join p atreon.com/KeyofStars and become a Sequence 9: Reader for advance chapters | Every 100 powerstones = 1 extra chapter | Report issues @discord.com/GVBdncd9Wr
"Natsuki-kun, come play mahjong." Fujiwara Chika sat at the table. "I'm so bored."
"Coming."
Amamiya Natsuki walked over and sat next to Chika.
The fog was getting thicker and lasting longer, and they couldn't go out, so they could only play Mahjong to pass the time.
"Yukino-chan and Sayu-chan can play later." Fujiwara Chika said, shuffling the Mahjong tiles, "The loser will give up their seat."
Yukinoshita Yukino's pink lips moved slightly, and a complex expression flashed across her face:
"…You guys play, I'm not interested."
This is a game dungeon, and other players are terrified, yet you have the leisure to play Mahjong… It's really super strange.
"Mahjong is only fun when everyone plays together." Fujiwara Chika enthusiastically invited, "Sadako-san loves it."
"Sadako-san?"
"She's an employee Natsuki recruited in the last dungeon; she's super cute."
Yukinoshita Yukino: "…"
She couldn't imagine how Sadako-san could be cute.
"Playing Mahjong should have a little prize." Amamiya Natsuki looked at the Sheltered Young Lady sitting opposite him and suggested, "How about the winner gets a redemption coupon?"
Shinomiya Kaguya said calmly:
"What kind of redemption coupon is the President talking about?"
Amamiya Natsuki said casually:
"For example, lap pillow coupons, shopping coupons, massage coupons, etc., which can be redeemed and used."
"That sounds interesting." Fujiwara Chika agreed. "Kaguya-chan's lap pillow, I want it!"
Amamiya Natsuki said without changing his expression:
"I want it too."
The Sheltered Young Lady's pretty face flushed, and she glared over: "No lap pillows."
"Then I want a massage."
"No massages."
"Can I at least redeem a date coupon?"
"Sorry, girls who are fickle don't have a date option."
"…"
Amamiya Natsuki's luck was bad; he lost the first game of Mahjong and didn't get any redemption coupons.
"You guys play." Amamiya Natsuki stood up and said, "I'm going to the restroom."
Watching Amamiya Natsuki leave alone, Sayu, who had been quietly observing from the side, instinctively turned her head to look, a hint of hesitation appearing on her pretty face. Then she took a deep breath and silently bit her lower lip.
"Yuuko, I'm sorry…"
Coming out of the restroom, Amamiya Natsuki paused slightly, and looking up, he saw a girl leaning against the hallway wall, her hands behind her back, looking down at her toes, her dark hair falling, obscuring her eyes, her expression hidden in the shadows.
"Sayu?" Amamiya Natsuki stepped forward. "What are you doing here?"
Hearing the sound, Sayu looked up, a bright smile on her pretty face, and her voice was sweet as she said:
"Natsuki-kun, I was waiting for you."
Something's wrong.
Amamiya Natsuki instantly raised his eyebrows.
This Sayu was very off.
When they met on the bus, this dark-haired girl still had dark eyes, exuding a dark aura, looking like a gloomy girl on the verge of breaking down. Now, she suddenly showed such a bright smile, which was clearly not right.
Amamiya Natsuki said calmly:
"If there's anything, you can tell Chika."
"Some things can only be told to Natsuki-kun." Sayu stepped forward half a step, extended her hands, and grabbed Amamiya Natsuki's right arm. Then she leaned forward, slightly tilting her pretty face upward, her small gesture of looking up at others being especially cute. "All this time, I've caused Natsuki-kun so much trouble, so no matter what, I really want to repay Natsuki-kun…"
Amamiya Natsuki said slowly:
"Is the repayment you're talking about, proper?"
Sayu: "…"
"Let's be clear, I'm a proper person." Amamiya Natsuki said seriously, "I don't want a proper repayment."
Sayu: "…"
If he's a proper person, he shouldn't want any repayment at all, right?!
"I…"
Sayu opened her mouth, but in the end, she was too embarrassed to say anything improper. She merely proved herself with her actions—blushing, she hugged Amamiya Natsuki's arm to her chest, then clumsily enveloped and squeezed it.
"Th-that… I want to thank Natsuki-kun with my body…"
Smelling the sweet scent of the girl, Amamiya Natsuki raised an eyebrow and said:
"Do you usually thank people this way?"
"Of course not!" Sayu's pretty face flushed, and she quickly said, suppressing her shame, "Natsuki is the first!"
This Sayu was still a high school girl who had just run away from home, not the future Hokkaido God of Combat. Just hugging a boy's arm made her blush with shyness.
Amamiya Natsuki said:
"Why choose me?"
