"Kitahara-kun, you big liar…"
On the way to the revolving restaurant, Kita's tone was particularly resentful.
"How did I lie?"
Kitahara Makoto's expression was innocent.
"You said it was just bathing, and you wouldn't take advantage of me." Kita's face was flushed, and she rubbed her wrist, "You actually made me… My arms are so sore, I'm exhausted."
Kitahara Makoto whispered:
"I worked hard too, you know. When I was serving Kita, Kita actually…"
"Ahhhhhh!" Kita's face quickly turned red, and she quickly covered Kitahara Makoto's mouth, "Don't say it! Forget about that thing, Ahhhhhh!"
Kitahara Makoto, in turn, comforted Kita:
"Actually, you don't have to care, after all, everyone's physique is different…"
"I told you to forget it!"
"Alright, I won't say it." Kitahara Makoto held Kita's small hand, "Look on the bright side, at least I left Kita with an unforgettable fireworks festival."
"I don't want such a terrible unforgettable experience!"
"…"
No need to say more about what happened next.
The two arrived at the revolving restaurant, eating and enjoying the fireworks festival. Watching fireworks from the sky felt completely different from watching them from the ground.
After all, Kita was not Hitori, and her adaptability was actually quite good. Happily taking photos of the sky full of fireworks outside the window, she quickly escaped her guilty and ashamed state.
In a blink of an eye, it was nine o'clock in the evening, and the fireworks festival ended on time.
Kitahara Makoto and Kita didn't squeeze into the packed trains and subways. Instead, they went to the bathroom to summon Hana and quickly traveled back home
"Makoto-kun, welcome back."
Stepping out of the bathroom, Mutsumi's calm voice rang out.
"I'm back." Kitahara Makoto nodded slightly, "Mutsumi-chan, what did you and Hana-chan eat tonight?
Mutsumi said expressionlessly:
"Pizza."
"That's good." Kitahara Makoto said casually, "It's a bit hot outside, I'll go take a shower first."
Mutsumi raised her right hand:
"Shall I help Makoto-kun scrub his back?"
You're a girl, you should be a little more reserved!
Kitahara Makoto's lips twitched slightly:
"No need, I'll do it myself."
Although he was tempted, people would be coming to visit soon. If he let Mutsumi help scrub his back, it would definitely not stop for a while, so he decided against it.
After washing up, Kitahara Makoto walked out of the bathroom feeling refreshed. He looked up and saw Mutsumi holding a small cucumber in both hands, looking at him with expectant eyes:
"Makoto-kun, want some cucumber?"
"…"
After eating Mutsumi's cucumber, Kitahara Makoto finally relaxed, enjoying the air conditioning and comfortably watching TV.
Before long, the girls arrived one after another, preparing for their pre-sleep onsen bath.
"Eh?" Chihaya Anon quickly noticed something was amiss, "Where's Kita? Why didn't she come today?"
Nijika explained:
"Kita sent a message saying she had something to do tonight, so she won't be coming today."
"I see." Anon nodded, her gaze glancing at Kitahara Makoto, "I thought she was taken advantage of by someone and was angry and didn't want to come."
Kitahara Makoto: "…"
Girls' intuition was indeed quite sharp; they immediately discovered the truth.
However, Kita wasn't angry, but rather too shy to come.
Yamada Ryo rested her chin on her right hand:7
"Well, Nijika is too trusting of others, aren't you?"
Nijika looked over in confusion: "What do you mean, Ryo?"
Yamada Ryo said nonchalantly:
"Nothing."
Nijika put her hands on her hips, annoyed:
"Ryo, you clearly have something else in mind."
"I'm sorry." Ryo raised her hand to cover her lips, "I've been given a gag order, I can't say."
Kitahara Makoto: "…"
As expected, causing trouble was Yamada Ryo's personality.
"Are you two hiding something from me?"
Nijika's gaze shifted to Kitahara Makoto.
Kitahara Makoto was very innocent:
"Nijika-senpai, why are you looking at me?"
Nijika narrowed her eyes:
"Of course, because you two are very suspicious."
"Slander, Nijika-senpai is slandering me." Kitahara Makoto immediately said, "Ryo-senpai and I are completely innocent; we haven't been causing trouble behind Nijika-senpai's back at all."
Nijika snorted softly:
"I hope so."
Nijika racked her brains but never suspected Seika… With her sister's personality, she definitely wouldn't have any unspeakable secrets with a high school student, right?
After soaking in the onsen.
The girls gradually went home, while Soyo quietly stayed behind.
There was nothing else to do after that. Although Kitahara Makoto really wanted to tease Soyo, the morning's hardship made Soyo quite fearful, and she decisively hid in the guest room, not giving Kitahara Makoto a chance to take advantage of her.
