On the next morning, we head to Nozawa Onsen Snow Resort as planned. The journey’s going to be a long one, so we bought breakfast and eat it along the way.

   ‘So, how was last night?’ Assaf-sensei asks me while munching on an egg sandwich.

   ‘Um, it was…fun?’ I just can’t seem to find the right words.

   ‘Did your inner lolicon somehow got out?’

   ‘What kind of question is that?’

   ‘He got hard the moment he saw my naked body.’ Mashiro says all of a sudden.

   ‘Oh my~, so you have that kind of fetish, Akira-kun? Your big sister is so disappointed.’ Sakuya says.

   ‘Senpai, please don’t jump to conclusions that quickly!’

   Saya takes out her phone immediately.

   ‘Well, I guess we’ll see you in prison, Akira-kun.’ she tells me.

   ‘Hey, hold on! I’m not a lolicon!’

   ‘He’s right. He’s just someone who’s way too fond of maids. He doesn’t have any extremely dangerous videos or pictures in his computer.’ Madoka informs.

   ‘Madoka, I’m glad that you’re helping me out, but please don’t look through my computer so much.’

   ‘I have no idea on what you’re talking about.’

   ‘Are you saying that he has some videos and pictures that are mildly dangerous?’ Ichika asks Madoka.

   ‘He sure does. Do you want to see them?’

   ‘Yes, I do.’ Ichika answers firmly.

   ‘Um, Ichika?’

   ‘Worry not, Akira. I have no intention of berating you on your collections. It is just that I would like some reference.’

   ‘On what, exactly?’

   Ichika got embarrassed all of a sudden.

   ‘Well, I have accepted the fact that all of us are to offer you our virginity to you during this trip. Since I am your girlfriend, I want to know as much of your preference as possible so that I could please you when the time comes.’ she tells me bashfully.

   ‘You’re actually making Ichika-chan says it out loud? You’re so horrible, Akira-kun!’ Sakuya chides me.

   ‘Horrible! Horrible! Horrible!’ Saya chants.

   ‘All right. I’m sorry, okay?’

   ‘So, do I have your permission to show it to her?’ Madoka asks me.

   ‘Hold on a second. How are you going to do that?’

   ‘I linked my phone with your computer.’

   I just sigh and give up on telling her to stay away from my things since there’s no point. ‘Fine. Whatever. Just, do what you want.’

   And Madoka did exactly that. It didn’t take the pure Ichika long to blush until her entire face is red.

   ‘All of these are supposed to be the milder ones, yes?’ Ichika asks Madoka.

   ‘That’s right.’

   ‘I-I see…’

   Ichika goes silent and seems deep in thought after watching whatever that Madoka showed her. I’m getting of worried, but at the same time I don’t want to know what she’s thinking.

   Suddenly, the radio turned on all by itself. Just as I was thinking that it’s haunted or something, a message got played through it.

   ‘Attention all units. Church extremists had been seen at Nagoya and Kyoto prefecture. Please proceed with caution.’ a male voice says.

   ‘Um, should we be concerned with that?’ I ask Assaf-sensei.

   ‘Not at all. Didn’t you hear? They were last seen at Nagoya and Kyoto, not Nagano. Until we reach Kyoto, it’s not of our problem. We could keep our eyes open for them just in case, but there’s no need for us to actively look for them.’

   The Church extremists. Another group that somehow appeared ever since I messed with the timeline of this anime. You may or may not remember that all the Church factions are pretty much at war with each other right now. According the the news, some of them have resort to extreme measures in order to secure new members and worshippers and eliminate every other factions other than their own. I’ve heard from Albanese that even some priests from his Roman Catholic faction has went off and joined the extremists. You pretty much can’t trust any Western priests nowadays.

   That said, it’s still alarming to hear that some of them have infiltrated Japan. I hope they’re not here to cause some major acts of terrorism.

   ‘Even they wouldn’t dare to start something big out of the blue.’ Madoka assures me when I voice out my concern. ‘After all, they’ve just started out.’

   ‘I wonder. You’ll never guess what kind of insane ideas are going in and out the head of those religious fanatics.’

   ‘Even so, there’s nothing for us to do unless we bump into them, as Assaf-sensei had said.’

   ‘Yeah, I guess…’

   To be honest, I’m not exactly on board with the idea that we should just leave them alone like this. We’ve dealt with those like-minded as them in the past, particularly Lost Children. That’s exactly why I can say this confidently: each and every one of them must be captured as soon as possible. Or else, who knows what kind of diabolical plan they might cook up. Then again, I also have to understand that we can’t save everyone. As we’re leisurely having a trip here, someone somewhere are dying from unknown causes. Sometimes, this occupation of mine really stresses me out.

