"My lord, Tsubaki will help you undress."
As soon as he entered the prison chamber, Tsubaki initiatively came forward.
"Young man, you... haven't experienced this before, have you?"
She quickly noticed something different about Yukiteru's body.
Not strong, not repulsive.
"...Mm."
Yukiteru, his face bright red, nodded.
Then, forcing himself to endure the shame inside, he looked around for a place to hide.
After getting Yukiteru's affirmative answer, Tsubaki's movements suddenly stopped.
Her dim eyes looked at Yukiteru as she spoke softly.
"Young man, go back. This is no place for you."
Tsubaki couldn't see Yukiteru's face clearly, only sensing a thin, small outline flickering before her.
"Why? Those outside all... can, why can't I!"
Yukiteru hadn't achieved his goal yet, so how could he leave so easily?
Despite being so embarrassed that steam seemed to rise from his head, he forced himself to stay calm.
"No, you are different from them."
Tsubaki shook her head.
A trace of self-abandonment and self-pity flashed in her dim eyes.
"I am impure, and they are impure too. It's normal for impure people to use each other."
"But you are different. You are still pure."
Tsubaki gently pulled Yukiteru's clothes back on, then used an incredibly meticulous technique to smooth out every single wrinkle on the clothes.
She said tenderly, "A pure boy is something as precious as gold in this world. I am not worthy of it, nor do I wish to taint it."
"You must have someone very important in your heart, right? For her sake, you shouldn't be here either. Go back. I will keep your secret."
Tsubaki's gentle voice made Yukiteru's shoulders tremble uncontrollably.
A soft spot deep in his heart was deeply touched.
'She... was also a person with a bitter fate.'
'Perhaps there was a way to resolve everything without killing everyone...'
'No!'
Yukiteru suddenly clenched his fists, biting his tongue until it bled. The salty, metallic taste of blood instantly sobered him up.
No sympathy, no pity, no saintly behavior.
This was a game designed by a god.
None of the people caught in this game had any choice.
In the memories the Group Owner showed him, when the time came, Tsubaki wouldn't hesitate to mercilessly kill him and Yuno, the diary holders, either!
"No? Why? Is my barren, filthy body that important to you?"
Tsubaki looked at Yukiteru, a trace of disgust appearing in her eyes.
'Even such a pure boy was ultimately the same as those other stinking men inside?'
'Filled with those kinds of thoughts?'
"That's not it... I just... have nowhere else to go."
Yukiteru looked into Tsubaki's dim eyes and suddenly had an idea.
Feigning a despondent tone, he said,
"Nowhere to go? What do you mean?"
Tsubaki frowned and couldn't help but ask in a low voice.
Yukiteru lowered his gaze, pulling out all the stops internally, ready to unleash his acting skills.
"My parents divorced when I was very young. I lived with my father. My stepmother recently gave birth to a new child for him, and he's been looking at me more and more unfavorably. Yesterday, I accidentally saw them... doing 'that'. He was so angry and ashamed that he said he had no such cowardly son and kicked me out."
"In a moment of anger, I wanted to prove I was a real man. After asking around, I came here, wanting to... to lose my virginity."
Yukiteru spoke haltingly, his lies full of holes.
If facing a strong man, Tsubaki definitely wouldn't believe a single word and would disdainfully chase him away.
But Yukiteru was different.
Tsubaki could feel his pure heart, as unblemished as his face.
A child like this wouldn't tell lies to deceive people.
"So that's how it is... Poor child. But even if you lose your virginity, do you think that father would let you back?"
Tsubaki let out a soft, melancholic sigh, speaking helplessly.
She felt more and more empathy for this flawless young boy.
A family background similar to hers, similarly bullied and trampled by parents.
Similarly ready to abandon and degrade themselves, walking a path of no return.
Only, she no longer had a choice, but he still did.
"I... I don't know."
Yukiteru said confusedly, but his eyes were locked onto a blind spot.
'A very good position.'
That place just so happened to be Tsubaki's visual blind spot.
Moreover, the lighting was poor, making it hard for outsiders to notice without looking carefully.
If he waited there quietly for a day, he could easily slit the throat of Diary Holder #6.
"Ah, poor child. If you truly have nowhere to go, then stay at the shrine."
Tsubaki sighed lightly, patted Yukiteru's head, and said tenderly.
Since her dark childhood experiences, this was the first time she had felt this kind of emotion towards a boy.
Sympathy, pity, mutual understanding of suffering, a desire to protect.
'Perhaps, this boy could be the mascot for my Future Diary game.'
'Bringing me luck to turn misfortune into blessing?'
"Ah? Wouldn't that... be too much trouble for you?"
Yukiteru said, somewhat surprised. He had no intention of becoming a guardian.
If he stayed at the shrine openly and then assassinated Tsubaki, her Clairvoyance Diary would have recorded it a day in advance.
[Shrine's XX assassinated me, died on XX day.]
Such an obvious flaw, how could Yukiteru possibly agree to it?
"It's no trouble. Isn't a shrine meant to help those who pray piously?"
Tsubaki gave a gentle smile.
For a moment, Yukiteru seemed to see the radiance of a true saint shining from her.
In the end, Yukiteru, who is not good with words, still somehow managed to join the shrine.
Of course, he wasn't foolish enough to give his real name.
He used the name 'Ware Ryuuki' to get by.
Changing into shrine sleepwear and lying on the tatami in a Japanese-style room, Yukiteru let out a light sigh.
'If possible, I really don't want to take action against her.'
But the Future Diary game wouldn't give him a choice.
At 5 AM, he changed into a set of night clothes.
Bypassing the crowd of drunken believers, he headed straight for the black prison chamber.
The Clairvoyance Diary would record all the people and events Tsubaki saw within a day.
If Yukiteru intended to act now, then at 5 AM yesterday, Tsubaki would have known everything.
He would be counter-killed by the traps she set.
So, he had to wait.
Yukiteru quietly hid in that visual blind spot behind the black prison chamber.
Waiting, lying in ambush.
Based on the characteristics of the Clairvoyance Diary, when Tsubaki woke up, she would see in her diary that an assassin would suddenly break into her room today and kill her.
Upon learning this, Tsubaki would absolutely order her followers to guard strictly, surrounding the shrine's exterior three layers deep.
But, absolutely no one would think that someone actually already knew the characteristics of the Clairvoyance Diary and had lain in ambush here a day in advance, waiting for the chance to assassinate.
This time, it's a certain kill.