For Sougo, it was an entirely new experience.

The scenes he had witnessed while chasing after the person he admired still raced through his mind at a terrifying speed.

Sorciera letting someone touch her chest over her clothes.
The desperate look on Clam’s face as she pinned Sorciera down, doing… something.

And Sorciera, stroking the girl’s head, showed no sign of resistance.

At first glance, it seemed like an assault—but apparently, that wasn’t the case.

(G-girls with girls…? But still, it’s kinda…)

Within Sougo, a seed had been planted—unbeknownst to him—by someone.
A seed that would open a new door.

And today, it was about to bloom.

“Sougo-kun, is something wrong?”
“N-no, nothing!”
“Ahaha~ Are you nervous being surrounded by unfamiliar onee-sans?”

Clam sat beside him, and next to her was Miyume.
Perched on the sofa, Sougo was completely stiff.

After witnessing that scene, Sougo had been captured by Clam and brought to Miyume’s lab.

Apparently, they were about to hold a dress-up show for Kei—who had turned into a girl thanks to a certain mechanic’s invention.

(This person doesn’t know Kei-nee is Sorciera… but this one does…)

Using the information Clam had given him, Sougo was in the process of memorizing everyone’s names and faces.
Having already been briefed on the situation, he was now on the side of those keeping the secret.

His nervousness made him act a little suspicious, but to everyone else, it just seemed like first-meeting jitters.

“Don’t worry, Sougo-kun! We’re all super nice people! Oh, want me to do an impression? …Hmm, okay! ‘Ahem—tripping over a tiny step and making excuses to no one in particular—Professor Edition!’“
“Don’t. The Professor’s a bad first impression for a kid.”

Clam calmly shut down Hikari’s antics.
Sougo looked up at her and thought:

—Wait, wasn’t this person assaulting Sorciera earlier?

Her composed expression suggested this was normal for her.
Did she usually act like a sensible friend around others, only to pin Sorciera down in private and—

“…!”
“Hm? What’s wrong, Sougo-kun?”
“N-nothing!”

The vivid memory flashed in his mind, and he quickly forced himself to think of something else.
Like how, even on the day they met, Clam might have been doing that with Kei at night—

(Stop thinking about it! No, that’s rude!)

Scolding himself, he waited a few more minutes.
In front of the slightly exhausted Sougo, the somewhat frustrated Clam (who had failed in her assault), and the excited Hikari, the door to Miyume’s lab finally opened.

“—S-so, I changed… but…”

Standing in the doorway was a black-haired girl.
Dressed in a simple white dress, her modest attire only accentuated her beauty.

“…Um, say something…?”

Her face flushed red as she gripped the hem of her dress.
Miyume, the first to regain her composure, hesitantly spoke up.

“Uh… who are you…?”
“It’s Kei!? …Wait, you really couldn’t tell?”

Kei pointed at her own face, desperately trying to convince them.
But Miyume eyed her skeptically, then pointed at her hair.

“Why’s it black?”
“It’s a wig! Clam said this one looked more… girly, so…”

As if embarrassed by her own words, Kei’s voice grew quieter.
Few knew that this wig was part of an effort to distance her appearance from Sorciera’s as much as possible.

“…Now that you mention it, yeah.”

Miyume nodded at Kei’s explanation, then glanced at the others for their reactions.

“So cute—!”

Hikari, having rebooted her brain, began bouncing excitedly.
Her over-the-top reaction was infectious.

The real problem, however, lay with the remaining three.

“K-Kei-nee…”
“So cute…! Yeah, super cute! O-okay, we have to send this to Miroku-chan and Mizuhi-chan! Kei-kun, look here! Smile, smile!”
“Kei… I… yours…”

A 10-year-old boy with a melted brain (Sougo), a limit-breaking Toa, and Clam—who seemed to be seeing an entirely different world.

Miyume immediately realized things were about to get troublesome.
But that wasn’t enough reason to stop Kei’s dress-up session.

“Kei-kun, how does it feel? Being a girl now?”
“…W-well, it’s kinda weird. A-and… don’t stare too much.”
“—!”

