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It was the following morning to that sweet night in Castle’ Seyfert’s garden…

“Mm…I must’ve fallen asleep…it feels…soft…and warm…”

As Kou was slowly roused from her sleep, she noticed a strange soft sensation, wrapping around her.

“…?!?!?!?!”

When her sleepiness finally stopped blurring her vision, she recognized the face of her childhood friend sleeping right in front of her eyes, instantly dispelling all remaining drowsiness..

*Wait, what were we doing last night?!*

Retracing her foggy memories, she remembered logging out from Destiny Unchain Online and taking a bath…during which Hijiri dropped by, followed by them going to the same bed and…
Kou ripped the blanket off herself…and revealed that both she and Hijiri were properly clothed in pajamas, instantly producing a sigh of deep relief.
Nothing had happened, she had just received some blood… Kou’s memories were clear again, but all the stress she had built up left her exhausted again, letting herself fall onto her mattress.

*Oh right, I took her blood.*

Something else began bothering her, as she reached out to pull aside the collar of Hijiri’s pajama, which remained unfastened, being very careful to not wake her up.

“…Good, there’s no marks.”

Kou’s voice quickly eased out, all her worries dispelled.
At first she would only take blood from Hijiri’s fingertip, eventually going to her wrist, until the previous night when she went straight for Hijiri’s neck.
The thought of leaving a mark on her filled her with despair and regret, but luckily there was nothing… The old scar from their childhood was there, but nothing from the previous night.

…It was just like Amari had said, “Your saliva possesses anesthetic properties and promotes cell regeneration, a good lick when you’re done and it’ll be fine.”
That was a left-over trait that made it easier for them to cohabitate with humans, which was not really the answer Kou was expecting, but she also decided it was best to stop thinking about the traits of fantasy creatures that seemed too convenient.

With everything settled, Kou remained there, watching Hijiri’s sleeping face from nearby.

“…Kou?”

Hijiris’ eyes opened, instantly meeting Kou’s.

“Ah…umm…I was just…umm…”
“Heheh… Good morning, Kou.”

Kou’s face retracted and turned red, desperately trying to explain, and Hijiri just smiled softly and giggled. Then, after a deep breath…Kou finally voiced the idea she had been concocting while watching Hijiri earlier.

“Say…later today…do you wanna go hang out somewhere?”

She was…asking her out on a date.

***

“Look, look, there’s red pandas!”

Hijiri shrieked with excitement, pulling Kou after her, who on one hand was firmly attached to Hijiri’s hand, while the other carried a parasol, as it was a clear day.
Together they reached a good spot to watch…a group of red pandas happily rolling around the snow and chasing each other.

“Ohh, they’re so cute playing around happily like that.”
“Mhm mhm, I guess they don’t mind the cold.”

Watching those lively red pandas kicking up snow and jumping around made both the girls smile as they watched.

…They were currently in a zoo that had been in the city for a long time.
Since Hijiri had said “I want to see cute animals,” the decision was made for their date, and they headed out to the city in winter.
Despite their largely different appearances, both girls were beautiful, and as they walked around, hand-in-hand, they attracted a lot of attention, causing Kou to constantly look around her.

That also led her to notice a tall rock for monkeys…and a Japanese monkey sitting atop, engrossed in eating something purple.

“Ah, look there! That monkey is eating a roasted sweet potato.”

The zoo’s staff were grilling sweet potatoes for the monkeys not too far away too.

“Oh you’re right, a sweet potato sounds so good…”
“Ahahah, I saw a stall outside selling them, should we get some later?”
“Yes, we should!”

They had been walking out in the cold winter breeze for a while, which would make a freshly roasted sweet potato all the more delicious to warm up.
They discussed what to get to eat for a while longer…then laughed at the hippopotamus delightfully bathing in warm water, took shelter from the cold in the reptile section, only for Hijiri to constantly shriek at the snakes. Time went on like that, strolling around wherever their whims took them.

“Winter break is almost over too.”

They watched the setting sun as Hijiri blurted that.
Winter break, with its many new encounters, valuable new experiences…it would all come to an end on the next weekend, and their third school period would start.
On one hand, it was exciting getting to meet all their classmates again, but it was also disappointing to think of all their free time being cut short again.

“And there’s another performance evaluation test right after.”
“Ahahah…I don’t want to think about that…”

Teasingly mentioning that made Hijiri instantly shake her head in terror. Kou chuckled dryly seeing that, but there was something else in her mind.
…Once the last testing period of her first year in high school ended, a far more important battle would begin, one she could not afford to lose.
Maybe that was the true reason why she had asked Hijiri out on a date, to distract herself from the pressure of preparing for that.
Her mind was soon engulfed in negative thoughts…until Hijiri’s hand added a bit of pressure on hers.

“It’ll be fine.”
“…Hm?”
“You’re always working hard and trying your best, so I’m sure everything will work out this time too.”

Hijiri’s cheerful voice quickly eased the stress weighing on Kou’s shoulders, letting her relax a little.

“You’re right. Even if it doesn’t go as planned, we’ll make it work somehow, all of us.”
“Mhm mhm, that’s the Scarlet Demon Lord I know.”

Her unwavering trust reassured Kou, who nodded firmly.

“Alright… So let’s just have fun for today! Nothing bad will happen.”
“Okay, okay, I get it. So where next, your highness?”
“Ah, the petting area is about to open. Should we go check it out?”
“Your wish is my command.”

Kou playfully bowed respectfully, before they locked eyes and broke out laughing… Soon they were on the way, holding hands again.