"Of course it matters," Fumiya Jin said with a straight face. "If it were just some random person, I wouldn't feel any burden leaving them be. But Kei-chan is so well-behaved and adorable, how could I bear to leave you alone? What's more, I already owe you..."
"Eh?"
Kei Shirogane was slightly taken aback. "Owe me? Isn't it the other way around..."
Fumiya-san had saved her once, then given her and her father a very cheap place to live, and now he'd saved her a second time...
If anyone owed anything, it was definitely she who owed Fumiya-san a great deal.
How could he possibly owe her anything at all?
"I didn't misspeak," Fumiya Jin said, shaking his head and looking at her with a gentle smile. "I'm the one who caused our pure and adorable Kei-chan to toss and turn for days, unable to sleep well. You even dreamed about me, which led to you getting confessions from a bunch of random guys at school, causing you no small amount of trouble... It's all my fault, and yet I was completely unaware. My sin is truly great. Kei-chan, hontou ni sumimasen."
Hearing this, Kei Shirogane's face instantly turned beet red.
"W-W-What are you talking about!" Kei Shirogane hurriedly shook her head. "No, no, that was all the illusion speaking, it was all lies! Don't believe it, Fumiya-san!!!"
"All lies?" Fumiya Jin raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"
"Of course," Although Kei Shirogane was mortified, she knew this was a rare chance to argue... oh, no, to explain things clearly. So she mustered her courage, put on a serious expression, and said: "Think about it, Fumiya-san. The illusion's main goal was to trick us into responding, right? Since we were on guard, its best bet would be to make up completely baseless things, stuff we've never done, to provoke us into replying. So how could anything it said be the truth?"
"Oh?" Fumiya Jin stroked his chin, looking as if he was genuinely convinced. "Now that you put it that way, it does make a lot of sense."
"Right? Right?" Kei Shirogane quickly pressed her advantage. "So you just shouldn't believe it!"
"I see... Alright," Fumiya Jin thought for a moment. "In that case, everything it said must have been a lie, right? Especially the later, more outrageous things."
"Yes, yes, yes, yes, that's exactly right!" Kei Shirogane nodded vigorously.
"Then, Kei-chan's key must really be lost, and it definitely wouldn't be in the mailbox by your front door, right?" Fumiya Jin asked with a smile.
"..."
Kei Shirogane was petrified.
Her slender, soft body instantly became incredibly stiff.
Her small face was filled with mortification and awkwardness.
"Th-that... um... O-Of course it's not there..." but her tender pink lips were still trying to be stubborn.
"Then why don't we go have a look now?" Fumiya Jin said.
"Don't! It's pouring rain outside, there's no need to go!" Kei-chan said, flustered. "It won't be there..."
"It's fine, I have an umbrella. It won't hurt to take a look. What if your father forgot one day and left the key in there? You never know." Fumiya Jin teased. "And if there really is a key inside, wouldn't you be able to go home and get a comfortable night's sleep?"
As he spoke, he actually turned around and walked towards the shoe cabinet, looking like he was really about to change his shoes and head out... As for the umbrella, it was indeed sitting right above the shoe cabinet.
"Don't!"
The moment Fumiya Jin turned and took his first step... accompanied by the sound of hurried footsteps, a slender body pressed against him, and a pair of fair, delicate arms wrapped around his waist.
"Don't go..."
Fumiya Jin had only been trying to tease the stubborn girl; he had no real intention of going out.
Now that he was being hugged, he immediately stopped, patted her fair hands, and turned back to face her.
"What's wrong?" Fumiya Jin said casually.
"I'm... I'm begging you... Don't go, please..."
The girl buried her head in his chest, her voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz.
Hearing this, Fumiya Jin smiled.
In fact, Kei-chan acting like this was tantamount to an admission—an admission that everything the illusion had said was true.
All her efforts were just to prevent him from tearing away her last fig leaf.
Although on the surface, a tacit admission and letting him expose the truth directly didn't seem very different.
But for a sensitive and reserved girl, there was of course a difference, and a very big one at that.
"Alright, since Kei-chan insists, let's just forget it," Fumiya Jin said, raising a hand to gently stroke the girl's silvery-white hair. "But in that case, you'll have to spend the night at my place. Speaking of which... that's actually perfect for carrying out certain plans."
Kei Shirogane froze for a moment, not understanding at first what "certain plans" meant.
But after a couple of seconds, it dawned on her.
She raised a small, fair fist and lightly punched Fumiya Jin's chest.
"Moeha was the one who really said all that! I would never say things like that..."
"Oh? Is that so? What a shame," Fumiya Jin said, feigning disappointment. "I was actually looking forward to it."
"Huh?"
Kei Shirogane paused.
She looked up at Fumiya Jin.
"W-What did you just say..."
"Nothing," Fumiya Jin smiled faintly and patted her head. "Alright, we've been standing in the entryway long enough. Let's go to the living room. Miss Shiina will be our teammate in the future, you know."
"Huh..." Kei Shirogane wanted to ask something, but before she could speak, Fumiya Jin took her hand and led her towards the living room.
Entering the living room...
On the sofa, a blonde girl wearing only an oversized T-shirt was lying prone over the coffee table, completely engrossed in the screen of a laptop, her right hand repeatedly tapping the arrow keys.
Her expression was incredibly serious, as if she had reached a crucial plot point. Even her beautiful eyes, usually so distant, were now misty and glistening with moisture.
Perhaps because she was so focused, she didn't notice at all how alluringly her hips were raised, nor did she pay any mind to how eye-catching the deadly zettai ryouiki and her long, fair legs were beneath the slightly lifted hem of her T-shirt...
How lewd.
This pose was perfect for an attack from the rear.
What's more, it was obvious she wasn't intentionally striking this pose to seduce men. Rather, because the coffee table was low and it was tiring to lean over it, and because she was so absorbed at that moment, she had naturally fallen into this position to save energy... This unconscious lewdness was far more irresistible than any deliberate seduction.
Even Fumiya Jin, a man of immense self-control and unparalleled purity of mind, couldn't help but gaze solemnly at that perky and wonderful curve, an investigative urge rising in his heart—if, in this situation, he were to sneak up behind her and land a backstab followed by a dragon strike to trigger a lethal tempo... what kind of adorable reaction would she have?
I really want to find out.
"Hey, Fumiya-san... W-What are you looking at?" Kei Shirogane, however, sensed that something was off and shot Fumiya Jin a sour glare.
_____
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