I endured the humiliation and humiliation while being besieged by the ghost story elder sister.

"Huh? Didn't you already mention this before, Mio?"

Hearing the boy express his troubles for what seemed to be the same reason as before, Fanxia was momentarily stunned.

"It's probably because Aunt Ami gave me so many things after I came back from Hokkaido that I asked this question again."

After thinking for a moment, Xi Ling responded in this way.

However, it would be quite difficult for Fanxia to give him any good advice.

A pair of fair and delicate arms were wrapped around the boy's front, their softness pressing against his back with an overwhelming sense of pressure.

The soft touch made Xi Miao shudder, wondering what Fan Xia was up to.

however.

"If Mio, when you're with me, you're still thinking about Arisa, then I'm going to get angry."

"Eh?"

Without explaining to him, Fanxia forcibly took Ximiao back into the house, trying to make him forget about that damned demon.

The next day.

Feeling a sudden ache in her back and waist, Xi Ling stretched vigorously in the living room and walked out onto the balcony wearing only a thin nightgown.

As soon as she opened the glass sliding door to the balcony, a biting cold wind rushed in, making Himio shiver.

But soon he got used to the temperature and gradually moved closer to the railing. The snow outside still showed no signs of stopping.

It seems that the New Year's temple fair will probably be canceled, and he felt a little disappointed.

After calming herself down, Ximiao turned around and went into the house, heading to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. As for Fanxia, ​​she would probably be up in a while.

After all, I had gone too far with her last night. I was probably feeling down, so I didn't know my own strength.

He could only silently apologize to Fanxia in his heart before focusing all his attention on the breakfast in front of him.

I don’t know how long it took.

"what--"

All I heard was Fanxia yawning as she walked out of the bedroom. After hearing the noise coming from the kitchen, she tiptoed over there.

Watching the boy busy in the kitchen, she felt inexplicably happy for some reason.

Subconsciously, she placed her hand on her lower abdomen, recalling the boy's slightly rough manner last night. She wished she could write a short essay of a few hundred words to her best friend right now as a reflection.

He wanted to show off to her properly, but just as she took out her phone, intending to really flirt with her best friend...

"Huh? Fanxia-nee, are you awake? Breakfast should be ready soon, go wait in the living room."

When he noticed that Fanxia, ​​who was only wearing a thin T-shirt, was standing quietly behind him, he assumed that she was hungry and couldn't wait any longer.

"Okay~ Don't burn my fried egg."

"Yes, yes, I understand."

Nozomi replied irritably.

While she still needed to stand here and wait a while before breakfast could be made, Nozomi thought to herself.

Since the temple fair cannot be held due to the heavy snow, the activity of going to the temple to pray for blessings and pay New Year's visits must also be cancelled, right?

What would be a good thing for him to do in the apartment then?

Before he could figure it out, the sizzling sound of the oil in the frying pan reminded him that breakfast was ready.

He then placed the breakfast on the living room table. Even without looking up, he could feel Fanxia's expectant gaze fixed on him.

"What's wrong? Is there something strange on my face?"

He subconsciously touched his face, but didn't find anything wrong.

Then I heard Sister Fanxia say happily.

"It's nothing, I just think you look especially good in an apron, Mio~"

"Huh? I almost forgot, you haven't taken your apron off yet."

Upon hearing Fanxia's reminder, Ximiao realized that she hadn't had time to put her apron away properly, so she quickly took it off and put it back in the kitchen.

Back at the table, sitting on the cushion, Ximiao was about to eat breakfast when she heard Fanxia talking about the New Year temple fair.

"Mio, let's go to the New Year's temple fair together tomorrow!"

"In that case, you're probably going to be disappointed, Fanxia-nee, because the temple fair has been canceled due to several days of heavy snow."

"Eh--"

"It's not just the temple fair that's making it difficult for us to even go out, so, Sister Fanxia, ​​you should just give up and stay home and lie down..."

At this point, Nozomi also felt a little disappointed and couldn't help but sigh.

Chapter Thirty-Six: The Crisis of the Kotatsu

With the arrival of the New Year, the blizzard outside showed no signs of stopping, which allowed Nozomi to wander around the house in her yukata.

Since their return from their trip, and given the strained relationship between Himiko and Arisa, there has been no sign of things improving.

