The moment their eyes met, the entire bathroom fell into silence.
Even time seemed to stop as Miku completely petrified in the tub.
Makoto's brain went into overdrive. He quickly jumped down and grabbed a towel from the wall to cover himself.
The noise startled Miku, who whipped her head to the side. Then, as if realizing something, she sat deeper into the water, letting only her blushing face peek out.
She didn't scream in panic. Instead, she ducked like an ostrich—this gave Makoto a bit of relief.
"Miku—"
"Don't say anything!"
Miku cut him off immediately, her voice trembling.
Makoto knew she must be panicking right now. After all, neither of them were wearing anything.
It's just that one was under the water, and the other was… on the wall…
Makoto stayed silent to give her time to process everything.
But the more she thought, the more it fried her brain.
She kept her head down, trying to submerge herself in the water.
Of course, she knew this was a useless effort—the water was crystal clear. She hadn't even used soap.
Two full minutes passed before Makoto finally broke the silence: "Feeling any better?"
Miku's face was still bright red. She peeked at him nervously and asked, "W-When did you get in here?"
Makoto froze for a moment.
Miku instinctively glanced toward a certain area and quickly lowered her head. "Fushimi… this isn't okay."
Makoto instantly realized she'd misunderstood.
She couldn't think clearly right now and assumed he had sneaked in to do something indecent.
But Makoto didn't rush to explain. He knew that once Miku calmed down, she'd figure it out on her own.
So he replied awkwardly, "How about I go get dressed first?"
"…Okay."
Miku still didn't dare look at him.
Makoto got dressed and didn't go back in. He spoke through the glass door instead: "It was a misunderstanding."
A misunderstanding?
Miku clenched her little fists in embarrassment and anger. "You saw everything…"
Makoto was momentarily stunned. Wow, Miku can be this direct?
As if she could hear his thoughts, she added with a muffled voice: "You were the one who told me to be brave and speak up…"
Boomerang karma had arrived.
Miku continued, voice still low and muffled:
"You're not allowed to tell anyone about what happened today. And you're also not allowed to secretly do anything like this again…"
She didn't even finish her sentence before she froze in place.
Makoto noticed her voice suddenly stop and figured—yep, she must've realized the truth.
And this… this was the most troublesome part.
"No way!"
Miku was too agitated, and since she was the only one left in the bathroom, she suddenly burst out from the water.
Her beautiful eyes stared intently at the fogged-up glass door as she muttered, "You didn't sneak in to peep at me… because Nino came out of here just now."
She pressed both hands to her chest, her tone full of disbelief. "Nino was actually that shameless?"
Makoto: "Huh?"
He had thought that after Miku figured things out, she'd confront him directly to confirm the truth.
But instead, the first word out of her mouth was "shameless"—that was unexpected.
Miku continued muttering to herself, "So that's it… Nino was so desperate to stop me from showering earlier because she was… doing something bad."
By the end, she was blushing too much to even say anything more direct.
Makoto knew he had to step in now. "While your deduction is pretty solid, the truth might differ a little from what you imagined."
Miku didn't respond—obviously, she didn't believe him.
Makoto continued, "It's a long story. It all started with an unexpected incident. Nino and I made a bet—the winner would get a voucher to command the loser to do anything."
To avoid giving Miku the wrong idea, he purposely didn't mention Itsuki.
Then, he briefly explained the whole bet.
Miku asked in a daze, "So you had Nino scrub your back?"
That was a blame Makoto had no choice but to take. He was thick-skinned enough to know that if he exposed Nino as the instigator, she'd probably die of embarrassment.
"Something like that," Makoto replied, taking the fall.
Miku stayed quiet for a moment, then said, "Still feels suspicious."
"Like what?"
"Nino doesn't seem like the type to do something like that."
"She probably didn't want to break her promise from the bet. Of course, I'm partly to blame too."
Miku didn't pursue it further.
