Seiji accidentally encouraged his junior.

Even though he was somewhat worried about Hos.h.i.+ joining the drama club… it wouldn’t be a problem, right?

Seiji wanted to convince himself to not worry about it.

But it was that drama club!

There was the strange club president there, as well as Chiaki, who had already committed the previous crime of encouraging Hos.h.i.+ to wear female clothing. It was also possible that there were even more strange members were lurking there. If Hos.h.i.+ Amami entered that demon’s lair, just what would end up happening to him!?

‘Am… I doing something bad by encouraging him to join drama club?'

‘But that’s something Hos.h.i.+ himself wanted to do. All I did was give him some encouragement. Even if I didn’t say anything, he probably would have done the same thing himself.'

‘Yep, that’s right, it was his choice. I was merely admiring his proactiveness and responded to it.’

Should he forcefully prevent Hos.h.i.+ from joining the drama club?

No—no matter what, Seiji wasn’t that type of person.

Seiji decided to stop thinking about this matter.

After watching that performance, they explored the school festival for a while longer, before finis.h.i.+ng up for the day.

After saying goodbye to Hos.h.i.+, Seiji and the ladies headed to the activity stand at the entrance and exchanged their emblems for the entry tickets to tomorrow’s special large-scale laser tag activity as well as equipment for it.

"Alright, I’ll take Mayuzumi home," Saki said. "Go on home, or do whatever you like, Harano."

Her tone sounded like she was giving orders to a subordinate, but Seiji already understood the editor’s personality. He knew that this was her way of saying, "You worked hard today, thank you very much. There’s no need to trouble you anymore today, so please go home and take a rest."

"Okay. I still have some things I want to buy, so I’ll see the two of you tomorrow." Seiji smiled. "I had lots of fun today."

"I had fun as well… see you tomorrow, Harano-kun." Mayuzumi also smiled.

"See you tomorrow, Harano." Saki said goodbye as well.

And so, they went their separate ways.

After Seiji watched the manga author and editor leave, he turned around and re-entered the school.

He headed for the infirmary as he'd already purchased everything that the blonde-haired infirmary nurse had requested, and he'd remembered to buy a souvenir for s.h.i.+ka at the school festival.

At the infirmary, Seiji and Kaede simply chatted until Kaede’s s.h.i.+ft was over.

The two of them went back to the Uehara apartment complex together.

Kaede was secretly pleased at this, as this was the first time they had ever walked home together.

Even though she knew that Seiji was more concerned about Mika than her currently, she was still delighted.

Although it was small, it was still progress for her.

"After dinner, I’ll go meet Uehara-san and try and see if I can help her by talking to her," said the blonde teacher when they reached the apartment.

"I’ll leave it up to you, Juumonji-sensei." Seiji was worried about Mika’s situation, but, unfortunately, he was currently facing quite a large problem.

Tonight at eight o’clock…

He felt some pressure from it, but when he walked in front of his apartment’s door, he forced himself to calm down and smiled naturally.

Then, he opened the door.

"I’m home, s.h.i.+ka-chan."

He saw a clean house… it was incredibly clean everywhere!

The floors, the walls, the windows, the furniture, and even the ceiling… everything that was cleanable had been cleaned and every surface seemed to be sparkling.

's.h.i.+ka-chan must have done a lot of cleaning today,' Seiji thought as he glanced around the room.

Seiji's adopted sister strode into the living room a few seconds after he entered the apartment, still carrying the souvenir he bought for her.

"Welcome home, Brother Seiji."

While she was at home, s.h.i.+ka Kagura had only done two things: clean and write her novel.

Earlier today, the landlord had also visited and greeted her. s.h.i.+ka greeted Nozomi Uehara politely in return, but she a.s.sumed her usual cold personality, distancing herself from Nozomi’s friendliness.

Even though she had a family member now, her condition was unchanged. She still had the ‘Reaper’s Curse,’ so she would still keep others at a distance.

She was happy that her adopted brother brought a gift back for her, but, to her, it didn’t matter either way. She would be happy as long as he came back.

