Chapter Text
4/29
Friday
Evening
Maid Cafe—Attic
Even though the situation didn’t necessarily warrant a happy occasion now, Nozomi was secretly glad that so many people were gathered in her attic. They decided to come to Nozomi’s attic to find out more from Honoka and Rin as the outside crowd was starting to pick up, and having a conversation like this anywhere would just be risking their identities.
As Eli and her shared a space by the foot of the bed, Nico and Maki were seated on the floor with their legs crossed, while Honoka and Rin were seated in a poise manner by the chairs she had set up for them. Even though they met in the metaverse earlier, it was apparent that the two new girls were shy and awkward at the moment.
“Rin-chan, Honoka-chan, just make yourselves at home!” Nozomi chirped, hoping to break the awkward silence.
She felt Eli shift beside her, as Eli chimed in with, “you’ve got to try Kotori-san’s drinks once she brings it up, she makes really good stuff.”
Upon hearing that, the orange-haired whom Nozomi now recognised as Honoka seemed to perk up a little. “I know all about Minalinksy-san! I heard all about what happened with her mother who is the principal of your school too…”
“Tch, yeah, pity her. Her mother really was a pain in the ass—”
“Nico!” Maki pinched Nico’s arm.
Nico let out a suppressed yelp, before directing a glare to the redhead’s direction. Seeing Nico look at her with that expression instantly made Maki guilty and she sighed. “Sorry, just watch your mouth.”
“So you guys really changed her heart, nya? Just by defeating her?” Rin spoke up.
“Well, it might seem like it, but we can’t deny that her original intentions weren’t innocent.” Nozomi took on a measured look as she was reminded of her own parents who wanted her out of their lives. “I can only imagine how disappointed Kotori-chan must be with her mother right now…”
4/29
Friday
Evening
Maid Café
While the rest of them were gathered on top of the attic, Kotori took it upon herself to make them some drinks at the bar downstairs, even though she wasn’t working today. Some customers were insisting that they were to be served by her, but this wasn’t the day, especially after an intense day in the Metaverse that she had just come to learn about together with her girlfriend. She took the respective cups needed, before placing them onto a tray and disappearing into the back kitchen, where Umi was already waiting for her with a carton of milk in her hand.
“Thank you Umi-chan,” Kotori smiled, knowing that her girlfriend was all too used with her beverage preparations in the maid café. Umi usually hung around in here whenever the crowd was busy outside, and Kotori would always sneak a kiss during her shifts.
She took over the milk carton and poured them into the respective cups, before layering the espresso shots over them and finishing them up with some signature cold form.
“So, how was it earlier on, Kotori?”
Kotori said with a sweet smile, “after realising that I was controlled by oka-san for so long, it feels nice to be powerful.”
“What about tonight? Are you finally going home?” Umi’s almond eyes bored deep into Kotori’s.
“I-I don’t know, Umi-chan.”
“You’ve been trying so hard to avoid your mother in school today too. I’m just afraid…all this avoiding might make you feel more upset.”
Kotori watched as the milk in the latte started swirling around with the rich, brown colour of the espresso in the cup. She took a breath and ran her thumb along Umi’s cheek.
“I’m not ready yet. Besides, I like staying with you. Your bed is so small that I get to hold Umi-chan even closer, hehe.”
“Mou, Kotori,” Umi blushed, “I woke up with a stiff hand because of how close we slept…”
“Aww, do you want me to massage it for you?” Kotori giggled, before reaching her hand out to Umi’s and caressing it gently.
“Of course…” Umi whispered, letting herself relax with Kotori’s affirming touch. The brown-haired began to lean in, pressing her soft lips to Umi’s. She pressed another kiss to Umi’s cheek and smiled. “More to continue tonight, Umi-chan.”
Umi exhaled, feeling a blush creep up her cheek as she wondered how she could still be so giddy in love with her childhood best friend this way. As she watched her brown-haired lover walk up the stairs to the attic, she followed behind, realising that the reason why she felt like she was falling in love again was because this was her Kotori. Not some brainwashed version that left her afraid and insecure. She quickened her pace and supported her girlfriend’s waist as they climbed up the stairs.
4/29
Friday
Evening
Maid Café – Attic
“Sorry for the wait!” Kotori’s voice echoed around the attic.
Like clockwork, Kotori maneuvered around the room and placed the tray of drinks on the coffee table by Nozomi’s bedside.
Nozomi patted the bed, signaling Kotori to sit on the other end of the bed, while Umi followed suit, joining her girlfriend on her side.
