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

She couldn't help but think that the sea breeze kept brushing against her pretty face, and walking home like this every day had become one of her few joys.

It would be even better if I weren't so hungry...

a long time.

The familiar door came into view. Just like Nozomi, she easily found the key under the carpet, then swiped the key and pushed the door open.

The sound of water was still coming from the bathroom, so someone was probably taking a shower. It seemed unlikely that I would be able to have a nice hot shower before dinner.

Seeing this, Hachiko didn't hesitate much and went straight to the living room, where she saw Himiko busy preparing dinner in the kitchen.

Hearing the noise behind her, Ximiao turned around curiously and saw that Hachiko was peeking at her from the living room. This made Ximiao's lips curl up slightly as she looked at Hachiko and said.

"Sister Baqi, you're back! Why are you so late today? I did stay in my room for a while before coming to the kitchen to prepare dinner."

After exchanging a few words with Hachiko, Nozomi turned her head back to focus on cooking, since there were still ingredients cooking in the frying pan in front of her.

Seeing that Xi Ling was busy in the kitchen, Ya Yu didn't disturb her any further and sat down on the cushion that Fan Xia and the others hadn't put away, which was covered with a towel.

She picked up the TV remote with a bored expression, changing channels in an attempt to find something interesting to watch, while propping her head up with her other hand, looking quite adorable.

Unfortunately, Nozomi doesn't have time to look at Hachiko's dazed expression right now.

After a while, even Sister Ba, who was sitting in the living room, could smell a wonderful fragrance.

At the same time, for some reason, Arisa, Ami, and Hoka all went to the bathroom to take a shower together, and they also came out of the bathroom one after another.

Since I took the clothes to the bathroom, I didn't need to go back to the bedroom to change into my own clothes.

"Phew~ That feels so good. After playing at the beach all day, a hot shower is the ultimate treat!" Fanxia exclaimed.

However, judging from the situation, Arisa, who was standing to the side, did not seem to have any intention of talking to Nozomi. When she saw Nozomi, who was wearing pajamas and an apron and busy in the kitchen, she only paused for a moment before looking away.

Everyone sat around the table, waiting for Xi Ling to bring out the dinner she had prepared.

After they finished dinner, Hachiko went to the bathroom to take a shower, while Himeko was washing dishes at the kitchen sink.

Despite having work to do, he still pricked up his ears, wanting to hear what was happening in the living room.

"What~ Aren't you going to make up with Xiaomiao yet? You're a good person in every way, except you're so stubborn, so incredibly stubborn."

Seeing that the program playing on TV was too boring, Honoka once again took on the role of psychological counselor and said this to Arisa.

But clearly, the girl wasn't in the mood to talk to her right now. She'd been like that since the meal, and no matter who tried to talk to Arisa, either Hio or anyone else did.

It was those few harsh, provocative words from Honoka that successfully broke Arisa's defenses, prompting her to retort.

Just as Fanxia was getting hoarse from talking, Arisa still hadn't responded. So, she looked to Aunt Ami for help, hoping she could give her some advice on how to deal with the situation.

The beautiful woman who noticed Fanxia's gaze was taken aback for a moment, then shook her head helplessly.

“If this child gets so angry that she doesn’t want to talk to anyone, there’s nothing I can do but wait until she’s completely calmed down.”

Even Aunt Ami said she had no way to win over Arisa, so Nozomi, who was eavesdropping in the kitchen, had no hope of being able to appease Arisa.

Since someone refuses to communicate... then don't blame him for taking a roundabout approach. If he tries to talk to Arisa but she ignores him, then he can simply turn the tables and let Arisa speak first, right?

Xi Ling couldn't help but think this way, and then, as if he had some bad idea in his heart, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl up slightly.

That night.

After Yashiro took a comfortable hot bath, she found that the living room was empty. It seemed that Nozomi and the others had all gone back to their rooms to rest.

Thinking about this, Ba Zi didn't find anything strange. After turning off the living room lights, she went up the stairs to the second floor.

As she passed by Xi Ling's room, she couldn't help but stop. After a moment's hesitation, she gently knocked on his bedroom door.

After waiting for a long time without hearing a response from Himeko, seeing this, although there were some things he wanted to say to Himeko, he decided to wait until tomorrow.

She couldn't help but think this, and then she went straight to her bedroom.

Chapter Forty-Three: Tricks

dong dong dong-

The door was knocked softly, ensuring that only the person inside could hear it, and that no one in other rooms would notice.

Xi Ling was wearing a dinosaur pajama and standing outside the door, her long tail dragging on the floor. She didn't seem to care that she would get her clothes dirty, since she knew best whether the floor was clean or not.

But now, what Hio wants to know is whether the person in the room will open the door for her...

The boy waited outside the door for a while, but he couldn't hear any footsteps coming from inside the room to open the door. In the dark corridor, apart from the faint light leaking from the crack in the door, there was nothing else.

Just as Ximiao thought the door wouldn't be opened and was about to turn around and go back to her room, the crisp sound of the lock being opened reached her ears.

As a beam of light shone into the dark corridor, a tall figure stood at the doorway, looking down at Xi Ling with her beautiful wine-red eyes.

