After Xia Chuan Yuan finished rambling about yesterday’s events, he gave the girls time to process it all. While they were still dazed from the massive info dump, he slipped away to Mirei Tsurumi’s room to check on her.
Of course, Xia Chuan Yuan also fled to avoid their later retaliation. That super stink bomb had been brutally effective. When he’d opened the door earlier, the girls’ despairing expressions were almost too beautiful to bear.
As Xia Chuan Yuan hurried off, he heard frantic voices behind him searching for a restroom. Rushing footsteps and arguments reached his ears.
Right, he realized—they’d been heavily drunk on Mirei Tsurumi’s sake last night. They’d slept like logs, retaining all that liquid. Of course they needed the toilet. Anyone who didn’t would be weird.
Reaching Mirei Tsurumi’s remote guest room, Xia Chuan Yuan opened the door. He saw her body twitching—fingers moving, eyelids fluttering. She was waking up. He quickly shut the door, worried the noise outside had roused her.
He couldn’t be sure how much she remembered from yesterday. If she screamed, the girls might hear. Better safe than sorry.
Just as Xia Chuan Yuan expected, he turned after closing the door to find Mirei Tsurumi sitting up. She propped her head with a hand, shook it slightly, then opened her eyes and saw him.
Xia Chuan Yuan watched her closely. He needed to gauge if she had a blackout—if she recalled yesterday. He’d improvise, maybe even karate-chop her neck if needed.
Mirei Tsurumi stared at Xia Chuan Yuan blankly at first. But after a moment, her eyes narrowed. Her mouth opened as if remembering something—and about to scream.
Xia Chuan Yuan silently chanted in his mind: *You remember nothing! You remember nothing! You remember nothing! You remember nothing…*
Suddenly, Mirei Tsurumi didn’t scream. Her expression smoothed out. She looked at Xia Chuan Yuan with pure confusion.
“Student Xia Chuan Yuan, where am I now? Why am I here? I feel like I remember nothing.”
*Perfect*, Xia Chuan Yuan thought. *No extra suffering for you. If you did remember, I’d have no choice but to knock you out cold.*
But why had she forgotten so suddenly? Did his chanting work? Had he gained a superpower? He’d test it.
Xia Chuan Yuan muttered quietly: “Mirei Tsurumi starts a striptease. Mirei Tsurumi starts a striptease. Mirei Tsurumi starts a striptease…”
“Student Xia Chuan Yuan, what are you muttering about?”
“Nothing important, Teacher. Don’t worry. Do you feel… off in any way?”
“Off? Actually, yes!”
“Nice!”
“What?”
“Nothing! I just got excited seeing I woke you successfully. Thinking I could help my teacher again—I couldn’t hold back! Ignore me. What feels off?”
“Hmm… I just really need the restroom. But why does thinking about it bring back weird feelings? Like a bad memory.”
“Probably just a hangover dream, Teacher. You drank so much last night. Bad dreams feel real sometimes. Definitely that! Yep!”
“You sound so dismissive. Whatever. Student Xia Chuan Yuan, where’s the restroom?”
“The downstairs one’s likely taken by classmates. I’ll take you to the second-floor toilet. I’ll explain yesterday later.”
Watching Mirei Tsurumi get up, Xia Chuan Yuan sighed internally. *No superpower after all. I’d hoped I could rewrite her memories instantly. Wishful thinking.*
“Student Xia Chuan Yuan, why are you spacing out? Take me to the restroom!”
“Oh! Right away!”
Xia Chuan Yuan snapped back and led Mirei Tsurumi upstairs.
The second-floor hallway had a restroom, and Xia Chuan Yuan’s room had one too. He took her to the hallway toilet.
“Here we are, Teacher. This is it.”
Xia Chuan Yuan turned the lock. It was stuck. “Must be broken. I rarely use it—no surprise.”
As he spoke, a voice called from inside:
“Occupied!”
“Heh heh. Heh heh.”
Under Mirei Tsurumi’s gaze, Xia Chuan Yuan forced an awkward chuckle to cover his embarrassment.
“No problem. Let’s use mine. It’s definitely free. This one being taken makes sense—those seven girls drank heavily too. They’d need the toilet. Totally normal!”
Xia Chuan Yuan babbled excuses while steering her to his room.
A few steps later, he opened his door and pointed. “Teacher, the restroom’s right there.”
The moment he finished, Mirei Tsurumi dashed off like a gust of wind. Xia Chuan Yuan stood stunned.
Minutes later, she emerged. She glanced around his room and commented:
“Wow. I never expected Student Xia Chuan Yuan’s room to be so tidy. I thought otaku rooms were messy. Wait—why do you look so different now? I wasn’t even surprised earlier!”
“You should ask Sigmund Freud about that. She’d explain—if you could meet her. And if you can, Teacher, you’re amazing!”
Xia Chuan Yuan avoided the question. It was too risky. If he mentioned yesterday, she might remember and take it out on him. Not worth it.
He wasn’t suicidal. In anime, reckless idiots were either protagonists, side characters, or doomed villains. Xia Chuan Yuan wasn’t sure he was the hero. Better play it safe. As they say: *I won’t die so easily!*
Sure enough, Mirei Tsurumi dropped it. Instead, she pouted:
“You’re the one meeting Sigmund Freud! I know what he did—and he’s long dead. Are you cursing me to die?”
But her tone was playful. Looks really did change treatment. The pre-haircut Xia Chuan Yuan wouldn’t have gotten such gentleness.
“Teacher, my answer was perfect. You probably saw me in a dream—that’s why you weren’t shocked. See how wise I am?”
“…”
Mirei Tsurumi stared at him, utterly speechless.
Xia Chuan Yuan felt awkward. He chuckled lightly and changed the subject.
“Teacher, class starts soon. We’ve only got an hour. Time’s precious—and you wanted to know what happened. The other girls are downstairs. Let’s hurry.”
The distraction worked. Mirei Tsurumi followed as Xia Chuan Yuan stood up and led the way down.