“So those two orange-coloured drinks are called the Sunset Crème, it’s one of the best sellers last summer but I made it specifically for you guys, heheh.”
An excited beam dashed across Honoka’s face as she took the cup, sipping it to her heart’s content. Rin took the other cup, mumbling a hearty ‘thanks’ while sipping onto the drink and exhaling in delight.
“And the rest are iced lattes!” Kotori chirped out.
Nozomi smiled at the brown-haired’s direction. “Thank you, Kotori-chan.”
“So, what did we miss?” Umi spoke up.
“Not much, really. Rin-san and Honoka-san were wondering if it was true that we could change someone’s heart just by defeating them,” Eli replied.
“So, what’s the deal with your friend?” Maki chimed in, with a twirl of her hair.
All too soon, it seemed like a dark cloud had instantly formed above Honoka and Rin’s heads as they stopped sipping on their drinks.
“Well, you see…” Honoka started to speak. “We realised that Hanayo-chan started becoming weird after the Love Live preliminaries.”
“Love Live?” Nozomi crooked her head to the side, ruminating lightly.
“How can you not know Love Live?” Nico quickly snapped her head to Nozomi, as if judging the purple-haired.
However, this only seemed to get the attention of the red-haired beside her too, as Maki was frowning at Nico’s overly enthusiastic response.
“Nico, you need to remember Nozomi isn’t from here,” Eli was quick to cut in, in defence of her girlfriend’s honour.
However, that didn’t seem to deter Nozomi. She cupped her mouth to a giggle. “So Nicocchi, can you explain it to me?”
“It’s one of the ultimate school idol competitions! Akihabara’s district of school idols is on the rise, you know!”
“You sound almost like you want to be a school idol yourself…” Maki answered smugly.
Nico pressed her shoulders to Maki’s, leaning into her with a sneer. “I’ll have you know I’m actually good at singing and dancing too, Maki-chan.”
“Eh…Eweugh?!” Maki backed away from the closeness, her cheeks turning bright red.
“I can confirm that Nico-chan likes to sing~” Kotori piped up.
“Okay, settle down ya lovebirds, let’s hear from Honoka-chan and Rin-chan.” Nozomi hummed.
After taking another sip out of her drink which was already half-finished, Rin spoke up next. “I’ve known Kayo-chin since young and she always dreamed of being an idol. This year, she got a chance to enter the preliminaries, but she didn’t make it.”
“She… Was she a soloist?” Eli pressed her fingers to her chin in thought.
“That’s the thing nya…” Rin looked to Honoka, their faces bearing a matched expression.
“We’re both not that smart, unlike Hanayo-chan,” Honoka rubbed at her head sheepishly, “we have make-up classes everyday as part of the UTX curriculum, so we can’t join Hanayo-chan as a school idol.”
“That’s a disadvantage,” Nico nodded to herself.
“Why so, Nico-chan?” Kotori asked.
Nico sighed. “Unless your friend is super extroverted and has a large fanbase, it’s hard to be a school idol soloist.”
“How do you even know all these…” Maki wondered.
The black-haired took a glance at Maki. “I have a hobby, Maki.”
“So, she didn’t make it, I’d say?” Eli asked next.
Rin nodded sadly.
“You see, Hanayo-chan is a shy and quiet person, but after she got kicked out from the preliminaries, she was even more quiet than usual,” Honoka explained.
“Few weeks ago we wanted to surprise her at her house with a cake to cheer her up, but we reached a little too early and we found ourselves in a creepy colourful house…” Rin quickly wrapped her arms to herself. “Mou, talking about it is giving me the creeps, nya!”
“Sounds like idol hell…” Nico whispered to herself.
“Kayo-chin has always been putting a lot of pressure on herself…I think she blames us for not being there with her as a school idol.”
Rin was almost tearful, and Eli crossed over to where Rin was, offering her a tissue and patting her shoulder lightly.
“Sounds like she means a lot to you,” Umi said.
“She does,” Honoka answered on behalf of Rin.
“How did you two find out about Mementos then?” Nozomi asked.
“We don’t know!” Honoka answered. “We were just stopping at Shibuya station and we got teleported there.”
“Well, either way it sounds like a similar process to us,” Maki shrugged.
Nozomi watched as Eli’s gaze fleeted over to hers, before looking back at the other girls around the attic. “Well, if you’d like, we can help you too.”
“Really?” Rin’s eyes were puffy, but a hopeful glow was soon visible on her face.
