"Of course not!"

  With a life at hand, why would they o watething like that?

  "It's not just that this disc is imbued with the Skeleton Woman's malevolent aura!"

  "What do you mean, Ryuji-kun?"

  Megumi, ever sharp, immediately grasped Ryuji's implication from his statement.

  "As you've guessed, this must be the Skeleton Woman's token," Ryuji firmed with a nod.

  Then, with a simple flick of his wrist, the colorful disc turned into a fine cloud of ash, disiing pletely in his hand.

  "This Skeleton Woman really knows how to keep up with the times," Ryuji remarked dryly. "She uses items like this as her keepsakes. Any boy who picks it up and watches the disc is instantly targeted by her."

  She was exploiting a certai's say, 'hobby' that some boys had.

  "..."

  Utaha and Eriri's expressions soured at Ryuji's expnation. So, Tomoya ended up like this because he wao wat adult disc?

  The thought left them feeling a bit disgusted.

  "Well, sihe matter is resolved, I'll take my leave now," Ryuji said casually as he stretched his arms and headed for the door without any iion of lingering in such a pce.

  Seeing him leave, Megumi immediately followed after him. "I'll head out too."

  "..."

  That left Eriri and Utaha standing there, staring at each other in stunned silence.

  "Since he's your childhood friend, why don't you stay and deal with it?" Utaha said teasingly with a sly smile, quickly darting out the door herself not wanting to stay in the somewhat creepy house any longer.

  "Why does it have to be me!?" Eriri muttered to herself, frustrated.

  If Utaha found this whole situation gross, what made her think Eriri didn't? Plus, this room had just been the se of a supernatural event leaving her here alone was a serious test of her ce. Without a sed thought, she bolted out the door as well.

  ---

  Not long after, Tomoya stirred from his unscious state.

  "What... happeo me?" he croaked, his voice raspy and unfamiliar, as if it didn't belong to him.

  He propped himself up with trembling hands, slowly pushing himself off the ground.

  "What's... wrong with me?"

  His heart sank as he stared at his hands, whiow looked withered, like they beloo an elderly man. Fear slowly crept into his eyes as he took in the sight of his decrepit body.

  "Eriri! Utaha-senpai! Kato! Where are you?!"

  Panicked and terrified, Tomoya called out for help. But no matter how many times he shouted their here was no response.

  ---

  Meanwhile, outside…

  "Already here?"

  Megumi looked up at her house, surprised at how quickly they had arrived. It usually took much loo get home, but today the journey had flown by.

  Ryuji smiled knowingly. "Time always flies when you're enjoying yourself, doesn't it?"

  He was implying that, since she was walking with him, she was happy and that made the time pass faster.

  "..."

  Megumi didn't respond immediately, instead fixing Ryuji with an unreadable gaze.

  "So, do you want to stay out a bit longer?" she asked softly.

  Though they hade, satisfying another craving spending more time together didn't seem like a bad idea.

  "Sure," Ryuji agreed with a smile.

  ---

  Elsewhere, Shizuka's emotions were in turmoil. She was almost thirty years old, and after years of waiting, someone had finally asked her out. The problem was, that someone happeo be her student. This left her feeling flicted.

  Shizuka was the type of person who couldn't bottle things up, so that night, she called her friend Yukinoshita Haruno to discuss the matter over drinks.

  In a dimly lit izakaya, Haruno, a woman with refined features, burst into ughter after hearing Shizuka's predit.

  "Hahaha! Hahahahaha!"

  Her ughter grew louder and more untrolble with every passing sed.

  "You... you!" Shizuka excimed, trying to maintain her posure.

  "Okay, okay! I'm done ughing!" Haruno said, wiping a tear from her eye, though a smile still pyed on her lips. Seeing that Shizuka was genuinely getting annoyed, she finally mao calm dowe her pyful teasing, Haruno valued their friendship deeply. Because of the strid trolled enviro she grew up in, Haruno rarely showed her true self around others. Shizuka was one of the few exceptions.

  "It's just... I hought the first person to ask you out, of all people, would be your student!" Haruno said, holding baother fit of giggles.

  "Ugh!" Shizuka rolled her eyes, clearly irritated.

  "If I had known this was how you'd react, I wouldn't have told you!" she grumbled before downing her gss of sake.

  "Well, at least someone's asked me out. Now nobody ugh at me for not having any dates!"

  In truth, Shizuka had gone on blind dates before, but they never ended well. Oime, things had been going smoothly until she had a bit too much to drink, knocked over the table, and scared her date off. After that, no man had dared to approach her.

  Of course, it didn't help that the men in Tokyo teo be quite chauvinistic. Hiratsuka's family was iial, and not many men could handle a woman who was stronger and more capable than they were.

  Haruno's ughter had subsided by now, and she spoke in a more serious tone. "But are you sure he doesn't know about your background?"

  It was a joke, but also a genuine . Shizuka's family was the Hiratsuka Group, a powerful local syndicate with signifit influence. Shizuka herself was essentially ao a criminal empire, though she operated within legal bounds. Still, her bold personality was a direct result of her upbringing.

  "Don't worry about it," Shizuka replied calmly, clearly not bothered by the thought.

  "He's just a student. There's no way he knows about any of that."

  "Hmm..." Haruno still wasn't vinced. She hadn't met this student, but she found it hard to believe that he had no ulterior motives.

  "These days, even students be just as scheming as office workers!" Haruno teased. "And sometimes, they're even more shameless. Some of them are just looking for a free ride!"

  Shizuka shrugged off her friend's s, but Haruno's words hung in the air like a shadow of doubt.