Though she envied Bocchi-chan's good luck, ultimately it depended on Kaito's will. If he actively refused, no one could force a good boy to comply.
'Since he doesn't refuse Bocchi, that means he won't refuse others either.'
The normie girl thought happily, 'When it's my turn later, will the reward no, the punishment be a kiss? Or a hug? Or maybe both?'
'Aah! So hard to decide!'
Sitting face-to-face with Kaito, Bocchi didn't dare open her eyes. She could only smell a pleasant, grassy, woody fragrance coming closer and closer.
'This must be a dream it has to be a dream, right?'
The little socially anxious girl tried hard to hypnotize herself. Otherwise, someone as lowly and insignificant as a wild mallet snake like her, how could she receive such favor?
'That's right! I must still be dreaming!'
Never mind reality, at least she had successfully convinced herself.
Bocchi didn't dare think further, like a well-wound doll, she only kept her head down biting the pocky.
The girl's pink lips slowly crept forward bit by bit, wanting to finish this public execution as fast as possible.
But maybe her CPU overloaded, she had already lost the ability to think.
In just a short time, most of the pocky had been consumed, but the little socially anxious girl still showed no sign of stopping.
As the distance between the two shrank, the surrounding girls began to breathe more rapidly.
Yumiko didn't even dare exhale, her jade-green eyes unblinking, afraid to miss even a single detail.
Finally
"Mmgh", Bocchi, not disappointing anyone, bit her own tongue.
People who often share a pocky with their girlfriend all know: as the stick gets shorter, the two bodies will lean closer.
The little socially anxious girl, teary-eyed, opened her eyes from the pain. Her forward-leaning body instantly lost balance, her little hands flailing to find a new support point, and in a panic, she unintentionally grabbed downward.
Moments later
"Gomen nasai sumimasen, for daring to defile your noble body, I have undoubtedly lost the right to be human. Only death can atone for my sinI am terribly sorry," Bocchi rapidly chanted her apology in standard dogeza posture, prostrating fully on the ground, her forehead respectfully touching the floor, panicked to the point she didn't dare raise her head.
Even though it was just a brief touch, that fleeting contact made the girl blush and her heart race, her mind filled with strange things.
'E-Even though there was a layer of pants in between but that terrifying size'
'Mgh I'll die, right? I'm definitely going to die, right?'
Kaito cleared his throat, "It was just an accident. Anyway, Bocchi, get up first. No need to be so tense."
Although that place is indeed famously vulnerable and known as a man's weak point, that only applies to ordinary people.
With Kaito's capabilities, never mind an accidental press. Even using it to roll a car tire over wouldn't be a problem.
Bocchi trying to break his defenses? She's ten thousand years too early.
Yumiko, having firsthand experience, knew this well, so she wasn't worried at all. Instead, her expression screamed "She hit it, she hit it!"
But Bocchi didn't understand the hidden truth. Everyone says that area on a boy is the weakest, even a slight bump hurts unbearably, let alone her accidentally pressing down hard
'I-If Kaito really ends up with a problem'
Just imagining that terrifying consequence made the little socially anxious girl's face turn pale. She had already prepared to devote the rest of her life to caring for him. No matter if she's beaten or scolded, she wouldn't leave! She'd make sure Kaito lived a carefree life with food and clothes delivered to his hand.
'This is the path of atonement for me, Gotou Hitori!'
She remained prostrated on the floor and said in a muffled voice, "P-Please let me make up for this! No matter what the request is, I'll do it!"
'Even if you say that I don't really have anything I need your help with.'
But seeing the little socially anxious girl clearly stuck in a mental loop, Kaito thought for a bit and simply said, "I can't think of anything I need you to do for now but I'll remember your promise. If there's something I need help with in the future, Bocchi, you're not allowed to refuse."
"Understood!"
Actually, Nijika and Kita were also a little worried about Kaito's body, but seeing him speak with strong energy and a normal expression, not like someone faking wellness, they relaxed a little.
But what followed was awkwardness.
Originally, the card game had been going smoothly, but this whole incident blew up. Truth or dare punishment couldn't continue anymore.
But Kaito didn't really mind. Whatever the game is, just play it how it's meant to be played.