“I agree, now that we defeated Sato-asshole we don’t have a major thing to do anyway. Besides Nozomi always had a strange feeling about this Hanayo girl.” Nico said.
“You just want to see what this idol hell thing is about…” Maki smirked.
“You’re unbelievably snarky today, huh?” Nico snapped back. Though, she ended up grinning through the sneer.
“Kotori-chan, Umi-chan?” Nozomi’s head was titled in their direction.
“I’m okay, I’m confident, with so many of us.” Umi smiled.
“Me too! We didn’t train for nothing after all~” Kotori agreed.
“That’s what we’ll do then,” Nozomi piped up.
Eli stood up, looking at the wall calendar on Nozomi’s attic. She paced around a few steps, before stopping in front of the calendar again. “When’s the Love Live finals?”
“In 2 weeks,” Honoka said.
Eli grabbed a pen and circled the date. “Then let’s set that as our due date.”
“Due date?” Rin thought hard to herself.
“You see, Rin-chan, we usually use major events important to the subject as a final date to defeat them. Even though Hanayo-chan isn’t performing at the Final Live, it is still an important date for her where she’s going to be the most emotional.”
“Wow,” Rin hopped on her knees in admiration, “you guys are professio-nya…”
“We wouldn’t do it without a team either,” Eli smiled, “so let us help you out this time.”
The girls ended up having their dinners from Kotori’s microwavable food at the maid café, before leaving by nightfall. Once everyone filled out of the attic, Nozomi was left alone with Eli.
“Well, I’ll see you tomorrow,” Eli waved. She paused for a moment and Nozomi sensed a slight hesitation in the blonde, as if she wanted to do something more. Before Eli eventually turned to walk down the stairs, Nozomi held out her hand, taking hold of the blonde’s.
“Elicchi, stay here tonight?”
Suddenly caught off guard, Eli found herself blushing. “N-Nozomi, all of a sudden?”
“Is there a reason for me to have my girlfriend over?” Nozomi giggled.
“Mou…Nozomi, that’s not fair…”
Nozomi pressed a gentle kiss to Eli’s cheek. “I’m craving parfaits. Shall we sneak down and make some for ourselves?”
“Sneak?! That’s bold of you.”
“Come on, let’s have some fun!”
Before Eli could even argue, Nozomi was already dragging her down the stairs, and into the maid café which had already closed operations for the day.
4/29
Friday
Night
Maid Café
Even though Kotori allowed Nozomi to use the maid café’s fridge at night for her meals, Eli still found it nerve-wracking to be sneaking around in an actual café past its operation hour. She watched as Nozomi was pressing onto random light switches, before the overhead light spilled against them, illuminating the kitchen with a warm glow. Nozomi took out some fruits and laid them on top of the chopping board, before turning to Eli.
“Hey, can you get the granola bars from the counter?”
“Don’t you have to pay for that?” Eli frowned.
“Don’t worry about it,” Nozomi winked.
Eli went over and took two cranberry-flavoured granola bars and handed them to Nozomi.
“Thank you, Elicchi. Can you cut the fruits? I’ll mash the bars.”
“Bossing me around, aren’t you?” Eli teased.
“Aww, but isn’t this just like when we were cooking in class?”
Eli instantly cringed at the thought of Nozomi’s plum fried rice invention. “Don’t remind me of that.”
She went ahead to cut the fruits deftly, making sure they were in right portions. At the same time, she heard a commotion from beside her and turned her head to see Nozomi holding a knife on its side, as she attempted to mash the granola bar into smaller bits. As if on instinct, she quickly took hold of the knife in Nozomi’s hands.
“Nozomi, that’s dangerous! I’ll do it, babe.”
Babe…?
She quickly pursed her lips and went ahead to swiftly mash the granola bars in a much safer way. She didn’t know what came across her to address Nozomi with such a pet name, but it just came out anyway. [Eli’s Guts: 3]
“You’re cute.” A whisper was heard behind her neck, sending shivers up her spine.
“I-I got it already!” Eli quickly answered, as she poured the granola bits into the ziplock bag, crushing them further with her hands.
“You’re so strong, Elicchi~” [Eli’s Proficiency: 2] [Eli’s Charm: 1]
“O-of course I am, Nozomi!”
“Aren’t you calling me babe again?” A smirk was tugging on the corner of Nozomi’s lips.
“Stop taking your chances!”
Nozomi giggled, before taking two small tubs of frozen yoghurt out from the fridge. She carefully emptied the first cup, before Eli could dump some cut fruits and granola over. The purple-haired continue to empty the remaining tub of frozen yoghurt and Eli followed suit once again till the layer was done.
