"Natsuki-kun, why did your face suddenly turn red?"
Mrs. Kaguya tilted her head to look at him.
"I just finished bathing. It's normal for my face to be red." Natsuki calmly returned the phone. "I think I've figured out the truth."
"Eh, what's the reason?"
"Come with me."
Natsuki stood up and walked toward the bathroom.
Mrs. Kaguya followed.
A half-body mirror hung on the wall. Natsuki stood before it, his entire figure clearly reflected.
What appeared beside him was quite horrifying... just a phone floating in midair.
"Just like urban legends say—ghosts can't be reflected in mirrors?" Mrs. Kaguya was quite clever. "So the reason I can't video call with little Kaguya is because of me, not because the phone is broken?"
"Should be the case." Natsuki pulled out his phone. "Come here, let's take a photo together."
Mrs. Kaguya moved closer, raising her right hand to make a peace sign by her face.
Click.
Photo taken.
Natsuki checked it and quickly said: "No good. You don't show up. Video calls won't work."
"That's terrible—so that's the truth." Mrs. Kaguya was deeply disappointed. "Wait, can little Kaguya at least hear me speak?"
"Your video call is still connected."
Natsuki looked at the phone. The ice queen covered her chest with her right hand, her face expressionless, yet her ear tips were clearly red as fire.
"Shinomiya-san." Natsuki coughed twice. "Can you hear your mom talking?"
Kaguya's voice was coolly composed: "I can't. I hear nothing at all."
"That's the situation. Video calls won't work." Natsuki returned the phone to Mrs. Kaguya and turned to leave. "Just communicate through messages."
Natsuki had absolutely no interest in eavesdropping on mother-daughter night talk.
Returning to his room, he studied, as there was still another day of exams tomorrow.
Before long, it was eleven PM.
Natsuki closed his practice book, preparing to sleep, when his pinky finger suddenly twitched.
Then it wouldn't stop moving.
No need to guess—aside from Chika Fujiwara, it couldn't be anyone else.
Playing around at school was one thing, but not sleeping in the middle of the night to play with fingers!
Buzz buzz.
The phone vibrated.
Natsuki picked it up to see a message from the pink-haired girl.
"Amamiya-kun, help!!"
"I was just about to get into bed when an evil spirit with disheveled hair crawled under my bed right in front of me! So terrible so terrible so terrible so terrible! Knowing someone's hiding under the bed, I absolutely can't sleep!"
"Can't help." Natsuki suggested: "Change rooms?"
Chika: "My sister's already asleep. I can't disturb her this late."
Natsuki: "Then endure it. Hold out until dawn, then go to school."
"Amamiya-kun is so mean. Going a whole night without sleep will break me."
As a high school student, one sleepless night is completely fine!
Chika: "I really want to check if the evil spirit under the bed has left."
"Hold back. Don't look."
Without him nearby, if she made eye contact with the evil spirit, she'd be done for.
"Can't hold back. The more I think about it, the more curious I get."
"Curiosity killed the cat."
"Even if you say that, Amamiya-kun, girls' curiosity is just really strong."
That's because you're not scared enough. If you were like Miko, you'd just lie down calmly and absolutely wouldn't be curious enough to look under the bed.
Natsuki sighed helplessly and initiated a video call.
"Amamiya-kun?"
A pink-haired girl appeared before Natsuki's eyes, tilting her head with a puzzled expression. "Are you going to sleep with me?"
Chika wore Pikachu pajamas, her pink hair falling over her shoulders. The black ribbon from her bangs was absent. Without makeup, her skin was delicate and soft, like a freshly peeled egg that could break at the slightest touch.
"Sorry, I don't provide sleeping companion services." Natsuki turned on the light and sat at his desk, picking up a practice book. "Get up and study with me."
This pink-haired girl was thoroughly chaotic alignment—impossible to tell if she was genuinely or pretending to be clueless.
When she said she wanted to peek under the bed, there was absolutely no way to predict whether she'd actually do it.
To be safe, keeping watch over her was the only way to feel assured.
Without any member of the evil-fighting trio, they'd all be helpless.
"Eh, study now?"
"Can you resist looking under the bed?"
"I can't." Chika looked pitiful. "Of all the places that evil spirit could hide, why did it have to crawl under my bed? I'm super concerned!"
"Then sit properly and study."
"Okay."
Chika obediently complied, sitting at her desk as they talked while studying.
Half an hour later, Chika was yawning continuously, her head bobbing. Finally, she collapsed on the desk and dozed off in a daze.
Go sleep in bed if you're tired—don't sleep on the desk. The buttons are crying out under the strain!
Looking at the heart-stopping rounded curves on the desk, Natsuki summoned tremendous willpower to end the call.
The night passed uneventfully.
The next day.
After waking up in the morning, Natsuki first sent a message to Chika, confirming that aside from back pain, the pink-haired girl was fine. Then he headed downstairs.
"Natsuki-kun, good morning~"
Mrs. Kaguya looked up at him.
Seeing Mrs. Kaguya's body had become semi-transparent again, Natsuki sighed helplessly.
What to do when your guardian spirit becomes addicted to phones and makes herself weak every day?
Forgive her, of course.
Ghosts don't need sleep. Just sitting around would indeed be unbearable—more painful than insomnia.
"Good morning."
Natsuki entered the bathroom, finished washing up, came out to eat some bread and milk, then headed out to school.
"Natsuki, good morning."
Miko Yotsuya, who'd arranged to go to school together, was already waiting eagerly at the door.
The two were childhood friends attending the same school anyway. Going together was perfectly normal.
"Miko-chan, good morning." Mrs. Kaguya smiled in greeting.
Seeing Mrs. Kaguya's form even dimmer than yesterday, Miko's lips twitched as she couldn't help looking at Natsuki: "Last night..."
Of course she was addicted to her phone—what else could it be!
The journey passed without incident.
Natsuki and Miko walked to the classroom. Since they weren't in the same class, after changing shoes, they each headed to their respective rooms.
"Little Kaguya is waiting for us in the activity room." Mrs. Kaguya said quietly. "I already messaged her this morning before leaving."
Mrs. Kaguya sighed lightly: "Too bad I can't bring my phone to school."
"Of course not. If you brought your phone here, ordinary people would just see a phone floating in midair. That would be scary, right?"
While complaining, Natsuki left the classroom and soon arrived outside the activity room.
Knock knock.
Natsuki raised his hand and knocked.
"Come in." The ice queen's clear, pleasant voice came from inside.
Pushing open the door, only Kaguya Shinomiya was in the activity room.
Seeing her mother's semi-transparent body, Kaguya pressed her fingers to her temple helplessly.
A moment later.
Another knock sounded at the door.
"Kaguya-chan, I'm here!"
Chika pushed the door open, with the blonde gyaru Marin Kitagawa beside her.
"Amamiya-kun, good morning." The blonde raised her right hand with a bright smile.
"Good morning."
After chatting for a bit, the four prepared to open their loot boxes together.
"Me first, me first!"
Chika took the lead, but after opening her loot box, her hands were empty.
"Eh?" Marin froze in surprise. "An empty loot box?"
Kaguya's beautiful lips pressed together as a familiar feeling of déjà vu rapidly welled up.
Looking at the pitiful pink-haired girl, Natsuki raised an eyebrow slightly and asked:
"...A loot box quest?"