In the following rounds, he remained the consistent winner. Only the losers kept changingScummy Ryou, Yumiko, and Nijika all took losses.
Only Kita found it unbelievable, seriously suspecting she was being ostracized.
'Otherwise, we played three full rounds, why hasn't it been my turn yet? Nijika-senpai has already gone twice!'
Let's not talk about how the normie girl was doubting her life. Learning from the earlier lesson, Kaito no longer chose dare as punishment, instead, he uniformly picked truth.
"What's your favorite food?"
"What's your favorite movie?"
"When was the last time you lied?"
All of them were pretty innocent questions.
But when it was Ryou's turn, there was a slight twist, "What's your favorite genre of hentai doujinshi?" [T/N: Mine is Supernatural... comment yours]
If she were a shy and introverted girl, she'd just flusteredly deny, ["What doujin? I-I-I never read that stuff!"]
If she were an easygoing and bold girl, maybe she'd laugh it off.
But this was Ryou.
The blue-haired girl pinched her chin in a thinking pose, then calmly said, "Of course, pure love."
"Pure love?"
Nijika cast a suspicious glance, 'What a joke! I've seen your collection at home! Clearly NTR is the most!'
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Chapter 67: As long as you're confident, any kind of expression works
"Of course, like pure love hypnosis, pure love NTR, pure love"
"So how the hell is that pure love?"
"Nijika, the purity is too low."
Scummy Ryou looked at her like she was a rotting log, full of disappointment, shaking her head and sighing, "As long as you're confident, any kind of expression works."
'Is this really a problem confidence can fix?'
'I really shouldn't have had any expectations for this bastard!'
Nijika, fuming, dragged Scummy Ryou aside, deciding to unleash the Iron Fist of Justice. Meanwhile, Kita wore a smile like "isn't that kinda nice though" and tried to smooth things over.
That commotion really did lighten the originally awkward atmosphere.
Seeing that it was getting late, Kaito didn't intend to continue the card game and decided to end the activity, letting everyone return to their rooms to rest.
Except for Kita, who never got her punishment, none of the girls had any objections. After all, they'd played for a long time and were honestly a bit tired.
However, they didn't intend to go straight to their rooms to rest. Instead, they decided to soak in the hot spring before bed.
After all, they were staying at a hot spring inn. If they didn't try out the local specialty, wouldn't that be a waste?
Kaito joined them too.
Don't get the wrong idea, it wasn't mixed bathing. The hot spring pools in the inn were numerous, with separate baths for men and women. A thick wooden wall stood in between, without a single gap, completely eliminating the possibility of peeping.
Of course, in the face of divine sense, so-called barriers were practically nonexistent.
'Still, I'm a proper gentleman. If it's not appropriate, I won't look.'
Changing into a brand-new bathrobe, Kaito stepped into the perfectly heated pool, letting the spring water soak his body.
Hoori's hot springs were quite famous, with a decent reputation all over Japan. They were said to have many effects, such as beautifying the skin, extending life, removing impurities. Just short of claiming to cure all diseases.
In truth, the hot springs here were just ordinary hot springs. They didn't contain any spiritual energy. Soaking in them often was good for the body, but nowhere near as miraculous as the legends claimed.
Because the inn had been booked entirely, there were no other guests in the spacious men's bath, and Kaito quite enjoyed this rare alone time.
The only downside was the constant sounds of girls playing and laughing from the women's bath next door. Mixed within were Scummy Ryou's interrogations of Bocchi, seemingly asking about how it felt earlier. The shy social-phobic stammered, unable to respond, and could only cast a pleading gaze toward Nijika, Kita, and Yumiko nearby, completely screaming for help.
"I'll soak a little longer, then head back to the room to rest."
Kaito stretched lazily but suddenly retracted his smile, looking in a certain direction.
In a corner of the bath, a pitch-black monster emerged from the ground, its appearance resembling sludge. Two long tentacles extended from its back, radiating a thick aura of ominousness.
The monster's eyes were crimson, devoid of reason. Its two tentacles, like long whips, slashed down with a sharp, slicing sound and ruthless force.
This strike was incredibly fast and powerful, enough to knock out a strong adult man.
