"Let me give it a try." Chika volunteered, standing up and walking over to Amamiya. "Amamiya-kun, get up."
Amamiya reluctantly stood from his seat.
"Here goes~"
Without any hesitation, the pink-haired girl wrapped her arms around Amamiya's. Seeing this, Kaguya instinctively bit her lower lip.
'Stay calm. Don't react.'
It's just a hug. Getting worked up over it would only reveal that you cared. But still... smiling so brightly while hugging a boy like that—without even the slightest sense of reservation? How could Fujiwara be so shameless? The walking disaster of the earth!
'Let go already!'
"Hey, it really works! Amamiya-kun is so warm," Chika's eyes sparkled. She turned to the others and called out, "Kaguya-chan, come over here! You'll feel warmer!"
Kaguya hesitated.
'If I walk away now, wouldn't that be admitting defeat?'
But the idea of hugging a boy for warmth in front of everyone... it was too embarrassing.
"Can I try it too?" a shivering girl, wrapped in her arms, asked timidly. "It's freezing. I feel like I'm about to freeze to death."
"Of course! Everyone, form a line and come warm up." Chika waved them over energetically. "Hinata-chan, you can be first. One minute each!"
"Thank you, Chika-chan!"
The girl, full of gratitude, quickly stepped toward Amamiya.
"Shouldn't you ask for my permission first?" Amamiya complained under his breath. "I haven't agreed to this."
"Isn't this every boy's dream?" Chika grinned. "Being hugged by girls to keep warm? You must be thrilled!"
Amamiya deadpanned, "I'm not thrilled at all."
Sure, the idea of being surrounded by soft, sweet-smelling girls might sound great, but the problem was that their bodies were ice cold—colder than each other, in fact. There was no joy in it at all.
"Me too, me too!" Rikka hurried forward. "I need warmth too. Yukino-chan, come here!"
Yukino remained seated, her arms folded across her chest, showing no intention of moving.
Meanwhile, the other girls queued up, using Amamiya as a makeshift heater.
Watching the line form, Kaguya bit her lip again.
'I won't be the one to save you.'
How could they all be so casual about hugging a boy? It was ridiculous!
"So warm..."
"Amamiya-kun is like a heater."
"A human hot water bottle!"
The girls clinging to Amamiya's arms showered him with praise, though the warmth was purely physical.
Amamiya, on the other hand, looked up at the ceiling in silent resignation. 'So, this is what it feels like to be passed around by a queue of girls—except instead of warmth, it's like they're draining my energy. The moment I manage to thaw out from one person, another comes along and freezes me all over again.'
Suddenly, one of the girls cried out, "Hey, my countdown just changed! I have an extra hour!"
"Mine too!" another chimed in. "But I only got forty-five more minutes."
"Why is the countdown getting longer?"
Hearing the commotion, Amamiya raised his eyebrows and opened his game panel.
The main mission remained the same—survive. However, his own countdown had increased by three full hours.
"The countdown wouldn't extend for no reason..." Chika murmured, pressing a finger to the bridge of her nose. "What could've caused it?"
Her gaze quickly fell on Amamiya, and she blinked. "Could it be because of Amamiya-kun?"
Amamiya turned toward Kaguya, who was still seated on the sofa. "Has your countdown increased?"
"No," Kaguya replied, cupping her hands to her mouth and gently blowing warm air onto them. "I still have two and a half hours."
Amamiya then turned to the girl sitting beside Kaguya. "What about you, Yukinoshita-san?"
"No change," Yukino shook her head slightly.
Something wasn't right.
Amamiya's gaze shifted back to the face of the "Ice Princess" before him—Kaguya.
Though she was breathing, something felt off.
"Hmm?" Kaguya tilted her head slightly, sensing his scrutiny. Her eyes reflected confusion.
A prompt appeared in front of Amamiya.
'"[Upon closer inspection, you notice something wrong with your future wife... Why is there no mist when she exhales?]"'
Future wife? Really? He ignored the title, but the observation was accurate—there was no white mist when she exhaled.
As everyone knows, when the air is cold, exhaled breath condenses into visible white mist. Given the castle's low temperature, where frost was already forming on walls and furniture, it was odd that no mist appeared from anyone's breath.
Amamiya discreetly observed the others. Not just Kaguya—everyone was the same. No one had that characteristic mist when exhaling, including himself.
With both arms occupied warming people up, the female players around Amamiya were slowly recovering from the cold.
"Amamiya-kun." Chika pointed toward Kaguya. "Go sit on the sofa and warm Kaguya-chan. She's too cold to even get up."
"I am not!" Kaguya instantly denied it.
It 'was' cold, yes—but she wasn't so frozen that she couldn't stand. She just didn't want to join the crowd huddling around him like the others.
Amamiya glanced at the shivering Kaguya, sighed, and walked over to the sofa. He sat beside her and extended his right arm toward her.
"Want to warm up a bit?"
"I refuse."
Kaguya flatly declined. Hugging his arm in front of everyone was far too embarrassing! And besides, 'so many' people had already hugged him for warmth. Now it's 'her' turn? He wasn't "clean" anymore!
Amamiya hesitated for a couple of seconds. "How about a different position?"
"Huh?"
"You don't have to hug my arm," he suggested. "We could sit back-to-back to share warmth. Want to try?"
"…Fine."
Kaguya slowly turned her body, her heart pounding with nerves. After a moment, their backs made light contact.
They touched!
A subtle warmth spread from Amamiya's back, easing the chill that had seeped into her bones.
Kaguya exhaled softly, the warmth relaxing her stiff body. Her mind suddenly flashed back to yesterday's haunted house adventure—when Amamiya had held her hand. His warmth had felt so comforting then...
'Thump. Thump.'
Her heartbeat quickened.
Kaguya pressed her hand to her chest, mentally chastising herself. 'Stop it!' It was just a simple touch. Why was her heart racing? How bizarre!
"Yukino-chan, do you want to warm up too?" Chika's voice cut through the silence, drawing everyone's attention to the last girl sitting with her arms crossed.
Yukino glanced at Amamiya with a look of disdain and shook her head slightly, about to refuse. But then something caught her eye.
"Wait, is there a flame in the fireplace?"