   A hand touches the top of my head. It’s Assaf-sensei’s.

   ‘Look, Akira-kun. It’s true that stopping those extremists is our job, but you’re a student as well. I know you’re worried, but you should have fun while you can. After all, we never know which day might be our last.’

   I take a deep breath and show her a reassuring smile.

   ‘You’re right, sensei. Thank you for you advise.’

   She pulls back her hand since the car’s about to go to a curve. ‘Think nothing of it. I’m your sensei, remember? It’s my job to calm you down…and teach you lots of, ahem, adult things.’

   She licks her tongue lustfully at the last part.

   ‘...Sensei, why is it so difficult for me to maintain my respect for you?’

   I’m all too glad when we finally reach the resort. Even though winter has just started, the resort is quite crowded with people both locals and tourists. We immediately head to the ski rental shop to rent the gears used for skiing. The skis themselves, helmets, googles, gloves, ski poles, the usual. I decide to get a snow board instead of skis.

   ‘Are you sure you want to go with that, Akira-kun?’ Saya asks me. ‘It’s not really for a beginner, you know.’

   I shrug. ‘I’ll just take the risk.’

   ‘That’s the spirit! Don’t worry. I’ll be sure to teach you on how to balance yourself. And be there with my phone when you trip.’

   ‘That last part feels unnecessary.’

   ‘Trust me. It isn’t.’

   I realize that Mashiro is the only one among us without a pair of skis or snow board.

   ‘Don’t you want to ski, Mashiro?’ I ask her.

   She shakes her head. ‘Mashiro prefers to make snow castle and igloos.’

   ‘In a snow resort?’

   ‘We also have snow sleds.’ the helpful store clerk offers.

   She helds out both her hands faster than blinking.

   ‘Wait, a sled’s fine?’ I ask.

   Mashiro nods her head vigorously. ‘Back in Mashiro’s village, she used to make a snow castle at the bottom of a hill so that she could smash it into pieces when she got down.’

   ‘Well, as long as you’re fine with it.’

   We exit the shop, and Saya just can’t wait to get up the small mountain and start skiing. Mashiro, on the other hand, is already starting to build her castle made of snow.

   ‘You girls go ahead. I’ll be right here with Mashiro until she’s done.’ I tell the rest of my girlfriends.

   ‘Okay. See you up there, Akira-kun. You too, Mashiro-tan.’ Saya tells me.

   I turn my neck to look at Mashiro, and I find that she’s already halfway done with her castle. She’s building something so incredible people are starting to gather around and watch her build it.

   ‘Say Mashiro, are you really going to build that just to run it over with your sled?’ I ask to confirm.

   Mashiro notices the crowd for the first time. There’s even some children who are looking on with sparkling eyes.

   ‘...Fine. Mashiro will just leave this here.’ she changes her mind reluctantly.

   After Mashiro is done with the castle, she leaves it there for the crowd to admire and takes pictures. The children even proceed to surround her.

   ‘You’re really good at this!’ one of them says to Mashiro.

   ‘Oh. Thank you.’ Mashiro says a bit bashfully.

   ‘Even though you’re around our age, you sure can build an awesome snow castle!’ another one tells her.

   Mashiro flinches when she heard that. I try not to burst out laughing.

   ‘Hey, is something wrong?’ the first one asks her in concern when he notices her look.

   ‘Um, kids? The thing is, that person you’re talking to is in fact much older than you are.’ I explain to them while still trying my hardest not to laugh.

   ‘How old are we talking about?’

   ‘The same age as me.’

   The children stare hard at Mashiro. They then look at me.

   ‘You’re kidding right, onii-chan?’

   ‘Nope. I’m completely serious.’

   They look at Mashiro again.

   ‘Um, we’re sorry for assuming your age, onee-chan.’

   ‘...It’s fine.’

   Wordlessly, the children stop surrounding her so that she could grab her sled and walk towards the ski lift. I follow her closely from behind at first then next to her.

   ‘Hey, cheer up. Those kids didn’t mean any harm.’ I comfort.

   ‘Mashiro knows that. Even so, it’s still a shock to her.’

   She then looks at me.

   ‘Mashiro is a proper grown up, right?’ she asks me.

   ‘Of course. Especially after, well, especially after what happened between us lat night.’

   Mashiro blushes. She then lowers her head and nods in satisfaction. Until we reach the ski lift, neither of us say a word.

