"How long do you plan to wash?"
Shinra sat on the leather ottoman outside the bathroom, asking Futaba Rio, who was separated from him by only a door.
From the time she entered the bath until now, the clothes Shinra changed out of before showering had already finished drying, showing how long she had been washing.
The key was that this guy didn't let him go too far. Fortunately, Futaba Rio's bathroom was large and divided into a bathing area and a changing area. Shinra was in the changing area, separated from the bathing area by only a sliding door.
The sliding door was made of glass, but not the transparent kind. Instead, it used semi-transparent frosted glass, which allowed one to vaguely see the figure of the person inside but not clearly, like being pixelated.
"Almost done." Futaba Rio's voice came from the bathroom, accompanied by the sound of splashing water, which should be the sound of water caused by her getting up from the bathtub.
"If I had known this, it would have been better to wash together earlier." Shinra complained.
Although Shinra didn't check the time much, Futaba had been washing for at least an hour.
It must be known that even including soaking in the bath, Shinra spent less than half an hour. This was already the longest bath he had taken in nearly a year.
Being so dawdling in the bathhouse, aren't you afraid of fainting from the steam?
If she hadn't been talking to him from time to time during this period, Shinra would have suspected she fainted in the bathroom.
"Okay, if Mai-senpai doesn't mind."
Futaba Rio said a nonsense sentence.
"If she really agreed, you wouldn't be willing again."
"If she really agreed, I wouldn't have any objections."
"You only said that because you were certain she wouldn't agree!"
Shinra saw through it. This guy Futaba Rio was purely teasing him. If he really planned to do something, she would use Mai to suppress him.
Pulling strings, how to say? Pulling strings.
However, having said that, Shinra could understand Futaba Rio's behavior.
After all, no matter how calm Futaba Rio appeared, when encountering a supernatural event like Adolescence Syndrome, she would also show her fragile side as a girl.
Not to mention that the current Inner Futaba might also face the threat of 'self' disappearing.
Don't be fooled by her seemingly free and easy attitude, saying one of the two Futabas would inevitably disappear. Who could guarantee that the one disappearing wouldn't be her?
And once disappeared, for Inner Futaba, it was basically equivalent to 'death'.
Everyone says people die eventually, but when death approaches, most people show a different face.
Another sound of water splashing came.
"Why sit back down again?" Shinra identified the position by sound and found that Futaba Rio soaked back into the bathtub.
"Ugh..." Futaba Rio didn't answer.
Shinra felt something was wrong. He walked to the sliding door and knocked: "Hey, Futaba, are you okay?"
"N-No, nothing, just a little dizzy." Futaba Rio held her forehead. When she stood up just now, she might have used too much force and didn't recover immediately, causing dizziness.
This situation is common when waking up in the morning and getting up too fast, causing temporary cerebral ischemia and hypoxia leading to dizziness.
Futaba Rio was in a similar situation. Soaking for too long, plus usually not exercising much and having a weak constitution, it was easy to have similar insufficient blood supply to the brain.
"Dizzy? Need my help?"
Shinra's intentions are known to everyone on the street.
"No need." Futaba Rio had recovered. Unknown if it was because she soaked too long or sensed the restless heart outside the bathroom door, she hurriedly added: "I can do it alone."
"Is that so. Don't force yourself. Call me if you need anything... call me even if there's nothing."
The voice outside the door sounded a bit disappointed. Futaba Rio inside the door couldn't help rolling her eyes.
"I'm coming out soon. You can go to the living room."
Because of Shinra's speech just now, Futaba Rio sent Shinra directly to the living room.
Hearing the sound of opening and closing the door outside, Futaba Rio slowly dried her body with a towel, then 'struggled' to fasten her bra.
Generally speaking, Futaba Rio would only wear underwear for the lower body after showering at night, but considering Shinra was here today, she chose to wear full equipment. At worst, she could take it off when going to sleep at night.
In addition, Futaba Rio's pajama style tonight was also quite conservative, not like the set of pajamas she photographed for Shinra before.
