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"Lust mushroom?"
Amamiya Natsuki was surprised to hear that and looked at his childhood friend.
I didn't expect that you, this lazy girl who lies flat all day, would grow a lust mushroom! Your true nature has been exposed!
From the information collected so far, there must be some connection between the mushroom and one's inner personality.
In other words, Miko is very interested in lewd things.
"Wait, are you mistaken?"
Miko took half a step back, reached out to touch the mushroom on her head, and said in disbelief, "How could I grow that kind of mushroom?"
She had often heard everyone discussing it these past two days and already knew that the sin mushroom was related to the Seven Deadly Sins. She was wondering if her mushroom would be of the Sloth attribute, as she often lacked energy and just wanted to lie flat. But it turned out to be some kind of lust mushroom?
Impossible!
She was not the kind of girl whose head was full of lewd things!
"It's indeed possible for there to be a mistake." Amamiya Natsuki reached out and said, "Let me identify it."
"No way."
Miko glared over and looked at Spy Maid.
"I'll do it." Hayasaka Ai smiled and raised her hand, "Such an important thing as a mushroom, of course, cannot be touched by a boy randomly."
Miko pursed her pink lips and lowered her head slightly.
"Hmm…" Hayasaka Ai touched the mushroom and said with a smile, "I have two pieces of news, one good and one bad. Which one does Miko want to hear first?"
"No need." Miko narrowed her eyes, "I don't want to hear either."
"Just listen to the good news." Hayasaka Ai stepped forward to catch up, "It's really good news."
"He who keeps company with the wolf will learn to howl." Miko crossed her arms over her chest, her pink lips opening and closing softly, "You've been led astray by Natsuki."
Hayasaka Ai: "…"
Sorry, you misunderstood.
Actually, there's another possibility… she was bad from the start.
While talking, they walked into the teaching building.
"The classroom at Midnight is so quiet." Kitagawa Marin hugged her arms, her feet close to Amamiya Natsuki, and said softly, "It's so quiet it's a little scary."
Amamiya Natsuki took out a box of small cakes from his backpack: "You won't be scared if you eat something."
Kitagawa Marin reached out and took it:
"Eating in the middle of the night, will I get fat?"
Amamiya Natsuki looked at her speechlessly: "You know you'll get fat, yet you still eat?"
"I can lose weight after gaining it." Succubus Girl raised her delicate chin, tore open the cake box, "Now I just want to eat something to calm my nerves."
"Marin is right." Hayasaka Ai extended her right hand, "Senpai, I want to eat too."
Amamiya Natsuki turned to look at Miko: "Do you want to eat?"
"I…"
Miko's expression was hesitant.
"Don't say anything." Amamiya Natsuki took out a small cake and handed it to Miko, his tone faint, "When you didn't firmly choose me, but hesitated and wavered, I already knew your choice."
Miko: "…"
This was the second time the Midnight Theater had opened, and it was still in the exploratory stage, so there wasn't much to do.
"When the Red Light, Green Light game appears again, I'll experience the feeling of punishment…"
As soon as Amamiya Natsuki finished speaking, he heard a sinister laugh echoing in the void.
"One, two, three… Red Light, Green Light!"
The girls who were eating all stopped their movements, their eyes turning to look at Amamiya Natsuki.
Kitagawa Marin: "Natsuki, you'll keep your word, right?"
Hayasaka Ai: "Senpai, cheer up, we will always remember your sacrifice."
"Please replace comforting words with substantial rewards." Amamiya Natsuki said seriously, "White stockings are fine, cat ears are also fine, and a combination of the two would be best."
"Ptooey~ Lewd!"
"…"
Amamiya Natsuki took a light breath and tried to move his neck.
The next moment.
As he violated the rules, a mysterious force suddenly surged into his body. He felt his vision suddenly go black, and he could no longer see anything.
Amamiya Natsuki instinctively reached out his right hand, grabbing for something to support himself nearby.
"Natsuki, what's wrong?"
Kitagawa Marin's worried voice sounded in his ears.
"Nothing." Amamiya Natsuki's voice was calm, "I just suddenly can't see."
Hayasaka Ai pursed her pink lips: "Visual deprivation?"
"En." Amamiya Natsuki lightly responded, "It's completely dark in front of me, I can't see anything… Thankfully, I can hear your voices."
Among the five human senses, vision receives the most information. If it weren't for the rules he set himself, no one could remain calm when suddenly losing their sight.
"Eh, the cake is about to fall on the ground!" Mrs. Shimizu's voice suddenly rang out, "Natsuki-kun, quickly catch it, you absolutely cannot waste food."
Amamiya Natsuki said expressionlessly:
"Sorry, I'm blind now."
You're actually asking a blind person to catch something, is there any justice left!
"It's okay, we can direct you." Mrs. Shimizu's voice was cheerful, "It's a good way to verify if you can move freely while being punished… Take two steps forward."