“It looks beautiful, Elicchi~”
“It does,” Eli beamed proudly.
“—you are, too.”
Eli cleared her throat, finding herself staring right at a pair of turquoise eyes that were shining radiantly even in the dimmed lightning. Feeling the ever-growing sense of affection for her girlfriend, her eyes fluttered close as she leaned in and pressed her lips to Nozomi’s. Eli felt Nozomi’s lips partly slightly into the kiss and her heart picked up pace as her hands went around Nozomi’s back, pressing her against the counter. It felt like a new experience each time she kissed Nozomi and each time, she wanted more.
The sound of glass tipping over punctuated the silence of the empty maid café and her eyes shot open immediately, realising that it was the parfait that had tipped over. Thankfully, only bits of the granola toppings fell out and she was quick to pick the glass back up.
“Oops, we should probably eat that first,” Nozomi giggled.
ELI'S SOCIAL STATS
Knowledge: Rank 4 | Encyclopedic
Guts: (RANK UP) Rank 5 | Lionhearted
Proficiency: Rank 3 | Skilled
Kindness: Rank 3 | Emphatic
Charm: Rank 4 | Charismatic
4/29
Friday
Night
Maid Café – Attic
“Yes, I’ll call you first thing in the morning, oka-san. Goodbye.”
Once Eli put down her phone, she was met with a grin on Nozomi’s face. She crossed over to the bed where Nozomi was seated on, joining her on her side.
“Your mom is still worried about you?”
“Yeah,” Eli laughed, “she’s way more relaxed now after Satoshido’s arrest but I won’t be home tonight, so she’s still going to be a little worried.”
“Aww it’s nice to be worried, my mom wouldn’t do the same, heheh…”
A honk from outside pierced the silence of the attic, directing both of their attention to the window in front of them. Although it was already past eleven, the nightlife in Akihabara was still slowly winding down. There was still some neon lights illuminating the city, and at times, the roaring from the overhead train tracks would reverberate every few minutes or so.
Eli took a glance at the purple-haired on her side, relishing her side profile and how even in the dimmed lighting, she could see the glow in her beautiful turquoise eyes.
“Remember when you first came to Otonokizaka, Nozomi?”
Nozomi’s chuckle filled the room. “You really hated me.”
“Come on, I wouldn’t say I did…” Eli shook her head in embarrassment, “I guess I was just too closed-off. I’ve just been protecting what Maki and I did that it made me come across that way.”
“It’s okay, that’s what makes you you, Elicchi.”
Eli felt a weight pressed onto her shoulder, and Nozomi was lying on it. She took a large inhale, relishing this moment, and the warmth that had seeped through her.
“It’s still crazy that you’re my girlfriend, honestly.”
“Eh?” Nozomi looked up at her. “Do you have any regret?”
Eli sat up straighter in her position. “N-no! It’s just that, I still feel nervous around you—in a good way of course!”
“Really?” Nozomi giggled.
“Really. I’ve never really thought about love or a relationship ever since…what happened.”
One of the neon lights from the game store turned off outside, and they both looked at the building suddenly turn all dark.
“What about now?” Nozomi whispered.
Eli inhaled sharply, her hands reaching out to lace with Nozomi’s. “I love you. And the things I want to do with you like kissing you, touching you and hugging you…I crave for that so much all the time.”
In a rare occurrence, Eli noticed that Nozomi’s face had turned radish red, and she chewed on her lip to bite back a smile.
“I feel that way too, Elicchi. In fact, I’ve never felt more ready to share my entire being with you.”
“Looks like we’re on the same page then,” Eli’s thumb caressed the top of Nozomi’s hands. “I wish I knew you before. I want to know what your life was like, and I would have done everything to make it better.”
When Eli didn’t receive a response, she thought that Nozomi was just drifting off into sleep, because the combination of the night view outside while sitting on the surprisingly comfy bed created such a drowsy feeling.
It wasn’t until Eli realised that Nozomi had started to grasp onto Eli’s hands even harder, that she had to wriggle her grasp out of it.
“Nozomi?!” Eli turned to see Nozomi gasping for breath. She tried to open the window in front of them, letting in some air but that didn’t seem to help.
“Nozomi, what’s wrong?” Eli’s heart was racing, and it scared her to see Nozomi acting this way. Once she tried to get out of bed, her actions were stopped when Nozomi’s hand grabbed onto her again.
“Elicchi, don’t worry, I’m okay.”