In fact, after Futaba Rio finished taking photos, that set of pajamas was permanently sealed in the corner of the wardrobe. Barring any accidents, that should be the only time it was worn in this life.
As for what Futaba Rio said on LINE before, asking Shinra to come to her house and changing clothes for him to see, that was just a way to trick him into coming to her house, similar to 'My cat can do backflips'.
Of course, this carries a great risk and is not recommended for women living alone to learn. If the prey disguises as a hunter, pretend I didn't say it.
Sure enough, after Futaba Rio came out of the bathroom wrapped in fluffy pajamas from head to toe, she saw Shinra's slightly disappointed look.
Wrapped too tightly. Except for exposing a head and small white feet, even her hands were in her pockets.
Still didn't catch a good time.
It had been almost half a month since autumn started. The weather was gradually getting cooler, unlike the heat of summer, so pajamas naturally switched to autumn styles.
Although she knew Shinra would show this expression, when she saw it with her own eyes, Futaba Rio still couldn't hold back a bit.
Ever since he 'exposed his true nature' in front of her, he treated himself less and less as an outsider. Before, he would pretend a little, but now he didn't even act.
But for some reason, facing such a Shinra, Futaba Rio found it easier to get along with than before, even somewhat... enjoying it?
Slightly retracting the smile at the corner of her mouth, Futaba Rio pointed to her room door and said: "I'll go get the bedding."
Although Shinra was a guest, he was too embarrassed to let Futaba Rio carry things while he did nothing, so he immediately stood up from the sofa in the living room.
He said: "I'll help you too."
Futaba Rio didn't even bother to pay attention to Shinra. Are you trying to help her? Clearly, you want to enter her room!
Before long, Futaba walked out of the room holding a thick stack of bedding.
Behind her was Shinra holding two quilts. One was for him to cover tonight, and the other was for Futaba Rio.
Originally, Shinra thought Futaba's talk about sleeping in the living room tonight was just talk, but unexpectedly she was serious.
And not only Shinra sleeping in the living room, but Futaba Rio also seemed to plan to sleep in the living room.
"It's fine for me to sleep in the living room, but why don't you go directly to the room to sleep?" Shinra was puzzled.
Although using the living room sofa as a bed was no problem, it was still not as comfortable as a bed after all.
"...Feel like leaving you alone in the living room is a bit pitiful." Futaba pondered for a long time and finally found a suitable reason.
Shinra didn't feel how suitable this reason was. If you are afraid of sleeping alone, just say it. Why say leaving him alone in the living room is a bit pitiful? If really pitiful, let him sleep in the guest room!
Futaba's house had four floors in total: the first floor living area, second floor residential area, third floor open-air area, and basement level one. Futaba's room just now was on the sunny side of the second floor, right next to the master bedroom. At the other end of the corridor, there were three guest rooms.
Generally speaking, in a villa as big as this, specialized personnel would come to clean basically every week. Places like guest rooms would be kept tidy even if no one lived there, just in case. Therefore, there was no such thing as being uninhabited for too long and inconvenient for people to sleep.
"Then really thank you, ao." Shinra mimicked Futaba Rio's previous appearance and rolled his eyes at her.
"You're welcome." This guy actually accepted it seriously.
Although the two tossed about in the bathroom for a long time (?), the actual time was only less than eight o'clock in the evening, still a long time from the usual bedtime.
"Watch TV for a while?" Futaba Rio didn't know Shinra's hobbies well, so she could only give the most mediocre suggestion—watch TV.
Futaba Rio didn't have the habit of playing games usually, so there were no game consoles in her house. Even the computer was a laptop, which was okay for watching movies, but forget about playing games.
"Then let's watch TV for a while." Shinra didn't care much about entertainment methods. Before obtaining the current control ability, he liked playing games quite a bit. But after obtaining this ability, he basically hadn't touched games much. Playing video games isn't as fun as current pushing (electrocuting).
Electrocuting himself every day, how pleasant.
M attribute big explosion!
