As it turns out, Kaguya is indeed a gifted young lady. Aside from a bit of initial nervousness, she quickly adapted to flying the kite, handling it with remarkable ease. One would never guess that this was her first time attempting such a thing.
"How am I doing?" Kaguya turned around to speak to Amamiya, only to realize he was nowhere to be seen. "Hey, where did he go?"
"Natsuki-san's already wandered off," Hayasaka remarked from nearby, stifling a yawn. "It looks like he's with Chika."
Kaguya followed Hayasaka's gaze and spotted Amamiya walking toward Chika. The two began chatting, and for reasons she couldn't quite explain, Kaguya found herself puffing up her cheeks in mild frustration.
An odd thought crossed her mind: 'Win the kite, lose the war.'
Meanwhile, Chika, who had been walking her dog alone, noticed Amamiya approaching and took a cautious half-step backward. She quickly crossed her arms over her chest.
"Are you serious right now?" Amamiya couldn't help but complain. "This is a busy park. What do you think I'm going to do?"
"Well... you never know," Chika replied instinctively.
Amamiya sighed. "Even if I were planning something, it'd be when no one's around…"
Seeing the pink-haired girl puffing up in irritation, Amamiya continued with mock seriousness, "At the very least, wait until we're alone to demand an apology."
"That's not what you said this morning!" Chika retorted, her voice rising.
"..."
After a bit more banter, Amamiya confirmed his suspicions—Chika wasn't really mad. In fact, she rarely ever got genuinely upset. Even someone as laid-back as Miko would sometimes get annoyed and give people the cold shoulder, but Chika was something else entirely.
Changing the subject, Amamiya asked, "What about your dog? Won't he be affected since you haven't been home for a few days?"
"Pes is staying at a relative's house for now," Chika answered in her usual cheerful tone. "Once Mom, Dad, and Moeha get back from their trip, we'll pick him up."
Just as they were speaking, a demon—towering like a massive dog—leaped into view. Startled, Chika instinctively grabbed the corner of Amamiya's shirt.
"Stay calm," Amamiya said, his expression unchanging. "As long as we act like we can't see it, we'll be fine."
"That's true, but it's still terrifying," Chika muttered. "Usually, I take Pes out for a morning run, but ever since I started seeing evil spirits, I've been too scared to go out. Poor Pes is getting restless."
Amamiya considered this for a moment. "You could buy him a treadmill."
"We already have one," Chika replied with a sigh. "But Pes refuses to use it."
"That's because the incentive isn't there," Amamiya suggested. "Try tying his favorite snack in front of the treadmill."
"That sounds cruel!" Chika protested. "That's how corporations exploit their employees, except instead of food, they dangle wages!"
"…"
After spending the morning flying kites and walking the dog, the group realized it was already noon. They left the park and stopped by a convenience store to pick up some food before heading home.
"I'll take care of the cooking," Hayasaka offered, carrying the groceries into the kitchen.
Amamiya stepped into the kitchen to assist, just as he had done the previous day. He found Hayasaka bending over, seemingly inspecting something beneath the sink.
As he entered, Hayasaka spoke in her usual calm tone, "It looks like a bug flew down there."
Of course, that was a lie.
There were no bugs. In reality, Hayasaka was double-checking the area for any lingering evil spirits, still unsettled by the long-tongued one she had encountered yesterday. The memory made her feel queasy, but thankfully, there was nothing lurking under the sink today.
With that reassurance, Hayasaka straightened up and turned toward the closet, preparing to take out an apron.
Then, she froze.
A small evil spirit, its head as large as a bucket, was staring curiously back at her from inside the closet.
Hayasaka gritted her teeth, casting a quick sideways glance at Amamiya.
'Forget the vegetables! Come and take care of this!' she thought desperately.
But Amamiya remained focused on washing the vegetables, not even bothering to glance up. With a silent sigh of frustration, Hayasaka tried a different approach, calling out softly, "Natsuki-san."
"Hmm?" Amamiya looked up from his task and, for the first time, noticed the baby evil spirit.
Maintaining her composure, Hayasaka added casually, "My lady's in a good mood today. If you need, I can help clean up around the house."
"Great, I'll leave it to you then," Amamiya replied without hesitation, immediately returning to his task, completely unbothered by the sight.
Hayasaka was left speechless.
'Seriously?'
'You really can't see this giant evil spirit in the closet? Do something!'
But Amamiya didn't seem the least bit concerned. After all, to him, this was just like the severed head spirit that occasionally appeared in the refrigerator. At first, such sights had terrified him, but over time, he had grown numb. The spirits came back as predictably as weeds; once dealt with, another would appear in its place. Eventually, Amamiya had simply become accustomed to their presence.
In fact, if one morning he opened the refrigerator and didn't see the severed head ghost, it might even feel strange.
For these more common spirits, Amamiya had developed a habit of turning a blind eye.
"Ugh!" Hayasaka grit her teeth in frustration. She didn't have time for this nonsense.
Determined, she reached through the baby spirit's translucent body and grabbed the apron she had been looking for.
Bang.
She shut the closet door with a sigh of relief. However, just as she exhaled, her eyes widened in horror. The baby spirit, seemingly curious about her, crawled out of the closet and landed directly on her head.
"…"
Hayasaka nearly lost her composure right then and there.
'Even if my spy master showed up right now, I don't think I could keep my cool in this situation!'
Clenching her jaw, she shot a deadly glare at Amamiya.
'How is he still calmly washing vegetables? Is he blind?!'
Suddenly, there was a small thud.
"Oops," Hayasaka quickly turned toward Amamiya and gave a polite bow. "My apologies, I seem to have knocked over an egg."
'Surely he sees the evil spirit now, right?'
'Right?!'
But Amamiya simply waved it off. "No problem, I'll clean it up."
That was it. Hayasaka had reached her limit.
'That's it, no more pretending!'
With a quick motion, she slammed her right hand against the wall, trapping Amamiya in place. With her left hand, she grabbed him by the collar and yanked him forward until their faces were inches apart.
"You're messing with me, right?" she hissed.
"…"
For a split second, Hayasaka seriously considered making her frustration a reality.
But just before she could act on it, a piercing scream filled the air. The baby evil spirit, now engulfed in transparent flames, shrieked as it struggled to escape. Within moments, it vanished into thin air.
---
After lunch, Amamiya stayed home, while Kaguya and the others went out once again to carry out the bait tactic. Despite their efforts, the death spirit still didn't make an appearance, and the four girls ended up spending half the afternoon wandering the streets aimlessly.
By evening, as Kaguya prepared to head home, Amamiya granted her the ability to repel evil spirits. With a quick goodbye, Kaguya and her maid took their leave.
Before long, it was nine o'clock.
"Goodnight, Hayasaka," Kaguya called out as she turned off the lights, settling into bed.
"Goodnight," Hayasaka responded. She left the bedroom, shutting the door behind her. Ignoring the evil spirits roaming the halls, she returned to her own room, her expression stoic.
But as soon as the door clicked shut, her demeanor changed entirely.
---
A moment later, a new version of Hayasaka emerged—one with steely resolve.
'I'm sorry, my lady,' she thought to herself.
'I can't endure this any longer. Tonight, I'm going to take down that man!'
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