Chapter 11: Encountering Something Dirty
It started to drizzle outside.
The hazy night seemed to isolate this room from the outside world.
After taking a shower, Nagi and Kanade were sitting at the table in the living room.
In front of them was a pile of papers brought back from the Super Self-Research bookshelf.
They needed to find the Super Self-Research publication that recorded “Supernatural Phenomena: Shy Dokidoki-chan Observing You from the Shadows (Part 2),” or the draft sheets that were once used as a manuscript.
They were gathering more information about the curse on Nagi.
However, from the very beginning, Kanade had been restless.
The pale skin filling a corner of his view made it difficult for him to concentrate.
Nagi’s usually bright and smooth black hair was tied up high, exposing her neck, which was as flawless as jade.
On her well-proportioned and lovely face, she wore a pair of pale pink non-prescription glasses.
This neutralized her usually lively and energetic impression, while her fair and beautiful profile highlighted her gentle and intellectual side.
“Um? What’s wrong?”
Nagi seemed to notice Kanade’s gaze and tilted her head in confusion.
At that moment, the true source of Kanade’s distraction became apparent.
Nagi was wearing a white tank top draped over her gradually developing curves and only home shorts that barely covered her upper thighs.
Her skin, freshly washed and blushing like a water lily, was largely exposed.
Whether it was her smooth, bare shoulders, the gentle curves of her chest, or her plump, rounded thighs, they all radiated an irresistible charm that Kanade found hard to ignore.
Especially when Nagi turned and unconsciously spread her long legs, a hint of water blue peeked from the loose shorts, making his heart race.
Dressed in such an unguarded and cool manner, Nagi left Kanade, a pubescent boy newly aware of his feelings, completely unsure of where to direct his gaze.
He could only forcibly shift his attention back to the papers in front of him.
But it wasn’t working well.
“Kanade-kun, why is your face a bit red?”
“B-because I just took a shower…”
“But your hands are trembling…”
“This is just enthusiasm for the upcoming work…”
“You’re lying~”
Nagi’s attractive eyebrows lifted slightly, her eyes gleaming with a teasing hint, as if saying, “Do you think you can fool me?”
“Actually, Kanade-kun, you’re…”
Uh-oh!? Did she notice that I was looking at Nagi with an opposite-gender perspective? Kanade’s heart leaped.
How would she react? Happy? Disgusted?
Kanade couldn’t help but shut his eyes, afraid to see Nagi’s expression at that moment, like a prisoner awaiting execution.
“…You’re afraid of evil spirits, right?”
“…Ah, yes… so scary~” Kanade read off, feeling the weight lift off his chest.
Good, it’s just like usual; Nagi is indeed wonderful.
Looking at Nagi’s triumphant expression, Kanade couldn’t help but retort, “By the way, it seems like you’re not really that scared, are you, Nagi?”
Clearly, he was the one cursed.
“Uh… because Dokidoki-chan sounds like just a shy, innocent child afraid of loneliness?”
“By only appearing next to beautiful girls, it’s already out of the innocent category…”
“Is that so? Then why was I cursed? Could it be that I count as a beautiful girl?” Nagi said, her face flushed with joy and shyness as she shyly covered her cheeks with her hands.
What is this child saying at this point? If you don’t count as a beautiful girl, then the standards for beautiful girls are too high.
“Do you think so too, Kanade-kun?”
“Umm… I guess…”
At times like this, Kanade always hated himself for not being able to speak his mind straightforwardly.
“Thank you~ I’m very happy~”
And Nagi was always able to express her feelings candidly at such times.
This made Kanade admire and envy Nagi’s sincere personality.
At the same time, he felt worried about the future of someone like Nagi, who was “innocent, kind, and did not know how to lie, like an angel incarnate.”
“If that’s the case, it seems Dokidoki-chan is quite similar to Kanade-kun~”
“Me?”
“Afraid of loneliness, easily shy, and always staying by my side…”
After pondering for a while, Kanade realized that it indeed seemed so.
Was there really any difference between him and this evil spirit named Dokidoki-chan?
“But there are also some, no, very different aspects from Kanade-kun…”
Nagi leaned her arms on the table, supporting her chin with her palms, staring at Kanade with eyes full of twinkling stars behind her glasses, and smiled gently.
“Unlike it, Kanade-kun, who stays by my side, will always protect me; you’re very cool and reliable.”