Amamiya Natsuki thought about it carefully and indeed found some truth in it. He let go of his right hand that was supporting the wall and tried to walk two steps forward.
"It's a bit like the watermelon-hitting game at the Sea in summer." Kitagawa Marin's voice sounded, "It feels very interesting."
"Very good." Amamiya Natsuki looked over in the direction of the voice, "If you raise your right hand now, you'll immediately experience the same fun as me."
"No way." Kitagawa Marin refused crisply, "I haven't finished my cake yet… Besides, violating the rules doesn't necessarily mean visual deprivation."
"Something's not right, very not right." Hayasaka Ai's voice rang out, "It's clearly a terrifying punishment, how did it suddenly turn into a watermelon-hitting game?"
You're not the one being punished, of course you think it's a game!
"Natsuki-kun, hurry up." Mrs. Shimizu's voice rang out again, "I can't hold on much longer."
Amamiya Natsuki followed the sound and reached out to grope around.
"Ugh…!"
A muffled groan suddenly entered his ears.
Amamiya Natsuki paused: "This sound is…"
"It's my voice." Mrs. Shimizu urged, "Natsuki-kun, don't stop."
Kitagawa Marin: "Wait, you're off course, a little to the right."
Hayasaka Ai: "Senpai, it's to the left."
Mrs. Shimizu: "Natsuki-kun, listen to me."
"Ugh…"
Voices talking over each other entered his ears, and Amamiya Natsuki felt an immense headache. Finally, he just reached out his hand randomly:
"Everyone shut up, I'll choose myself."
"Ugh—!"
The muffled sound suddenly grew louder.
"…"
Amamiya Natsuki's breathing hitched, and he suddenly realized he had made a very serious mistake.
After a brief silence, the girls' faint voices entered his ears.
Kitagawa Marin: "Natsuki, you're done for."
Hayasaka Ai: "Senpai, you're done for."
Mrs. Shimizu: "Natsuki-kun, this time I choose to stand on the side of justice."
Finally, the ghostly loli's voice timidly sounded: "Master, Miko-nee is about to cry."
"…"
Amamiya Natsuki silently let go of his hand.
He remembered.
When the Red Light, Green Light game started, Miko was eating cake and had her mouth full, which was why she couldn't speak.
"Is it still too late for me to apologize?"
"It's too late!"
"…"
A moment later.
The Red Light, Green Light game ended.
The girls regained their three minutes of photographic memory, and Amamiya Natsuki's eyes quietly regained their sight.
"It's also about three minutes…"
Amamiya Natsuki rubbed his temples with his fingers. He had to say, visual deprivation was quite terrifying. Anyone unprepared who violated the rules would have already panicked.
"Stare—"
Miko bit her lower lip, her pretty face slightly red, and glared over in embarrassment.
"Oh no, I still can't see anything."
Amamiya Natsuki blinked, his gaze turning blankly.
"You're lying, you clearly saw me."
Miko snorted lightly, withdrew her gaze, and lowered her head to look at the vocabulary book.
Three minutes of photographic memory, if used well, one could actually remember a lot of things. Wasting it would be too regrettable.
Three minutes passed in a blink of an eye.
Kitagawa Marin only felt a wave of tiredness, raised her hand to cover her mouth, and yawned: "So sleepy, I want to sleep."
"You can't sleep." Miko closed the vocabulary book and spoke from experience, "The Red Light, Green Light game will wake you up, and you might accidentally violate the rules and be punished."
"Senpai, there should be a way to close the Theater early, right?"
Hayasaka Ai turned her head and asked.
"Indeed there is." Amamiya Natsuki nodded, "The Theater can automatically close at dawn, or I can close it actively."
"Eh, you can actively turn it off?" Miko's eyes widened. "Why didn't you say so last night?"
Amamiya Natsuki silently turned his head to look at Mrs. Shimizu.
"I'm sorry, Miko-chan." Mrs. Shimizu clasped her hands together, looking pitifully at her. "I didn't want to leave last night after re-experiencing the taste of delicious food."
"It's nothing, really…" Miko silently chose to forgive. "If Shimizu-nee wanted to stay longer, she could have just told me. I wouldn't have refused."
Amamiya Natsuki said:
"Are you leaving now or staying?"
"Let's go back," Kitagawa Marin rubbed her eyes, her voice sleepy. "Next time, let's write down all the important knowledge points first before coming to study. Just memorizing words is too wasteful."
Hayasaka Ai nodded in agreement: "Senpai, let's go back first and come back when we are fully prepared next time."
Miko also had no objections.
So, it passed unanimously.
Amamiya Natsuki snapped his fingers, and the world before him instantly transformed into countless faint blue light particles, quietly dissipating. When he came to his senses, he was already back in the living room.
"Was it an illusion?"