Miyume leaned back in her chair, struck by a bullet to the brain, and stared at the ceiling.
Beside her, Sougo had also taken a direct hit to the heart.

The Kei who had once acted so kind and composed around him was now blushing and flustered.
And that contrast made her all the more beautiful.

In that moment, Sougo understood beauty.

“So cute… I see. It’s the shyness that makes it cute.”
“I-is it…? Uh, th-thanks… I think?”

Kei fidgeted uncomfortably, her gaze wandering.
Meanwhile, Toa’s camera shutter continued clicking nonstop.

“It suits you so much! The dress fits perfectly too!”

Hikari’s words made Sougo realize something.

(Wait… does that mean she’s been dressing her up like this regularly…?)

The outfit, prepared under the guise of being Clam’s, might have been meant for Kei from the start.
That would explain the perfect fit.

Sougo trembled at his own flawless deduction.

“A-ah…”

Faced with Kei, too embarrassed to speak properly, Sougo became aware of a strange emotion welling up inside him.

(Why… why don’t I feel upset knowing Kei-nee belongs to another girl…?)

He couldn’t yet put a name to that emotion.

But later, Sougo would reflect:
“Looking back… maybe that was love.”

■

Watching Kei’s shy smile before him, Clam nearly let out a scream.

Not out of joy.
But because she had just realized how sinful her actions had been.

(I… I tried to assault Kei…)

In that moment, Clam truly understood how despicable she had been.

“Peace sign over here, Kei-kun!”
“H-hi~!”
“So cute!”
“Let’s take a photo together too!”

Kei laughed at the center of their excitement.
Yes—Kei.
Not Sorciera.

Just an ordinary girl with the right to be happy.

The thought of staining such a girl’s body for her own selfish desires filled Clam with disgust.

To Kei, those actions hadn’t been provocation—just simple skinship.
But Clam had—

(Thank god it didn’t go too far…)

What if she had crossed the line?
Kei likely wouldn’t have told anyone.
And Clam wouldn’t have stopped.

The result would have been ruin.

A girl burdened with the duty of being Sorciera, betrayed and defiled by the very person she saved.
Such a hopeless ending was unacceptable.

(I’ll apologize properly. Yeah, and then… I’ll keep my distance—)

Just then, Clam’s hand was pulled.
Kei, holding her hand, smiled softly.

“Huh?”
“Toa-chan says she wants a group photo like this… and won’t take no for an answer.”

Her expression seemed calmer than usual, as if amused by the situation.

“B-but I—”
“C’mon, let’s go.”

Kei tugged her toward where Toa and the others were already lined up.
Then, as she pulled Clam to her feet, she leaned in and whispered:

“It’s okay. I’ll accept all of you.”
“—!?”

Clam stared at Kei’s face.
She was smiling.

But that smile—somehow ruinous, almost beckoning—felt like the grin of a demon who saw right through her.

“…Ah. I see.”

In that brief exchange, Clam realized her grave misunderstanding.

(Oh… so Kei was like that too. —She wanted it.)

Behind Sorciera’s lonely battles, a twisted desire had taken root in Kei.
Clam could feel it—something alien stirring within her.

(She’s been luring me in all along…)

Clam hadn’t been the one trying to defile Kei.
She had been led to do it.

From the very beginning, she had been dancing on Kei’s palm.

That realization saved Clam.
And at the same time, it drove her mad.

(If that’s what you want… fine. I’ll fall with you—all the way.)

Even if hell awaited, Clam no longer hesitated.

“Okay, everyone smile—! Especially you, Kei-kun!”
“O-okay…”

As Kei’s figure filled her vision, Clam smiled for the camera.

(…I’m the only one who can embrace her darkness.)

Her smile seemed almost ecstatic.

And then—

(So Kei-nee and Clam-nee really are like that…!)

Catching a glimpse of Clam’s smile, Sougo swallowed hard.

In that moment, Clam and Kei had thoroughly, meticulously, and irrevocably ruined one young boy’s future.