Even though she now understood the reason—and realized that Makoto had hung on the wall purely to help Nino keep her secret—she still felt incredibly embarrassed.
No…
"Embarrassed" wasn't enough.
It was social death.
What made her even more mortified was that, while she was "performing" earlier, the person in her imagination had been Makoto.
And he'd literally been right above her at that moment…
The thought made her want to cry from shame.
Last time, when her mind was clouded by heat, she had managed to suppress it by taking a cold shower.
But tonight… Tonight was her first time doing something naughty.
And she got caught on the spot.
First time being naughty, and she was caught red-handed—now she just felt both wronged and incredibly unlucky.
Outside the door, Makoto could tell from the silence what she might be feeling. He picked up his phone and sent Nino a message:
Makoto: "No need to come anymore. I've slipped out safely."
Nino: "Really?"
Makoto: "I'll explain everything to you later."
Putting his phone down, he began preparing himself emotionally.
Given the situation, the only way to help Miku calm down now was by using Nino's 'gift.'
"You know, stuff like this happening during adolescence is actually totally normal…"
Makoto's mind was filled with genuine, science-based educational thoughts as he began his explanation.
Or rather, a lecture.
His voice wasn't loud, just calm and gentle. He spoke to Miku sentence by sentence, explaining everything in a reassuring tone.
Gradually, Miku started calming down.
Meanwhile, the other girls—whose minds had also been overheated earlier—were now regaining their composure too.
Yotsuba lay on her bed with her eyes closed, resting.
Itsuki returned to solving practice questions.
As for Ichika…
She leaned calmly against her bed, a serene expression on her face—fully in "wise sage" mode.
"I… I get it now."
Inside the bathroom, Miku sat back in the tub. Her face was still flushed with embarrassment, but her mind had become calm.
Makoto saw the chance and spoke: "Even if it's normal, I still owe you an apology. It was my fault for setting a bad example with Nino."
Miku didn't reply.
Makoto waited patiently.
About ten seconds later, she finally said, "You have to keep this a secret. And I'll keep your and Nino's secret too."
"Deal," Makoto agreed readily.
Exchanging secrets—definitely the safest move.
He wasn't surprised Miku would say that.
But what came next did surprise him:
"Fushimi… when I was doing that bad thing earlier, your face was in my mind the whole time."
She said it shyly.
But with Nino's 'gift' still taking effect, she recalled how Makoto had once encouraged her to express herself boldly—so she pushed on and delivered this outrageous confession.
Makoto sat outside, expression complicated.
Is this buff a bit too powerful…?
Miku's shy voice continued from within: "I don't know why, but imagining your face while I was doing it made me feel like…"
"Okay, okay—that's enough," Makoto cut her off.
He already had a good idea of what she was about to say.
Something like: The battery was low, but after imagining you, I was fully charged again.
"I'll keep your secret—and you'll keep mine," Makoto reminded her on purpose.
"I will," Miku affirmed.
End of conversation.
"Then I'll go now. You should get some rest too."
"Mm."
As the door opened and closed again, Miku bit her lip, emotions shifting rapidly in her lovely eyes.
There was something she hadn't said out loud:
If Nino could be shameless, then… could she turn her fantasies into reality?
With the buff still in effect, she had calmed down—but unlike Ichika, she hadn't entered wise sage mode.
On the contrary, her mind was clearer than ever. Now that she had a target in mind, a bold idea began to form.
Not long after, she was back in the bathtub, daydreaming once again.
Elsewhere…
Makoto had just reached the living room when the system's robotic voice suddenly chimed in:
[Congratulations, Host! Mission triggered.]
[Mission Reward: (Miku's Fantasy Emblem). As someone who helped resolve her inner turmoil, shouldn't you be more attentive to her emotional changes? Please help fulfill her wish and get to know her better.]
[Note: Your emotional support was so effective that it sparked… other ideas in her.]
Makoto was left speechless.
This mission didn't sound too hard… but what exactly was Miku's "wish"?
