Morning.
A morning that seemed no different from any other.
Yet for Takumi himself, it was an especially special day.
Because on this day, he bid farewell to being a boy and truly became a man.
To be honest, the feeling was rather wondrous. In the past, he had always looked forward to such things; just thinking about cute girls would make him feel excited. But after actually having real experience, Takumi realized that he had suddenly become calm and detached, as if he had entered a state of indifference to fame and desire.
"Maybe you should think about what your attitude was like when you were bullying me this morning before saying things like that…"
Beside him, Chika shot Takumi a sideways glance and mercilessly exposed the fact that he was currently in a post-clarity state, which was why he could put on such an act.
"Well, uh, hahaha… by the way, are you okay physically? Can you walk now?"
Having been called out, Takumi was a bit embarrassed. He laughed it off and quickly changed the subject.
"That was such a bad attempt at changing the topic. But as for me right now… mmm, I'm probably still not really able to walk. I did ask Kaguya earlier to help me request leave, though. Anyway, Takumi, you can go to Shuchi'in by yourself today. Little Maki should be waiting for you at the school gate. I've already handed the recommendation letter over to the school, so she'll take you in when the time comes. Ah, but before that, you still need to change your clothes. You look way too improper like this—who goes to interview for a prestigious school's security position wearing casual clothes and slippers?"
Chika nodded lightly as she spoke. Then, with some effort, she stood up, braced both hands against the wall, and slowly made her way toward Takumi's bedroom, which was still a complete mess.
Unlike Takumi, whose body was in perfect condition and completely unaffected, Chika was now struggling just to walk. During their interaction the previous night, she had, in a moment of lost composure, blurted out something like, "You can be a bit rougher with me," which resulted in the girl being completely numb from her legs up to her waist. Then, early in the morning, after she had finally recovered a little, she accidentally teased Takumi again while he was somewhat excited upon waking, causing the situation to worsen even further. And so it ended up like this—having to support herself against the wall just to walk.
She really hadn't expected that Takumi would turn out to be such a beast.
She had clearly cried, yet he still refused to stop. This guy was truly awful.
But still… she hadn't expected that she would actually feel excited from being treated so roughly. Ugh, could it be that I really do have some strange fetish, like Moeha said?
Chika's face was faintly flushed, and from time to time her thoughts drifted back to what had happened earlier.
Come to think of it, after her first attempt had been seen through by Takumi, she had already lost the courage to continue. She never expected that afterward he would say something like that, making her heart race, and in the end she couldn't help herself and went at it again—and this time he didn't refuse. Ugh, what an immodest man. Even now, both of her legs were still numb.
Takumi, who had followed her, reached out and supported the girl, moving forward together with her.
Then, when Chika opened the wardrobe in Takumi's bedroom, she expressionlessly swept her gaze over the cabinet full of casual clothes. After that, she turned to look at him, openly revealing a deeply disappointed expression.
"Uh, sorry. I was with Maki the whole day yesterday, so I didn't really have time to deal with the clothing issue."
Seeing the questioning look the girl cast at him, Takumi instinctively chose to apologize.
"…Mm, that really wasn't something I considered. After I separated from Takumi yesterday, I used the induction necklace to contact my family and got the letter of recommendation. I handed that Obsession Item over to Maki's family before coming to Takumi's place, so she should have already taken care of the recommendation issue as well. How about this—I'll give a heads-up to a suit shop I know. They should have something that fits Takumi's body size, so we can make do for today. Later on, I'll have them custom-make one specifically for Takumi."
Chika realized that the issue was actually related to her acting too hastily without properly considering how both sides would connect. Regaining her composure, she casually asked about Takumi's body measurements, then made a phone call. Before long, a car stopped outside Takumi's house, and shortly afterward, a man with an extremely deferential attitude delivered a suit directly to the door.
This was the first time Takumi truly experienced what people referred to as a "wealthy household." Neither Kaguya nor Maki had ever given him that feeling before, and until this moment, Chika herself had never made him feel it either—right up until she casually contacted someone and had a suit worth more than 400,000 yen brought over for Takumi, and this was only meant as a temporary stopgap.
"If that's the case, then at least in terms of presence, the school probably won't think Takumi is just some pretty boy who was picked up on a whim, right?"
After seeing Takumi put on the suit, Chika nodded seriously. After a moment of silence, she gave that evaluation.
"Hey, hey, calling me a pretty boy is going a bit too far, isn't it?"
Takumi's mouth twitched slightly, clearly not very receptive to that label.
"There's no helping it. After all, as far as Shuchiin is concerned, the past Takumi was basically just an ordinary person with no sense of presence at all. And from now on… if the information-shielding effect continues, then at most Takumi will probably be seen as something like a super-soldier captain of the Japan team, right? After all, extraordinary powers like Obsession Items simply can't be perceived by ordinary people."
As she was speaking, Chika suddenly stumbled forward. Takumi hurriedly reached out to support her, only for the girl to take advantage of the moment and fall straight into his arms.
That girl's body, which he had been intimately entwined with throughout the night, touched him once more at this moment, causing Takumi's mind to waver involuntarily.
However, Chika immediately pulled away from his embrace, walked a bit farther off, then turned back and flashed him a teasing, little-devil-like smile before leaving the room.
A faint, girlish fragrance still lingered in Takumi's hands.
When he went downstairs and returned to the first floor, he discovered that Chika had gone into the guest room he had previously prepared for her and had fallen into a deep sleep on the bed.
Was it because she had been too exhausted last night and hadn't slept well, so she needed to catch up on rest?
Takumi, who was somewhat aware that he had indeed been a bit too rough earlier, couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt.
