"Wuu…"
"Um, Fujiwara-san?"
"Wuu-wuu-wuu… wuu…"
"Uh, Fujiwara-san? Are you okay? Are you alright?"
"Waaah, waaah, waaah, wuu-wuu-wuu-wuu-wuu…"
At this moment, inside Wilbur's office, Takumi wore a slightly awkward expression as he sat leaning against the desk in the middle of the room, while Fujiwara Chika was almost completely wrapped around him. She buried her head in his chest, letting out one suppressed sob after another.
Whether it was Maki or Kaguya, no matter what kind of blow those two girls suffered, they would never reveal such a weak posture like Fujiwara Chika did. Therefore, at this moment, this feeling of being pounced on by a beautiful girl was, for Takumi, extraordinarily fresh. And as he further felt the intense sensation brought by the other person's body being pressed so tightly against his, as well as the delicate fragrance flowing into his nostrils, Takumi felt an even more indescribable pleasure—ah, no, trouble. That's right, trouble.
{Takumi-kun, I've already met up with Oba-san and come out of the Analysis Workroom. Next, we're preparing to head to the Archives Zone to investigate. How about you—how are things on your end right now?}
Shijō Maki's private communication suddenly reached Takumi's ears at this moment.
Why did it have to be at a time like this?
Takumi didn't know why, but hearing Maki's voice in this state actually made his heart beat faster.
{I just explored a really bizarre area—like a place where all sorts of people's memories are stacked on top of each other. Honestly, it was pretty damn bizarre, pretty damn scary, but I've already found the road leading to the next area. I'm resting right now, and in a bit I'll be getting ready to set off.}
There was not the slightest abnormality in the emotion of his reply. At this moment, Takumi's acting was flawless.
{Is that so? You're not injured, are you? Don't force yourself to act—when it's time to rest, you absolutely must rest properly.}
She had not expected that, while things were progressing steadily on her side, Takumi would run into trouble. Maki immediately became a little tense and quickly asked about his situation.
Just as Takumi was about to answer, his attention was diverted by the soft, yielding sensation of Chika pressing against his chest and abdomen. For a moment, he was unable to reply right away, and as a result, Maki's second message followed immediately after.
{Takumi-kun, how exactly are you right now? You're not forcing yourself, are you?}
{N-no, I'm fine. I just got a few minor scrapes, that's all. I'm okay—don't worry.}
Takumi's reply was slightly delayed, and clearly, Maki was not someone who could be brushed off with just one or two sentences.
{Are you really okay?}
{Really. You're not worried about my abilities, are you?}
{I can't be reassured at all. You've already gone through one rollback, haven't you? I'm really worried about your situation over there. How about I try to get over to your side instead, and have Fujiwara-san exchange with me? Oba-san gets along very well with Fujiwara-san—if the two of them work together, it might be even better.}
{No, it's better not to do that. I'm currently in a "being observed" state. Aside from this mental link, any other form of contact could involve risks. I don't want anything to happen to you again, so put your mind at ease—leave this side to me.}
{Alright… but you absolutely must not force yourself. If you mess around again, I won't let you off!}
{Got it, got it—don't worry, my little Maki~}
{W-who's your little Maki?! You perverted lecherous demon!}
After this round of communication, things could at least be considered to have ended safely.
He even took the opportunity to tease her a bit at the end. But how should he put it—holding one woman in his arms while talking to another, and even saying something with a teasing, flirtatious tone at the end, Takumi felt an increasingly strong sense of guilt, like he was a scumbag.
But somehow, he didn't seem to dislike this feeling?
Thinking that, Takumi noticed that the sobbing of the girl in his arms was gradually subsiding. He reached out and gently patted Chika's head, then looked at her and asked, "Have you calmed down?"
Although she had clearly been subjected to a tremendous shock earlier, Fujiwara Chika was actually very composed. Therefore, when she cried just now, she had buried her head firmly in Takumi's chest, suppressing her sobs to the lowest possible level, without making any excessive noise that might attract anything.
And now, after her emotions had completely settled, although the girl still let out an occasional sob, she was already able to calm down, lift her head, and meet Takumi's gaze.
It had to be said that the sight of a cute, pretty girl with tears in her eyes was actually quite nice—very stirring to the heart.
"Um… thank you, Takumi-kun. If it weren't for you just now, I really wouldn't have known what to do…"
Fujiwara Chika thanked him in a small voice. At this moment, she also realized what she was doing. Her cheeks grew even redder than before, yet she did not immediately get up from Takumi.
