Yotsuya Miko always thought she was just an ordinary high school girl. Her grades were fine but not outstanding. Her looks were cute but not drop-dead gorgeous. She had one or two friends, but she was by no means a social butterfly.
While she occasionally fantasized about unrealistic daydreams, she never imagined that her otherwise ordinary life would suddenly become anything but.
She could see the inhabitants of the other world! Beings called evil spirits!
She watched them wander the world, feeding on the vital energy of humans. Every time she met their gaze, she could feel immense malice emanating from their empty, terrifying eyes.
"You can see me, can't you?"
Miko dared not answer. She had a vague premonition that if she acknowledged this fact, she would be consumed by the evil spirits. She secretly tried rock salt, crosses, garlic... none of it worked.
Having no choice, she could only endure. She ignored these horrific entities that appeared in the toilet, on the dinner table, and even in her bedclothes. Even when she heard, "Can you see me?" countless times in her ear, she feigned deafness and blindness.
Yet, in just a few days, she was tormented endlessly.
During class, a distorted evil spirit glared at her from her desk. Two more evil spirits floated and tumbled around the classroom. Looking up, there was one perched on their homeroom teacher, Hiratsuka's shoulder.
Miko was completely drained.
She barely made it to the end of the school day, yet she didn't want to go home.
"I wonder if the one in the bathroom has left... and the one in my bed that scared me into wetting myself..."
Miko walked along listlessly. Suddenly, she heard a sound of frenzied, high-pitched murmuring. The sound was sharp and grating, like a knife scraping a blackboard.
"Hiratsuka-sensei... is also holding a shota?"
Miko's face turned pale. To her horror, she saw the evil spirit on Shizuka's shoulder roaring toward that little shota!
"Be c—" Miko instinctively wanted to shout a warning.
But then she saw the shota unhurriedly reaching out his hand and lightly flicking his finger.
Poom!
The evil spirit instantly dissipated! Just as if he had flicked away a small bug!
"That little shota... he can destroy evil spirits!"
The agony of the past few days transformed into exhilaration in that moment. Miko's eyes widened, as if she had just seen a savior.
"He might be able to save my life!"
Then she watched as Hiratsuka-sensei collapsed onto the floor in relief, her face flushed crimson, letting out a soft gasp.
"It seems getting rid of the evil spirit felt quite comfortable?"
Hiding herself around the corner, Miko secretly continued to observe.
....
Hiratsuka Shizuka, forcing herself to act composed, put the clinging Asa down.
"Asa-kun, take all these chips and candy..."
She tried to keep her voice level, but she still couldn't control the trembling caused by the sudden, intense pleasure she felt moments ago. Her emotions were difficult to settle.
She never would have imagined that a little shota touching her earlobe would cause such a wave of intense pleasure and relief. The accumulated fatigue of the past few days also completely vanished!
It felt as if...
"Am I actually a hidden shota-con?"
She subtly glanced at the delicate, doll-like shota before her, and the impulse to hug him involuntarily rose in her heart.
She quietly shifted her gaze, looking at herself in the mirror on her desk. A fine figure, striking appearance, and radiant complexion. She was an impeccable beauty, just based on looks.
But...
She was nearing thirty, had a terrible personality, acted like an old man... and now she had to add shota-con to the list!
"I feel like some kind of perverse older sister character from a certain type of media..."
"Who would ever want to marry me, looking like this..."
"Hiratsuka-sensei is so pretty! If it were me, I'd definitely want to marry you!"
The shota's slightly high-pitched, childish voice rang out. Only then did Shizuka realize that she had unconsciously spoken that last sentence aloud. This filled her with embarrassment. She roughly rubbed Asa's baby-fat cheeks a few times to ease the awkwardness!
Even though the words of a little kid couldn't be taken seriously, they still flowed like a warm current through her heart.
"By the time you grow up, Teacher will already be old. You definitely won't be interested in an old woman like me then," she said self-deprecatingly.
"That might not be true!" Shiraishi Asa replied, sounding both sincere and insincere. You have no idea how old I am right now!
"Asa-kun, if you want snacks in the future, just come straight to Teacher's office."
"Teacher has quite a lot of snacks here..."
"You can play games too..." Shizuka rambled on carelessly.
Asa looked up at her and gave a genuine nod.
Afterward, watching Asa leave with a large bag of snacks, Shizuka annoyedly slapped her own cheek.
"Hiratsuka Shizuka, what are you doing?"
"Are you trying to lure children?"
Shizuka felt that her behavior just now was exactly like a creepy older man trying to lure a little girl.
"I have no pride at all!"
Shizuka felt utterly ashamed of her teaching profession. While feeling internally guilty, she couldn't help but open an online shopping app to buy more snacks.
....
Asa hadn't expected Shizuka's sensitive spot to be her earlobe. And her reaction was quite intense... If the effect of LV3 Lewd Hand was this strong, Asa could hardly imagine what it would be like when it reached max level.
Carrying his snacks, he returned to the Service Club room, where an unexpected figure was waiting.
"Ai-neechan?"
Hoshino Ai, who was currently facing off against Yukinoshita Yukino, instantly turned her head upon hearing his voice. Her perfect, adorable face blossomed into a wide smile, and she joyfully swept Asa into a hug.
"Asa-kun!"
"Waaah, I came to take you home!"
Asa felt the familiar scent of a young girl emanating from Ai. He looked up, and his gaze met Yukino's eyes, which held a distinct chill.