He left the Student Council Room.
Sakurai Saki sent a message to Nakano Itsuki. At noon, she had cried while reporting her weight to the entire school. Hayasaka Ai, watching Sakurai Saki try to suppress his laughter during lunch, had probably figured out why Itsuki had gone to the broadcast room.
Nakano Itsuki: Sakurai-kun. Where are you?
He typed with one hand, sent the agreed-upon location, and headed downstairs.
At the shoe lockers, clusters of students were preparing for club activities. He changed his shoes and walked toward the back of the school building—a sparsely populated area, not far from where Yakumo Shiro had confessed to him last time.
In the shadow behind the school building.
A blonde loli in a white dress and sun hat was examining Nakano Itsuki.
"Meat Bun Girl, your weight has returned." In Shinobu's hand, a nearly transparent crab sat obediently.
Nakano Itsuki stared at the entity responsible for her weight loss and instinctively hid behind Sakurai Saki. "Meat Bun Girl?"
Also—the oddity specialist Sakurai had mentioned was this? Such a cute little girl?
"Kaka." Shinobu held the crab forward and advanced with a mischievous grin. "Do you dislike the nickname I gave you?"
Itsuki grabbed Sakurai's waist.
The crab suddenly flailed its pincers and made a strange clicking sound. Shinobu quieted, listening.
"Oh oh~ You're so pitiful..." She nodded repeatedly as the Heavy Crab spoke. "In the first two weeks, Meat Bun Girl's weight actually increased. That was a complete insult to you? So that's how it is. Seems you haven't had it easy either~"
Nakano Itsuki's face went crimson.
She was being mocked by a paranormal entity.
"I did not!" she protested. She would absolutely not admit to gaining weight.
"Well~ Think of the positives." Shinobu shrugged. "Your weight is back. The crab has been caught. And you've regained your memories. Three happy events at once."
"I didn't get fat! It's always been that number!"
Shinobu ignored her, running to Sakurai Saki and tugging his sleeve.
"What is it?"
"Dear." Her voice was syrupy. "We can proceed to the second step."
Sakurai noticed her choice of address. Previously, she had called him [My Lord], [Master], [You]—terms like that.
Intentional.
Sure enough, Nakano Itsuki was now staring at him like he was a pervert. She had even pulled out her phone, apparently ready to dial 110.
"Don't worry." Sakurai's explanation was brief. "She's older than you."
The more you say that, the more worried I get.
Between legal and illegal, the former was definitely more likely to make people commit crimes. And with that size difference... could it even fit?
Nakano Itsuki had paid attention in middle school physiology. She knew far more about such matters than Kaguya-sama.
One minute later.
Sakurai Saki embraced Shinobu and rested his neck against her. Her strength was insufficient at the moment—she required blood.
Nearby, Nakano Itsuki covered her eyes. And watched through her fingers.
"Mm~" Shinobu's voice carried an edge of endurance. Flushed-faced, she lay against Sakurai's shoulder, letting out breathy gasps.
The gurgling sound of swallowing was unmistakably suggestive.
After more than ten seconds, Shinobu wiped a stray drop of blood from the corner of her mouth with her finger, then placed it between her lips and gently sucked. The gesture—a small, deliberate motion—was unexpectedly seductive. Despite her loli appearance, her movements carried a strangely adult charm.
Nakano Itsuki felt her body warm for reasons she couldn't explain. She pressed her thighs together, slowly sank into a squat against the wall, and breathed heavily.
"Do you want to try too?"
Shinobu looked up at her.
Nakano Itsuki shook her head frantically.
Shinobu lowered her head and extended her small tongue, licking the wound on Sakurai Saki's neck with the tip. Vampire bodily fluids could heal wounds—blood, saliva, even other fluids.
"Does it feel good, Master~?" Shinobu's voice was thick with implication.
Sakurai patted her small backside, telling her to stop.
Shinobu had clearly noticed Nakano Itsuki's reaction and found it amusing, which was why she was performing. If it weren't Itsuki but Hayasaka Ai or Fujiwara Chika, Sakurai suspected Shinobu would have escalated further.
"Are you full?"
"Mm."
Shinobu reluctantly left his embrace, then conjured a two-meter-long Japanese sword from thin air.
On the ground, the Heavy Crab that Shinobu had set aside had now transformed into a giant—roughly a meter in both height and width.
Neither of them paid it any attention.
"This sword is called Heart-Crossing." Shinobu looked at Nakano Itsuki, the demonic blade glinting in the afternoon light. "A demon blade specifically for slaying oddities."
She gave Itsuki no time to react and thrust forward.
Swish.
The tip did not make physical contact with Itsuki's body. It passed straight through.
"It cannot touch anything other than oddities."
Nakano Itsuki, still under the vampire's charm, remained completely unaware that she had just been stabbed.
"The Heavy Crab and Meat Bun Girl have established a connection." Shinobu turned toward the anomaly. "If it is not slain, then as long as Meat Bun Girl has even the slightest thought of losing weight, it may entangle her again."
She aimed the demon blade at the Heavy Crab—which had now secretly grown to two meters in size—and gave a light swipe. Though there was no contact, the blade seemed to cut through the Crab's body. The giant creature split cleanly in two, like butter melted by a hot knife, then dissolved into black dust.
Shinobu turned around, satisfied.
Then she found that Nakano Itsuki had somehow pushed Sakurai onto the ground.
...The charm from earlier. Its effects haven't worn off yet.
She belatedly recalled.
Ten minutes later.
Nakano Itsuki wiped her lips with a handkerchief, as if she had touched something she shouldn't have.
"Damn bad guy. Pervert. Hooligan." The words came out in a soft, rapid stream.
"You pushed me down." Sakurai Saki's voice was sharp with annoyance. "And now you have the nerve to scold me, Nakano Itsuki? Your shamelessness exceeds my expectations."
She had almost taken off his pants moments ago. Now she was acting like the victim?
What, if a man gets pushed down, he deserves it?
"You were so diligent with your tongue just now, trying to pry open my teeth, even thinking about taking off my clothes." He straightened his collar. "Now you're denying it?"
"This was my first kiss." Nakano Itsuki's face was a mask of despair. "I haven't even met someone I like yet. And I gave it to you. Just like that."
"Do you think I care?" Sakurai glanced to the side, deflecting.
They were near the library now. A vending machine stood at the entrance—the same one that had malfunctioned last time. He walked toward it, needing a drink.
"Don't tell them about this." Itsuki's voice shifted to pleading, like a housewife caught red-handed. "Please."
"I'm just your tutor." He inserted a coin and pressed a button. "I hope you recognize the current situation and don't have any improper thoughts about me."
"I wouldn't!"
"Your actions just now suggest otherwise."
"I just—" She stammered, face burning.
"Forget it." The can dropped with a clunk. He bent to retrieve it. "I forgive you. Don't do it again next time."
Sakurai Saki had a decent understanding of why the other party had gone into estrus earlier. The charm was the obvious culprit.
"Okay." Itsuki's shoulders sagged. "I'm sorry."
The vending machine hummed.
They walked a few steps in silence.
Then Nakano Itsuki stopped.
Wait.
She replayed the events in her head.
He had been the one who benefited from this. He had gotten kissed. He had been pushed down by a girl he wasn't even dating.
Why was she apologizing?
"Sakurai-kun."
"Hmm?"
"...Nothing."
She kept walking, her ears red, her thoughts a tangled mess of embarrassment and injustice.
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