A Peculiar Power Activation

“Mmph—!”

The groan I let out, meant to suppress the pain, felt rather odd.

Now, Samidare Ruka was applying ointment to Mao Mingdao’s swollen, crimson nose, her expression etched with apology.

Though I knew it wasn’t explicitly my fault, a strange sense of guilt still gnawed at me.

“I’m sorry.” My words slipped out before I could even think, for seeing Mao Mingdao’s nose, red and swollen like a comical clown’s, filled me with genuine compunction.

“No, no, no,” Mao Mingdao stammered in Japanese, forcing a smile that clearly betrayed his pain as he waved a dismissive hand at me. “You don’t need to apologize. You’re not, not wrong at all.”

He could barely string a sentence together.

‘Was he deliberately replying in Japanese? Samidare Ruka wouldn’t eat him, after all.’

“That was a coffin that fell just now, wasn’t it?” Leidi asked in Japanese, taking my hand. “Protagonist and I will go push it back.” We then started walking towards the direction from which the sound had emanated.

Perhaps it was for the best to leave Mao Mingdao and Samidare Ruka to themselves for a bit.

And yet… I couldn’t for the life of me see where the coffin I’d launched had landed.

Despite the expansive view around us, I wondered just how far I’d managed to hurl it.

“Oh, n-no, that’s alright,” Mao Mingdao stuttered in Japanese, his eyes squinted and glistening with unshed tears as he addressed us. “I, I can handle it myself.”

“……”

“……”

Shaking our heads with wry smiles, we wordlessly conveyed to Mao Mingdao, ‘You really ought to just sit still for now.’

****

“The sun looks quite dazzling, yet it doesn’t feel hot in the slightest,” Leidi remarked, sprawled atop the coffin.

‘I couldn’t help but wonder… wasn’t she worried something bizarre might occur? It was a coffin, after all.’

While a sarcastic retort was on the tip of my tongue, having been the one to hurl the coffin such an impressive distance, I clearly had no grounds to speak.

“Now that you mention it, I’ve only just realized… Ah! It won’t budge again.”

Pushing the coffin from one end, I motioned for Leidi to dismount and assist me in opening…

‘The peculiar latch…’

We had located the coffin, guided by Mao Mingdao’s directions, and surprisingly, it was completely unscathed.

‘What on earth is it made of? It’s incredibly sturdy!’

Leidi and I were now making our way back.

Initially, we found ourselves utterly stumped by the coffin.

Having inadvertently reverted to “normal person mode,” I couldn’t exert any special strength, rendering us incapable of pushing the incredibly heavy—though precisely unknown—coffin.

‘However… there was still a method.’

‘Albeit… a rather idiotic one.’

“Close your eyes,” Leidi instructed, leaping down from the coffin and approaching me with an expression that seemed… *lecherous?* (Or perhaps I was mistaken.)

“Mmm…” With no other recourse, I obediently squeezed my eyes shut.

‘After all…’

‘This was the only method I currently knew, and I had been the one to propose it.’

‘Now,’

‘I just had to endure it!!!’

“Ugh—” In the enveloping darkness, I felt Leidi’s touch.

‘This time, it’s *here*, huh…’

‘Why does she consistently choose such sensitive spots, always eliciting these peculiar sensations?’

*Rub, rub~*

“Ah~ ugh—” ‘I must endure. My gut instinct tells me it’s still not enough.’

*Pinch, pinch~*

“Mmh-yi—” ‘Hey, hey, hey! Why do Leidi’s hands feel so utterly lewd?!’

“Ahn~ ah~ Enough! Enough, Leidi! That’s quite enough, ahn~”

‘I surrender! My heart is already hammering wildly in my chest!’

I swiftly opened my eyes, frantically batting away the two “wandering hands” from my backside.

My face was now flushed crimson, right up to my earlobes.

‘Indeed…’

‘As much as I resented it, however…’

‘If I wished to harness my powers, I needed to induce a significant emotional surge within myself.’

‘As for *how* to achieve this… I had, based on prior experiences, proposed the method of “doing something to me while I close my eyes.”‘

‘While it felt somewhat—no, distinctly—like walking straight into a trap, I found it incredibly difficult to generate these necessary emotional fluctuations on my own.

Hence, I was forced to resort to this desperate measure.’

“Where should I try next time~” Leidi purred, a wicked grin playing on her lips as she teased me, my face scarlet and my hands clamped desperately over my backside.

“N-no, no, there won’t *be* a next time!” I vehemently retorted, my face aflame, even as I recognized the sheer absurdity of my protest.

‘Because…’

“You said the exact same thing when I blew into your ear just a moment ago, didn’t you? Haha?” Leidi chuckled, leaning her face closer to mine.

‘That “next time” had already come and gone, it seemed…’

“Sh-sh-shut up!” I stammered, my face burning as if on fire, as I half-pushed, half-shoved Leidi back onto the coffin. “Now get back up there! The sooner we return, the less need there’ll be for this.”

‘Honestly, why was Leidi so utterly vexatious? We were supposed to be best friends!’

****

“Leidi-chan, you’re back~” Samidare Ruka called out, addressing Leidi, who was now sitting rather than lying on the coffin’s edge.

“You must be tired, right?” Mao Mingdao said in Japanese, a large bandage adorning his nose, as he smiled and offered me a bottle of water. “Here, look how red your face is. You must be terribly thirsty, aren’t you?”

“Thank you,” I replied in Japanese, averting my gaze slightly, a blush creeping up my neck.

‘My face was red…’

‘But not from exhaustion…’

‘It was all because of Leidi’s brazen wandering hands! And of course, I’d die before admitting that aloud!’

Leidi merely smirked, casting a knowing glance my way.

“Don’t you dare laugh!” I hissed, my expression a clear warning of ‘You absolutely mustn’t say a word!’ as I thrust the water bottle into Leidi’s hands.

“What happened? What happened?” Samidare Ruka inquired in Japanese, approaching us with a playful grin. “Did something exciting occur on the way back?”

‘Was this the legendary “Gossip Event Perception” — an instinct only women possessed?! It was terrifyingly potent!’

‘Uh… on second thought, ever since I became a girl, I seemed to have developed quite a penchant for gossip myself…’