“Y-you’re exaggerating…”
Kanade, unable to bear Nagi’s praise, flusteredly shifted his gaze back to the pile of papers.
They both immersed themselves back into their work.
But before long, Nagi’s gentle voice floated over.
“Actually, I’m scared.”
“Being cursed by an evil spirit, I might die or something; how can I not be scared?”
“But with Kanade-kun here, I’m not afraid.”
Outside, the rain poured heavier.
…..
…..
The night was deep.
After an entire night of searching without results, the two decided to call it a night.
“I’m going back to my room first. Kanade-kun, come over after you’re done in the bathroom~ My room is still the same as before.”
Nagi turned off the living room lights and said to Kanade, who was beside her.
“But if you’re alone without anyone with you…”
“It’s fine~ Just being apart for a short while is definitely okay, and doesn’t the evil spirit only appear after the curse has advanced?”
Reluctantly, Kanade agreed to temporarily leave her side after Nagi insisted repeatedly.
After all, for a teenage boy, having to use the toilet in front of the girl he secretly liked was nothing short of torture.
As Nagi turned away from him.
In the instant they separated.
A gaze as cold as a venomous snake wrapped around Nagi from behind, tightly gripping her throat.
The early stages of the curse were a lie.
This was all to provide the excuse to deceive Kanade into leaving her side.
If Kanade truly stayed by her side all day, wouldn’t this event simply turn into a time where the two of them stuck together looking for a way to lift the curse?
This event was hard to come by, it should be cherished!
Just like in horror films, where for some reason the protagonists want to split up.
To be a top-notch protagonist, one must actively seek out dramatic effects.
Having fallen under the curse of the evil spirit Dokidoki-chan, how could one not undergo some mental or physical harm, and then have Kanade comfort her?
But the problem was…
“I was wrong! Please let me go! I promise to be a well-behaved and kind spirit in the future and never possess anyone again!”
In Nagi’s room.
A small, palm-sized, exquisitely crafted doll with a terribly twisted face was rolling on the ground.
It was the manifestation of Nagi’s beloved “evil spirit Dokidoki-chan.”
Beside it were Nagi, with an expression of wickedness, and Garuda.
Having worked so hard to get you entangled, you think you can leave so easily?
“Don’t say that~ Just try a little harder, okay? Hang in there ♥ Hang in there ♥”
Nagi adjusted the blood flow on her face and displayed a shy, blushing expression like a girl, encouraging the doll on the ground.
“Look, I’m a beautiful girl~ As long as you’re willing to continue possessing me, you can watch me as much as you want~”
“This is fraud! It’s a scam! It’s entrapment! I refuse to acknowledge you as a beautiful girl!”
Dokidoki-chan was fooled.
As a fan of beautiful girls, its greatest interest was possessing them to closely observe their panicked expressions caused by its curse.
But this time it miscalculated.
If judged solely by appearance, the person it possessed this time was an exceptionally rare top-level beauty.
However, when it possessed her and directed its gaze at her, hoping to admire her uneasy expression, it saw her suddenly raise her arms high in excitement, striking a victory pose.
It began to feel that something was amiss.
Then, after a day of interacting, it realized it had run into something dirty this time.
This was not a top-level beautiful girl before it.
It was a demon disguised as a beautiful girl!
In the setting of “Star Draw 2.”
The birth of an ability user has prerequisites.
They must be caught up in extraordinary events and survive under the erosion of extraordinary powers.
Only then can they awaken in despair and become an ability user.
Under this premise, the evil spirit Dokidoki-chan was an extremely useful tool.
As a mechanism type fantasy creature, it wouldn’t kill someone right away; as long as the response was correct, it was even harmless.
Most importantly, it had the trait that “if someone accompanies the cursed person for a long time, the curse will transfer to that person.”
As long as Nagi transitioned it over to Kanade, and then disposed of it.
She could safely and quickly plant the seed of awakening in Kanade without any pain.
That’s why Nagi was so eager to join Super Self-Research, successfully tricking the evil spirit Dokidoki-chan into possessing her.
Then she could implement the great “Sowing Plan”!
“I don’t want to! I refuse to possess a man!? You demon!”
“Eh~ Just give it a try~ It’s just a try, no problem~ Maybe after trying, you will find you really like it~”
“Help! Someone is forcing me into this! Mom, save me!”
