The morning light filtered gently through the curtains.
Erika stood in front of the mirror, carefully folding the last set of clothes into her suitcase. She had packed her ordinary casual wear, a few sets of Star Chaser uniforms just in case, notebooks, pens, and some basic daily necessities. She also added a few of her old junior high textbooks and new high school reference books—just in case she needed to review or practice.
Everything was neatly organized.
She closed the suitcase with a soft click and let out a small breath.
"…That should be everything on my side."
Her gaze drifted toward the basement. Akira had been locked in the workshop since yesterday evening. She hadn't seen him since then and wasn't even sure if he had slept.
I should check on him.
She stored the suitcase in her inventory and teleported straight to the castle lab.
"Akira, did you fini—"
The moment she stepped inside the workshop, Erika fell silent.
Akira was surrounded by floating holographic screens, working with sleepy but focused movements. In the corner, dozens of neatly arranged containers glowed faintly. The air smelled sweet, like concentrated Rainbow Fruit.
Hearing her voice, Akira immediately perked up. His tired face brightened into a genuine smile.
"Erika! Perfect timing! Want to see what I prepared?"
Erika walked over, curious.
Akira proudly gestured to the containers.
"First—Energy Bar Beta. I improved the formula using diluted Rainbow Fruit and other ingredients we brought from Toriko. One bar now contains the calories of roughly fifty meals and tastes way better than the old Alpha version."
He opened one container and took out a bar. Instead of the old glowing blue, this one had a soft, shifting rainbow hue.
Erika asked, "Can I try this one?"
Akira shook his head quickly.
"Nope. Still way too calorie-dense for you. You'd probably explode."
Erika sighed.
"Well… at least it won't taste like gasoline anymore."
Akira grinned.
"Don't worry about that. Let me show you something else."
He walked over to a large box the size of a small car and pressed a button. With a series of mechanical sounds, the box unfolded and transformed into a fully equipped portable laboratory the size of a small room, complete with advanced analyzers and workstations.
"Tada! My portable lab," Akira announced proudly.
Erika stared at it, impressed but cautious.
"A portable lab? I thought we couldn't use technology beyond that world's level."
Akira nodded.
"Don't worry. Everything here is adjusted to match the local tech level. I can upgrade it further once we're there if needed."
He pressed the button again. The lab folded back into its compact box form. Then he pressed another button—small wheels popped out from the bottom.
"It even has wheels for easy carrying," he said, rolling it around lightly like a suitcase.
Erika let out a long sigh, looking at the mountain of preparations.
"You really went all out…"
Akira rubbed the back of his neck, a little sheepish.
"Well… since our powers will be completely sealed this time, I wanted to be ready for anything."
Erika gave him a soft, slightly worried look.
"You stayed up all night again, didn't you?"
Akira waved it off.
"Don't worry. I'll be fine. I can stay awake as long as I don't get bored."
Erika glanced around.
"Where's Selena? She's been unusually quiet."
Akira shrugged.
"She's busy fine-tuning the quest system. Said she'll be occupied for a while."
Erika nodded, then noticed Akira shifting awkwardly, looking a bit shy.
She tilted her head.
"Why are you acting weird? Did you do something again?"
"No, it's nothing like that," Akira said quickly.
He hesitated for a moment, then looked at her.
"…Since I've finished most of the preparations…"
He shifted awkwardly, tracing small circles on the floor with his foot.
"…Can we go on that date now?"
Erika blinked, momentarily stunned—a little surprised by his shy expression, and even more by what he said.
"…What did you say?"
Akira rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly looking a bit awkward.
"Remember? You said you'd show me around the school. But then the bath incident happened… we became official… and everything got busy. So we never did it. I thought… we could do it now."
Erika remembered.
Her cheeks warmed slightly.
Back then, she'd been so embarrassed after the bath incident… and after that, they had become a proper couple. Time had simply slipped away.
