Chapter Twenty: That's Right, It's You, Yoshino

He had thought he would finally be free after school. But Su Mo was far too naive. Watching Tohka trailing behind him, sticking close at every step, he couldn’t help but ask, “Tohka, shouldn’t you be returning to Ratatoskr?”

“Well... Kotori and Reine said the surveillance on me has been lifted, so I don’t have to stay on Ratatoskr anymore,” Tohka explained quietly, her eyes wide as she looked expectantly at Su Mo.

“So, you’re homeless now?”

She nodded eagerly.

“Would you like to stay at my place, then?”

“Yes, yes!”

And so, the spirit girl named Tohka became a guest at the Itsuka home for the first time. Kotori seemed to have anticipated her arrival, while Shiori appeared rather surprised; after all, just that day Tohka had only been a classmate, and now she was moving in—a little too sudden.

At the same time, Shiori shot Su Mo a look usually reserved for lechers.

“Hey, don’t get the wrong idea!” Su Mo quickly waved his hands, afraid Shiori would think he was some kind of predator luring an innocent girl. He pleaded silently to Kotori for help.

Kotori met Su Mo’s gaze briefly, then, as if nothing was amiss, took off her white ribbon and replaced it with a black one, instantly slipping into her commander persona.

She pulled Shiori aside and whispered something to her.

When Shiori reappeared, tears brimmed in her eyes as she held Tohka’s hand, and she readily agreed to let Tohka stay with them.

Su Mo looked at Kotori in surprise. “What did you say to Shiori? Her attitude changed way too quickly.”

“Nothing much. I just told her that Tohka lost her parents young, has led a pitiful life, was abused and tormented, starved every day, and now has nowhere to go but the streets. And such a delicate girl living outside is too dangerous. So, kindhearted Shiori was moved and agreed to let Tohka stay,” Kotori replied, shooting Su Mo a sidelong glance as she popped a candy into her mouth, clearly mocking his incompetence in handling such a simple affair.

All Su Mo could do was look to the heavens in speechless exasperation.

Thus, Tohka officially took up residence at the Itsuka home.

That evening, Kotori sat on the sofa watching television, Shiori was cleaning up the kitchen, and Tohka was nowhere to be seen.

When Su Mo appeared, Kotori suddenly called out, “Onii-chan, go take a bath. You smell!”

“Really?” Su Mo sniffed himself seriously. It was indeed time for a bath, so he nodded and turned to head for the bathroom. As he turned, he noticed Kotori was now wearing her black ribbon, yet the words she’d just spoken didn’t match her commander mode at all.

Something was off—definitely suspicious.

With that in mind, Su Mo approached the bathroom. The rooms in the Itsuka house were well-insulated against both sound and light, making it difficult to know if anyone was inside. With Tohka out of sight and Kotori’s odd behavior just now, Su Mo’s eyes narrowed on the bathroom door handle. For some reason, he was reminded of a certain “pickup artist’s” infamous technique: the legendary “Opening the Door”—always resulting in stumbling upon a girl bathing or changing.

It didn’t take long for him to realize something was wrong.

As a transmigrator, Su Mo recalled similar scenes from Date A Live, where Shido Kotori frequently set him up to barge in on Tohka while she was bathing or changing, leading to plenty of “beautiful misunderstandings.”

Although Su Mo was certain that even if he did the same, Tohka wouldn’t hate him for it, he had no wish to be played for a fool.

So, he knocked politely on the bathroom door. “Tohka, are you in there?”

He couldn’t help but feel a little proud of himself.

In anime and novels, the female protagonist never locks the bathroom door, which is why the male protagonist always walks in unannounced. And the male lead never knocks—he just bursts in. Su Mo had always found this trope ridiculous.

His action, therefore, was the best example of proper behavior.

There can’t be many upright male leads like me these days, he thought.

But the next moment, a scene that nearly made Su Mo’s eyes pop unfolded.

The bathroom door clicked open. Sure enough, someone was inside. Just as Su Mo was congratulating himself, Tohka poked her head out and then stepped fully into view.

She stood there, utterly unabashed and completely exposed.

Su Mo was nearly blinded by the sight, stammering, “T-T-Tohka, why did you come out without any clothes on?”

“Eh? Was I supposed to wear something?” Tohka looked blankly at him, genuinely at a loss.

At that, Su Mo almost wanted to slap himself. He’d forgotten that Tohka was a gluttonous girl with a complete lack of common sense—so when he knocked, she simply walked out.

His gaze inevitably drifted over Tohka for a few seconds.

However, for reasons he couldn’t quite explain, Tohka’s entire body was bathed in a blinding holy light in his vision. It was like watching a censored anime: at the critical moment, a beam of white light would always flash to obscure the key areas. Or, when reading a web novel, any explicit word would be replaced with a string of asterisks, and anything more severe would be wiped out by the great “harmonizing” god of 404.

So, before Su Mo’s eyes, only Tohka’s head remained visible; everything below her neck was part of the “unwritable” zone.

And thus, in a frantic scramble, Su Mo’s cohabitation with Tohka began.

…

May twentieth.

It had been a month since Tohka transferred into Metropolitan Raizen High School. With the Spirit Dormitory still under construction, she had to stay at the Itsuka home for the time being.

Fortunately, thanks to Su Mo’s foreknowledge, their cohabitation avoided countless awkward moments, even if it wasn’t as rosy as it might seem.

Dragging his feet like an old man, Su Mo wore a dull expression. The ongoing war between Origami Tobiichi and Tohka at school had left him on edge and deprived of any time to himself, so he decided to slip away right after class.

As he walked through the streets of Tenguu City, the previously clear skies suddenly turned gloomy, as fickle as a child’s mood.

Soon, a fine rain began to fall. Hurrying home, Su Mo’s eyes narrowed as he spotted a small figure in a nearby park, head bowed, shuffling through the rain. She wore an adorable green coat with a hood shaped like rabbit ears, covering her tiny frame completely.

Though he couldn’t see her face clearly, Su Mo saw that the girl seemed to be searching for something.

He frowned, feeling a strange sense of familiarity. Could she be... a Spirit?

She had a petite, childlike figure, and that outfit—

There was no mistaking it. It was Yoshino!

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