After a while, they somehow managed to settle on a design Erika liked.
In the end, it became a simple yet elegant necklace, a thin platinum chain holding the lunar impact glass bead at its center. The design was clean and refined, perhaps a little too simple for Akira's tastes, but as long as she liked it, that was all that mattered.
"So… is it okay?" he asked.
Erika examined it closely, then nodded. "It's good. But isn't using platinum a bit too expensive?"
Akira waved it off casually. "Not really. I have a lot of it stored for my experiments. All my robots use it, you know."
"But…"
"Come on," Akira interrupted lightly. "That bead is magical glass from the moon. Why are you more worried about the platinum?"
Erika sighed. "…If you put it like that, fine."
She took the necklace into her hands, smiling softly as she looked at it. Then she glanced up at Akira.
"Can you help me put it on?"
Akira froze. "…Huh?"
"I can't clasp it myself," Erika said, turning around and lightly gathering her hair to one side. "Unless you want me to struggle with it for five minutes."
"N-No, I can do it," Akira said quickly.
He stepped closer and carefully took the ends of the chain, trying to fasten it around her neck. As he did, a strange feeling crept over him, an odd sense of awareness, as if he was suddenly far too conscious of her presence.
"That's weird," he thought. "It's not like this is the first time I've helped her put something on. So why does it feel different now…?"
Then it hit him.
"Ah… right. We're boyfriend and girlfriend now."
"Hehehe…"
A smile spread across his face without him even realizing it. A moment later, he caught himself.
"Wait… am I really this happy about it?"
Maybe something inside him had fundamentally changed. But as he stood there smiling, he knew one thing for sure.
He was happy, and that was enough.
"…There," he said, pulling his hands back once he finished.
Erika released her hair and gently touched the bead, as if confirming it was really there. Then she turned toward him.
"So… how does it look?"
Akira, still wearing an unusually wide smile, answered immediately. "It looks good on you."
"Thank you," Erika said. Then she paused, noticing his expression. "Why are you smiling like that?"
Akira blinked, then answered without hesitation.
"Because you're my girlfriend now. And that makes me really happy."
Erika froze for half a second.
Then, slowly, her cheeks turned red.
She was happy, undeniably so, but Akira's blunt honesty caught her off guard, leaving her unsure how to react.
"…Oh. I see," she said quietly.
She turned her face away, clearly trying to distract herself. A moment later, she pulled out her phone and stared at the screen with exaggerated seriousness, pretending to be deeply interested in whatever was on it.
After a short pause, she glanced at the time and spoke a little faster than usual.
"Oh, look at the time. It's already late. I should get back to the dorm."
She stood up, clearly intending to leave.
Before she could take more than a step, Akira reached out and gently grabbed the corner of her sleeve.
He looked up at her Silently.
With his Big eyes like a puppy that was about to be abandoned,
It was his 'puppy-eyes persuasion' skill, but this time, he wasn't even doing it on purpose. And because it was unconscious, its effect was far stronger than usual.
Erika stopped dead in her tracks.
"…Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked, struggling to keep her composure.
Akira didn't answer.
He just kept looking at her silently, eyes wide and earnest.
Erika let out a small sigh. "At least tell me why. You said you'd tell me everything, right?"
"Well…" Akira hesitated. "You promised you'd always be with me, right? So… I…"
He swallowed, then forced himself to continue.
"Can you stay at my house instead of the dorm? You have your own room there, and I'm pretty sure it's bigger than your dorm room too… so…"
He trailed off at the end, looking up at her again.
"So… can you…?"
Erika looked at him, a little confused, and said, "What do you mean? I am going to move in with you, though."
Akira blinked. "Huh?"
Erika continued, as if stating something obvious. "Did you forget? I can only drink your blood now. It would be way too hard for me to live in the dorm."
Akira went quiet for a moment. "…But you said you were going back to the dorm."
"I already submitted the application to move out," Erika said. "My plan was to stay there one last night and then move all my things over."
She hesitated slightly before adding, "There are a lot of blood packs in my fridge. I can't really leave that to someone else to deal with."
She glanced at him again. "I already told all of this to Selena, though. Didn't she tell you…?"
Akira fell silent.
Then, He telepathically screamed.
"What the hell, sister? Why didn't you tell me?"
Selena's reply came back immediately, calm and unbothered.
"Brother… you never asked me, did you?"
Akira froze.
She was right.
He had asked her about his love problems. About his emotions. About everything except this.