"Because Natsuki-kun is amazing, and very handsome…" Sayu bit her lip and whispered, "Natsuki-kun, please don't worry, I'll keep it a secret from everyone, and I won't let Kaguya-san and the others know…"
As Sayu spoke, she stood on tiptoe, closed her eyes with trembling eyelashes, and leaned in to kiss him.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…
No matter where she fled, it was useless. Even so, she still couldn't give up on escaping.
She was just such a weak and incompetent person.
As long as she could atone to Yuuko, doing anything was fine…
Slap!
A sudden pain on her forehead made Sayu let out a soft cry of "Ow."
"Natsuki-kun?"
Sayu covered her forehead, her eyes watery as she looked over.
Amamiya Natsuki flicked Sayu away with a snap to her head, then said, "Although you haven't told me anything about your real life… your friend Yuuko has passed away, hasn't she?"
Sayu bit her lower lip, remaining silent.
Amamiya Natsuki continued, "You might still be able to see your friend. Of course, I'm not talking about that Man-faced dog."
"Impossible…" Sayu bit her lip, "Yuuko… is already gone…"
"Don't forget, we are players," Amamiya Natsuki said, "After people in reality pass away, they don't necessarily disappear completely. There's a certain probability they'll become earth-bound spirits. Shimizu-nee is in a similar situation."
Upon hearing this, Sayu's eyes suddenly brightened. She instinctively grabbed Amamiya Natsuki's arm and nervously asked, "Natsuki-kun means…?!", Amamiya Natsuki said, "On the bus earlier, you mentioned you were running away from home, right? Have you gone back to see your friend?"
"No."
"After clearing the dungeon, you can go back and check. Your friend might have become an earth-bound spirit."
Sayu nervously said, "W-What if she hasn't?"
Amamiya Natsuki inquired, "Has it been more than a month since your friend passed away?"
Sayu quickly shook her head: "No."
"That's good," Amamiya Natsuki said, "There's a player in the mutual aid group whose skill is Divination. He can summon the soul of someone who passed away within a month… In other words, you can definitely see your friend again."
"…"
Sayu gazed up blankly, tears suddenly rolling down her pretty face one by one. Then she abruptly threw herself into Amamiya Natsuki's arms, letting out a relieved sob.
Hey, hey, if you're going to cry, just cry. Don't hug someone while you're crying. We're really not that close!
Amamiya Natsuki reached out, wanting to push Sayu away.
Who knew this girl, who looked so delicate, actually had quite a bit of strength? She held onto Amamiya Natsuki's body tightly, refusing to let go. After a while, she finally calmed down, still sobbing.
Amamiya Natsuki sighed, wiping the wet mark on his chest, and said, "Good thing everyone was playing Mahjong, otherwise you'd be done for."
Sayu's eyelashes still had trembling tears on them. Hearing this, a playful smile appeared on her face: "I'm terribly sorry for dirtying Natsuki-kun's clothes. As an apology, Natsuki can ask me to do anything and I can do it~."
"For example…"
Sayu stood on her tiptoes, leaned closer, and whispered with a breath like orchids, "Daddy?"
Amamiya Natsuki: "…"
The girl's voice was soft and gentle, falling into his ears like feathers with a strange magic, stirring his heartstrings and making his heartbeat instantly quicken.
"Do you want to hear it?" Sayu continued to output, directly evolving into a runaway motorcycle. She lifted the strands of hair tucked behind her ear, revealing her clear, doll-like-like earlobe, "How about I call you Daddy when no one else is around?"
You're kidding me!
I thought you were a serious person, but I didn't expect you to be so perverted. You really know how to play!
Amamiya Natsuki took a deep breath and said, "Wipe your snot first before you talk."
Sayu's pretty face flushed, and she quickly raised her hand to wipe her cheek, couldn't help but glare over: "A beautiful girl doesn't have snot."
"Heh, women."
"…"
"Let me guess." Amamiya Natsuki dealt with the marks on his chest, "You suddenly ran into the hallway to block me because of that Man-faced dog?"
Upon hearing this, a hesitant expression appeared on Sayu's pretty face.
Amamiya Natsuki's face hardened: "Looks like I guessed right."
"Daddy, don't be angry." Sayu hugged Amamiya Natsuki's arm and whispered, "Yuuko only told me to tempt you, and she would forgive me. She didn't tell me to do anything else."
"Was that temptation?"
It was clearly murder, wasn't it!
If the Sheltered Young Lady had caught them red-handed, she might have blackened from the shock. If two Yandere Kaguya teamed up, everyone would be doomed.
"I'm going to find it."
Amamiya Natsuki was about to leave the hallway.
He couldn't swallow being played by a dog.
Sayu looked up with her pretty face: "Daddy, please don't go look for Yuuko, okay? Yuuko will definitely think I betrayed her."
Amamiya Natsuki's lips twitched slightly: "…Stop calling me that."
Don't you feel ashamed calling someone you've only known for a short while 'Daddy'?