Her unusually cold and aloof face seemed to keep people at arm's length, but Xi Ling seemed not to notice Arisa's expression at all. She walked forward on her own and stared directly into those wine-red eyes without any fear.

The two stared at each other without speaking first. It was unclear how long the silence lasted, but finally, Ximiao couldn't contain herself and spoke first.

"What? Aren't you going to invite me in for a seat?"

"..."

Arisa did not respond to Hiyo's words, seemingly still angry about the embarrassing questions Hiyo had asked her during the truth or dare game earlier that day.

Seeing that she was still blocking the doorway and had no intention of letting Ximiao into the room, Ximiao was not in a hurry. She simply turned around slowly and, under Arisa's gaze, went to the door of another room.

As for whose room it was, both of them knew perfectly well, but neither of them wanted to say it.

As you can see, Arisa, who was originally quite calm and sulking with Nozomi, now had her fists clenched tightly as she desperately suppressed the impulse in her heart.

But Nozomi didn't care about any of that. Since Plan A wasn't working, he had no choice but to use his trump card to give Arisa a good jolt.

then.

With that thought in mind, Nozomi knocked on the door without hesitation.

Unlike Arisa's dawdling manner in opening the door earlier, almost simultaneously after Mio knocked, he heard hurried footsteps rushing to open the door.

When the door was opened, the person inside was taken aback when they saw Himiko standing in front of their door.

"Can I come into the room, Fanxia-nee?"

"Eh?"

She thought that Nozomi had something to say to her, after all, Honoka had seen that Arisa's room door was also open.

So she assumed from the outset that Hiyo went to see Arisa to apologize for what happened today.

But now the situation is completely the opposite. Mio actually said she wanted to come to Arisa's room in front of her. Did she not even bother to put on an act?

Fanxia looked at Ximiao with a puzzled expression, unable to fathom the boy's thoughts.

However, she nodded and made way for Himo to enter her room. Before closing the door, she gave Arisa a meaningful look, who was still standing at the door without moving.

As Fanxia's bedroom door was closed again, only Arisa's door remained open in the dark corridor, the light inside casting a long shadow of the girl.

A complex expression kept flashing in those wine-red eyes, as if they were doubting whether their decision was correct.

Even though she wanted to go and bring Hiyo back, Arisa, out of pride, stood there for a long time before finally sighing helplessly, closing the door, and returning to her own room.

On the other side, turning around to look at Himo, who was already sitting on the edge of her soft bed, wearing a little dinosaur pajama, Honoka couldn't help but scratch her head.

"What's wrong with you two? Mio, what are you trying to do, coming into my room in front of Arisa? Aren't you afraid she'll hold you accountable?"

She asked with a hint of doubt, even though she was quite happy that Xiling came to her room to be her pillow while she slept...

After hearing Honoka's question, Nozomi was taken aback for a moment, then looked at Honoka, who was still standing at the door and had not come over, and said.

"Why do you ask that? I just came to your room after talking to Arisa about some things~"

"Do you think I believe it?"

Fanxia glared at Ximiao, who was spouting nonsense, and couldn't help but scold her.

Seeing that her little thoughts couldn't escape Fanxia's eyes, Ximiao couldn't help but smile awkwardly before saying...

"If I tell you, you can't be angry, okay?"

"Okay, I won't be angry, go ahead and say it~"

After saying this, Fanxia found a cushion and sat down not far in front of Ximiao, making it look like she was ready to listen attentively.

Xi Ling also told Fan Xia how he planned to provoke the girl who was still angry with him, just like Fan Xia used trash talk to provoke Arisa.

As Xi Ling finished speaking, the room fell silent. Two pairs of eyes, almost identical in color, stared at each other silently.

Ximiao looked at Fanxia with some trepidation, afraid that Fanxia might be angry with him for using her to make Arisa angry.

Contrary to her expectations, when Fanxia realized what Xiling had come to her room to do, the corners of her mouth couldn't help but curl up slightly.

"OK."

"Eh?"

Ximiao was clearly taken aback by what she had just said and instinctively paused for a moment.

However, as if afraid that Nozomi would change her mind, Fanxia quickly stood up, walked over and pushed Nozomi down onto the soft bed.

Strands of her silvery-white hair brushed against his cheek, and the familiar scent of Fanxia wafted from the bedding behind him.

For a moment, Ximiao almost forgot why he came here. After a quick adjustment of his mindset, a mischievous smile that was familiar to Fanxia appeared on his cute face.

Then, unsurprisingly, we heard Ximio speak softly.

"I have no objection to what you want to do next, Honoka-nee~ It would be better if you could leave some obvious trace so that Arisa would see it~"

"……it is good."

Fanxia couldn't help but swallow, and then she leaned her head forward, their pink lips touching.

As the lights in the room were completely turned off, all that remained were the heavy breathing of the two people.

……

……

The next day.

Arisa, who had barely slept all night, came down to the living room early. She propped her head up with one hand and watched the morning program playing on the TV across the street with a bored expression.

Two faint dark circles remained on her fair and pretty face, as if telling of her inner turmoil last night.