Even though he had a feeling she'd done it on purpose, he had no way to prove it. And without proof, there was nothing he could say.
So, he decided to let it go.
He coughed lightly, then looked back at Erika and asked, "So… are you going to stay with me from now on?"
Erika hesitated. "I still need to pack my things. I was going to stay tonight in my…"
She stopped mid-sentence, looked at Akira for a moment, then let out a small sigh.
"…Fine. I'll try moving everything now."
Akira's face lit up instantly. "I'll help! I'll help! I don't have anything else to do anyway."
Erika raised an eyebrow. "And how exactly are you planning to enter the girls' dorm room?"
She narrowed her eyes. "What, was entering the girls' bath not enough for you?"
Akira flinched. "You know that wasn't my fault…"
Then his expression shifted, as if an idea had just struck him.
"How about this, then…"
Light flickered briefly around his body, and in the next moment, Akira had transformed into his familiar white direwolf pup form.
"Now no one will care if I enter your room, right?" he said telepathically, sounding far too pleased with himself.
Erika stared at him for a second, then sighed. "Well… I guess it's fine."
"Yes!" Akira said, immediately leaping up and landing on top of her head.
"Hey…!" Erika protested, but then shook her head. "…Fine."
And just like that, she started walking toward the dormitory, with a small white direwolf pup perched proudly on her head.
So they headed toward the dormitory, but the moment they stepped inside the building, both of them stopped.
The hallway was packed.
Boys and Girls were gathered everywhere…Well, mostly girls, clustered in tight groups, whispering furiously. Some were peeking nervously toward the direction of the bath area, while others were openly speculating, their voices overlapping in a chaotic, scandalized mess.
"I'm telling you, it was definitely a guy."
"No, there's no way. The sign was correct."
"Then why were there men's clothes in the locker?"
"So you're saying a naked guy just vanished?"
"That's what I heard!"
The air buzzed with excitement, confusion, and disbelief. Every whisper carried a hint of shock, every glance sharp with curiosity.
Whatever had happened earlier hadn't stayed quiet for long.
And it was very clear that a weird rumor had already been born.
Erika froze mid-step the moment she heard it.
Akira, currently a small white direwolf pup perched on top of her head, froze as well.
"…Men's clothes?" Erika muttered under her breath. She telepathically said, "Akira, was that your clothes?"
Akira's ears flattened against his fluffy head. He telepathically asked, "My clothes…You didn't get them?"
Erika's eyes widened. "How was I supposed to know you left them there?!"
Before Akira could even think of a response, a familiar voice sliced cleanly through the noise of the crowd.
"Ahh, so it's true then."
The chatter paused.
Near the center of the hallway stood Iori, arms crossed, wearing a grin that was far too amused to be appropriate for the situation.
"Men's clothes in the girls' bath," he said leisurely.
"No culprit. No witnesses. And even the cameras stopped working for some reason."
He raised one hand dramatically, as if presenting a grand mystery.
"Truly…" he continued, drawing out the pause, "…the legends must be true."
Someone in the crowd asked hesitantly, "L-Legend…?"
Iori's grin widened.
"The legend," he declared, "of the Phantom Peeper."
The hallway exploded.
"A WHAT?!"
"That's terrifying!"
"Was there even a legend like that?!"
"I don't know, but if no one was found…"
"…then it has to be real, right?"
Whispers turned into excited shouts. Fear mixed with curiosity. Speculation spread like wildfire.
Hearing those words, Akira mentally screamed.
"What phantom peeper?!... Iori, I swear I will…"
Before he could finish that thought, another voice cut sharply through the chaos.
"Oh, it's GHOST?!"
The shout rang out far too clearly.
Akira felt it instantly.
Yūki Kanade.
She had noticed.
Her eyes had locked onto Erika, and more specifically, onto the small white direwolf pup sitting atop her head.
Kanade's face lit up as if she had just found a long-lost treasure.
"GHOST! I MISSED YOU" she screamed.
"MY CUTE LITTLE PUPPY!"
The next second, she was sprinting toward them at full speed.
Akira's soul attempted to leave his body.
"Shiiiiiit!It's that mad woman!"
From his vantage point on Erika's head, Akira could only watch in absolute horror as Kanade charged straight at them, arms already spreading wide, eyes sparkling with dangerous enthusiasm.
"This was bad, this is very bad I need to escape."
And somehow, the situation had just gotten even worse.