"Puah! Kimochi~"

Ruri sighed as she let the blissful warmth of the bathwater embrace her. Nothing like a warm bath after a hard day of school and then employment, businesses and then finally losing everything in the crushing debt.

"Damn... I'll definitely win next time!" She would definitely crush all those who will challenge her in the future.

There will be merciless bloodbath in the upcoming birthday party.

"Party, huh..." She looked outside the window. There was a bright shining full moon on the sky, illuminating everything with its borrowed light.

Ruri did not like full moons. She rather preferred the darkness of the new moon. No, it had nothing to do with her inner sadness or dark self or anything remotely edgy.

Full moons were bright and tended to hide the stars. New moons couldn't do that. She preferred stars more.

The twinkling, sparkling stars. She loved to connect the dot like stars with lines and form various images in her mind. See? Those stars made a bird. Those five? A fish... dolphine? They were like really pretty puzzles to her.

...maybe two of those stars were actually her parents watching over her.

She again submerged in the water to get rid of these thoughts. She decided to move forward, right? They weren't wrong. If her parents actually became stars and were watching over her, then they would be really sad to see what bad become of her, wouldn't they?

She briefly opened her eyes to see her hair floating in the water, but closed it instantly due to the heat. Her hair was getting longer. Annoying. She always liked to keep her hair short. Short hairs got less dirty and were easier to clean. She would have to get it cut again.

Takeshi will never see her as a girl.

She brought her head out of the water. Usually, she would have shook her head violently to deny all these thoughts, but... it was time she stopped running away from her own feelings.

She liked Takeshi kun. She liked to spend time with him. Well... she liked to spend time with Mi-chan and her other friends as well, but it was a little different with Takeshi. She was not sure what it was, but something really pulled her towards him. That's what is usually called love in those books right?

Love...

She felt her face getting hot. She must be blushing and all. Of course she would, it was so embarrassing to admit it by yourself!

She slapped both of her cheeks with her hands.

'Get a grip on yourself! If you get all embarrased even when you are in the bath, how will you even manage to confess to him!'

"C-Confess..."

She again went inside the water. Only bubbles rose upwards, indicating an embarrassed and nervous girl inside.

TapTapTapTap.

'Hm?'

Someone was knocking on the wall from the other side.

Tap.

Tap, TapTap, Tap.

'H...E...Y.'

She knew who was on the other side.

She stood near the wall where Takeshi sent another message.

TapTap, Tap... TapTapTap... Tap; TapTapTapTap; TapTap, Tap; Tap.

There were slight differences between the two types of taps she felt, and it helped her decode the message.

<R U THRE>

She also hit the wall to send a reply.

Tap, TapTap, Tap; TapTap.

<YA>

<MK TLD U R HVN PRT>

<YA>

<DO U WNT SM GFT>

<U> (..-)

There was a pause on the other side. Ruri realized what she just mistakenly signaled.

"Damn! I mistook the code of K!"

She hurriedly sent the correct signal thrice.

<K> (-.-)

<WHT>

<PZL BK>

<K>

<HM>

<TK TO U N PHN>

<K>

And the conversation was cut off. To be honest, it was rather troublesome to communicate like this. It required Takeshi to be in his room while she was in the bathroom. They even had to determine on a preset time. Why go through all this hassle then?

Because it seemed fun and exciting.

Although it got annoying soon.

They will probably soon stop doing it and have conversation on their phones instead. Why deny modern conveniences?

Well, Takeshi was not the only one she communicated with like that though.

After coming out of the bath, she noticed that her uncle was not home.

See took the opportunity to stand on a particular position of the room.

Then she vigorously banged her foot on the floor.

 

---

 

Gojima looked up at the loud banging bursts of sound coming from the upper floor.

He knew what it meant.

--- --. .-. .

Ogre.

It kinda became a daily routine for the annoying brat. Well, he did not really mind. At least she did not do it at late night.

In fact, he found it rather welcoming. He could use a little innocent childish prank.

Its because the things that were going on in his computer screen were killing his spirit little by little.

