika." Mrs. Kaguya smiled happily. "Long time no see."
"Kaguya-neesan, good evening." Chika Fujiwara waved cheerfully.
What do you mean long time?
We haven't seen each other for just a few days!
"Amamiya-kun, I'm thirsty." Chika Fujiwara turned to look over. "Do you have any drinks?"
Hey now—you really don't treat yourself as an outsider!
Natsuki turned and walked to the refrigerator, ignoring the human-head evil spirit inside: "Milk or juice?"
"I want juice."
"..."
Three women make a show.
Kitagawa and Chika Fujiwara were both social butterflies who loved chatting. The two girls sat together, chirping away.
"Just tonight, Amamiya-kun and I went to the supermarket to buy things and encountered a random game..."
Kitagawa Marin recounted tonight's ghost ship hide and seek.
Chika Fujiwara talked about her overseas travel experiences the past few days.
"The trip wasn't fun at all. There are also many evil spirits overseas. Even if I pretend not to see them, they're still scary."
"When I was in Vatican City, I specifically went to a very famous cathedral."
"Completely useless—there were evil spirits inside too. Perhaps the whole world is the same... Marin-chan, what happened to your foot?"
"Ahem." Kitagawa Marin cleared her throat twice. "I tossed the coin earlier and accidentally got tails. Now it only hurts a tiny bit. No need to worry."
After hearing about the silver coin's effects, Chika Fujiwara quickly turned to look at Natsuki expectantly:
"Amamiya-kun, I want to play too."
Natsuki said:
"What's your reason?"
Chika Fujiwara answered without hesitation: "I've been playing a mobile game recently. I want to draw an SSR."
For gacha, you don't even mind being plagued by bad luck?!
"It's only half an hour of bad luck." Chika Fujiwara raised a thumb, closed her right eye, and showed a proud smile on her face. "For Kamisato Ayaka, it's super worth it."
"..."
Thinking about it carefully, it really is a super worthwhile deal.
"Playing is fine." Natsuki agreed. "But don't you want to take a bath?"
Hearing this, Kitagawa Marin's pretty face reddened slightly. She quickly glanced over, then rapidly averted her gaze.
"I do." Chika Fujiwara blinked. "The weather is kind of hot. I sweated a bit on the way back—I definitely need to bathe."
"Then take your bath first." Natsuki waved his hand. "Walking bad luck in the bathroom is dangerous."
"Meow?"
Chika Fujiwara tilted her head, then quickly agreed: "Then I'll take my bath first."
She looked at Kitagawa Marin and added:
"Leave the mana refilling to me later. Marin-chan, rest well."
"Actually..."
Kitagawa Marin extended her right hand, but unfortunately Chika Fujiwara had already entered the bathroom.
Actually, only my foot hurts—back-stepping is completely fine.
Half an hour later.
Chika Fujiwara came out after bathing, her bathrobe revealing two sections of snow-white legs: "Amamiya-kun, let's refill Kaguya-neesan's mana?"
Natsuki stood up:
"Go to my room."
Kitagawa Marin hesitated briefly but still followed.
The three entered the room.
"Amamiya-kun, lie down." Chika Fujiwara pointed.
Natsuki lay down flat on the spot.
"Don't move around, okay?" Chika Fujiwara used one hand to hold her bathrobe as she carefully stepped onto Natsuki's back. "Just me moving is enough."
Natsuki let out a quiet breath: "How come I feel your weight..."
"I only gained one pound!"
"..."
Watching the two refilling mana, Kitagawa Marin pressed her pink lips together—her mood suddenly somewhat peculiarly odd.
Strange.
Why do I feel empty inside?
A moment later.
"Full full, my body's been completely filled." Mrs. Kaguya phased in through the door. Her body had solidified again. She happily made a peace sign. "Tonight I can stay up late catching up on anime again."
Natsuki stood up and got dressed, took out the fate coin, and handed it to Chika Fujiwara.
"I checked my phone fortune this morning—my luck today is very good." Chika Fujiwara took the coin, held it with both hands, closed her eyes and muttered: "If I get a luck boost, I'll use all my saved primogems to draw."
Obviously that's impossible today.
Natsuki stared at the silver coin. A prompt slowly appeared before his eyes.
[Extracting fortune...]
This thing is very likely exactly as speculated—it first extracts others' fortune, and after reaching a certain degree, feeds it back out. Right now it's clearly not enough yet.
Clap.
Chika Fujiwara caught the coin. As expected, it was tails.
"Eh~ it's actually tails." Chika Fujiwara wasn't discouraged. "The 'Plagued by Bad Luck' mark appeared on me... How will the bad luck manifest?"
Natsuki said:
"If nothing unexpected happens, you'll know very soon."