   ‘Are you going to be fine, Akira?’ Mashiro asks me one we got on to one of the lifts.

   ‘I think so. I hope.’ I tell her while trying my very best not to look down.

   She slips her tiny hand into mine. ‘It’s going to be fine. Mashiro is here with you.’

   ‘Thanks Mashiro. That means a lot to me.’

   ‘Besides, it’s not that tall from up here.’

   ‘Yeah, I can do without the commentary.’

   We finally got to the top after three minutes or so. It wasn’t a particularly tall hill, hence the quick trip.

   ‘Did you enjoy your ride up here?’ Sakuya asks me while grinning at my pale face.

   ‘Sure didn’t. I don’t want to come up here again.’ I tell her honestly.

   ‘Oh, that won’t do. We’re at a ski resort, so we’re supposed to ski until it’s closing time.’

   ‘That’s right. Prepare to ski down this hill for at least a hundred times, Akira-kun!’ Saya adds.

   ‘Yeah, not happening.’

   ‘We didn’t ask for your agreement in that, you know?’

   ‘For now, can you just teach me on how to ski?’ I ask while putting my snow board on the snowy ground.

   ‘Oh, right. Of course.’

   Saya begins by teaching me on how to balance on the board while not falling. Meanwhile all the other girls who already got some pointers from her are trying their hands on skiing, with the exception of Mashiro who uses the sled.

   ‘That’s it, try to go slow one at a time until you’re used to standing on it.’ Saya tells me as I’m sliding slowly on top of the board.

   To make balancing easier, I even extend both my arms fully. Unfortunately, I was so focused on balancing I’ve forgotten that the board is still moving.

   ‘Look out!’ Saya calls out as the board starts to accelerate.

   She hugs me from behind, and the board stops moving for some reason. As I do my best to turn around, I realize that she planted one foot on the board and put her other foot on the ground.

   ‘Whew, that was close.’ I say in relieve. ‘Thanks for stopping the board, Saya.’

   ‘You’re welcome.’

   I was expecting her to let go of me, but she’s still hugging me from behind.

   ‘...Um, Saya?’

   ‘Yeah?’

   ‘You can let go of me now.’

   ‘Just give me a moment.’

   ‘To do what?’

   Instead of answering, she just hugs me even tighter.

   ‘You know, you can just ask if you want to hug me.’

   ‘That’ll be to embarrassing.’

   ‘And it’s better to hug from the front instead of the back.’

   ‘Again, it’s embarrassing. Plus you’ll see my embarrassed look. You’ll definitely make fun of me when you do.’

   ‘Well, I can’t deny that.’

   ‘Deny it you bully!’

   In the end, she let goes anyway since people are starting to stare. Her face is still red, and it’s definitely not because of the weather.

   ‘Right. Let’s get back to your lesson.’ she acts like nothing had happened and tells me.

   ‘Sure.’

   After a few more pointers from her, I’m starting to get the hang of it. I could slide up to hundreds of feet before losing balance.

   ‘You’re doing good so far. Just keep on practicing and you’ll be able to ski properly.’ Saya says to me.

   ‘Got it. Thanks for teaching me, Saya.’

   ‘Anytime.’

   Seeing that I can do this on my own, Saya moves on to teach Kuromi who’s barely making any progress. As I watch, she fell down at least five times.

   ‘My apologies for being such a slow learner, Saya-sama.’ Kuromi apologizes to Saya.

   ‘It’s fine, Kuromi-san. You can just take your time and learn slowly.’

   ‘She’s right, Kuromi. There’s no need to be impatient.’ I add.

   Kuromi looks surprised to see me here. She must have been concentrating so hard she didn’t even notice me.

   ‘M-M-M-M-M-M-Master? How long have you been there?’ she asks me.

   ‘Um, I think for a good twenty minutes? Does it matter?’

   ‘Indeed it does! As your maid, it is disgraceful to show you this useless side of mine!’

   ‘Look Kuromi, it doesn’t matter that you’re useless or clumsy. The fact that you’re someone important to me doesn’t change one bit.’ I tell her.

   I see Kuromi blush.

   ‘E-Either way, I shall keep on practicing.’ she mumbles.

   ‘Yeah. Do you best.’

   All of a sudden, Saya comes over and steps on my shoes. Sakuya, who came back to the hill after a successful skiing, does the same.

   ‘Ow, ow! What are you girls doing?’ I demand.

   ‘Nothing. We just find it unfair that you’re being nice to all the girls except us.’ Saya grumbles.

