After a night passed, Arata didn't find the ghost Aki Hayakawa had mentioned.
It was possible the ghost didn't show up because there were too many people in the room. But in broad daylight, Arata didn't have the time to investigate ghost stories anyway. It wouldn't be too late to do a proper search after Quanxi left. After all, this so-called ghost hadn't done anything out of line yet.
The time was 5:30 AM.
Arata was sitting on the couch watching a notoriously trashy soap opera.
Just then, a bedroom door was pushed open. Someone walked out of the room barefoot.
"You're up pretty early, Quanxi. I thought you'd sleep in a bit longer. After all, the soundproofing in Aki's apartment isn't great. We heard everything you girls were doing in that room last night."
"Oh." Just one word completely expressed Quanxi's indifference to the matter.
Hearing wasn't the same as seeing. Quanxi didn't feel embarrassed in the slightest.
"When do you guys plan to head back to China?" Arata turned his head to look at Quanxi.
However, the sight before him took Arata slightly by surprise. Quanxi was standing in front of the fridge completely topless. Bigger than Power, smaller than Makima.
She opened the fridge and pulled out a can of ice-cold beer. Completely disregarding Arata's gaze, she popped the tab and began chugging it down. If Denji had seen this, the speed at which he gulped in anticipation would have been faster than the speed Quanxi was drinking.
"I'll stay in Japan for another two days. If I go back too early, they'll think I didn't put my back into the mission."
"What about you? When do you plan to come back to China with me?" Quanxi asked as she sat down next to Arata.
"Don't we still have four days?"
"It's boring staying in Japan all the time. As long as you come back to the country, I can apply for a position for you. The salary and benefits are way higher than what you get here."
"I'll head back after I finish dealing with my business in Japan. Besides, I have a plan to travel the globe. I'm going to visit every single country on Earth."
"Sounds boring," Quanxi said, crushing the rest of her beer in one breath.
"It is a bit boring, but I have a reason I must do it. You'll all understand eventually," Arata smiled.
"I'm going back to my room. If you need anything, just come in and find me." With that, Quanxi stood up and walked back to her bedroom.
Right at that moment, Denji woke up to go pee. He caught a glimpse of Quanxi's bare back. But before he could properly appreciate the view, the door clicked shut.
"Master, what were you guys doing on the couch just now?" Denji hurriedly scrambled over to Arata and asked.
"Discussing when to head back to China."
"Master, you're leaving?!"
"Yep, heading back to China in a few days."
"Ah!"
Denji felt like he had been struck by a bolt out of the blue. His mind reeled. His rock-hard heart began to crack. He couldn't say he was deeply devastated, but he definitely wasn't happy about it.
"Since you're going back to China, Master, take me with you!"
"Take you with me? Are you able to forget about Makima?"
"I will never forget Miss Makima! But I can't leave you either, Master! Besides, if we go to China, you can definitely find me a girlfriend, right?"
"Of course," Arata promised without hesitation. "But your Master is just going on a business trip and will be back in a few days. For these next few days, you can just hang out with Reze and study."
"Mm!!" Denji nodded excitedly.
"By the way, Master... were you guys only talking about China just now? Did you do anything else?" Denji suddenly asked in a hushed whisper.
His reward was a merciless smack to the head from Arata's iron hand.
"You're a kid, stop focusing so much on these things!!"
A while later.
Aki Hayakawa pushed his door open and walked out. Just like every other day, he had to get up early to prepare breakfast for Power. But when he turned around, he saw Denji sleeping on the couch and Arata glued to the TV.
"Are you guys not going to the cafe today?"
"Nope, not going. I ordered delivery. Aki, could you trouble yourself to make breakfast for ten?"
"Ten portions?!" Aki had finally had a few easy days, and now he was suddenly being forced to pay back the standard two-person meals he owed at five times the volume!
Ding dong!
The doorbell rang.
Arata hauled Denji up by his collar. "Your private tutor is here. Go get the door."
"Private tutor?" Denji groggily got up. When he opened the door, he saw Reze standing there wearing a stylish off-the-shoulder top.
"Ta-da!! Denji-kun, your delivery is here!" Reze smiled brightly at him.
Every single one of her smiles made Denji's heart flutter.
"Reze, why are you here?"
"Arata-senpai told me to come over and watch a movie."
"Ah, Reze is here. Hurry up and come sit next to me," Arata called out, waving her over.
"Arata-senpai, I brought your coffee." Reze changed out of her shoes and handed a cup to Arata. "It's still hot."
"I kept it tucked inside my jacket to keep it warm on the way here."
"You're too thoughtful, Reze. From now on, I'm only drinking coffee made personally by you."
"Denji-kun, I added sugar to yours this time." Reze pulled another cup of coffee out of her jacket.
"I'm not drinking it. Every time I see coffee, I think of Power's poop."
"Who's talking about the Great Me's poop?!" Power, with her sharp ears, pushed open the bathroom door and bellowed.
"Get lost!! Do not mention that word in front of me!"
"Oh, it's just Denji. The Great Me didn't flush this time, so if you're interested, you can come in and study it!"
"Power, flush the toilet right now, or you aren't getting any breakfast today!!" Aki Hayakawa roared.
After all, Power was a fiend. Her excrement was different from a human's. It hardened much faster and was incredibly prone to clogging the toilet. Because of this, Aki had to unclog the toilet at least four or five times a week.
"Why are you being so fierce?! The Great Me won't eat then! I ate a lot last night anyway!"
"Pow—er," Arata dragged out her name. His voice was soft, but packed with an overwhelming amount of threat.
"I'll go flush it right now!"
"From now on, you flush every time you finish using the toilet. Stop causing trouble for Aki."
"Understood, Arata-kun." Power mimicked a proper lady perfectly. With everyone else, she was loud and obnoxious, but with Arata, she switched to a soft and gentle whisper.
"Drink it while it's hot, Denji-kun. The taste gets much worse when it's cold." Reze shoved the travel coffee cup into Denji's hands.
He was about to refuse, but then he noticed the color of the coffee was different. "Black coffee?"
"Last time Denji-kun said you didn't like the color, so I switched to a different kind."
"Reze... do you like me?"
Pffft!! Arata nearly choked, completely blindsided by Denji's hopelessly blunt, zero-game declaration.
"What are you guys talking about?"
Just then, Himeno arrived at the door, bringing Arai and Kobeni with her.
"Himeno-senpai, why are you here so early?" Aki Hayakawa was just about to grab some eggs when he saw Himeno and the others entering the apartment.
It was early in the morning, and the living room was already packed with people.
"Aki-kun, don't you want me here?"
"No, it's just a bit unexpected."
"Arata-senpai, Hayakawa-senpai!" Kobeni and Arai greeted the two immediately upon entering.
"Don't tell me you guys all came to my house to mooch a free meal?"
"Hayakawa-senpai, we already ate. We came this time because Arata-senpai told us to come over and watch a movie."
"A movie?" Aki had absolutely no idea about any movie plans.
"Didn't Arata tell you? We're supposed to watch something called Young Freddy today."
"What Young Freddy? It's A Nightmare on Elm Street! Today, the Nightmare on Elm Street that I personally directed and starred in is premiering, and I'm taking you all to see the very first screening," Arata suddenly clarified.
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