"Well, we should be heading back now." After eating their fill, Cirno and the others prepared to leave. Although Cirno was somewhat reluctant, Wriggle and Daiyousei pulled her away. Otherwise, no one knew what else that girl might say.
"Alright, travel safe." Kars watched them leave, then returned to the Scarlet Devil Mansion and went to Flandre's side.
"Little Auntie, I wanted you to be friends with them. Next time, try not to get upset over small things, okay?"
"That wasn't a small thing, and Kars, don't play that game with them, understood! Otherwise, Flandre will be angry!"
"I know, and I wasn't playing that with them anyway." Kars had no such intentions and felt Flandre's worry was completely unnecessary.
"Mhm mhm! Good boy, good boy." Hearing Kars's reply, Flandre was much more reassured. She stroked his head and praised him, a gesture Kars quietly accepted.
To keep Flandre from being bored, Kars brought her along to the Great Library.
"Ooh~ Kars!" Koakuma looked at Kars upon his arrival, her expression showing she desperately wanted to hug him but couldn't, which made her look very distressed. "Kars, please put in a good word for me with Lady Patchouli, okay? Being like this is simply torture." Koakuma really hoped the punishment would end soon. The daily routine of being able to see him but not touch him was unbearable.
However, Kars couldn't do anything about it even if he wanted to. Patchouli's stance on the matter was firm, and it wouldn't be easy to persuade her to end the punishment early.
"Just hang in there, Koakuma." Kars started to reach out but, remembering the current situation, withdrew his hand. He then took Flandre to find Patchouli, leaving Koakuma alone in her misery.
"Flandre is up quite early today." Patchouli was surprised to see Flandre active at this hour.
"Yeah, Little Auntie woke up early because she slept with me yesterday. I also brought my Terakoya friends over, hoping they could be friends with her so she'd have more people to play with, but a small incident caused it to fail…"
"What happened?" Patchouli was curious about the incident. Kars gave a brief explanation of the situation. When he mentioned Cirno suggesting the kissing game and Flandre's reaction, Patchouli's expression became complicated.
Flandre had kissed Kars again, and it seemed to be happening more frequently. Furthermore, she was possessive and didn't want anyone else to do it. This whole thing looked suspicious. Had Remilia not handled it properly before? Or did she know and just not intervene?
Patchouli silently pondered how to address this issue. She decided it would be best to talk to Remilia and share her thoughts. She continued to tutor Kars as usual and left the Great Library to find Remilia once she woke up.
"Is something the matter?" Remilia, who had just woken up, rubbed her eyes and asked Patchouli.
"It's about Flandre and Kars. Remi, did you handle the situation properly before?"
"Are you talking about the kissing incident? Did Flandre do that to Kars again?" Hearing this, Remilia's mind cleared up. She was indeed troubled by the issue. If she pressured Flandre too much, it might lead to a stronger emotional backlash. She also thought that Flandre might just find it momentarily interesting and would stop doing it after a while.
"Yes, and Flandre's attitude is concerning. She's quite resistant to Kars having close physical contact with others."
"I know. She even said she'd be Kars's wife when that was brought up." Remilia looked depressed but couldn't think of a good solution at the moment.
"How about having Kars sleep at my place temporarily? Since you've been sleeping together, it makes it easier for Flandre to do that. Separating them for a while might help." Patchouli's suggestion made Remilia contemplate. She thought this might work. During the day when they were together, either she or Patchouli could supervise to prevent anything from happening. At night, Kars would sleep at Patchouli's, not with Flandre, which would remove the opportunity. After some time, Flandre might forget or lose interest.
"Let's do that then." Remilia agreed to the suggestion. Patchouli nodded expressionlessly, then informed Kars that he would be sleeping at her place for the foreseeable future.
"At Patchouli's place? I understand." Kars didn't see any problem with it. However, Flandre was clearly unhappy. She was extremely disappointed that she couldn't hug Kars while sleeping, but since it was Remilia's decision, she couldn't change anything.
Koakuma silently watched Patchouli. She could easily guess Patchouli's intention, but unfortunately, she could only watch from the sidelines.
When it was Kars's bedtime, he went to Patchouli's room and saw her only wearing her undergarments. He didn't comment on it, as he wasn't in a position to tell others what to wear. Besides, it wasn't a big deal. Furthermore, Kars felt more comfortable hugging her like this. Patchouli's skin felt great to the touch, making her very comfortable to hold while sleeping.
After Kars fell asleep, unlike before when he felt nothing, this time, a hazy awareness made him feel his hand being placed on a soft surface. He instinctively squeezed a few times and heard Patchouli's distinct moan. This sensation slightly brought him back to consciousness. He wanted to check if anything was wrong with Patchouli, but the constant drowsiness kept him from fully waking. He could only slightly open his eyes and saw Patchouli's flushed face lean close to him and eventually kiss his lips. She then proceeded to do the same thing Koakuma had done to him previously, which instantly cleared Kars's drowsiness-shrouded mind.