Kitagawa Marin was a little confused for a moment.
Amamiya Natsuki said from beside her:
"Wipe the corner of your mouth first before speaking."
"Eh, it's cream…" Kitagawa Marin looked at the white cream in her palm. "It really wasn't an illusion."
Hayasaka Ai, on the other hand, reached for her back, where a backpack should have been, but her back was empty, with nothing there at all.
"Tch, it really doesn't work, huh?"
Hayasaka Ai pouted regretfully.
If she could bring the backpack out, then the Theater could be used as a smuggling space to secretly bring real-world weapons and supplies into the instance dungeon. Now it seemed impossible.
"I'm going to brush my teeth." Kitagawa Marin stretched, stood up, and said, "Then I'll come back to sleep."
Hayasaka Ai followed suit: "I'm going to take a shower."
Miko yawned, sat on the sofa, and picked up her phone: "Then I'll brush my teeth later."
Amamiya Natsuki looked at Miko, his expression serious: "I forgot something very important."
Miko rolled her eyes at him, continuing to look down at her phone: "Don't want to hear it. Don't talk to me."
Amamiya Natsuki continued:
"The thing I forgot is very important to you. Are you sure you don't want to hear it?"
Miko said without looking up:
"No, go away."
"Alright, I'm going." Amamiya Natsuki sighed, turned, and walked towards the balcony. "…You can touch the top of your head when you have time."
"Eh?"
Miko looked up in surprise, then quickly raised her hand to touch the top of her head. A very elastic sensation came back from her palm.
"…I forgot to take the mushroom off!"
Miko quickly sat up, stepped into her slippers, and came to the balcony. Seeing Amamiya Natsuki enjoying the breeze, she said with a charming pout:
"The mushroom is still there! Why didn't you say so earlier?"
Amamiya Natsuki spread his hands and said:
"Think carefully, who was it that wouldn't let me speak just now?"
"I don't want to talk to you," Miko pouted. "Quickly get rid of the mushroom on top of my head."
"You just told me to go away, and now you're asking for my help. I'm a person with dignity too." Amamiya Natsuki looked at Miko, his gaze meaningful, "I can't help you for free."
Miko's pretty face flushed slightly, and she raised a hand to cover her chest: "What do you want to do?"
"Cat ears…"
"Ptooey!"
"…"
After a couple of sentences, Amamiya Natsuki didn't continue to tease Miko and quickly detonated the mushroom.
As the mushroom on top of her head disappeared, Miko felt her legs go soft and quickly grabbed the balcony railing to support herself.
"How does it feel?"
Amamiya Natsuki asked about the mushroom planting experience.
"It feels… a bit strange." Miko pursed her pink lips, her breathing slightly rapid. "My heart is beating so fast, my face is so hot… my body feels so weird."
Buzz buzz buzz.
A mosquito flew over and landed on Miko's hand, ready to bite.
Slap.
Amamiya Natsuki raised his hand and slapped it.
"Ah…"
The girl's trembling whimper escaped her lips.
Miko's dark hair trembled slightly, and she looked over with a flushed face, her eyes moist and dewy, "You, you don't touch me."
"I'm swatting a mosquito," Amamiya Natsuki said. "I didn't touch you."
"I can do it myself… Ah."
Miko pursed her pink lips, trying to suppress the strange sensation in her body, but before she finished speaking, she let out another low hum, her eyes widening as she looked shyly at Amamiya Natsuki's right hand.
Amamiya Natsuki held Miko's right hand without changing his expression and smiled:
"See clearly, this is what touching you means."
"…"
Miko bit her lower lip, only feeling a subtle, tingling sensation coming from her hand.
It was strange. It wasn't that they hadn't held hands before, but it had never been this… comfortable today.
It must be the mushroom's fault!
She was not a lewd girl who would get excited just from holding hands!
Amamiya Natsuki extended his other hand and wrapped it around Miko's slender waist.
"W-what are you doing?"
Miko's heart rate accelerated, and she held her breath nervously, asking something she already knew.
"Can't say. If I say it, a dimensionality reduction attack will occur."
"…"
In short.
The two stayed on the balcony for a while before returning to the living room, where they washed their faces, brushed their teeth, and then rested.
The night passed without a word.
The next day, six in the morning.
"I'm going back."
Miko yawned, preparing to go home. The fact that she had snuck into her neighbor's house in the middle of the night had not been discovered yet.
"Senpai, I'm going back too."
Hayasaka Ai waved back.
Kitagawa Marin looked over sleepily: "Why is Hanamori going back so early?"
Of course, it was to go back early and prepare for her maid work.
"Don't ask," Amamiya Natsuki said. "If you ask, it means there's something important. Keep sleeping."
join p atreon.com/KeyofStars and become a Sequence: 9 Reader for hundreds of additional chapters and over a dozen stories