"That girl is... Shinomiya-san?"
Miko Yotsuya was dumbfounded, unable to believe her eyes.
Getting into someone else's car earlier was one thing, but bringing her directly home now—what was going on? There was no way to explain this away as just teammates!
"Miko, let me explain." Natsuki pulled Miko to a corner and said quietly, "That's not Shinomiya-san."
Miko bit her lower lip lightly. "Liar."
She'd never spoken to Shinomiya-san, but she'd seen her many times at school. That familiar black hair and red eyes—if it wasn't Shinomiya-san, who else could it be?
Natsuki continued:
"That's Shinomiya-san's mother."
"Huh?"
Miko froze, somewhat doubting her ears. She looked up in surprise. "What did you say? Shinomiya-san's... mother?"
"That's right." Natsuki nodded affirmatively. "Lady Kaguya."
Miko Yotsuya: "..."
Moments later.
"Wait, let me process this." Miko held her forehead, her face showing an indescribably complex expression. "You NTR'd your classmate's mom?"
Hey, hey—what do you mean NTR? This afternoon was clearly a case of helping someone in need. How did it become becoming the NTR chieftain when you say it?!
"It was a coincidence." Natsuki corrected her, then shared the information Miko cared about. "Auntie Kaguya was previously in the same earthbound spirit state as your uncle."
"Earthbound spirits look no different from when they were alive, but they don't actually have their own consciousness. All their actions are just habits formed before death."
"We still don't know what would happen if you talked to an earthbound spirit." Natsuki cautioned in a low voice. "For now, you should still stay vigilant and not let your uncle discover that you can see him."
Hearing this news, Miko bit her lower lip lightly and nodded softly:
"I understand."
As expected.
The father who had returned home after passing away wasn't the real father... Miko had known this from the beginning.
Having grown up together with her father since childhood, how could she possibly not notice?
"Let's go. To my room." Natsuki said. "You haven't helped me cultivate yet today."
Miko crossed her arm over her chest. "You already have a Guardian Spirit now. Can't you just ask Lady Kaguya?"
"She's a ghost."
"I just saw her drinking a beverage."
"Being able to drink doesn't mean she has weight. She's still my classmate's mother, after all." Natsuki pressed his palms together. "So I can only rely on Lady Miko."
"Make it quick. It's getting dark, and I still need to go back and cook."
"..."
Lady Kaguya thought Miko was like an ordinary person. She floated over to Miko, hands behind her back, curiously examining her and commenting without restraint:
"What an alluring body. High school girls these days are really well-developed."
"..."
The corner of Miko's eye twitched slightly. She raised her hand to cover her chest.
Alluring and all that—how rude!
She was just a tiny bit better than average girls. She wasn't even outside standard specifications, okay?
Seeing Miko's reaction, Lady Kaguya looked surprised:
"Natsuki-kun, this girl seems to be able to see me."
"Not 'seems.'" Natsuki said. "Miko can definitely see you."
"Huh?" Lady Kaguya was taken aback. "Is Miko also a player in that horror game?"
"No." Natsuki looked at Miko. "It seems she suddenly became able to see evil spirits."
"I searched online. It should be the 'yin-yang eyes'..." Miko looked at Lady Kaguya. She toned down her salted-fish expression slightly and bowed. "Hello, Auntie. Nice to meet you. I'm Miko Yotsuya, and I live next door. Please take care of me."
Speaking to "something invisible" for the first time, Miko's feelings were quite complicated.
It was like astronaut Armstrong taking his first step on the moon—one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.
"Call me 'big sister.'"
"Huh?"
"You see, I passed away from heart disease." Lady Kaguya's tone was aggrieved. "I was actually only in my twenties. Being called 'Auntie' makes me feel like an old lady."
Miko Yotsuya: "..."
They soon made their way upstairs.
Natsuki opened the door and entered the room together with Miko.
"Let's begin."
Natsuki set down his bag and lay flat on the floor.
Miko's mother worked outside to support the family and often had to work overtime, coming home very late. Cleaning, doing housework, preparing meals, taking care of her elementary school brother—all of it fell to Miko.
It was getting dark now, and Miko still had many things to do. He couldn't take up too much of her time.
"Um..."
Miko turned her head to look at Lady Kaguya beside them.
Having a boy's body stepped on to help generate power was already super embarrassing when her brother saw it, let alone her classmate's mother.
"Miss Shimizu, please step outside." Natsuki looked at the Guardian Spirit lady. "Miko and I need to do some... unspeakable things."
During the trip home, after some conversation, Natsuki had learned Lady Kaguya's real name.
Nayatake Shimizu.
She didn't even want to be called "Mrs. Shinomiya."
Natsuki didn't ask for the reason. It was probably nothing more than the scheming of a major family.
"Don't say it like that." Miko's pretty face reddened as she couldn't help but glare at him. "People will get the wrong idea!"
It was just stepping on his back—not some unspeakable secret. At those massage parlors, it was a perfectly legitimate service!
"I understand." Lady Kaguya blinked, a knowing expression appearing on her pretty face as she headed for the door. "Don't worry, Natsuki-kun. I'll help keep the secret and won't tell little Kaguya."
So what if she told the ice-sculpture girl?
He wasn't cheating or having an affair—he was just having his childhood friend generate electricity with her feet. Nothing shameful about it.
"It's not what you're thinking." Miko's face reddened slightly as she quickly explained. "I'm just helping with a back massage."
"I see." Lady Kaguya had an expression of sudden understanding as she passed through the door. "Take your time. I'll guard the door and won't let anyone take a single step inside."
Besides Miko, there wasn't even a third person in the house!
"..."
The room fell quiet.
Miko sighed wearily and lifted her right foot, gently stepping onto Natsuki's back.
Perhaps because Miko was wearing black over-knee socks today, Natsuki felt the sensation on his back was even more delicate and silky.
Moments later.
"That's enough for today. I'm heading back." A light sheen of sweat had appeared on Miko's nose. Maintaining balance while stepping on someone's back was quite tiring. "See you tomorrow."
Natsuki sat up and clenched his right fist. "Excellent. I've gotten stronger again."
Miko covered her skirt with her right hand, looking down at him with disdain as she quipped:
"Getting stronger just from being stepped on—it feels so wrong somehow."
"There are no wrong skills, only wrong people." Natsuki's face was full of righteousness. "It's precisely because it's you, Miko, that I exchanged for this skill."
Miko turned her face away. "...Goodbye."
Lady Kaguya had been in a hazy state before, but today she'd been reborn. She was filled with curiosity about the world more than a decade later, her thirst for knowledge especially intense—she simply couldn't stop.
Natsuki still needed to rest, so in the end he just gave her a spare phone and let Lady Kaguya surf the internet on her own.
The night passed without incident.
The next morning after waking up, Natsuki walked out of his room and was shocked to discover that Lady Kaguya had become completely blurry.