"What does it matter?" Sayu tilted her head and said, "I heard some girls at school talking about how 'daddy living' is very popular now. As long as you're willing to call someone 'Daddy,' you can get a lot of pocket money. If others can do it, of course I can too."
Amamiya Natsuki squinted: "Then why are you blushing?"
"B-Because I'm not skilled enough yet." Sayu stammered, took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and called out, "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy—"
"That's enough. Stop right there. A 'Daddy' without emotion isn't happy at all."
"…"
Under Sayu's 'Daddy' offensive, Amamiya Natsuki reluctantly decided not to bother the Man-faced dog for now.
Back in the main room.
Chika and the others were still playing Mahjong, completely unaware that Amamiya Natsuki had gained a daughter.
"Natsuki-kun, why are you just getting back?" Fujiwara Chika turned to look over, "The Mahjong game is almost over."
Shinomiya Kaguya didn't speak, but she also cast a suspicious glance.
Amamiya Natsuki said without changing his expression:
"Sayu just went to the restroom, and she was scared alone, so I waited outside for a while."
If this Sayu had been gone for so long, Kaguya would definitely not believe it if he said they hadn't met. The best approach was naturally to be open about it; trying to hide it would only make people suspicious.
As he spoke, a round of Mahjong finished.
Fujiwara Chika stood up and stretched lazily, saying, "Sayu-chan, do you want to play?"
"Okay."
Sayu nodded in agreement.
"Eh?"
Fujiwara Chika blinked, her gaze curiously falling on Sayu. She propped her chin with her right hand, "Sayu-chan feels a bit different from before, doesn't she?"
Sayu looked down at herself and said casually, "Do I?"
Of course, she did.
The biggest difference was that hope had reappeared in Sayu's eyes.
"Natsuki-kun…"
After another game of Mahjong, Amamiya Natsuki suddenly heard an extremely familiar shout. He looked up at the Sheltered Young Lady sitting opposite him.
"It's not me." Shinomiya Kaguya frowned, "I didn't call out."
Yukinoshita Yukino's voice was cool: "It's a shout from outside."
Everyone exchanged glances and stopped.
"Is it Kaguya-chan's clone?" Fujiwara Chika asked, puzzled, "What does she want?"
Amamiya Natsuki stood up and said, "Let's go see."
He walked to the door.
Amamiya Natsuki squinted, looking outside, but could only see swirling mist, making it impossible to see his hand in front of his face.
Not far from the door stood a pale-skinned, expressionless the Sheltered Young Lady, who was the Yandere Kaguya.
"Cough, cough." Fujiwara Chika lightly coughed twice and said, "Kaguya-chan, is something wrong?"
The Yandere Kaguya was expressionless: "Lowly cow who only tempts men with the fat on her chest, don't speak to me."
"H-How mean!" Fujiwara Chika immediately felt wronged, "We're the best of friends!"
"Wait—"
Fujiwara Chika suddenly reacted, silently turned to look at the Sheltered Young Lady beside her, and bit her lower lip, saying, "She's Kaguya-chan's clone. Besides her personality being different, everything else is exactly like Kaguya-chan… Could it be…?"
"I'm not, I didn't, don't talk nonsense!"
Shinomiya Kaguya quickly denied it three times.
Although she often called you "Cancer of the Earth" in her mind, as long as she didn't say it out loud, it didn't count.
The Yandere Kaguya stood in the mist, showing no intention of exposing the Sheltered Young Lady. She looked at Amamiya Natsuki and said calmly, "Come here for a moment."
Shinomiya Kaguya frowned, but didn't speak.
"Natsuki-kun, it's too dangerous." Fujiwara Chika whispered.
"It's fine." Amamiya Natsuki said calmly, "They're both Kaguya-san. I believe Kaguya-san wouldn't hurt someone from behind."
Of course, there was another reason: the house was right behind him. Even if the Yandere Kaguya suddenly turned hostile and wanted to attack, he could transform into a shadow and run back into the house.
Shinomiya Kaguya stood up and said, "I'll go with you."
The two left the house and walked into the mist, quickly arriving beside the Yandere Kaguya.
"Kaguya-chan, I'm here." Amamiya Natsuki greeted her.
The Yandere Kaguya's eyebrows furrowed: "What did you call me?"
Amamiya Natsuki said righteously:
"You two are both Kaguya, so of course there needs to be a special title to distinguish you."
Upon hearing this, Shinomiya Kaguya couldn't help but shout in her heart.
She's not me, she's just a fake clone!
The Yandere Kaguya said coldly, "Why am I Kaguya-chan?"
"It's just a name." Amamiya Natsuki said, "Otherwise, should I call you Big Kaguya?"
join p atreon.com/KeyofStars and become a Sequence 9: Reader for advance chapters | Every 100 powerstones = 1 extra chapter | Report issues @discord.com/GVBdncd9Wr