There was nothing good on TV. Rather than watching TV, he and Futaba were chatting with the background sound of the TV.
Since Futaba herself wasn't a talkative person, the topic was basically led by Shinra. During the period, it inevitably developed towards dreams, ideals, and directions that could align the granularity of the Surface and Inner Futabas.
Unfortunately, Shinra's starting point was good, but the person involved wasn't willing to start.
"Don't you want to call home?" Seeing Shinra talking about these irrelevant things, Futaba Rio simply changed the topic directly.
Generally speaking, staying outside requires calling family to inform them, right?
Especially for rich kids like Shinra, the family management should be quite strict, right?
"Report to whom? Mai?" Shinra asked back.
"Family members. You are staying at my place; don't you want to tell your parents? ...What is that action?"
Shinra put his hands together, making a 'praying nia' gesture.
"Reporting to my parents." Shinra opened his eyes and said as a matter of course.
"..."
Shinra's answer silenced Futaba Rio directly.
Is there such a way to report? Telepathy or something?
Originally wanted to say this, but Futaba Rio wasn't stupid and quickly realized why Shinra did this.
"Uncle and Auntie, they..."
"Just as you thought."
"Sorry..."
After hearing Shinra's answer, Futaba Rio was somewhat at a loss.
"I'm used to it."
After all, every beautiful girl he met had to repeat this step; Shinra was too familiar with it.
Seeing Shinra so open-minded, Futaba Rio became more restless. Compared to her parents being both busy, obviously, Shinra's parents being both deceased was more miserable.
After cracking a hell joke, the atmosphere in the living room cooled slightly.
The TV kept making noise, trying its best to create an atmosphere for the two to talk.
"How about sleeping?" Futaba suddenly said.
"So sudden? It's my first time, eh."
"Which sleeping do you mean?"
"Of course sleeping on the floor of someone else's house; it's my first time."
These words made Futaba Rio embarrassed. She hesitated for a moment and said: "How about you sleep on the sofa?"
Thinking carefully, letting a guest sleep on the floor was indeed somewhat rude.
"What about you?"
"I'll sleep on the floor."
Futaba Rio seemed determined to sleep in the living room.
"Forget it, I'll sleep on the floor." Shinra stood up from the sofa and walked to the pre-laid bedding.
Maybe because of the thick wool carpet in the living room, plus a layer of mattress, in terms of body feel, it wasn't much different from a bed, just a bit harder at most.
Watching Shinra crawl into the quilt below, Futaba Rio turned off the TV and lights, then lay down on the sofa.
Although the lights were off, Futaba didn't feel sleepy at all.
Not because there was a member of the opposite sex lying next to her, but for some deeper reasons.
Late at night is prone to overthinking, not to mention having experienced so many things. Futaba Rio's sleep quality had not been very good in the past two days.
Listening to the even breathing beside her, Futaba was speechless. Really asleep?
Sleep quality so good?
A beautiful girl like me next to him, and he just sleeps like this?
Heh, even if Sakurajima Mai was next to him, Shinra would still sleep.
After all, she won't give it up; what else can he do besides sleeping?
Everything is in the dream.
"Are you still awake?" Unreconciled, Futaba asked tentatively.
No answer for a long time. Just when Futaba was about to give up and close her eyes to force herself to sleep, Shinra's voice came.
"What's up?"
"You're not asleep."
"Was about to sleep."
"Then still not asleep."
Futaba turned over, but not towards Shinra, but with her back to Shinra's direction.
"Is it entering the late-night heart-to-heart talk segment?"
Originally Shinra planned to sleep, but considering the late-night environment, maybe some plot could be triggered, so he had been pretending to sleep just now.
"Pretty much." Futaba Rio indeed had some words to say to Shinra.
"Then I'll reluctantly act as a caring big brother."
"...Mai-senpai is graduating soon, right?"
"Actually chatting about Mai?"
"Can't I?"
"Can do, but feels a bit weird. So what do you plan to say?"
"What will it be like after graduation?"