That evening, after a quiet dinner, Ogihara Issa personally drove Hozuki Nozomi and Sayu to the airport.
He promised to mail all the school transfer docunts and related paperwork once everything was finalized. Despite the tension and drama of the day, the trip had accomplished its most important goal—Sayu's emotional burden had finally been lifted.
Sayu's mother, Mrs. Ogihara, had changed her attitude with suspicious speed. Sayu hadn't fully forgiven her. Deep down, she didn't trust that sudden shift. But honestly... it didn't matter.
She had no intention of returning to that house again.
If her mother truly wanted to make ands, she could co visit her in Kyoto… or move there. But Sayu doubted that would ever happen.
Now, Sayu had soone else by her side—a silent guardian: Yuko, her best friend from middle school, who had died and beco a yūrei, a bound spirit.
Yuko had suffered tornt and bullying, eventually taking her own life. But even in death, she hadn't beco a vengeful onryō. Despite her pain, Yuko had remained kind. Maybe it was her timid nature, or maybe it was because Sayu had been the one light in her dark world.
Nozomi didn't intend to let her linger in this world forever.
He would guide her to peace—to beco a hotoke.
The return tickets had been arranged by Ogihara Issa, who, as Sayu's older brother, also offered to continue paying for her tuition and daily living expenses. Perhaps it was guilt. Guilt for not protecting her at ho, guilt for failing to stand up to their mother, and guilt for not helping her when she needed him the most.
If Sayu hadn't t Nozomi—soone her own age, yet far more capable and reliable—who knows what would've happened? Maybe she would've kept drifting, lost, vulnerable to the wolves out there who only saw her as an object of desire.
After all, Sayu was undeniably beautiful, the kind of girl who drew stares wherever she went. Nozomi had seen it with his own eyes.
Issa couldn't protect her. Neither could her mother. In the end, it had taken an outsider—Nozomi, soone who had no obligation to her—to intervene.
Now, Sayu was different. She'd been freed from the shadows that had haunted her for so long. And even Yuko, from within the spirit world, noticed the change.
As their car neared the airport, Yuko's translucent form quietly rose from Sayu's phone screen, marveling at the world outside. After being bound for so long to a single rooftop and school, the sense of movent—of freedom—was exhilarating.
"If you two hadn't co…" she whispered to herself. "I might've lost my mind completely."
Her ghostly form was growing more transparent.
Yuko turned to Sayu, who was leaning gently against Nozomi's shoulder, fast asleep. Her fingers brushed the side of Sayu's head like a final farewell.
She could feel it—her ti in this world was over.
She had always been worried about Sayu after death. Sayu had been the one person who saw her, who cared.
Back then, she had approached Sayu, drawn to her light. But in the end, her own self-loathing and fear led her down the path to death—and dragged Sayu into pain.
Now Sayu had soone who would fight for her. A boyfriend who would even slap her own mother for her sake.
"I'm glad," Yuko smiled softly. "Sayu… be happy."
With that final blessing, Yuko faded, her form dissolving like morning mist.
A single tear rolled down Sayu's cheek.
"I will, Yuko," she whispered, her voice trembling. "I promise."
She wasn't the sa Sayu anymore. She wouldn't let herself be bullied, or stay silent out of fear.
She had soone now. Soone who'd stand up for her.
Soone like… Hozuki Nozomi.
At long last, Sayu could walk into school with her head held high.
…Though apparently, she'd also asked Mahiru-senpai to tutor her in math again.
============================
By the ti they reached Sakurasou in the early morning, both were exhausted.
Nozomi told Sayu to get so sleep and helped carry her bag up to her room.
As for why they didn't sleep together?
Let's just say…
He was worried about having a "reaction."
And if that happened, he definitely wouldn't be able to sleep.
==============================
Around 4:30, Nozomi felt a wave of warmth.
It was... confusing.
A bit irritating, yet strangely comforting.
Still half-asleep, he blinked his eyes open, mind hazy and caught between dream and reality. Sothing felt off… or rather, sothing felt way too good for this to be a normal morning.
Instinctively, he lifted the blanket.
What he saw underneath left his cheeks burning red.
"Mashiro…!? What are you doing!?"
He had expected Sayu. Or maybe Mahiru. Heck, even Kamiigusa-senpai had a 10% chance of pulling this kind of stunt.
