**Chapter 48: The Approach of Summer**
That night.
Thanks to the presence of the visible “teacher” Maki as cover.
Nagi and Kanade’s late return did not raise any suspicions at home.
Desperately wanting everything to be just a misunderstanding, the head of the SEMA branch and Maki accepted the report submitted by Alice, successfully clearing the suspicions surrounding Nagi and others.
Just as Alice had promised.
Nagi and Kanade, along with the others, returned to their peaceful daily lives.
Time passed slowly.
On a morning close to summer.
On the streets illuminated by the morning sun.
Nagi, dressed in a white sports outfit and wearing a ponytail, captured attention with her pure and adorable appearance, enhanced by her slightly flushed cheeks from exercise, making her tall and graceful figure stand out on the street.
Beside her was Kanade, clad in a dark blue middle school sports uniform.
Unlike Nagi, who seemed effortless.
Kanade, running alongside her, was panting heavily.
Today marked the fifth day since Kanade joined Nagi’s morning running routine.
After that incident, it seemed Kanade’s mindset had shifted somewhat.
Not only did he begin to run with Nagi every morning, but he even proactively proposed to participate in the previously avoided sports event.
This made Nagi feel a sense of emotional connection, as if watching a child she raised grow up.
Although Kanade’s stamina wasn’t particularly good, as he would start to breathe heavily after running a third of the distance.
Yet he managed to finish every time, and he sustained it for a full five days without missing a single session.
This caused Nagi to view him with newfound respect.
After all, it’s often those who suddenly declare they want to change that tend to revert back to their old selves once enthusiasm fades.
But Kanade proved through his actions that he genuinely wanted to make a change.
It seems Kanade has truly changed~
As Nagi pondered this, she adjusted her pace to match Kanade’s and slowed down.
In the morning sun, Kanade’s profile seemed to gradually shed its youthful naïveté, revealing the vitality of adolescence.
Nagi couldn’t help but glance at him a few more times.
“Wh-what’s the matter… huff… huff…”
Kanade noticed Nagi’s gaze and couldn’t help but ask.
“It’s nothing~ I just think you’ve really changed, Kanade-kun~”
Nagi smiled gently and said:
“You’ve become more handsome~”
“Stop teasing… me…”
Kanade blushed and turned his head, but the slight upturn of his lips showed he was very pleased with his childhood friend’s compliment.
Nagi was not lying.
Kanade really had changed in some ways recently, and it was something she cared about a lot.
— It seemed that this child Kanade had awakened a certain special preference.
Though he might not be aware, from Nagi’s perspective, she could clearly feel it.
Kanade seemed to have developed a fondness for the scent emanating from her…
Because summer was approaching.
The morning runs meant she would inevitably sweat a lot.
And it seemed that since that day.
Kanade’s gaze would often, intentionally or not, land on her exposed neck, resulting from her ponytail.
After every morning run, Kanade would unconsciously lean closer to her, sweaty and breathless.
If she moved closer to him in her sweaty state, he would immediately become flustered and create distance,
But once she ceased her advance, he would unknowingly bring his head closer to her neck.
Like a clingy little puppy.
This made Nagi feel quite curious.
Since it was her own scent, Nagi felt nothing unusual.
But for someone like Nagi, who had been a boy in her previous lives, the smell of sweat after exercise should be sour and pungent.
So why did Kanade like her scent?
— Kanade, I don’t remember raising you to be like this~!
Could it be that the scent of a beautiful girl, even when sweaty, is sweet and fragrant!?
Because she was overly focused on this, Nagi had unconsciously started to spray more perfume on herself before leaving home recently.
However, Nagi didn’t miss out on the opportunity of this interaction.
From time to time, she took the chance to give Kanade a taste of the perks that came with exercising with her as his “naturally beautiful childhood friend.”
For example—
“Kanade-kun, you’ve worked hard~ Here, have some water~”
After finally completing the predetermined route.
Nagi took out her water bottle, lifted her head, and gulped down a few swigs before passing the bottle to Kanade.
What was initially a very mundane scene.
But in Kanade’s innocent eyes.
“Isn’t this an indirect kiss!?” Kanade couldn’t help but shout in his heart.
Rationality told him that he should refuse and reminded himself that his naturally charming childhood friend should be somewhat aware of how to interact with the opposite sex.
But his instincts led him to accept the water bottle from Nagi’s hand.
Then Kanade noticed.
The lip mark remaining on the bottle cap reflected an enticing sheen in the sunlight.
