Chapter 36: TS girl is a little sleepy.

The drowsiness still lingered, weighing on her head like it had stuck there.

Something gently touched my cheek—fingers tracing along it. Ticklish.

Still half-asleep, I opened my eyes. Reina was staring at me, slowly stroking my hair.

Looking closer, the corners of her mouth were slightly raised, her expression softened. A smiling Reina felt… a bit motherly somehow.

More mature than someone our age should be. Almost unnaturally so.

…Or rather, I must have fallen asleep without noticing.

Wait. Hold on… didn’t I fall asleep clinging to Nagisa-kun? And in a swimsuit?

He must be surprisingly trained—his abs felt pretty firm.

…No, that’s not the point.

Wait, what am I even thinking?

What’s really bad is that while I was asleep, someone apparently changed me out of my swimsuit. How did she even do that? Seriously. Isn’t that way too skillful?

"Good morning."

Because I was thinking such stupid things, I woke up fully.

After blinking in surprise, Reina pulled her hand back.

"Did you sleep well?"

She spoke as if nothing had happened, keeping an expressionless face. She doesn’t want to be seen, huh. Guess I’ll let it slide.

"Reina, you really managed to change me, huh."

"You’re quiet when you’re asleep."

"How did I not wake up…?"

I genuinely started thinking about it. Maybe it has something to do with my Abaddon state?

My current body is in an Abaddon state, so it’s not normal.

I’ve had it checked several times, but there wasn’t anything particularly abnormal.

So maybe it has nothing to do with it.

"Were you that tired?"

"I don’t think so."

"Then maybe you just felt really safe around Nagisa Shinozaki?"

Reina let out a soft laugh. …Everyone really does connect everything back to Nagisa-kun, huh.

"What’s that supposed to mean? I’m not a dog."

"Well, you’re more like a cat."

"That’s not what I mean…"

"Anyway, where is everyone else?"

"Kurokawa Kisa is resting in her room."

Due to standby orders, we were staying at a nearby lodging facility. This room is one of them, and Kisa has apparently returned to her own room.

"What about the other two?"

"They’re probably on a date."

"...Reina, you really jump to romance pretty easily, don’t you?"

"Not particularly. I was just a little curious about how you’d feel if Nagisa Shinozaki went on a date with someone else."

Reina said it with a completely straight face, and I flinched.

Sitting in her chair, she crossed her legs again.

Her expression was hard to read, but I’ve started to understand her a little.

Right now, she’s probably just asking out of curiosity.

…Like she’s trying to figure out if I’d get jealous?

Well, I do feel a bit unsettled, but not in that way. It’s more like hearing about someone’s middle school history or something like that.

But I didn’t feel like answering honestly, so I dodged the question with a smile.

"At least I was surprised you were doing something like wall-pinning people, Reina."

"...You don’t need to worry about that."

"Oh? I was just thinking maybe you like Nagisa-kun too."

"I did say ‘Reina too,’ didn’t I? That means—"

"Mistake."

"Is that so?"

"Shut up, swimsuit flaunting girl."

"Silence."

"Fweh—"

Reina’s hand swiftly reached out and squeezed both of my cheeks. …I can’t talk.

She kneaded them gently, as if enjoying the sensation.

"You’re soft."

"...How long are you going to keep doing that?"

Finally, she let go. Seriously, what is she doing?

"You just seem like you’d be soft."

"What kind of reason is that?"

"It just crossed my mind. If anything, I should’ve held you back when you said I could use you as a pillow."

"Stop bringing that up!"

I was mentally weak at the time, okay—don’t tease me about it!

Ugh… I really need to strengthen my mentality so things like that don’t happen again.

"By the way, Reina, you’ve changed quite a bit."

"Have I?"

"At first, it felt like there were three layers of walls around you."

"...At first, you were kind of creepy."

"Haha, sorry."

…Well, I was pretty stiff at the beginning too.

Come to think of it, weren’t we supposed to have individual rooms?

"Is this my room?"

"Yes. I could sleep here too, though."

"Hey, don’t try to turn me into a body pillow."

"I’ve been found out."

Did she always have this playful side?

Well, it probably just means she’s become comfortable around me.

…Or maybe she’s comfortable with Nagisa-kun too, considering the swimsuit thing?

I wonder if the others are here too. I didn’t see anyone else.

…Could Mahiro Nishizono be staying here too?

Well, as a reincarnator, I do care a bit about him. He seems mentally unstable and tries to capture people, so I don’t even know how careful I should be around him.

The Fourth Deep Calamity disaster subjugation is pretty troublesome, so I kind of want to talk to him a bit.

If he’s here, maybe I’ll talk to him.

"Well then, I’ll be off."

"Shoo shoo."

"You really are cute."

"Eh?"

I waved her off a bit defensively, but an unexpected comment came back.

Cute? What does she mean?

Before I could even ask, she left.

…Being called cute doesn’t feel as uncomfortable anymore.

Being Akagami Sora, I guess it can’t be helped. Even in the game’s storyline, I did pretty suggestive things.

Anyway… I’ll go check on those two who might be on a date later.

◇◇◇

After a phone call with Iijima Kanon, Mahiro Nishizono had slightly calmed down and was in a room of the same lodging facility as Sora and the others.

He didn’t really want to run into them, but there was nowhere else to stay in this area.

Besides, there was something he wanted to tell Sora. But his mind was unsettled, and he couldn’t quite bring himself to do it.

He had tried to “capture” her. Why had he done something like that? His thoughts kept spinning uselessly.

…Since he had already shown the use of Connect Link and Magic Word, they might think he’s some kind of weird person. Well, he was kind of a weird person.

He was scared. He wasn’t good at talking to people. Just meeting their gaze made him feel sick.

For now, he should leave the room. He needed a change of pace.

But the moment he opened the door—

He saw red hair swaying.

"Ah."

"Eep!"

He immediately tried to retreat into the room, but his arm was grabbed.

"Hmm, Mahiro, right? Maffy, I’ve got some free time—come with me."

"T-that’s too forceful…"

Before he knew it, Kisa Kurokawa, whom he had randomly run into, was dragging him away.