These past few days have been lucky for Fanxia. Every day she can find one or two lame excuses to coax Ximiao into her room for a health lecture.

Her fair face visibly became rosy, and her complexion looked much better than before.

However, Nozomi didn't pay too much attention to it; it was just Honoka's change.

At Nozomi's insistence, the small table in the center of the living room was replaced with a warm kotatsu. The boy was curled up inside, looking very comfortable.

But it was still Honoka, wearing a T-shirt and hot pants, sitting on the sofa, not very interested in the kotatsu, which puzzled Himo.

"Fanxia-nee? Aren't you cold like that? A warm kotatsu is so cozy~"

Looking at Honoka, who was still sitting on the sofa, holding a tablet computer and doing something, Nozomi suddenly had a strange feeling.

Unaware of what Nozomi was planning, Honoka glanced at the warm-looking kotatsu and then spoke.

"I think I'll pass... I've never really liked kotatsu; they always feel stuffy and make me uncomfortable."

No sooner had she finished speaking than Xi Ling suddenly threw a pair of leggings, still warm from the heat, in front of her, startling Fan Xia.

"Mio, what are you doing..."

Before she could finish speaking, a playful smile appeared on Ximiao's already adorable face.

"Are you really not coming?"

I could see that Xi Ling's hands were doing something inside the kotatsu, and after a while, she took out a pair of pure white panties.

Now, even if Fanxia was slow to understand, she could tell that the boy was tempting her to spend some more time with him in the kotatsu.

however.

No time for Honoka to react. Seeing that she was still hesitating, No time wasted. She threw the panties in her hand at her without hesitation.

Seeing Himo's provocation, no matter how much patience Honoka had, it was useless.

Just as she got up, intending to teach the arrogant Xi Ling a lesson, the sudden ringing of the doorbell made her pause and abruptly change direction.

Before Ximio could react, Fanxia went to the entrance, opened the door, and wanted to see who had come.

As soon as the door opened, she saw two pairs of beautiful, wine-red eyes staring straight at her, which made her tremble slightly. She then forced herself to remain calm and said...

"Ashi, and Arisa... what are you doing?"

Both of them were dressed in very formal kimonos, and there was also a yukata that Mio was wearing inside the room.

She suddenly felt that she didn't fit in with the group because she was dressed casually.

Suddenly, Ashi, who was standing outside the door, spoke.

"I was thinking that since it's still snowing heavily outside, I probably won't be able to go to the temple fair to pray for blessings for the next few days, so I came here to wish you all a Happy New Year~"

Before Fanxia could answer, a thick envelope was shoved into her hand.

"This is?"

"It's New Year's money~ Fanxia, ​​you're probably not married yet, so it's normal for me, as your elder, to give you New Year's money."

As she spoke, she took off her shoes, walked past Fanxia who was standing there dumbfounded at the door, and went inside.

A moment later, Fanxia heard it, and just like before, Ami stuffed the New Year's money into Nozomi's hand in the same way.

She could even hear Xi Ling's happy thank you voice from the entrance hall.

For a moment, only Honoka and Arisa were left at the doorway, staring at each other in an awkward atmosphere.

"So, you're not planning to make up with Mio?"

Finally unable to bear the awkward atmosphere any longer, Fanxia put away her New Year's money and asked the girl in front of her.

Although she didn't want to meddle, it would be best if this despicable devil could break up with Ximiao.

But if this causes Ximiao to become depressed all the time like she did a few days ago, then she'd better not...

When Arisa heard her ask this question, her pretty face unusually showed a hint of impatience.

"I did nothing wrong! I just wanted to give all the good things to Mio, and not only did he not appreciate it, he even started arguing with me!"

"...Fine, you two can handle this yourselves, I'm not going to interfere!"

"I didn't ask you to meddle in my business!"

In just a few words, the two started arguing, neither willing to give in, and walked side by side to the living room.

Ami, who was already sitting in the kotatsu with Nozomi, peeling and eating tangerines, noticed that the two seemed a little off and looked at them with some confusion.

However, Ami obviously didn't notice that the girl sitting next to her, Nozomi, had a flushed face and looked quite strange.

The boy's gaze kept drifting towards the sofa, where his leggings... and panties were.

In other words, he is currently completely unprotected under the kotatsu except for his yukata, but as long as he doesn't say anything, no one else will find out!