Chapter 22: Hey! Is No One Keeping Watch?!
Yotsuya Miko kept her eyes squeezed shut, desperately trying to force herself to sleep. But as is so often the case, the more she willed her mind to go blank, the more stubbornly awake it became.
Was it the ever-present fear of death that haunted this strange instance? Or was it the fact that the boy she so admired was lying right beside her? Miko couldn't be sure. All she knew was that sleep felt like a distant country, and her senses were sharper than ever.
Speaking of which… would Sister Kaguya really not mind her lying next to Haruto like this?
The thought quickly seized control of her mind, eclipsing all others.
Miko cautiously cracked her eyelids open, intending to sneak a glance at Kaguya. Instead, she was met with an exquisitely beautiful face, magnified and mere inches from her own. A pair of dark, unblinking eyes stared directly into hers.
A strangled gasp caught in Miko's throat. Her heart seized, and for a terrifying second, her thoughts froze solid. Only after her brain registered that the face belonged to Kaguya did the stalled gears begin to turn again.
"S-Sister Kaguya… what… what are you doing?" Her voice trembled with the lingering shock of her near-death experience, almost sounding like a sob.
"Just looking at you," Kaguya replied, her tone deceptively casual. "I'm quite interested in you. Besides, it's so cold. Are you sure you don't want to hug Haruto while you sleep?"
"H-Hug him?"
The color that had just returned to Miko's face drained away, only to be replaced by a furious blush. Before she could stammer out a protest, Kaguya had already constructed the perfect excuse for her.
"The weather is freezing and this quilt is paper-thin. If you catch a cold, it will directly impact your ability to survive later on. For the greater good," Kaguya declared with mock solemnity, "you have no choice but to hug him."
"B-But what about you, Sister Kaguya?"
The reasoning was, admittedly, quite sound. It was enough to sway Miko, but she still hesitated. It felt far too unfair to the other girl.
"I don't mind," Kaguya said. In the deep shadows of the room, Miko couldn't see the mischievous excitement dancing in her eyes, and so she took the words at face value, believing Kaguya was genuinely making a noble sacrifice.
'I'm… so terrible,' Miko thought, a wave of guilt washing over her. She was moved by Kaguya's understanding, yet ashamed that she had harbored such selfish desires in the first place.
"I'm sorry, Sister Kaguya," Miko whispered, bowing her head under Kaguya's slightly bewildered gaze. The little demon on her shoulder promptly kicked the angel into a ditch. Her mind made up, she took a deep breath and turned over—
—only to find herself staring directly into a pair of pitch-black eyes.
'Haruto isn't asleep?!'
Miko's brain buzzed as a fresh wave of heat flooded her face, so intense this time that even her earlobes turned a bright, burning pink.
Despite the dim light, she could clearly see the slight furrow in Haruto's brow. His expression was laced with a hint of… dissatisfaction.
In an instant, the warmth vanished, and she felt as if she'd been plunged into an ice cellar.
'Is he disgusted with me?'
While her mind raced through a thousand panicked scenarios, Haruto slowly sat up and swung his legs off the bed. Miko opened her mouth, desperate to explain, but he suddenly reached down and scooped her into his arms.
'Is he… forcing himself on me?!' Miko's eyes widened in disbelief.
Beside them, Kaguya was vibrating with barely suppressed glee. If only she had a camera, this moment would be immortalized forever.
But Haruto's next move was anything but romantic. He simply lifted Miko off the bed and set her down on the cold wooden floor. Then, struggling to keep his heavy eyelids open, he reached into one of his Gaps and pulled out brand-new bedsheets, a pair of fluffy pillows, and a thick, luxurious down quilt. After methodically making the bed, he climbed back in, shut his eyes, and let out a soft sigh of contentment.
Miko was once again mortified by her own wild imagination. With a proper down quilt, there was obviously no need to huddle together for warmth. She quietly crawled into the plush new bedding, leaving Kaguya standing there, utterly dazed.
'Wait a minute,' Kaguya thought, watching Haruto instantly drift off. 'He is definitely Yakumo Yukari's biological brother. That pathological need to sleep is a trait passed down through the exact same lineage…'
The next day, the sun rose from the east.
Knock, knock—
Yotsuya Miko was jolted awake by a sharp rapping on the door.
She opened her eyes groggily and tried to sit up, only to find herself completely pinned down. The boy's handsome face was inches from hers, his features clean and peaceful in the morning light. Strands of his messy black hair fell across his forehead, and the sight made her heart throb wildly against her ribs.
KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK—!
The urgent, insistent pounding pulled Miko's thoughts back to reality. She remembered where they were—in a Death Game—and began to struggle, but Haruto's arms were wrapped around her like steel bands.
The knocking continued, growing more frantic, as if the person outside was about to break the door down. It was accompanied by shouting, and the voice sounded suspiciously like King Chen.
'Wait,' Miko's thoughts screeched to a halt. 'Where is Sister Kaguya?'
She twisted her head and saw Kaguya sprawled out on the bed in a spread-eagle position, sleeping soundly.
'She fell asleep!'
Miko's pupils trembled. Before she could process the betrayal, King Chen's voice boomed from outside the door.
"Stand back! I'm going to kick it open!"
"Wait! We—we're opening the door right now!" Miko shouted, her voice laced with panic.
The commotion outside ceased abruptly, as if the people on the other side hadn't expected to hear from anyone still living.
"Haruto… Haruto…" Miko whispered, shaking him gently. She received no response. Instead, he just buried his face deeper into her chest, instinctively seeking a more comfortable position.
Driven by desperation, Miko steeled herself and slammed her chin downward.
Thud—
Haruto shot upright as if struck by lightning. His brain hadn't finished booting up yet, but he felt a dull, hammering pain in his forehead.
"I'm so sorry, Haruto! I couldn't wake you up no matter what I did, and everyone is waiting outside…" Miko apologized, pressing her hands together in a prayer-like gesture.
Haruto finally processed that Miko was the source of his pain. Resentment flared in his sleepy eyes, and he was about to ask, 'Then couldn't you have gone to Kaguya?' when he noticed that said girl had somehow crawled onto their bed and was now snoring away peacefully.
Taking a deep, steadying breath, Haruto turned to the true culprit and delivered a swift, precise kick to her exposed, unguarded stomach.
"Oof—!"
Kaguya's body arched like a cooked shrimp, and she nearly vomited bile. She looked up, dazed, and saw Haruto and Miko standing over her. It wasn't hard to guess who was responsible. She pointed an accusing finger at him and shrieked.
"What's your problem so early in the morning?! You second-rate bum, are you looking for a fight?!"
"You have the nerve to say that?" Haruto shot back, filled with righteous indignation. "Weren't you supposed to keep watch?! You're the one who slept the soundest!"
Kaguya froze for a moment. She glanced around the room, and her self-righteous fury quickly melted into a guilty grimace.
"It's not like there was anything to be afraid of," she mumbled, avoiding his gaze. "Anyway, as a Boundary Youkai, your danger sense is so strong that if anything really happened, you'd be the first one to wake up."
Haruto didn't bother to argue further. He simply turned, got off the bed, and opened the room door.
"Young man, what's going on with you three? We've been calling for ages with no response," King Chen said, stepping inside with a deep frown.
"We accidentally overslept. Sorry, sorry," Haruto mumbled, rubbing his eyes with an apologetic tone.
'All… of them… overslept?'
King Chen's mouth twitched. He suddenly regretted letting these three stay in the same room last night. It wasn't for any other reason than a simple, paternal worry. He didn't want to see these three kids, who were around the same age as his own daughter, get carelessly thrown away in this damn Death Game. Even if he couldn't guarantee their survival, he still wanted to look after them as much as he could within this single instance.
The people behind him had naturally heard Haruto's explanation as well. Their expressions lost all composure, their mouths twitching in unison with King Chen's.
In a Death Game, just being able to fall asleep was a luxury. Who in their right mind would actually oversleep?
To pull off something like that, you were either completely clueless or an absolute monster.
If this had been their first meeting, they would have definitely assumed the former. The initial impression Haruto's group had left was that of unhinged lunatics. But after hearing about his performance in the first instance, everyone was leaning toward the latter. Of course, they were now most inclined to believe that Haruto and his companions were a bit of both.
[Inorin's Note:
Enjoying the story? Dropping a quick review, comment, or Power Stone means the world to me and keeps these daily updates flowing!
Want to read 50 chapters ahead or just want to help keep a shameless translator alive? (My livelihood actually depends on this, haha 😭). You can support me directly here:
(P.S. Just remove the brackets and replace the [.] with a regular dot . to use the links!)
✨ Patreon (50 Advanced Chapters): patreon[.]com/InorinTL
☕ Ko-fi (Support / Sponsor): ko-fi[.]com/InorinTL
Thank you so much for reading and keeping this project alive!]