"You're welcome. When facing something terrifying, feeling fear is only natural. You did very well. You used that lingering scene and held on by playing the role of the restaurant's pianist, didn't you? You're quite good at adapting on the fly."
Takumi smiled as he praised Chika and then gave her head a light pat.
'Wah—this feeling of having my head patted, am I being treated like a child?'
Fujiwara Chika raised a hand to cover her head, the flush on her face deepening even further.
Just a moment ago, she had truly been on the verge of despair.
After inexplicably finding herself pulled into a bizarre area, Fujiwara Chika had thought about running and hiding, only to discover that the place she was in seemed to be filled with many of those terrifying things. Then, recalling the "role-playing" rule Takumi had mentioned, the girl steeled herself and sat down at the piano on a raised platform in that area, beginning to play, trying to disguise her identity in this way and deceive those things.
The result could be considered a success, but in reality, it was also equivalent to a failure. Because once she started playing, Chika realized she was unable to leave. Her entire body felt as though it had been fixed in front of the piano, and she could only repeat the performance over and over again without stopping. Her consciousness grew increasingly hazy, and she gradually began to feel drowsy.
Knowing that if she fell asleep she might never wake up again, Fujiwara Chika struggled with all her strength to resist it, yet she still lost consciousness bit by bit and thus fell into despair. But just at that moment, Takumi suddenly appeared and saved her. The emotional rise and fall of that instant was impossible for the girl to put into words, and so once she was safe, she completely broke down and hugged him, crying it all out.
"So, it's about time you got up, right?"
And then, at the moment when she had finally calmed down and regained her composure, amid Takumi's polite smile and voice, the girl suddenly felt a hard sensation pressing against her. In that instant, her entire body froze.
Th-this thing—could it be that…
"I'm just saying, you really should have a bit more self-awareness. You're a very pretty and cute girl, and suddenly hugging someone like that really isn't appropriate. I think that, as a proper young lady, you shouldn't do something like that to an unfamiliar man."
Takumi maintained his polite smile as before, but he spoke to Chika with a serious tone of admonition.
"I-I would never do that to a strange man!"
Fujiwara Chika abruptly stood up from Takumi and stepped back to the side. She instinctively almost shouted, but then realized where she was and hurriedly suppressed her voice. She only stomped her foot once, retorting with a flushed face.
Her heart was pounding rapidly.
Even that hard, indescribable thing from just now did not seem to make the girl feel any aversion toward the man in front of her.
Perhaps it was because he had said she was a pretty and cute girl, so she simply couldn't bring herself to dislike him?
No—rather than aversion, it seemed to be a completely opposite kind of feeling…
At this moment, Fujiwara Chika found herself a little unable to understand her own thoughts.
"Then, in the area where you were trapped, did you discover any valuable clues?"
Takumi didn't pay it much mind. After all, he was the one who had enjoyed it, so he directly turned to asking about business.
"Yes, I did find some things. Um… also, sorry for getting your clothes wet…"
Fujiwara Chika nodded lightly. She took out a flyer from her waist, then noticed the damp patch on Takumi's chest. Lowering her head, she apologized in a small voice.
"Alright, there's no need to keep repeating something so meaningless. Mm, let me take a look…"
Takumi said casually, clearly not caring at all, and then unfolded the flyer in his hand.
The multicolored, exquisitely made flyer's text immediately came into Takumi's view.
...
At the same time, in the dormitory area.
Shijō Maki was the first to open the door and enter the four-person dorm room. She carefully searched inside, and only after confirming that no one was there and that there were no listening or surveillance devices did she nod to Kaguya at the doorway. Kaguya then entered, turned around to close the door, locked the dorm door directly, and dragged over a chair to brace it against the lock.
"Are you sure it's safe here?"
Kaguya asked in a very serious tone.
"At least among the places we can reach, this is the safest," Maki replied as she spoke, rummaging through her backpack. She soon pulled out a cassette player.
After the Shirakawa Apartments instance had ended, Takumi, Kaguya, and Maki had each prepared various items in their backpacks. Among them, Maki had brought a cassette player specifically to use in special situations encountered during instances—an object that had already been largely phased out in modern society.
For example, just now, she and Kaguya had secretly infiltrated the archive area on the second floor of the base and stolen a cassette tape and a document.
"Play it," Kaguya said, nodding to Maki after searching the dorm room once more and repeatedly confirming that it was safe.
Click—
Reaching out with a finger, Maki gently pressed the play button, and the cassette taken from the archive area began to play.
---
I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> patreon.com/TitoVillar
---