Afterwards, the two of them went to an electronics store.

They purchased an LCD television and a large refrigerator, arranging for them to be delivered back to their apartment and a.s.sembled for them by the evening.

They also went to the supermarket to buy for some ingredients for dinner.

s.h.i.+ka wanted to make dinner by herself, but Seiji insisted on helping.

Together, they made an abundant meal.

They felt even more like a family than yesterday.

s.h.i.+ka was enjoying this feeling of bliss.

However, after was.h.i.+ng the dishes, Seiji told her that what he'd feared had come for him.

"That’s how it is… I need to go, and I don’t know when I’ll be back. I might be late getting home." He tried explaining the situation in as light a tone of voice as possible. "It’s just like what I said earlier this morning. I’ll be fine, so don’t worry."

"I’ve experienced a Yin-Yang Master duel already, and this time I’m only facing a Spirit-branded Retainer. I’ll be alright; there's no need to worry."

s.h.i.+ka looked at him searchingly.

She was unable to keep calm.

How was it possible for her to not worry?

Before, when he was partic.i.p.ating in the duel, she had waited in her room. That painful feeling of only waiting but being unable to do anything welled up within her again.

Seiji saw that his adopted sister remained silent and didn’t know what to say.

He had a sudden impulse… if it was difficult to put in words, then he would just use his actions.

He stood up, gently pulled the black-haired girl to him, and enveloped her in his embrace while softly patting her head.

‘Just like last time, I’ll return safely. That’s why you just need to wait for me.’

Seiji attempted to transmit such a message.

s.h.i.+ka felt such a message from him.

Her eyes flashed with an indescribable light, before she closed them and hugged him back, feeling his warmth.

Not long after, Seiji headed out.

He had already checked out Nagawa Amus.e.m.e.nt Park beforehand.

Nagawa Amus.e.m.e.nt Park was an abandoned amus.e.m.e.nt park that had gone out of business six years ago. For some unknown reason, nothing was ever done to the empty amus.e.m.e.nt park, and now it just stood there in ruins. The rides were now rusty hunks of metal, and an innumerable amount of wild weeds had sprung up on the grounds... or at least that was how it appeared on the surface.

When Seiji hailed a taxi and told the driver he wanted to go to Nagawa Amus.e.m.e.nt Park, it was only natural that the driver was somewhat confused.

"Are you thinking about going inside there, young man?" The middle-aged driver chatted with Seiji as he drove.

Seiji simply smiled without answering.

"It’s best that you don’t go inside, especially at this time of night. I heard that there are ghosts there. I’ve heard rumors," the kind-hearted driver explained, "that strange sounds can be heard from there, as well as strange lights such as floating fireb.a.l.l.s. It went out of business six years ago; apparently, it was because of an accident where someone died, so people stopped visiting and the park became unprofitable. There’s even a rumor that some bored youngsters went there on a dare, and they all vanished and haven’t been found to this day."

Seiji didn’t pay too much attention to these rumors.

But then he suddenly realized, what if that abandoned amus.e.m.e.nt park was a place specially set aside for Yin-Yang Master duels?

Hmm… this seemed quite possible.

That would be the explanation for it remaining abandoned for six years without anyone redeveloping the place, as well as the strange sounds and lights. As for people going missing… if this was true, they might have been killed to keep the Yin-Yang Masters hidden from society.

Time pa.s.sed as he imagined various random possibilities.

The taxi reached Nagawa Amus.e.m.e.nt Park.

The abandoned amus.e.m.e.nt park was wreathed in darkness; no lights could be seen within the grounds.

Honestly speaking, it seemed a little scary.

After Seiji paid the driver his fare, the driver sped away.

Seiji stood there at the park’s entrance, motionless for a while.

Should he wait here, or enter?

He figured that he should wait here.

It was so large inside, and he had no clue where to go exactly, as Iroha hadn’t told him a specific location.

There was a breeze blowing tonight, which made him feel slightly cold.

"You came… Tsk." A figure appeared on top of the park’s entrance.