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

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door of the ward.

"Mio~ I'm back!"

Fanxia, ​​who came in with a cheerful expression, greeted the boy lying on the hospital bed with a happy smile.

But people's joys and sorrows are not shared. The unexpectedly heavy atmosphere in the ward made Fanxia pause for a moment.

Then he asked, "What's wrong with you all?"

"Um... By the way, what did the doctor say to you, Honoka-nee?"

Skipping over the question asked by Fanxia, ​​Ximiao looked curiously toward the doorway and then saw a figure in a white coat.

Before Fanxia could respond, the doctor who had followed her stepped forward and spoke.

"Now, Mio, go get a simple check-up. If everything is fine, I'll give you special permission to be discharged now."

"Eh?!"

Unexpectedly, Sister Fanxia actually succeeded. Ximiao suddenly sat up in bed, looking very surprised.

"but……"

"but?"

"You need to be back at the hospital by 8 p.m. tonight. Can you do that?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the doctor saw the adorable boy nodding his head frantically, a sight that made everyone chuckle.

While there was still time, after removing the needle from the back of Himo's hand, he followed the doctor to get checked out.

For a moment, only Honoka, Arisa, and the other two were left in the ward, staring at each other blankly. With Nozomi gone, they didn't know what to do.

"It's only a little past eight o'clock... Let's go back to the apartment first, let Mio take a good shower, and then Arisa and I can go to the cultural festival, okay?"

Fanxia suddenly said this.

Upon hearing that Ximiao could go back to take a shower, the mother and daughter were stunned... What about the embarrassing thing they had just experienced?

While Arisa and Aunt Ami were feeling so awkward in the ward that they were questioning their existence, Nozomi, who had followed the doctor into a strange room, lay down on the bed in the middle as instructed.

"Lift up your clothes, I'll put on some vital signs monitors for you, just in case you go into shock, I can call an ambulance immediately."

"it is good--"

a long time.

After returning to her ward and changing out of her hospital gown, Ximiao followed Fanxia to complete the temporary discharge procedures.

As for Aunt Asi and Arisa, they went to the door and called a taxi.

In order to have a great day at the cultural festival with Arisa, Nozomi rushed back to her apartment, washed herself thoroughly, and even used some of Honoka's conditioner.

He changed into casual clothes in his room, told Fanxia, ​​and took the elevator downstairs to Arisa's house.

At the entrance, Xi Ling was already ready to leave, carrying a small shoulder bag, and peering into the house.

"Arisa~ Aren't you ready yet?"

He couldn't help but urge him on.

Meanwhile, Arisa, who was still in the bedroom picking out clothes, quickly replied, "Right away!"

As a result, Ximiao waited for more than ten minutes at the entrance before seeing the carefully dressed girl arrive late.

Sorry to have kept you waiting.

Arisa gave a slightly embarrassed apology, even though the clothes she wore when she visited Nozomi in the hospital that morning were quite nice.

But if I were to wear it on a date with Nozomi... it would always feel a bit underwhelming.

Looking at Arisa in front of me, wearing hot pants and a tank top, with black over-the-knee socks that left a shallow mark on her fleshy thighs.

Originally, Hiyo was a little resentful because she had waited for so long, but all her bad feelings vanished the moment she saw Arisa.

"Mio?"

Seeing that the boy did not respond to her for a long time, Arisa thought he was angry and tentatively called out to him.

"Huh? Arisa, did you say anything just now?"

Coming to her senses, Xi Ling abruptly withdrew her burning gaze and asked somewhat awkwardly.

Are you angry, Mio?

"Huh? No, how could that be! I just... thought your outfit was really nice, so I was just staring at it for a bit."

Xi Ling quickly explained that she hadn't meant to ignore her, and the girl breathed a sigh of relief, a smile returning to her pretty face.

The two, who were both ready to leave, walked to the station together with Nozomi after Arisa put on her shoes.

Along the way, besides Arisa's cool and refreshing outfit attracting the attention of passersby, Nozomi was equally eye-catching.

Her already adorable face, due to her special condition, had a sickly pale complexion, making her look even more endearing.

Even Arisa, who sat behind him, couldn't help but rub his little head, as if he were treating a beloved doll, and Nozomi quite enjoyed it.