   ‘Exactly.’ Sakuya agrees.

   ‘Hmm, I guess I can’t argue with that since it’s true-ow, ow, ow.’

   The two of them took a while until they’re done with stepping on my shoes. Only then I continue with my practice in peace. I don’t know how long it took, but I eventually mange to ski to the bottom of the hill without losing balance once. As I watch, my girlfriends are coming down the slope one by one, even though some took longer than other.

   ‘I saw you ski up there, Akira-kun. You manage to grasp the basic quite well.’ Saya compliments me once she came down.

   ‘Thanks. I had a good teacher, after all.’

   ‘Let’s go for another round.’

   ‘I would love to, but it’s lunchtime.’

   ‘Oh come on! You’re not hungry yet are you-’

   Saya got interrupted as Kaoru’s stomach growls loudly. The latter’s face blushes furiously.

   ‘I’m so sorry.’ she whispers while looking at the ground.

   ‘Hey, it’s fine okay Kaoru-chan? I was hungry too. So let’s grab some lunch.’

   Kaoru nods wordlessly while still looking at the ground.

   After we fulled our stomach, we skied until the sky becomes dark. Even though it’s only around five o’clock, we stopped anyway since it’s dangerous to ski in the dark.

   ‘Shall we take a bath in the onsen before we head back to the bunker?’ Sakuya suggests.

   ‘Sure.’

   ‘You can come to the girl’s side if you want.’ Assaf-sensei tells me suggestively.

   ‘You girls won’t be the only ones inside, sensei.’ I decline.

   After I got inside the men’s side of the hot spring, I let out a sigh of relieve as I’m the only one inside. We’re supposed to take a dip inside hot springs naked, and I really don’t fancy seeing other guys who are as naked as I am.

   Hmm, never mind. The steam was too strong, so I failed to see that there’s one person inside the hot spring. After cleaning my body with some spring water that I used to scoop out with a wooden bucket, I head to the hot spring.

   ‘Took you long enough.’ a familiar voice says to me.

   ‘...Assaf-sensei?’

   ‘The one and only.’

   Now that I’m closer, I could see more clearly. Yup. It’s her alright.

   ‘Um, did I went to the women’s bath by accident?’

   ‘Nope. I was the one who barged into the men’s bath.’

   ‘I want to ask why, but I’m kind of scared of the answer you might give me.’

   ‘I’m here to have fun with you, of course.’

   ‘Wait, you want to do it here?’

   ‘It’s more exciting than doing it in a regular bedroom, no?’

   ‘...Well, if you want to.’

   ‘I’m really glad that you agreed instead of giving me a lecture like you usually would.’

   ‘What’s the point? It’s not like you would listen.’

   She chuckles. ‘You know me so well.’

   There’s a huge boulder in the middle that could provide us with cover just in case someone barges in, so I drag her all the way there. On the way, I take out a condom with my teleportation magic and put it on my groin.

   ‘My, you have quite a huge one down there.’ Assaf-sensei tells me while admiring the size of my groin.

   ‘Um, thank you?’

   She chuckles again. ‘Looks like this will be fun.’

   After we got to the boulder, we circle around it until it’s between us and the entrance. While I’m mentally preparing myself, Assaf-sensei puts her hand on the boulder and bends over.

   ‘Come on. Let’s get started.’ she looks back at me while shaking her hips in a lewd way.

   ‘Well then. Um, pardon my intrusion.’

   After my crotch went inside her nether region, I’m surprised to see blood coming out of it.

   ‘This body of mine is a fake one, remember?’ she reminds me after she sees my reaction.

   ‘But it still hurts, right?’

   ‘I’ll be fine. I’ve already got used to it, anyway. You can just move.’

   I shake my head. ‘I’ll wait for a while until you don’t feel much pain.’

   She chuckles. ‘You’re such a kind boy.’

   Assaf-sensei gives me the green light after a few minutes, and I took the cue and start moving. The s*x this time felt extremely good this time. Maybe it’s because unlike my previous partners, she’s experienced. As we’re resting after one round, she puts her hand on my cheek lovingly.

   ‘That was the best one I ever had.’ she tells me while panting slightly.

   ‘I, um, I had fun too.’

   ‘Let’s go for another round.’

   ‘Let’s not. Someone might come in for real. I won’t know what to do if that ever happens.’

   ‘Fine. I’ll save it for next time.’

   She kisses me on the lips before leaving. I’m kind of glad that we did it in a hot spring since I need its revitalizing effect after I did the act. After disposing of the used condom, I stay at the hot spring a bit longer before exiting.