It seemed that the lip balm Nagi had applied had inadvertently smeared onto it.
— If I drink from it… I’ll be able to taste the flavor of little Nagi’s lips?
Kanade’s mind began to wander as his gaze drifted toward Nagi’s glistening, full lips, and he couldn’t help but swallow.
That naturally innocent little Nagi probably hadn’t noticed this, so as long as he pretended nothing was wrong…
He could indirectly feel the kiss of the beautiful childhood friend he had always cared about—
No, wait.
In the end, Kanade shook his head to dispel the dirty thought.
He tilted his head back, opened his mouth, and poured the water into his mouth.
— What he wanted wasn’t this.
— But to truly share with little Nagi as a couple…
After drinking the water and regaining some strength, Kanade looked up at the clear sky.
Feeling the waves of heat that felt like summer.
— Summer is coming…
— It would be his first summer spent with little Nagi as a middle schooler.
…..
…..
At the Hakurei Shrine.
The morning at the shrine was very quiet.
Alice, in her middle school uniform, stood in front of the fox statue.
This was her tenth day visiting the Hakurei Shrine, and she came here at different times every day.
But today, as always, she did not detect any magical reactions.
Alice had submitted the corpse of the doppelgänger to the SEMA division as a task result, which should mean she had completed the task and could stop pretending to be a student.
But she hadn’t found the presence hidden in Kawanokoshi City, so she continued to stay in Star Shadow Middle School under the pretext of post-observation.
She was very concerned about what the doppelgänger said before dying about “that day.”
If it wasn’t a bluff, and “that day” truly existed.
It might be better for her to stay in Kawanokoshi City.
Thinking this, Alice suddenly noticed her phone ringing.
It was Maki calling.
Just like Alice, he had to maintain his identity at Star Shadow Middle School for a while even after the task was over.
“Good morning, Miss Alice, where are you? Today is the opening ceremony for the sports event…”
As a teacher, Maki fulfilled his duty by calling to inform Alice to return to school for the sports event.
“Okay, I got it…”
Alice sighed and replied.
She was supposed to be disguised as a student, yet lately, she felt like she was experiencing student life more than actual students…
Before leaving the shrine, Alice couldn’t help but look up at the clear blue sky.
— Summer is coming.
…..
…..
At the entrance of Star Shadow Middle School.
A man in a suit climbed into a luxury sedan.
“Really, what’s the point of coming to such a boring place? Just now, several little brats asked me for my autograph!”
As soon as the man got in the car, he was met with complaints from the elegant woman sitting in the backseat.
“Don’t say that, miss. This is the school Yuuharu-saan attends; we need to gather the very first information about our rival, right?”
The man, as the manager, comforted the popular actress behind him, Ryouko Yano.
In her early twenties, she had a beautiful and charming face, with voluminous, bright brown curls and an alluring figure, often receiving invitations to shoot commercials for relevant products.
With her exceptional acting skills and striking looks, she had climbed the ranks in the entertainment industry to become one of Japan’s most sought-after stars today.
“What rival? I’m on close terms with Manaka-chan, you know~”
“Well, well, it’s just the two of us here, no need to put on an act~” the manager chuckled.
He knew all too well how jealous his signed actress could be.
Countless rivals had been harmed or brought down by her various means; she was someone who climbed the ladder on the backs of others.
Her pride meant that she would never regard the “pure white fairy” as a friend.
“We have an upcoming movie audition that clashes with Yuuharu-san. If we could dig up some dirt on her, we could kick her out of the cast and take her place~”
The manager flipped through the school newspaper in his hand, which featured a report on the sports event held a few days ago.
He wanted to see if it mentioned any information about Yuuharu Manaka’s injury or any inappropriate closeness with certain boys that he could use against her.
But as he opened the colorful newspaper, he was immediately captivated by the photos presented.
“Wow~ This child is really cute~ A student representative, I didn’t expect such an adorable child to be the one…..”
“Wait—”
Ryouko in the back seemed to recognize the black-haired girl in the photo.
“This girl is…” Her lips couldn’t help but curl upwards.
“I see, so you’re here, Hoshimiya Nagi…..”
“Hoshimiya? Is she the one from before—” The manager was astonished to hear that name.
“I just got a great idea~ This time, we might really be able to take down dear Manaka-chan…. No, and even that legendary Hoshimiya Nagi as well—”
“Muahaha~”
It seemed she had thought of something that delighted her.
“This time, let me thoroughly destroy you, Hoshimiya Nagi—”