"Does anything feel uncomfortable?"

Although he had received permission from the doctor to go out and have fun, Arisa was still a little worried and asked about his condition.

"No, it's nothing. I just ate the wrong thing. Besides, what Fanxia made shouldn't have landed me in the hospital twice, right?"

Nozomi couldn't help but tease him like that.

Just as they were chatting idly, the tram slowly pulled up beside the platform.

"Alright, we should go now."

After patting Himeko on the shoulder, the boy got off Arisa's lap on his own, silently took her soft, boneless little hand, and walked out of the train car.

"By the way, Mio... I think I just saw something stuck to your clothes. What was that?"

Remembering the thing she had accidentally glimpsed on Nozomi's body earlier, Arisa asked with some curiosity.

"That's a vital signs monitor the doctor put on me. He said it's in case something happens to me outside the hospital, so this makes it easier to monitor my condition..."

"It's just a simple case of food poisoning, but the doctor is making a big deal out of it."

She wondered if the monitoring system could hear him talking about the cricket doctor behind her back.

As the two of them walked hand in hand into the school, the aroma of fried noodles wafting from the roadside stalls immediately whetted Ximiao's appetite.

"What? Mio, do you want to eat that? Didn't you just have breakfast at the hospital?"

Following Hiyo's gaze, they also saw Arisa at the fried noodle stall. Although she said that, she was very obedient and led Hiyo over there.

"How about we buy one and share it, Arisa?"

She silently wiped away the drool that had accidentally spilled from her mouth, and the boy's light blue eyes stared intently at her pretty face.

Arisa, unable to withstand Nozomi's intense gaze, finally gave in and said helplessly.

"Okay~ I'll just buy one and share it with you, Mio."

The thought of that greasy fried noodles made Arisa worry about her weight and skin.

Although she didn't know if demons would be afraid of these things, she still wanted to take precautions.

after awhile.

Carrying steaming hot fried noodles, the two sat under the shade of a tree, each holding a glass of ice-cold lemonade to cleanse their palates.

"Hurry up and eat~ Once we're full, we'll officially go to the cultural festival to have some fun!"

As Arisa held a fork and twirled some fried noodles, she said this to Himo.

"Good~"

however.

Not far away, in a corner unnoticed by Hiyo and Arisa, a girl in an ill-fitting school uniform was staring intently at the two of them with her beautiful eyes.

"...Great, he can openly show off his affection like that. It seems he doesn't need my help as his strategist at all..."

Hanako, who was nearly scared out of her wits by Ami yesterday, couldn't help but complain about the scene before her.

But then, seemingly sensing a strange gaze, Arisa suddenly raised her head and looked around, which startled Hanako so much that she quickly hid behind a tree trunk.

She finally breathed a sigh of relief, silently chirping to herself.

"Old and young, none of them are easy to deal with... damned demons!"

However, completely unaware of Hanako's resentful appearance, Nozomi asked after seeing the strange look on the girl's face.

"What happened, Arisa?"

"No, it's nothing, maybe it's just my imagination..."

After repeatedly checking several times but still unable to find the source of that strange gaze, Arisa shrugged and turned her attention back to Nozomi beside her.

After picking up her fork and taking a bite of the fried noodles, her eyes lit up.

"This fried noodle dish tastes pretty good! There's not too much oil, just the right amount, it's really nice!"

Upon hearing that Arisa actually liked the flavor, Nozomi took the opportunity to boast to her.

"This is what Fanxia told me yesterday. She said the fried noodles here are really delicious, so I wanted to try them."

"Huh? Is that so?"

Arisa said with some surprise.

Taking advantage of the fact that the cultural festival had just opened to the public and there weren't too many people yet, Nozomi and Arisa were able to sit together under the shade of a tree, eating fried noodles and chatting.

Chapter Fifty-Eight: Re-entering the Haunted House

"Really... do we really have to come in here? Didn't we already do this once in Hokkaido?"

Looking at the classroom in front of me, which had been transformed into a haunted house, the promotional posters even had mottled bloodstains painted in red paint, which looked quite frightening.

Even though the two of them were still in line, Nozomi was already having second thoughts and couldn't help but persuade Arisa next to her to try a different activity.