He had to go through all the recordings of the girls' cloth changing room with deadpan stare. Fortunately he did not feel anything. They were just kids. And he also used to have a daughter their age.

Sachi...

Fortunately, something did come out of this waste of time.

There were three people who snuck into the girls dressing room.

One... stole a girl's swimming suit.

Another... he did not openly steal anything. Instead, he... took out a few test tubes of some sort and then took a girl's gym cloths out of her locker. Then... then...

Then he wrung those cloths and collected the sweats from different regions of the cloth in different vials.

Gojima had to go the basin and put his head under a tap for a minute.

The third one, however, was a little unique. Due to the camera position, his face could not be seen. But it was clear that he put some sort of letter in a girl's locker. Later when the girl opened it, she read the later and it made her face go pale.

<Its that idol girl who got into that chemical laboratory accident. -0.37 AP.>

'So you mean that all these things were connected to this girl?'

Well... it is not exactly impossible? Too bad you will have to spend a lot of APs to confirm it through me. You need more clues to reduce the cost.

'Hmm. That guy... he was wearing the baseball club uniform, right?'

Yes. Although it might just be a diversion. To trick people into thinking that it was someone else. Why would someone deliberately wear cloths that might narrow down the suspects?

'...Now I wish the original also had set up a camera in the boys locker room.'

...Ken, that's... I am not sure how to react to see you say this so nonchalantly, but he did not swing that way.

'I don't either. But... ah well, I think I might be able to at least get that person's height from this video? I'd say he was somewhat around 165 to 170 cm? If I get more clues, I might be able to narrow down even further. I should also pay attention to his body structure as well. He looks... kinda fat in those cloths. His weight should be around... 90? 100? Although it is interesting to see how he carries himself with confidence. This guy does not seem even slightly agitated.'

Maybe he thought that even if someone saw him, they would only see a baseball club member? He did not expect a peeping tom to set up cameras and also replay and analyze his whole history to the ninth generation.

'It was his bad luck. I will be able to find some suspects from the school records. Although... I cannot really show this video as an evidence. I need to catch him red handed by setting up a trap. You think I can delete these videos now?'

Yes. Its not safe to have them around.

'Well then... delete permanently... done. Phew, finally this headache is gone.'

The culprit is still around, you know?

'Yeah... and you know who that is, don't you? And you aren't going to tell me who that is, because of the rules and stuff.'

Not without spending all of your APs.

'Which are equivalent to lasting 10 rounds in bed. I can't believe I am finding the number to be... inadequate. Hey... can't you tell me safer approaches of leveling up?'

I already told you the answer. Either conquer your targets, which you definitely will not do, or have lots and lots of sex with various women. I cannot promise but I might be able to find a workaround by solely using the sheer quantity and variety as a factor.

'And... how am I supposed to find all these womens without losing my job?'

...Well, you could try dating sites, or... maybe colleague romance? You might get it on with Okada senior, you know? She is still single and might be willing to mingle?

'I don't like mixing my personal and professional lives. And... am I even her first choice?'

...So you noticed?

'I used to be a psychiatrist, Ubs, you know that. She might act all annoyed and all towards Isshiki sensei, but they can always be seen together.'

Well... she is the calculative type, after all. She wants to rather keep all her options open. Although... if you actually manage to bed her somehow, she will get addicted to your cock and leave all her other choices in the dust.

'Oh really now. But still... I don't wanna.'

...For all the philosophical teachings you and Sayuri gave about moving on, you suck to follow them yourself.

'...I can allow myself to get some time, right?'

...You can. It is your life, after all. But I will tell you your own advice. No one should never ever feel like they are undeserving of happiness.

'...I'll think about it.'

Great. Well then, how about visiting the hospital and thanking the nurses that took care of you? I bet you that one of them will instantly agree to sleep with you if you ask her.

'Ubs, I said I'll think about it, not that I agree.'

...Baby steps Ubs. Baby steps.

 

---

 

"Okay. I'll work for you. Just give me the money." Sunohara Masaya said to Hayate, as he stood in front of him.

"Smart choice." Hayate simply smirked in return.