"Kars! Let's go play at your house again today!" Cirno eagerly sought out Kars right after class ended at the Terakoya.
"Sure." Kars didn't refuse the request. In fact, having more people around to play with made things more interesting, although his initial goal was to keep Aunt Flandre from being too bored. Looking at the results, however, it seemed his aunt still had no intention of joining their games.
Kars then glanced at Daiyousei, who was standing beside Cirno and acting even stranger than usual. He had the feeling she thought he had done something odd to her.
"Then let's go quickly!" Cirno immediately took the lead, flying toward the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Once everyone arrived, the next task was figuring out how to make things proceed as they had planned.
However, they hadn't come up with a good method. They couldn't just abandon Daiyousei there, after all. Plus, they were doing this behind Daiyousei's back; if they told her, she definitely wouldn't cooperate.
"What's wrong with all of you?" Kars noticed the group was unusually quiet today. Even Cirno was more subdued than usual. It was obvious something was wrong.
"Ahaha! Nothing at all! Hey, Kars, could you come here for a moment? I need to talk to you." Lyrica quickly spoke up. Instead of trying to figure out what to do here, it was better to simply call Kars over and bring him in as an accomplice. Explaining the situation to Kars would help him understand and solve the problem.
"What is it?" Kars followed Lyrica aside, wondering why she needed to speak to him alone. Was it some kind of special secret?
"Um, Kars, do you know that Daiyousei seems to have a crush on you?"
Kars: Ծ ̮ Ծ?
What? Since when? Where did that idea come from?
"Don't tell me you haven't noticed? Look, hasn't Daiyousei been acting strangely lately? The most obvious thing is that she's always secretly watching you, and then when she gets caught, she blushes and looks down. What do you think that means?"
Lyrica cited these examples, causing Kars to sink into contemplation. It did sound like there was something going on.
"So, what do you want me to do about it?"
"We just want you to spend more time with Daiyousei. We're all worried about her condition, and since we're all friends, and her condition is related to you, Kars, you should help out. At least help her stop feeling like this every day."
Kars understood Lyrica's request. He scratched his head, a little troubled. Since this was the first time he had encountered a situation like this, he wasn't sure what the right thing to do was.
"I understand, but I can't promise if I can help her or not. I can only say I'll try my best."
"Mmm, I believe everything will work out fine in the end." Lyrica patted Kars's shoulder, confident that the matter would be resolved smoothly. Now that they had reached an agreement, it was easier to act. All they needed to do was ensure Kars and Daiyousei spent time together.
Lyrica had already figured out the method: they would repeat their previous tactic, having Cirno take Daiyousei and Kars to the Great Library. That setting would easily facilitate Kars and Daiyousei being alone.
"The… the Library again?" Daiyousei tensed up when she heard Cirno mention going to the Great Library. She instinctively stole another glance at Kars.
"Yeah! Let's go, hurry up!" Cirno impatiently grabbed Daiyousei and set off. Kars quickly followed. As he drew near Daiyousei, he noticed her face immediately flushing deep red. This reaction made him believe that Daiyousei really was acting as Lyrica had described.
After running into the Great Library, Cirno remembered her mission. She promptly abandoned Daiyousei and Kars and flew off by herself. Daiyousei tried to follow but quickly lost sight of Cirno. Finding herself alone with Kars, especially here in the Great Library, made it impossible for her to stop her mind from racing.
A strange feeling welled up inside her, causing a subtle physical reaction.
"Daiyousei, what's wrong?" Kars was about to say something when he saw Daiyousei looking down, clutching her skirt tightly. He walked over and asked with concern.
When Kars placed his hand on Daiyousei's shoulder, he felt her clearly tremble. She then took a couple of steps back. This reaction confused Kars.
"N-Nothing at all…" Daiyousei replied in a weak voice. She slowly lifted her head, allowing Kars to see her blushing face and eyes that were slightly glistening with unshed tears.
"You don't look like nothing's wrong. You've been acting strangely lately. Everyone's worried about you. And you've been secretly watching me a lot, right? Do you have something you want to tell me?"
"I… I…" With her feelings now exposed, Daiyousei became even more flustered. Seeing her nervousness, Kars stepped forward and placed both hands on her shoulders, intending to reassure her and encourage her to slowly say what she wanted to say. But before he could speak, Daiyousei collapsed into his arms.
"Daiyousei?" Kars saw that Daiyousei's legs had given out and she couldn't stand. As Daiyousei fell into Kars's arms, burying her face in his chest, she began to pant, seemingly inhaling something addictive.
"Kars…"
After Kars helped her stand steady again, Daiyousei remained in place, clutching her skirt with both hands, rubbing her legs together while looking at Kars.
"Could you… could you help me with something…"
"Sure, what is it?"
"It's about… about right here… Help me… just like you did with Koakuma…" Daiyousei shyly lifted her skirt, revealing her already wet underwear and the liquid running down her thighs.
"I… I really need you to help me right now…"
Kars titled his head back slightly. When he heard that, his first thought was to complain internally:
Did someone else see me doing that again here…?