But the monster quickly felt tremendous resistance. In front of it was nothing but empty space, yet the tentacles it flung out were blocked as if by an invisible wall. No matter how hard it tried, it couldn't move forward even a centimeter.
Blazing fire surged in, as if in the midst of a raging inferno that was the sludge monster's last sensation before it died.
"This is a remnant soul crystal?"
Kaito didn't pay much attention to such small fry. Among the ashes of the sludge monster, he found a shiny, mysterious crystal.
Reaching out, the crystal flew into his palm.
He glanced at it casually. The crystal was an irregular rectangle, mixed with many mottled impurities. Aside from a faint trace of soul power, it didn't seem particularly special.
Though it was useless to him, since it contained supernatural material, Kaito kept it anyway. As a souvenir.
After wrapping that up, he frowned slightly, quickly walked out of the bath, and turned to pull open the women's bath door.
"Kaito-senpai?"
Nijika had just been scolding Scummy Ryou for bullying little Bocchi when the latter splashed her with water in retaliation. Furious, she was about to splash back.
Then the door opened with a bang. She turned her head instinctively, and saw a beautiful boy standing at the door with only a bath towel around his waist, walking in slowly.
Shimokitazawa's archangel froze, 'Th-th-this this isn't right, is it?'
This was definitely supposed to be the women's bath, right?!
She started to doubt if she'd gotten it wrong, but looking at the others, Scummy Ryou and the rest, 'All girls! No mistake! This is definitely the women's bath!'
'Kaito-senpai, c-c-c-could it be that he's going to'
Thinking of that face-flushing, heart-pounding possibility, Nijika's cute face turned so hot it could boil an egg.
Though she did like Kaito-senpai and wouldn't mind developing things further, 'Still, the first time should at least be in a quiet, romantic place, right?'
'Being with Ryou, that bastard, what the hell is that supposed to be! Not to mention there are other girls too!'
By now the others had also reacted. Kita grabbed Bocchi, flustered, and covered them both with a towel. Yumiko seemed surprised but not particularly reactive, standing up boldly. Scummy Ryou likewise showed no intent to cover up. Instead, she stared at Kaito's firm upper body like a guest becoming the host, thoughtfully commenting, "Usually he doesn't show off, but he's actually got pretty muscle definition, huh?"
'Hmm feels like he could lift me with one arm...'
But saying such outrageous things out loud would clearly get her punished by Nijika, so Scummy Ryou wisely swallowed it back down.
Meanwhile, Kaito gave a brief glance at the girls bathing, then turned his gaze away and looked toward a certain spot.
There, in a similar corner location, another sludge monster had quietly revealed itself.
Still with a pitch-black, mud-like body, and crimson eyes filled with viciousness. Its two thick tentacles flailed wildly, making whooshing sounds.
"What is that thing?"
The girls were startled by the sudden appearance of the sludge monster and had no time to care about any romantic nonsense, all frantically jumping out of the pool.
"Maybe a local specialty of Hoori Town," Kaito casually responded, waved his hand, and summoned a roaring fire dragon, sending this sludge monster down the same path as its companion.
Compared to the rigid and masculine thunder technique, fire techniques might lack a bit in pure attack power, but they were handy for cleaning up the scene.
Once again, the sludge monster turned to ash and dropped a broken soul crystal, full of impurities and shaped similarly into an irregular rectangle.
After putting the soul crystal away, Kaito didn't leave immediately. He used divine sense to scan the surroundings, confirmed there were no other monsters, and then turned around.
"No matter what questions you have, for now, get dressed first."
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Chapter 68: I Was Talking About the Worldview
[Twenty Minutes Later, Guest Room]
The traditional Japanese-style room had a very simple and clean decor. All four walls were white, with ink-style landscape paintings hanging as decoration. A bit further inside, there was a velvet bed that could accommodate at least three people. The snow-white bedding was spotless, making one want to dive in and roll around happily.
Only, the room that should have been spacious now felt a bit crowded, taken up by the silhouettes of the girls.
On the soft tatami, Nijika sat upright. She had already taken off the white bathrobe she wore earlier and returned to her original outfit. On top, a plain white shirt; on the bottom, a light purple knee-length skirt. Around her waist was a bright red ribbon shaped like a butterfly. Her golden side ponytail hung down smoothly, making her look both cute and lively.
