"'The Loyal Dog Boyfriend Training Manual'... There's actually a book like this?!"
Kaguya's eyes went wide.
This was the first time she'd encountered the term "loyal dog boyfriend," but that didn't stop her from understanding its meaning—training your boyfriend to be a loyal dog. Was that a boyfriend, or a pet?
"Where there's demand, there's a market." The blonde girl pulled the lollipop from her mouth with a soft pop. Her pale fingers toyed with her hair while she unselfconsciously stuck out her pink tongue to lick the lollipop. Her voice was calm. "At the bookstore, I also saw '100 Days to Make a Tokyo Heiress Fall for Me,' 'A Step-by-Step Guide to Winning Over the Married Woman Next Door'..."
"Wait, isn't there something weird mixed in there?"
Kaguya couldn't help crying out.
The Tokyo heiress one was bad enough, but winning over the married woman next door was way too much!
"Don't sweat the details." The blonde girl tilted her head to look at her. "Milady is, after all, a complete novice in romance with zero experience. It's quite necessary to study the training methods in this book. Otherwise, you'll just have to watch helplessly as the boy you like gets stolen away."
"You're overthinking it." Kaguya's pretty face flushed slightly. She loudly protested, "I don't like him at all."
"Volume has nothing to do with persuasiveness." The blonde girl leaned against the door. "For that boy's sake, Milady has been unable to eat or sleep properly these past few days. You've even developed dark circles."
"That's because..."
Kaguya bit her lower lip.
She had told Hayasaka about the strange events the moment they happened the day before yesterday, but Hayasaka didn't believe her at all. Without evidence to prove her situation, nothing she said would help.
"Never mind. Let's go home." Kaguya's tone calmed down.
"Is Milady going to read this book or not?" The blonde girl said lightly. "If not, I'll throw it away."
Kaguya's steps paused slightly. She silently took the book and put it in her bag, her expression cool and composed:
"Don't litter."
The loyal dog boyfriend part didn't matter. There had to be methods for manipulating people inside. Perhaps she could learn something useful.
That's right.
She was only reading this book to better manipulate that man!
"..."
On the way home.
Natsuki happened to run into Miko and Hana.
"Amamiya-kun, good afternoon." The blonde girl waved happily, her smile bright—a world of difference from Miko beside her with her salted-fish expression. "Let's study together again today?"
"Hoo..."
Miko raised a hand to cover her mouth as she yawned. The dark circles on her face seemed even heavier.
Natsuki walked up to the two girls and looked at Miko. "Didn't sleep well again last night?"
"No."
Miko bit her lower lip, looking aggrieved.
Vengeful spirits could pass through walls. Closing the door was completely useless—they were even more hateful than flies or mosquitoes.
After Natsuki had left last night, Miko had planned to get a good night's sleep. But an evil spirit with eyes all over its face had walked right through the door, then, as if no one was watching, crawled under the bed right in front of her.
She didn't dare look.
She absolutely didn't dare look.
Miko didn't know how long she'd lain there before finally falling asleep. It wasn't strange at all that her dark circles had gotten worse.
Chatting along the way, they soon arrived at his house.
"Let's study at Natsuki's house today?" Hana raised her right hand, her voice bright.
Natsuki turned to look at her and said slowly: "Going to a strange boy's home could be dangerous."
"It's fine. Natsuki and I are already friends." Hana's smile was radiant. She reached over to hug Miko's arm. "Besides, Miko is here too. Natsuki definitely won't bully me."
Miko squinted, her voice weak: "Sorry, but I'll choose to look the other way."
"Eh, that's so mean."
"..."
Natsuki took out his key and opened the door. "Come in. Slippers are in the shoe cabinet. Help yourselves."
Miko came over often to hang out. She acknowledged him and changed into a pair of salted-fish slippers.
"Thank you, Natsuki."
Hana was quite polite. After changing her shoes, she carefully arranged all three pairs of shoes neatly, then happily began petting the dog.
"What do you want to drink?" Natsuki opened the refrigerator. "There's barley tea, oolong tea, cola."
Natsuki's voice paused.
Opening the door to find a severed head vengeful spirit lying in the refrigerator—he had to admit, it did give him a fright.
"Barley tea."
"Oolong tea."
The two girls quickly replied.
Expressionlessly, Natsuki activated the Evil Dispersion aura. The head vengeful spirit in the refrigerator let out a hollow scream and began dissolving into gray mist.
Breaking into someone's home was bad enough, but you even dared hide in the refrigerator to scare people. Begone, evil spirit!
Taking out the drinks and handing them to Miko and Hana, Natsuki led the two girls upstairs and into his room.
"Excuse the intrusion."
Hana followed behind Miko, carefully stepping inside. She looked around the room curiously. "Oh, it's so clean. I thought it would be messy."
Natsuki brought over the folding table from the balcony. "That's because I just cleaned my room yesterday."
"Huh?"
"Normally it's super messy. There's not even room to step. And supernatural events often occur."
"Supernatural events too?"
Hana clasped her hands to her chest, her eyes wide with nervousness.
Natsuki's tone grew eerie as he began his tale: "It was a certain day not long ago. I woke up in a daze that morning and suddenly discovered something very important was missing from my room. There were no signs of the door having been opened, and the windows were shut tight—proof that no intruder had entered. But no matter what, I couldn't find that important thing. It was as if it had quietly evaporated into thin air..."
Hana unconsciously lowered her voice, sounding timid: "Could it be the work of ghosts?"
Miko propped her pink cheek on her right hand and cut straight to the point:
"What was the thing you lost?"
"Good question." Natsuki interlaced his fingers, his expression serious. "That morning when I got up to get dressed, I could only find one sock. The other sock had vanished into thin air. No matter what, I couldn't find it."
"I-it was a sock?"
Hana's eyes went wide with disbelief.
"What did you think it was?" Natsuki asked in return.
The blonde girl came back to her senses. Her bun-like cheeks puffed up high, like a hamster with its mouth stuffed full of seeds. "Natsuki is so mean!"
"My deepest apologies." Natsuki's face showed absolutely no trace of guilt. "However, I wasn't lying. Socks that suddenly vanish into thin air are indeed one of the three most common supernatural phenomena in daily life."
Hana cradled her oolong tea. Unable to contain her curiosity: "Um... what are the other two supernatural phenomena?"
Natsuki looked at the blonde girl. "You want to know?"
"Mm-hmm."
Hana nodded eagerly. The girl's eyes were full of curiosity.
Natsuki withdrew his gaze and took out his workbook. "I'm not telling you."
Hana puffed out her cheeks and tattled: "Miko, Natsuki is bullying me. Hurry up and do something about him!"
Miko was sprawled limply on the table like a salted fish:
"Sorry, can't help."