Looking at Akira's unusually hesitant expression, a teasing smile tugged at her lips.
"Oh? A date, huh? Is this a romantic date… or a non-romantic one?"
"I… ah… well… I…" Akira stuttered—something he almost never did—before answering honestly.
"I don't really know what makes a date romantic or not… but I do want to spend time with you alone. We haven't had much time together lately."
Erika's face grew even redder at his blunt sincerity. That was just so him.
"…Fine," she said, trying to hide her smile. "Wait for me to change into my school uniform. You should change too."
Akira nodded eagerly.
"Okay!"
A short while later, Erika stepped out of her room in her Shuchikan Academy uniform, looking neat and composed.
The moment she did, Akira's excited voice rang in her head.
"Erika! Are you ready? Let's go!"
She looked down.
There, his tail wagging furiously, was a small snow-white direwolf puppy with glowing purple eyes—Akira in his puppy form.
Erika stared at him silently.
"…Why are you in this form?"
Akira tilted his head cutely.
"Well, now I can infiltrate the school without revealing my real appearance. And since I won't be able to use magic in that world, this might be my last chance to stay like this for a while. And… you like this form more, right?"
Erika's eyebrow twitched.
"When did I say that?"
Akira's tail wagged even faster.
"You said you wanted me to stay in the big wolf form longer while you were fluffing me. So I thought the puppy version would be even better for closeness."
Erika's face burned.
"Don't say weird things…"
She looked away for a moment, then muttered quietly,
"…Well, I only said that because… in that form, I can stay closer to you… without you losing control."
Akira's ears perked up happily.
"Really? I had the same thought! I can stay as close as I want without getting emotionally unstable… and being hugged by you feels really good."
Erika covered her face with one hand.
"Why are you… like this…"
She recovered after a moment, sighed, and bent down to pick him up. The small direwolf puppy happily settled into her arms, tail still wagging at maximum speed.
"…Fine. Let's go."
With a very satisfied Akira in puppy form cradled against her chest, Erika began walking toward the school.
They arrived at Shuchikan Academy as the morning sun filtered through the dense forest surrounding the campus. The academy was nestled deep among tall trees.
Erika walked slowly, carrying the small white direwolf puppy Akira comfortably in her arms, his tail wagging the entire time.
She showed him around many places: the grand main building with its elegant, modern architecture blended into the forest setting, the spacious student council building where she spent most of her time, the luxurious dormitories hidden among the trees, the well-equipped sports fields, and even the famous grand bath area.
Akira stayed suspiciously quiet, pretending he had never seen it before.
Erika… did the same, blushing slightly.
Eventually, they reached the beautiful central garden—a wide, peaceful green space filled with colorful flower beds, shaded benches, and winding pathways under the canopy of tall trees.
Akira let out a contented huff, clearly happy. Erika smiled softly and gently stroked his fluffy head.
"You like it here?"
He nodded enthusiastically in her arms, rubbing against her.
For a while, they simply enjoyed the peaceful walk. Erika pointed out her favorite quiet spots, and Akira listened attentively, occasionally nuzzling closer in contentment.
Then, as they turned a corner in the garden, Akira spotted two familiar figures.
Oh… it's Haruna and Kanade.
The Yuki sisters were showing a normal-looking boy around the garden. He had an unremarkable but friendly face—the kind that blended in easily.
Akira's ears suddenly twitched. He stared hard at the boy.
A sudden disturbance in the force hit him.
He immediately asked Erika telepathically,
"Erika, look—it's Haruna and her sister."
Erika glanced over and replied softly,
"Yeah. Do you want to go say hello?"
Akira answered,
"No. I want alone time with you, remember? But… who is that boy next to them?"
Erika tilted her head.
"Hmm… I've never seen him before. Probably that other new transfer student."
Akira frowned.
"I see."
He immediately activated his Mystic Eyes of Truth's new appraisal ability and scanned the boy.