The blonde turned on the room lights, before crossing over to Nozomi on the bed. She reached for her forehead, but nothing was off about her temperature.
“What was that? Are you sure you’re okay?” Eli’s words were spilling out nervously, she could feel her own throat hitch in fear.
“Y-yes, don’t worry. I know what it is.”
Eli stopped to let the purple-haired recollect herself.
“It’s the same feeling when I first arrived here. When I had the vision of my parents strangling me in the castle. Only…it felt stronger this time.”
“Why now?” Eli frowned, trying to think of a reason why such a violent memory would resurface.
“Don’t think too much about it Elicchi,” Nozomi tucked a strand of Eli’s hair that had came loose during the panic. “It’s probably just a random memory since we were talking about Akihabara and everything.”
Eli was still concerned, but she knew that Nozomi was always able to find a solution to her problems. She wrapped the purple-haired in her arms, rubbing her back up and down.
“It’s okay Nozomi, let’s go to sleep alright?”
4/30
Saturday
Afternoon
Otonokizaka Academy—Aquatic Complex
Even though it was a weekend, Nico and Umi found themselves at the school’s aquatic complex, getting some laps in before they met up with Honoka and Rin again outside Hanayo’s house to start infiltrating the supposed “idol hell”. After all, there was really no threat being in the aquatic complex anymore and that thought alone was freeing.
Nozomi, Eli, Maki and Kotori were sitting by the stands, watching the two finish their laps since they would all have to meet up later either way. Maki was hesitating to come at first but with some prodding from Eli and a nagging thought of having to see Nico in the pool again, she complied.
“Times like these I wish I knew how to swim,” Kotori sighed, as she watched Umi do a dolphin kick to get onto her next lap.
“Why do you say so?” Eli asked, intrigued by the brown-haired’s sudden sentiment.
“I want to be strong for Umi-chan when we’re in the metaverse too.”
“Talk about it, you were heaps strong when we faced you,” Maki commented in an off-handed manner. The moment she realised that came off too strong, she quickly gulped and cleared her throat, “I-I mean…!”
“Maa, it’s okay Kotori-chan, I think you two are strong enough together. You’ll balance each other well,” Nozomi smiled.
“You really think so?” Kotori’s amber eyes lit up instantly.
“Nozomi’s right. You two are together and you know how to protect each other. It’s wonderful, actually,” Eli agreed.
Maki blew upon the pondering air, “speak for yourself Eli, you and Nozomi are together too…”
“Aww, is Maki-chan feeing like a fifth wheel?” Nozomi poked at the red-haired’s cheeks, causing Maki to back away instantly.
“W-who said I was feeling like that!”
They watched as Nico emerged from the water, pulling off her swim cap as she eyes glazed over to the timing on her waterproof wristwatch.
Maki wouldn’t deny that this was her favourite sight of Nico and she was suddenly brought back to the day when she kissed Nico’s cheeks. They didn’t really talk about it after which frustrated Maki to some extent, but it made her wonder too if she should even be worked up thinking of a stupid kiss on the cheek when it could be on…Nico’s lips. She stared at Nico, who was letting her fingers run through her black hair and the more she looked at her, the more she felt a blush creep up on her face.
Suddenly, Maki got distracted by the fidgety movement on her left. She looked to the side to see Nozomi staring listlessly in front of her, while the only movement seemed to be from her throat. It resembled the sight of someone continuously swallowing their saliva.
“N-Nozomi, are you okay?” Maki whispered under her breath.
“Eh?” Nozomi quickly snapped her head in Maki’s direction. “I’m okay Maki-chan, why do you ask?”
She looked beyond Nozomi to see that Eli was keeping her glance on the pool, probably reminiscing about the time when she swam. Seeing that Eli hadn’t noticed Nozomi, Maki thought that it was just Nozomi being weird with one of her psychokinesis abilities again.
Nico was still catching her breath by the pool just as Umi touched the edge of the pool, hoisting herself up to sit beside Nico by the pool ledge.
“Swimming another lap huh, I’ve never seen you this determined in a long time.”
Umi found herself smiling, pausing to look up at Kotori by the stands. She returned her attention to Nico, as she took a sip out of her water bottle. “You guys are already experienced in the Metaverse. The only way I can be strong is to build my stamina in the pool.”
“You’re nervous about entering the Metaverse again, huh?”
“A little,” Umi confessed.
