Shota is surrounded by monsters!

Rea turned to look at Shota and asked in a pleading tone, "Is the school... alright?"

"School? Oh, that. I should be able to go to school now, right? As long as I'm not worried about the sun. Rei goes to an all-girls school, right? Where is it?"

Rei quickly found a map of her school's location online. The route she and Shota took to get to school was a little longer, but not particularly far; it would only take an extra 20 minutes.

“Then Mashiro and I will take you to school first every day, and then we’ll go. After school, we’ll pick you up on our way.” Shota hesitated for a moment, then asked, “Can’t you transfer to our school?”

"I think... my father probably won't agree. Besides, I don't want to have too much contact with boys..."

Rei whispered her thoughts. In fact, from her perspective, it seemed better to have Mashiro and Shota transfer to her school.

Ok?

Rea examined Shota's face and thought that if she were to dress up, she could portray him as a spirited young girl. So she imagined Shota dressed as a woman. Besides, Shota usually hides a tail anyway, so hiding something else shouldn't be noticed, right?

Chapter 54. Comeback

"Kousaka-kun, you've recovered?"

"Ah, well, at least you can come to class now, Hanekawa-kun." Shota greeted his class representative, Hanekawa Tsubasa, a girl with glasses, long hair, and very well-developed breasts. To put it simply, she's the type of girl with large breasts and glasses.

However, setting aside her appearance that attracted the attention of many boys, she was practically a top-notch class monitor, treating all students equally and kindly. Shota and Mashiro had received a lot of care from her when they first transferred, so Shota still held a certain amount of respect for this class monitor.

These days, there are too few class monitors who genuinely want to serve their classmates...

Shota held up the cast on his hand—which was actually filled with all sorts of portable food—to indicate that although his injury wasn't fully healed, it was almost there.

"Really? That's good."

Hanekawa Tsubasa gave a heartwarming smile and said, "Be careful in the future, and make sure this kind of accident never happens again."

"Yes Yes."

Shota scratched the back of his head with his other hand, and after agreeing, said, "Thank you for your concern."

With that, Shota led Mashiro back to the spot they hadn't been to for almost a week. After putting their backpacks away, they greeted Senjougahara, who was quietly reading a book in the corner, saying, "Yo, good morning, Senjougahara."

"I already greeted them an hour ago. I'm quite surprised that some people can say 'good morning' twice to the same person in the same morning. Or perhaps your brain, which has so many more cells than others, can't remember things from an hour ago? Come to think of it, single-celled organisms don't seem to have memories..."

"I have deeply realized my mistake. Please retract your assessment of me as a single-celled organism."

Shota said something to Senjougahara with a grin, which earned him curious looks from his classmates and friends around him.

"Hey, Kousaka-kun, you're not dating Senjougahara-san, are you?"

"That's true, it's rare to see Senjougahara getting so close to other boys."

"I heard they live very close by? Could they have known each other before they transferred schools? When Kousaka was injured, Senjougahara seemed to be taking leave quite often as well."

"..."

Hearing his classmates' comments, Shota glanced at Senjougahara, who didn't seem to care at all, and decided not to bother explaining—it was too much trouble for him to explain such things.

"truth."

"Ok?"

"Time to get ready for class."

Shota yawned as he sat on the stool, placed the books for the next class on her and his own desks, and then reminded her, "Don't forget what you should and shouldn't do at school."

Shota was clearly worried about Mashiro; after all, she hadn't been to school for so long, and he couldn't let anything go wrong.

"Ah."

Mashiro nodded. Although she was a true single-celled organism, she still remembered such things.

The morning classes were mostly history, social studies, and physical education. Of course, Shota, with his hand still bandaged, didn't have to attend PE. So he could sit on the sidelines and watch the girls work up a sweat. Especially Mashiro, who could now do some exercises quite well.

"Kousaka-kun, your hand?"

"Oh, it's nothing."

The boy who spoke to Shota was from his class—Araragi Koyomi… no, Araragi Koyomi. His surname was the rather strange Araragi, and his given name was simply Koyomi.

To be honest, he's a boy who doesn't seem to have many friends. The reason he's with Shota today is because he twisted his ankle while running earlier.

"I'll be fine after a few days of rest. Although my character is a bit flawed, my recovery ability is top-notch."

Shota laughed and made a joke, then saw Mashiro wave at him, so he responded in the same way. As for Senjougahara, who had never participated in physical education class before, she started to sit in on it—although Shota thought her physique was probably better than most of the girls present.

"Is that right?"

Araragi Koyomi was silent for a moment after seeing Mashiro's smiling face. Then, as if he had thought of something, he said, "Kousaka... your little sister is very cute."

Shota turned his head warily, looking at Araragi Koyomi with a terrifying gaze.

"Ah, no." After seeing Shota's gaze, he looked up at the blue sky and explained, "I also have younger sisters, two of them. But... we're always fighting. Unlike you siblings, who are the envy of many."

"Uh, oh, this."

Although Shota and Mashiro aren't technically siblings, their relationship is actually far better than that of ordinary siblings. After hearing Araragi Koyomi's words, Shota organized his thoughts and said, "That's true, but whether you're bullied or your sister is bullied, the other person will definitely be angry, right? It's just that every family's siblings get along differently."

