"No! No!"
In a relatively secluded villa in Neon, a girl's eyebrows were tightly furrowed, and her face was covered in cold sweat. Suddenly, the girl jolted awake and sat up.
Looking at the familiar, dimly lit room, the girl wiped the sweat from her forehead and murmured:
"Again… did I have that nightmare again?"
Just as she thought that she had been worrying too much lately, a creepy whisper entered her ears:
"You ran away again. Next time I come, it will be the last time…"
…
"Ding-a-ling-a-ling~ Time to wake up! Time to wake up!"
Early in the morning, the alarm beside Nakano Yu's bed started ringing.
Nakano Yu, who was already up and dressed, reached out, turned off the alarm, and left his bedroom.
"Wake up! Wake up!"
Nakano Yu called out, walking to the doors of the Five Sisters' bedrooms and knocking in order. Only after getting a response from all five did Nakano Yu go downstairs to wash up and prepare breakfast.
"Ah~"
Standing in front of the frying pan, Nakano Yu yawned.
"Really, why do I have to go to school again? Didn't I already go to school yesterday? Damn it!"
Murmuring, Nakano Yu flipped all six sunny-side-up eggs.
Although his current physical condition meant he wouldn't have trouble even without sleep, he still wanted to rest, because during the day he didn't have many obligations.
Every day, after finishing the tasks assigned by that stupid system, he would return home, cook, sleep, watch TV. As for games, he only played them occasionally, because in one game he had encountered a rather troublesome guy and it would be bad to get involved if he appeared online again.
While Nakano Yu thought about this, Nino, rubbing her eyes, came down the stairs. Seeing the boy preparing breakfast, she approached, wanting to help.
"Good morning, Nino."
Seeing Nino, Nakano Yu greeted her with a smile.
"Good morning, Yu."
Nino replied, taking toasted bread from the toaster and helping to make sandwiches.
"Nino, you haven't washed up yet, right? The eggs will be done soon, I'll make the sandwiches."
Glancing at Nino, Nakano Yu immediately saw that she had just woken up and came to help, without even taking the time to wash up.
Although Nino had fair skin and was beautiful, there was still a difference in appearance between a washed and unwashed face in the morning, so he signaled to Nino to go wash up first.
"All right."
Hearing this, Nino did not argue. After all, for her, who loved beauty, washing up in the morning was an essential part of her routine.
Just as Nino left, Yotsuba and Miku also came down the stairs one after another, greeted Nakano Yu, and went to wash up.
As for Itsuki, Nakano Yu had already finished preparing breakfast and placed plates on the table before she dashed down the stairs, carrying her school uniform blazer and panicking, murmuring:
"Oh no! Oh no! I woke up late!!"
Saying this, Itsuki rushed to the dining table, just to grab a sandwich and stuff it into her mouth, when Nakano Yu tapped her on the head.
"Wash up first, then eat. Really, it's the same every day."
Placing a glass of milk beside Itsuki's hand, Nakano Yu said helplessly.
Usually, Nino was the one who woke up the earliest, and Yotsuba and Miku didn't have bad habits of lounging in bed. But Ichika and Itsuki… for them, he really didn't know what to say.
Hm? Wait, where's Ichika?!
Suddenly realizing, Nakano Yu remembered that Ichika hadn't come down yet.
"Remember to wash up, I'm going upstairs to check on Ichika."
After quickly warning Itsuki, Nakano Yu went up the stairs.
Arriving in front of Ichika's door, the young man first knocked, but there was no answer from inside. Listening carefully, Nakano Yu could even hear Ichika's faint snoring.
"As I thought…"
Hearing that sound, Nakano Yu looked as if he had already expected it and no longer hesitated with Ichika; he pushed the door open and entered.
The curtains in Ichika's room were tightly drawn, blocking the morning light, making the room somewhat dark.
"Hey, hey, Ichika, wake up!!"
Looking at Ichika lying still on the bed, wrapped in a light blanket, Nakano Yu rubbed his forehead.
"Yes, yes, I'm getting up… right away…"
Hearing Nakano Yu's voice, Ichika slowly raised her fair hand like a lotus root, waved it, and responded.
However, her voice gradually weakened until it completely disappeared.
Seeing this, Nakano Yu scanned the room. Seeing the usual mess of clothes on the floor, he didn't hesitate with Ichika. He grabbed a jacket from the floor, balled it up, and threw it toward Ichika.
The jacket lightly hit Ichika's face, and only then did the girl slowly and reluctantly sit up.
"Really, Yu is too rough."
Sitting on the bed, Ichika rubbed her eyes and complained, letting out a sleepy yawn.
The light blanket wrapped around her, with Ichika's movement, slipped down slightly, revealing a large part of her fair skin.
"If Ichika would stop the habit of sleeping naked, maybe I'd consider waking her personally."
Leaning against the door frame, Nakano Yu said, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Oh? Yu is a puritan again. As if he hasn't already seen everything."
Hearing this, Ichika pouted, her tone slightly bitter, as if Nakano Yu were some scum who had abandoned her after a brief adventure.
"That was a long time ago. We were just kids then. I won't talk about this with you anymore. Get up quickly, or Itsuki will eat your breakfast, Ichika."
Nakano Yu finished, turned, and left, not caring what Ichika thought.
Ichika also didn't say anything further, quickly got up and dressed, but a faint smile appeared at the corner of her lips.
"Just now, Yu's face turned red, didn't it? Still a kid after all, hehe~"
…
After breakfast, Mr. Edo, assistant to Nakano Maru, had already brought the car in front of the building, ready to take them to school.
When they sat in the car, the Five Sisters each attended to their own things. Yotsuba and Itsuki chatted, Ichika leaned against the window catching up on sleep, Nino fixed her makeup, and Miku put on her Audio-Technica headphones and listened to music.
As for Nakano Yu, he turned his head and looked at the street scene constantly moving past the window.
"These things have really been happening more and more lately," Nakano Yu suddenly murmured.
In the young man's eyes, the world was bizarre and twisted. Besides students walking together and vehicles flowing down the street, in those dirty, dark corners, black phantom figures peeked out, searching for their prey.
Those shadows were eerie; they could be perceived as—Ghosts!
However, Nakano Yu noticed that these evil ghosts were somewhat different from Shirai earlier. These evil ghosts were invisible to ordinary people and also couldn't harm people who couldn't see them, as if something restrained them.
That's good. If those creatures could freely harm people, this world would probably already be in chaos.
As for monsters like Shirai, Nakano Yu felt that that type wasn't the same existence as these evil ghosts. After all, Shirai could be seen by anyone who heard his story.
Instead of calling Shirai an evil spirit, Nakano Yu preferred to call him an abnormality, a rare existence different from humans, evil spirits, and yokai.
"What's happening more and more?"
Suddenly, a stray hair appeared in Nakano Yu's field of vision. The hair moved, incredibly close to his face; just a little more, and it would poke the young man.
"This stray hair is going to stab me!"
Seeing this, Nakano Yu quickly smoothed Itsuki's stray hair and said.
"Oh, oh, I didn't notice. But you've been murmuring to yourself for a while. What are you thinking about?"
Itsuki nodded, leaned in, and asked.
"I said that summer has come and there are more high school girls dressing lightly," Nakano Yu said, adjusting his posture.
Hearing this, Itsuki was first taken aback, but soon her cheeks slightly flushed. She reached out and pinched Nakano Yu's arm, lightly scolding him:
"Yu!"