Nico’s eyes trailed over to the stand where the girls were sitting, and her own glance landed onto the sight of a redhead she could never take her eyes off. Nico wasn’t used to looking up for someone in the stands, considering the person she loved once was in the pool beside her but this time, she secretly enjoyed that Maki had been frequenting this place the past few days—weeks, even.
The only thing that lingered on her mind was: what were they? Nico knew that she got it bad for Maki, but the redhead was someone…adamant. She chuckled under her breath. Thinking about it, Maki was actually just like her.
4/30
Saturday
Afternoon
Otonokizaka Academy—Aquatic Complex— Female Showers
Once Nico got out of the showers, she was surprised to see that only Maki was sitting on the bench outside, fiddling with her hair. She looked around the showers and they were all vacant, meaning that Umi could have already been done showering.
“Maki? What are you doing here?”
Maki stood up, facing Nico. Though, she was looking away, as if afraid to make eye contact.
“L-listen, there’s something I want to tell you.”
“In here?” Nico’s brows furrowed. “Of all places?”
Maki chewed her lip, finally willing herself to make eye contact with Nico briefly. “It’s not like I like being in here or something! It’s so warm over here…”
“Mm hmm…?”
“It’s just…” Maki took a step forward to Nico, and this alone made Nico feel a combination of anxiety and at the same time, excitement that the redhead was so close.
“It’s just that that’s so many of us here and this is the only place to find you alone.”
This time, Nico found a snort escape her throat. “Out with it already, Maki!”
Nico could see that the redhead’s mouth was quivering, or that she was already muttering and trying to grasp what Maki was trying to say, Nico closed the gap even further and they were standing so close such that if someone were to push them, they would definitely fall into each other.
“So? What is it—”
“I like you, Nico-chan!”
Only the sound of the ceiling fans around them could be heard after that quick confession. Nico had to retrace back a few seconds, just to remember that those words actually came out of Maki’s mouth.
“Y-you do…?”
“Ugh, yes I do! I’m not going to say it again!” Maki quickly folded her arms and turned away.
Feeling a sense of courage, Nico took hold of Maki’s arms, spinning her around again and pulling her close. Maki was slightly taller, so Nico took the initiative to tiptoe slightly as her head tilted upwards to give Maki a kiss on her lips.
Startled by the action, Maki quickly looked back at Nico, flabbergasted. However, she found herself taking a quick inhale, before dipping her head forward again and Nico was more than happy to capture Maki’s lips on hers. Something about kissing Maki was electric. That girl was shy, but god, she was a good kisser. It made her feel all warm and fuzzy when she should have been cold after her shower, but this felt right.
Moments later, they pulled apart and as if the redhead couldn’t be blushing any harder, Maki's face was even redder than ever. This time, she found herself breaking into a laugh.
“Bout time, Maki.”
SOCIAL LINK
Maki (Chariot) — Nico (Hanged)
RANK 6: Allows Maki to place a wall on Nico to repel any wind attacks for 3 turns.
4/30
Saturday
Afternoon
Outside Hanayo’s Apartment
Nozomi, Eli, Maki, Nico, Kotori and Eli found themselves at the right location after following the directions that Honoka has given them in a separate text message.
“There!” Kotori pointed out, as Honoka and Rin were standing by the alley, waving over to them.
They rushed over, meeting up with the two by the alley.
“Thanks for coming guys!” Honoka exclaimed.
“No problem, how do we get in? Eli asked, as she looked at the second floor of the house, which was supposedly Hanayo’s bedroom.
“Kayo-chin knows that we’re coming. She’s out to get groceries now but once she’s back we’ll follow her in and leave the door open. You guys can follow us in afterwards and I think you’ll be in her creepy world…”
“That sounds risky…” Umi whispered to herself.
“It’s okay, I trust you two,” Eli smiled. She looked over to Nozomi who nodded, and Nico and Maki who were just making shift eye contacts with each other.
“Maki, Nico, are you guys okay?”
“YES!” Both of them spoke up at the same time.
Eli looked at them in slight confusion, before diverting her attention to where Kotori was pointing out right ahead.
“Guys, I see someone walking around the corner…”
“Alright, let’s do this,” Eli said.
They hid in position, watching as the bespectacled girl was walking up to her doorstep. Honoka and Rin greeted her cheerfully, and honestly, nothing looked out of the ordinary with Hanayo.
“What should we cook today, nya!” Rin chirped.
“We can make curry,” Hanayo spoke meekly.
The three of them proceeded to enter the house and the rest of them followed, creeping stealthily into the living room. It didn’t take long before the environment shifted and they were engulfed in total darkness.
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