True Name: Kohei Hasekura
Affiliation: Protagonist of Fortune Arterial
His mood dropped instantly.
He immediately sent an urgent telepathic message to his sister.
"Hey, Sis."
Selena's voice came back immediately, tired and annoyed.
"I told you not to interrupt me unless it's important."
Akira replied at once,
"It is an emergency."
Selena, still annoyed, asked,
"Fine, what is it?"
Akira said in a low voice,
"Look, it's the protagonist of Fortune Arterial."
There was a brief pause.
Selena replied,
"Oh. It's him."
Akira's tail stopped wagging.
"Can I kill him?"
Selena immediately said,
"No."
Akira protested,
"But—"
Selena cut him off sharply.
"Brother. No means no."
Akira complained,
"…But he's too dangerous to be left alive."
Selena scolded him.
"Don't joke around. You can't randomly kill someone just because you feel jealous."
Akira pouted in puppy form, ears drooping.
Erika noticed his sudden silence and the strange tension. She looked down at him curiously.
"What's wrong?"
Akira quickly shook his head and deflected.
"Nothing. I'm just looking at that guy who's competing for the mysterious transfer student position."
Erika sighed and patted his head gently.
"Why are you like this…"
Akira calmed down noticeably after Erika's gentle head pats, his ears relaxing and his tail starting to wag again, though slower than before.
Then he spoke to Selena in a sulky tone.
"In the anime, Erika should like his blood, right? Isn't it better to eliminate him?"
Selena's voice came back with a long, audible sigh in his mind.
"They are not the same characters, brother. Our Erika is completely different from the original—you know that. And you also know she likes you very much, right? So…"
Akira interrupted telepathically,
"I know… I know… but… it's just…"
Selena sighed again.
"Why don't you check with your eyes if he has any special blood? Then you can relax."
Akira nodded slightly in Erika's arms and quietly activated his Mystic Eyes of Truth again, focusing on the boy's blood composition.
The result came back instantly.
Completely normal.
"…It's normal?"
Selena let out another quiet breath.
"I told you our world is different, right? The conditions that made his blood special don't exist here."
Akira frowned slightly.
"…What do you mean?"
Selena replied, a bit more patiently,
"In the original story, his blood changed because of a specific incident—he swallowed a fragment of Erika's grandfather's vampire crystal after falling into that island lake. But here? That lake doesn't exist. That island doesn't exist."
Akira's ears twitched.
Selena continued,
"And Erika's grandfather is completely different too. He's a true vampire in this world—not an artificial one. And he's not even dead."
She added with a sigh,
"So that entire chain of events never happened."
Akira went quiet.
"…Makes sense…"
Selena's tone sharpened slightly.
"And what do you think Erika would say if you killed someone for no reason?"
Akira muttered,
"…Fine. I won't. But I'm keeping an eye on him."
Just then, Kanade's sharp eyes spotted them from across the garden.
"Oh! It's Ghost-kun!!"
She immediately ran toward them with sparkling eyes and open arms.
Akira tensed up instantly in Erika's hold.
His voice turned frantic in her mind.
"Run, run, run, Erika! That crazy woman found me! Goooo!"
Erika gave Kanade an apologetic smile, turned smoothly on her heel, and walked away at a brisk pace while holding the struggling puppy tighter against her chest.
"Sorry, Kanade-san! We're in a bit of a hurry today!"
Behind them, Kanade waved dramatically.
"Waaaait! Just let me fluff him a little~!"
Akira buried his face deeper into Erika's uniform, tail tucked, pretending he was invisible.
Erika sighed fondly as she carried her idiot little direwolf puppy out of the garden and toward the exit.
Back in the castle, Selena watched everything from her throne.
She let out a long breath, her expression slowly turning serious.
"…What am I going to do with him…"
Her gaze darkened slightly.
"His emotions are already this unstable here… what about in that world?"
She leaned back, thinking.
"…I need to talk to Erika-chan."