Chapter 121: A Kiss, and an Unwanted Witness?
"What do you mean, 'the real one'?"
Haruto couldn't follow her train of thought. Beside him, Kaguya finally lost her composure, slapping the edge of the bed and dissolving into breathless laughter.
"You... you mean you never noticed?" she managed to get out between giggles. After a long moment, she finally caught her breath, speaking in fits and starts. "Didn't you use one of Yakumo Yukari's talisman cards to check her? Think about it. How could a mere copy demon possibly imitate me so perfectly that it could even fool a talisman card from Yukari herself?"
"But she said... that if Zi came in person, she might see through the disguise. Doesn't that mean a single talisman card isn't enough?"
"And what of it?" Kaguya raised a delicate eyebrow. "No matter how powerful a talisman card is, its effectiveness depends on the user. If Yukari had come herself, she would have seen through the charade in a single glance."
"..."
Haruto fell silent, his mind flashing back to the 'fake Kaguya's'bewildered expression when he had accused her of being a'copy demon'. He recalled now that there hadn't been a single trace of panic in her eyes. At the time, he'd chalked it up to superb acting. Now, he realized she had been genuinely confused.
And when she'd said she was just going 'out for a walk'... she probably meant it literally. She had simply wanted to play and sightsee in this era for a few days.
Damn it!
How mortifying!
Thinking about how he had so seriously analyzed the situation, even threatening her with Yakumo Yukari and Eirin Yagokoro, Haruto felt so awkward he could have dug a hole in the floor with his toes and buried himself in it. Fortunately, aside from the two Kaguyas, no one else knew about his blunder. In everyone else's eyes, he was still a dashing, intelligent figure.
"So she really did come from the future?" Haruto confirmed one last time, needing to hear it again.
Kaguya nodded. "Most likely. At some point in the future, you must have completely mastered the Death Game. That, combined with my own abilities, probably gave me the chance to briefly return to the past."
Hearing this, Haruto's gaze grew even more resentful. Knowing Kaguya's personality, if she ever had the chance, she would absolutely do something as pointless yet amusing as traveling to the past to become a boss for her past self to fight.
Fighting oneself was definitely something she would do. One could only say she truly had no shame.
"This matter is between heaven and earth, you and me... don't you dare..."
Before Haruto could finish his warning, Kaguya suddenly leaned in. With lightning speed, she pressed a light kiss to his lips, then just as quickly sat back in her original spot.
Haruto froze, his eyes widening in disbelief.
"You... you..."
"What about me? I didn't do anything just now," Kaguya said, her expression a mask of calm. But the tips of her ears had quietly turned a tell-tale shade of red; clearly, the kiss had been an impulsive act born from the moment's emotion.
Haruto didn't speak again, simply staring at her without blinking. A kiss on the cheek or forehead could be brushed off as a playful gesture. But she had kissed him on the mouth; how could he pretend nothing had happened? It had been so fast he'd barely registered the feeling.
Kaguya had already turned to the television, pretending to be engrossed in the game on the screen as if nothing was amiss.
"What was that just now?" Haruto finally asked.
"Huh? What do you mean, 'what'? Ryuko, what are you talking about?" Kaguya replied without looking back, her fingers tapping rapidly at the controller in her lap.
Haruto was momentarily speechless. Deciding not to expose her just yet, he pulled over a chair, sat down, and picked up the other game controller.
"Don't do that again next time."
"What, you don't like it?" Kaguya's movements hitched, but her expression remained stubbornly nonchalant.
"It's not that I don't like it..." Haruto weighed his words carefully. "It was just... too sudden."
Kaguya breathed a quiet sigh of relief and gave a light huff, turning her attention back to the game. But just as she clicked to start a new match, Haruto quietly leaned in.
'No, no...' Kaguya's eyes were glued to the screen, but her peripheral vision had already caught his movement. Her heart began to pound wildly in her chest, yet she forced herself to remain still, feigning composure.
Haruto was already extremely close. He tilted his head and kissed her from the side.
Kaguya's eyes flew wide open. Her hands went slack, and the game controller fell from her lap, clattering against the floor with a soft thud.