"Kitahara-kun, I'll leave the night's safety to you!"
"…"
The night passed without incident.
The next day.
When Kitahara Makoto woke up in the morning, he happened to meet Soyo coming out of the guest room:
"Soyo, good morning."
"Morning." Soyo raised her hand to cover her mouth and yawned, "I dreamt of the terrifying puppet Mutsumi-chan again, as expected."
Kitahara Makoto said softly:
"Last night, I already transcended the puppet Mutsumi-chan in your dream. If Soyo takes another nap at noon, you'll know if it had an effect."
Soyo nodded pitifully:
"That's the only way… Kitahara-kun, you're not allowed to take advantage of me at noon!"
"Don't worry." Kitahara Makoto assured her, "I definitely won't take advantage of you."
Soyo: "...I can't trust you at all!"
"…"
After breakfast.
Kitahara Makoto left the house, got on his bicycle, and headed to Gotō to call Hitori to continue her driving school lessons.
As soon as he parked his bicycle at Hitori's doorstep, Hitori, full of a sneaky vibe, stealthily slipped out, still with dark circles under her eyes, and whispered:
"Kitahara-kun, good morning."
Evidently, Hitori, as usual, had been hiding behind the door, waiting for Kitahara Makoto to arrive.
"Good morning." Kitahara Makoto handed her a candy and asked curiously, "Did Hitori use the Wish Note?"
Hitori answered softly:
"It was used up yesterday afternoon."
Kitahara Makoto asked curiously, "So the lyrics are written?"
Hitori shook her head pitifully, "They're not written."
Kitahara Makoto pondered, "After writing a wish on the Wish Note, did the sticker disappear in a flash of white light, or did it turn into black ash?"
Hitori replied softly, "The Wish Note turned into white light."
"Then the wish was successful." Kitahara Makoto was a bit puzzled, "From yesterday afternoon until now, a considerable amount of time has passed. Why hasn't the wish been fulfilled yet?"
"I don't know..." Hitori lowered her small head, looking dejected, "It must be because I'm too stupid, that's why I can't do anything right."
Kitahara Makoto rubbed Hitori's small head, "Hitori's previous lyrics were clearly very good."
"But it's too late..." Hitori lowered her small head even further, looking completely deflated, "There are only three days until the performance. After the lyrics are written, they still need to be given to Ryo-senpai for composition, and everyone needs to rehearse. We definitely won't make it, right?"
Kitahara Makoto said decisively, "Leave the composition and rehearsal to me. You can choose between Onsen Village and the Dream World. There will definitely be enough time, Hitori doesn't need to worry at all... Get in the car first, let the wind blow and calm your mood. Maybe you'll have a burst of inspiration soon."
"Oh..."
Hitori sat on the back seat of the bicycle, dejectedly hugging Kitahara Makoto's waist.
"Hold on tight."
Kitahara Makoto pushed off with his foot, riding the bicycle towards the driving school.
The journey was silent.
The two quickly arrived at the driving school, but unfortunately, even after class ended, the so-called 'inspiration' still hadn't appeared.
"Kitahara-kun, I'll go buy two drinks..."
Hitori listlessly walked towards the vending machine.
Kitahara Makoto, on the other hand, went to the sunshade to push the bicycle. When he came out with the bicycle, he saw Hitori standing in front of the vending machine, bending over and staring intently at the drainage ditch on the ground, her cowlick gently swaying with the breeze.
"Hitori, what are you looking at?"
Kitahara Makoto asked curiously.
"Ah..."
Hearing Kitahara Makoto's call, Hitori jumped in surprise, quickly stood up, her small face full of astonishment, "I, I, I, I just heard a strange sound inside the drainage ditch."
"Is there someone inside?"
Kitahara Makoto raised an eyebrow in surprise, lowering his head to look into the drainage ditch.
He remembered seeing a news report before about a perverted peeping tom in Japan who, in order to peek under girls' skirts, chose to hide under manhole covers in the sewers. But the drainage ditch next to the vending machine was very shallow, covered with stone slabs, and there were narrow gaps in the middle of the slabs. It was impossible for an adult to hide inside.
"No one." Hitori quickly shook her head, "It was a small mouse."
"A mouse?"
"Mm-hmm, it was a black mouse."
Perhaps because they were both 'dark creatures,' Hitori wasn't afraid of mice like ordinary girls. It was like when she went to the Haunted House, Hitori wasn't afraid of the staff in the Haunted House at all.
Hitori's voice was filled with wonder, "I just heard the mouse talking... Not like human speech, it felt like I directly heard the mouse's inner thoughts."
Kitahara Makoto asked curiously, "What did the mouse say?"