"When I imagined your face while doing bad things, I felt like…"
Miku's shy voice echoed in his mind again.
Her wish… could it really be to turn her fantasies into reality?
Just imagining that scene made his head spin.
Things had reached this point—there was no turning back. All he could do now was handle whatever came next.
Worst case, he'd just lie down in front of Miku and let her do whatever she wanted.
Makoto met up with Nino and explained everything. Nino immediately looked awkward. "Thanks… for covering for me."
"Don't pull stunts like that without warning," Makoto said with a serious tone.
Nino blushed and nodded, lacking confidence.
But then she heard him add: "If you want to pull another stunt next time, at least give me a heads-up."
Nino: "???"
So in the end, you do just want more of that?!
Blushing with fury, she shoved him out of the room.
Makoto returned to the guest room.
The bedsheets and quilt were fresh, the mattress had been cleaned during the day.
He didn't sleep right away, though—he suspected Ichika might try to sneak in again.
But as he waited past midnight… Ichika still didn't show up.
Makoto fell into thought.
Was she waiting until 3 or 4 a.m. again?
Actually, he was wrong.
Earlier, under the buff's effect, Ichika had entered full sage mode.
She'd tossed aside her unhealthy thoughts and even abandoned her late-night sneak plan. In the end, she just fell into a peaceful sleep.
After some more time passed, with no messages from Ichika, Makoto figured it was already too late. She had to be asleep by now.
To avoid another farcical situation, he locked the door and went to sleep peacefully.
Later that night, Nino snuck out of her room. Holding her breath, she crept to the guest room door just like before.
After suddenly waking up in the middle of the night, she'd remembered that even though Makoto had taken the blame for her, she never got to ask the most important question:
Did you see Miku completely while she was bathing?
The more she thought about it, the less she could sleep—so she decided to launch a night attack.
But when she tried the doorknob, she heard the distinct sound of a lock.
Nino froze. Her cheeks puffed up in frustration.
He! Actually! Locked! The! Door!
Who was he trying to keep out?
Or… had Ichika already snuck in?
How could he be such a jerk?!
Nino rushed to Ichika's room—since she was sleeping soundly, she hadn't even locked the door.
Nino nervously pushed open the door and saw that Ichika was lying on the bed in a very unladylike sleeping position.
The calm rhythm of her breathing clearly showed she was sound asleep.
Nino relaxed but let out a soft tsk.
"You won't let me in, and now I've lost my chance to ask?"
She left, feeling defeated.
…
The new week began. Makoto first completed the last few shots with Ichika, then asked Mayu to help him request two days off.
With two full days to focus, he could finish the post-production editing—it would just depend on whether they'd need to do any voiceovers afterward.
The editing location was provided by Mrs. Yukinoshita.
She already knew that Makoto was nearly finished filming the short movie, so the moment she heard from Yukino, she proactively reached out to offer help.
That afternoon, after Makoto finished his work and came out for lunch, Mrs. Yukinoshita invited him to dine together. Clearly, she had something to say, so he didn't refuse.
"The information you gave me last time was very useful. I really didn't expect it—Madam Sayuri actually did have those particular interests."
Mrs. Yukinoshita sat with graceful posture, her lips curled in a soft smile. Her mature charm was captivating.
Unlike Yukino's modest figure, she had a curvaceous silhouette.
Makoto feigned surprise. "So that rumor was true?"
"You're the one who told me, and you're surprised?"
"Well, I couldn't guarantee it was 100% accurate."
"Oh, really?"
Mrs. Yukinoshita smiled without responding.
In her eyes, Makoto was full of secrets.
She had already noticed how her youngest daughter was growing closer and closer to him. That was probably one of the reasons.
Unfortunately, Yukino kept her lips sealed—she wouldn't say a word.
Still smiling, Mrs. Yukinoshita pondered: Where exactly does he get all this intel? And if I want to dig deeper, how should I go about it?
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