Unlike her sneaky, fleeting peck, this kiss lasted. It was slow and deliberate, as if he were savoring the taste.
'Hey, that's a foul!' she screamed internally.
Kaguya's delicate body went rigid. After what felt like an eternity, Haruto finally pulled back.
"Ryuko, you..."
Her voice died in her throat. Kaguya saw the same feigned nonchalance in Haruto's eyes that she had just shown him. She would bet her life that if she dared to ask, he would absolutely parrot her own words back at her—'Huh? What do you mean, 'what'? Yako, what are you talking about?'
Damn him!
So mean!
To actually use her own trick against her!
Kaguya was trembling with a mixture of anger and flustered embarrassment. Without a second thought, she spun around and planted both hands on Haruto's shoulders, leaning in close.
Creak—
The door was suddenly pushed open. Reisen walked in carrying a tray of tea and snacks, with Tewi Inaba hopping in right behind her. Both of them froze in the doorway, stunned by the scene before them.
"Princess, you're back?"
The two instantly pulled apart.
"What are you two doing here?" Kaguya asked, coughing lightly to clear her throat.
"Princess, didn't you say that while you were away on business in the instance, you wanted me and Tewi to help you with your games?" Reisen replied obediently. She set the tray down, her gaze darting between the two of them, her long ears twitching with curiosity.
Tewi hopped over to the computer, her crimson eyes wide with intrigue. "What were you two doing? Why does the atmosphere feel so weird?"
"It's nothing," Haruto and Kaguya said in perfect unison.
Tewi clearly didn't believe them. A sly, knowing smile spread across her face. "Could it be... you were playing some kind of special game?"
"We... we should probably head out first?" Reisen suggested, hurriedly tugging at Tewi's sleeve.
"What's the rush?" Tewi leaned closer to the pair, her rabbit ears twitching twice. "A rabbit's intuition tells me that these two definitely have some unspeakable secret."
"Let Detective Rabbit analyze the situation." Tewi produced a pair of glasses from somewhere, perched them on her nose, and walked over to the bed with a mock-serious air. She carefully examined the wrinkles on the sheets.
"The sheets are very wrinkled, indicating you were very close just now. And the Princess's hands were propped up behind Haruto; this was clearly to gain use to get closer to the other person."
Seeing their surprised expressions, Tewi smiled triumphantly. "The detective games this rabbit has been playing lately weren't for nothing."
She walked to the computer again, her small hand feeling the warmth of the chair. She then rested her chin in her palm as she looked at the screen—which clearly displayed the words "CHARACTER DECEASED."
Seeing this, her crimson eyes narrowed into slits.
"The truth is very close. There's still residual warmth on the chair, plus faint indentations, indicating the Princess only started the game a short while ago. But even so, it's impossible for the Princess to fail at such an easy starting level."
Watching Tewi walk further and further down the path of certain doom, Reisen retreated in terror until her back was against the door.
At that moment, Tewi raised a finger, her rabbit ears standing straight up with excitement as she pointed dramatically at the two of them.
"So! There is only one truth! You were just—mph mph mph—"
A palm-sized pastry was stuffed with perfect accuracy into Tewi's mouth, choking her so completely that her eyes rolled back into her head and she nearly fainted.
The poor rabbit finally sensed the danger. Just as she was about to flee, she stepped into thin air and, with a soft poof, fell into a Gap that had suddenly appeared beneath her feet.
'It's over!'she thought frantically.'I'm dead meat! Dead meat! These two bastards are going to kill this rabbit to silence her!'
Tewi struggled desperately, her little legs kicking wildly in the air, but this time the Gap held her tighter than ever before. She couldn't break free. She glanced toward the door, only to find that Reisen had long since vanished.
After painfully swallowing the pastry, Tewi looked up at the two figures approaching her step by step, a sense of utter despair washing over her. She wanted to cry, but no tears would come.
"Um... can we still settle this peacefully?"
In the front yard, Eirin Yagokoro was carrying a box of potions out of the Pharmacy when she saw Reisen rush out of the Princess's room in a panic, nearly tripping over her own feet. Eirin frowned, about to say something, when a shrill, desperate wail from a certain rabbit suddenly echoed from the direction of the Princess's room.
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