"Hmm..." Hitori blinked, tilted her head, and said softly, "This little mouse, ah, even though I'm in a dark sewer, I'm still very happy..."
"Its inner thoughts feel very interesting." Hitori's eyes grew brighter and brighter, "Ah, I suddenly want to write a 'mice' song'! Kitahara-kun, wait for me."
After Hitori finished speaking, she took out her phone and hurriedly began to record her inspiration.
Kitahara Makoto: "..."
She actually wants to write a song about mice?
Would anyone really like to listen to such a niche song?
Well, Yamada Ryo would probably love it
Yamada Ryo had always been unconventional and didn't like those homogeneous works that blindly followed trends. As long as true feelings were poured into them, she would like them, even if the lyrics were niche.
A moment later.
"It's finished."
Hitori happily looked up, her peach blossom eyes sparkling in the sunlight, her tone slightly regretful, "Unfortunately, only half of it is written. I don't know how to write the other half of the lyrics..."
Kitahara Makoto looked towards the drainage ditch, "Why don't I leave first and wait for that mouse to appear again?"
Hitori shook her head, "Let's not... The mouse's inner thoughts before it left said it was so scary. It probably won't come out to forage for a while."
Kitahara Makoto pondered, "Ordinary people wouldn't understand the inner thoughts of small animals. Hitori suddenly heard the inner thoughts of a small animal and even wrote the lyrics she wanted to write... So, it should be the Wish Note taking effect, right?"
The ways wishes were fulfilled were indeed varied, and now it had directly given Hitori special abilities.
However, once the wish was completed, the special ability should disappear.
"Eh, is that so?" Hitori curiously checked her body, "No wonder I suddenly heard the mouse's voice."
Kitahara Makoto said softly, "Hitori's lyrics aren't finished yet, so the ability should still be usable, right?"
Hitori looked bewildered, "I don't know."
Kitahara Makoto pondered, "What did Hitori do with that mouse just now?"
"N-nothing at all." Hitori replied softly, "I just saw it quietly poke its head out of the drainage ditch, and then I heard its inner thoughts."
Kitahara Makoto thought about it upon hearing this.
Perhaps Hitori couldn't hear human inner thoughts, only animal inner thoughts. To be even more stringent, she could only hear the inner thoughts of dark creatures, such as mice, cockroaches, slugs...
"Kitahara-kun, drinks."
Hitori happily handed over a juice drink.
Kitahara Makoto took the drink and took a sip, "It's too hot outside, let's go back first."
"Mm-hmm."
Hitori quickly nodded and sat on the back seat of the bicycle.
The journey was silent.
The bicycle quickly arrived at Hitori's house.
"Do you want to come over for lunch?"
Kitahara Makoto stopped the bicycle and asked Hitori.
"I'm eating at home with Futari for lunch, so I won't go over..."
Hitori shook her head, her gaze falling on the neighbor's house nearby.
At the neighbor's doorstep, a transparent figure floated quietly. Its appearance was clearly that of a female university student. Kitahara Makoto had seen her existence a long time ago. She was the daughter of Hitori's neighbor, who had died in an accident. She was a low-level earth-bound spirit, unable to communicate or interact, far less intelligent than Ghost-senpai in the music classroom.
"Then I'll go back first." Kitahara Makoto got on his bicycle, preparing to leave, "If you encounter anything strange, remember to tell me immediately."
However, what responded to him was a gasp.
"Ah..."
Hearing Hitori's soft gasp, Kitahara Makoto looked over curiously, "What's wrong?"
"Reiko-neesan is here!"
Hitori's voice was very flustered.
Kitahara Makoto followed her gaze and saw the earth-bound spirit girl who had been lingering at the neighbor's doorstep actually float straight over, her target clearly Hitori.
"Is she going to become a vengeful spirit?"
Kitahara Makoto stepped forward, directly clenching his fist.
With his current ability, one punch could make the other party vanish into thin air.
"N-no." Hitori quickly stepped forward, grabbing Kitahara Makoto's arm, "I heard Reiko-neesan's inner thoughts!"
Kitahara Makoto stopped, "What did she say?"
Hitori said softly, "Reiko-neesan said she wanted an ending... I just saw Reiko-neesan look over, and I felt a slight hum in my head, and then I heard Reiko-neesan's inner thoughts..."
Hitori spoke while nervously looking up at the earth-bound spirit girl who had floated in front of them.
Kitahara Makoto raised an eyebrow slightly upon hearing this.
The trigger condition for the ability was actually eye contact?
So the song about mice just now wasn't just about hearing the mouse's inner thoughts, but because Hitori always kept her head down, she hadn't made eye contact with any other creatures besides the mouse!