No matter what, from today onward, Chika had already become an incomparably important existence to Takumi.
One day of acquaintance, thirty days of waiting, two days of time spent together, and finally last night—the moment when the two of them truly came into deep contact with each other, with no barriers left between them.
For him, this was only a little over three days—counting the first loop, at most four days—but for Chika, it was a decision made after more than a month of thought and interaction. That kind of decisiveness and drive left Takumi at a loss for how to describe it.
And then there was the question of how to face Maki next, which also gave him a bit of a headache.
"Is Maki waiting for me over at the school?"
Stepping out of the house and looking at the sunlit street, Takumi couldn't help but let out a soft sigh.
Even during their intimate moments the night before, Chika had still been reminding him to treat Maki properly. And at the very end of their date the previous day, when Maki had suddenly burst into tears in distress, Takumi had already understood that this strong-willed girl had actually realized the direction things were inevitably heading among the three of them, and that was why she couldn't hold back her tears.
It was just that even if Maki had already understood this and prepared herself for it, she probably never would have imagined that Chika would come straight to Takumi on the very night of their date and push their relationship all the way to the final step in one go. Even Takumi himself hadn't expected that after failing in her first round of advances, she would launch another fierce offensive in the middle of the night—only for things to end up like this.
Lost in his thoughts, Takumi hastily ate a simple breakfast to get by, then took a taxi to Shuchiin.
While he was on the way, Maki sent Takumi a message telling him that the two letters of recommendation were already taken care of and that he should come to Shuchiin as soon as possible for the interview. Soon after, when Takumi arrived at the gates of Shuchiin, he saw the girl in her school uniform standing at the entrance, waiting for him to arrive.
"You're way too slow."
After seeing Takumi get out of the car, Maki put her hands on her hips and spoke without any politeness.
"Sorry, I woke up a bit late."
Takumi bent at the waist and apologized very formally.
"Uh, you don't have to go that far. Somehow your attitude feels kind of strange… By the way, where did that suit come from? It feels kind of weird seeing you wear it."
Caught off guard by Takumi apologizing like that, Maki was instead startled for a moment. Then she noticed the suit he was wearing and couldn't help but feel puzzled.
"This? Chika helped prepare it for me. She said it'd be better to dress properly for the interview today."
Feeling somewhat guilty, Takumi answered as calmly as he could.
"So she prepared it… Tch. Anyway, let's go. This whole thing is basically just a formality, so there's no need to take it too seriously."
Although her expression looked quite displeased, Maki ultimately didn't say anything more and simply led Takumi through the gates of Shuchiin.
The security guard who had intercepted Takumi a month ago showed a puzzled expression when he saw Takumi this time. In the end, however, he didn't say anything—apparently he hadn't realized that this Takumi in a suit was the same Takumi from a month earlier who had been wearing a hat, sunglasses, and a mask.
After stepping into the school, the stream of students coming and going across the campus came into Takumi's view.
It really had been a long time.
Things like campus life already belonged to a previous lifetime for him—something from many years ago.
"What's wrong?"
Noticing the change in Takumi's expression, Maki tilted her head slightly and asked.
"It just feels a bit nostalgic. After all, I'm not continuing my studies anymore."
Takumi shook his head and replied casually, with no intention of going deeper into the topic.
"That sounds like the kind of worries only adults have. By the way, you're not going to attack girls at the school, are you?"
Maki's gaze sharpened slightly.
"Hey, what kind of person do you think I am, exactly?"
Knowing that the girl was joking, Takumi played along and complained with an annoyed expression.
"Obviously some kind of lewd demon. You've only been around girls for a few days and you already want to push them down—you're completely beyond saving when it comes to being perverted."
Maki spoke without mercy, even deliberately poking Takumi in the waist.
This time, however, Takumi didn't immediately respond. After a short while, he only replied with something like, "That was just acting on impulse."
'Takumi-kun's behavior today seems a bit strange.'
Maki, who was by no means an idiot, frowned as she recalled Takumi's very formal apology at the school gate earlier. The more she thought about it, the stranger it felt.
Come to think of it, she could faintly smell something—a women's shampoo scent, different from the kind she used.
The source of that smell was on Takumi-kun. Um… it seemed like Fujiwara Chika's scent. Why would that smell be on Takumi-kun? She did remember Oba-san mentioning that Chika seemed to have something to do today and had taken leave from school—could it be that she deliberately intercepted Takumi-kun somewhere before he came to school, said something to him, or did something?
Thinking this far, Maki felt a surge of anger rise from deep inside.
But based on the limits of what she could imagine, at most it would be Chika running into Takumi on the road while he was heading out, the two of them chatting a bit, holding hands, walking together, and at worst sharing a brief hug before it ended there. Anything beyond that, given Maki's knowledge and experience, was simply beyond what she could picture.
"All right, all right—the school's interview location is right here, so make sure you perform well. You're the security staff I personally recommended on behalf of the Shijō family, so you have to prove that you're even stronger than the agent-level security specialists the school hired themselves. Don't you dare embarrass me."
In the end, Maki did not lose her temper. Instead, she very seriously reminded Takumi of what to watch out for, even giving him quite a few precautions that might come in handy.
At the same time, driven by a possessive desire deep in her heart, she had already decided to be even more proactive than before. As long as it wasn't during school hours, she would seize every opportunity to go on dates with Takumi, leaving Chika absolutely no chance to get closer to him. She was determined to firmly grasp the initiative on her side.
'Even if I can't have Takumi-kun all to myself, I'll take up most of his time!'
The proud girl, at this very moment, made her resolve with utmost seriousness.
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