"Is that so... But at home, I'm always the most ordinary one. My older sister is athletic and my younger sister is brilliant, but I'm the only older brother who's so ordinary..."

"Ordinary doesn't necessarily mean bad."

Shota asserted, "The more unusual a younger sister is, the more likely she is to have a strong brother complex towards her ordinary older brother."

"Uh, is that really true?"

"um, yes."

Shota nodded, then extended his undamaged hand toward Araragi Koyomi, saying, "Shota Kousaka, nice to meet you."

"Ah. Araragi Koyomi. Nice to meet you."

Araragi Koyomi patted Shota's hand; come to think of it, this was the first time the two had actually spoken. But as brothers who both had "little sisters," they quickly found common ground.

Time flew by as the two exchanged stories about his sister. Of course, Shota told them modified versions; he wouldn't dare tell Araragi that "my little sister turns into water when she gets excited" was a cute detail.

"But it really is huge."

"Oh...you mean Hanekawa-san?"

Shota followed Araragi Koyomi's gaze and said, "For his age, it is indeed quite impressive. But, so Araragi-kun likes this type?"

"Hikawa has a great personality and is very pretty, so quite a few boys in the class like her. Unfortunately, she's rather aloof, no, she's gentle yet aloof. She definitely won't give you any chance to have any other ideas."

Araragi Koyomi stood up and said, "I was just saying it offhand. Alright, get out of class dismissed."

"Okay, I'm going back."

During lunch break, Shota ran to the junior high section and found Rikuro and Rikuo—his mother, knowing that Shota and Rikuo lived in the same school, kindly made a bento for both of them. Shota always readily accepted food, and after buying juice for Mashiro, he contentedly ate both bentos together before calling the errand-running yokai, Yuki-onna, to come and collect the bento boxes.

"Why should I serve a monster like you on the side?!"

Oikawa Hirei said indignantly, "My duty is to protect the young master, not to run errands for you."

"Tsk."

Shota smacked his lips. Every time he saw the Yuki-onna after a meal, he always had the urge to eat her as dessert. Of course, he also knew that the Yuki-onna had served Rikuo since childhood, which was practically the idea of ​​her being his pre-ordained yokai wife. Eating her was unrealistic.

"I'm a high-ranking demon official, after all, Bingli."

Shota glanced to the other side and said, "Do you have any sisters? Brothers are out of the question."

"Huh? Why are you asking that?"

"I was just asking casually."

“Then I won’t answer.” Oikawa Hirei turned and ran off, saying, “I have to go back to the young master.”

"Ah. I really want to raise an Ice Maiden in the summer and a Fire Maiden in the winter."

"what about me?"

Mashiro looked up at Shota, her mouth still gurgling with juice.

"For use in the Spring and Autumn Period."

Shota patted Mashiro's head and said, "Go back to class."

How do I use it?

"I'll put you in the house to increase humidity and cool you down at the same time."

"Well……"

"So how do you want to use it?"

"When held in the mouth, it feels like an ice cube..."

"Don't indulge in pointless fantasies."

"Well……"

This morning, Shota left for school with Rea and Senjougahara. Of course, halfway there, they separated from Senjougahara and took Rea to school first. Shota asked Rikuo for the leader of the Oni Girl Group's phone number and asked her to send him a small black umbrella, so now Rea doesn't need to cover herself up completely when she goes out; she only needs to carry an umbrella.

Sanka Danichiro has already gone to America. He only met with Rea once before leaving, and then boarded a plane to search for extraordinary people and events. Whether Rea likes it or not, he must be fully prepared.

So, with her consent, Rea can finally go to school. Although Shota really wants Rea to transfer to his school, as she said, she's still a little afraid of boys. It seems he'll have to wait for another opportunity to bring it up.

After school, Shota, who had no club activities, took Mashiro and headed towards Rea's school.

"Shouta-kun~Mashiro-chan~"

Upon seeing Shota, Rea, who had been waiting at the school gate, suddenly broke into a smile. Holding a black umbrella, she apologized to the female students around her and walked towards Shota amidst their surprised gazes.

"How was it? Long-awaited campus life?"

Shota took the umbrella from Rea and held it for her before asking a question. But seeing the smile on her face, it must have gone very smoothly.

"Remi..."

Mashiro whispered Rei's name, as if reminding her of something.

"Hey, here I am." Rea took out an unlabeled can from her bag and said, "It's a special mixed juice from Sanhua Girls' Academy. You can't buy it anywhere else."

After handing the items to Mashiro, Rea answered Shota's question, "Yeah, it went smoothly~ In PE class today, I discovered I could dunk. But I almost broke the rim, so I'll have to be more careful next time."

"...You performed exceptionally well..."

Shota whispered a reminder: "It wouldn't be good if there were paranormal people in the school too."

"Eh... But, I have absolutely no idea how to tell the difference." Rea said with a hint of lingering fear, then suddenly clapped her hands and exclaimed, "Hey! Shota-kun!"

"how?"