But Mashiro?
Shiina Mashiro raised her head from under the covers, her big, watery golden eyes looking up at him innocently. She gave a small, awkward wipe to the corner of her mouth and muttered softly.
"...Mashiro is making Nozomi happy."
It was said so matter-of-factly, like she was handing him a snack or drawing another manga panel.
Nozomi groaned internally, feeling the heat rise in his face. "Yare yare daze..."
Still, a part of him couldn't help but lt when she looked at him like that—so pure, so determined… yet doing sothing so incredibly tempting.
He reached out and gently ruffled her soft platinum-blonde hair. The gesture only made her more motivated.
She worked harder, more focused, more serious—like she was the heroine of one of her own shōjo manga chapters, channeling the energy of a stubborn but adorable lead girl from a Kashiwagi Eri doujinshi.
She even made those soft, chuunibyou-style sounds under her breath.
Nozomi wanted to scream into a pillow.
"This girl has been corrupted by manga," he muttered to himself, fighting off a nosebleed-level situation.
He hadn't taught her anything like this. No way.
She learned everything from those ero-manga she secretly read. And now she was treating him as her practice dummy.
Her delicate fingers brushed against his side. Her soft red lips moved rhythmically, like she was enjoying a really tasty lollipop. Her expression stayed calm, even a bit silly, but everything she was doing was devastating.
Mashiro's white thigh-high socks slid slightly down her smooth legs as she shifted positions. Nozomi caught a glimpse and imdiately looked away, flustered.
She could hold her own foot with one hand—those ballerina-like legs were unfair.
"Nggh... Wuwuwu—!"
Mashiro suddenly choked a little.
Her eyes watered as she looked up at him pitifully, like a helpless kitten caught in the rain, trying her best to keep going.
Seeing her struggle like that—watching her cute little throat bob as she tried to adjust—nearly broke Nozomi's sanity.
"Oi oi oi… enough," he muttered, grabbing her waist and gently pulling her up into his arms.
Mashiro clung to his chest and nuzzled against the crook of his neck like a sleepy cat.
"Nozomi… are you happy?"
"Yeah… ridiculously happy," he admitted, stroking her hair. "But what brought this on, all of a sudden?"
"Because… yesterday, Nozomi didn't fulfill his duties as Mashiro's petto no shujin," she said with pouty lips. "You didn't wake up before leaving."
"So Mashiro stayed inside the closet… waiting."
"You baka… what if you caught a cold? Did you even eat?"
Mashiro raised both her arms, wrapping them around his neck. Her soft lips brushed against his throat, and her whole body gave off the scent of fresh cream and honey.
"I ate. A lot," she said, voice low and sultry. "It tasted like… Baumkuchen."
Nozomi flinched.
That was a fatal move.
"Do you even know what that does to a guy…!?"
He sighed, utterly defeated, and pressed her head down gently.
"Then keep eating, Mashiro. You need your strength."
"…Hai," she replied obediently, opening her mouth again like a good girl.
Nozomi thought to himself: No matter what happens, I've gotta keep this dangerous angel in Sakurasou forever.
—Around 6:30 AM—
Shiina Mahiru, having not seen Nozomi in two days, was feeling a little lonely.
She'd been tidying his room every morning, like a good kouhai. Today was no different.
She opened his door, tiptoed in, and slipped under the covers without thinking.
Only…
She felt sothing soft. And very, very warm.
She blinked. Then pulled the covers back—
Her eyes nearly popped out of her head.
"M-Mashiro!?"
Mashiro turned with sleepy eyes. "Ohayou, Mahiru."
"Don't give 'Ohayou!' What are you doing!?"
"Eating sothing delicious. Making Nozomi happy."
"…Delicious? You an… Baumkuchen?"
"Mmm. Mahiru's had so too. But today's portion is all Mashiro's."
Mahiru's face flushed deep red.
"W-Wait, I'm not fighting you for the Baumkuchen!"
She huffed, pulled the blanket back over herself with a dramatic sigh, and snuggled in beside them.
"Fine. Just let sleep here for a while… geez."
"Welco, Mahiru," Mashiro mumbled sleepily.
Nozomi, in the middle of all this, stared at the ceiling.
His life… was officially no longer normal.
And honestly?
He wasn't complaining.
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