Sose: Mom's Back!?

Lu Yi and Nagasaki Sose's clothes were soaked.

The rain had picked up again on the way home from the subway, leaving them both drenched.

"You should shower first. I'm a music student, so I can handle it, but you're still in high school. If you don't shower soon, you'll catch a cold," Lu Yi told Nagasaki Sose. Her elegant school uniform clung to her after getting soaked, revealing a figure far too shapely for a high school student.

"Mm... okay."

Nagasaki Sose was cold from the rain, too, and didn't have the energy to act tsundere. She nodded and went into the bathroom to soak in the tub. A moment later, Lu Yi could faintly hear her let out a long sigh as she sank into the hot water.

Wait, could this be the legendary—

Vegetarian soup.

It sounded so healthy.

Kuafu, don't hog it! Get Water Baby out of there!

Just as Lu Yi was thinking that, he suddenly heard Nagasaki Sose scream from the bathroom.

Lu Yi jumped. Without thinking, he opened the door and hurried inside. "What happened?!"

"There's something gross in here!"

Are you insulting me?

No, not me.

That thing.

Lu Yi turned to look.

Nagasaki Sose was curled up in the bathtub, pointing in terror at a dark shape in the corner: an overgrown G, commonly known as a cockroach.

Then it flew.

"Ah!!!" Nagasaki Sose shrieked, hastily wrapping herself in a towel and clinging tightly to Lu Yi.

She held on so tightly there wasn't an inch between them.

"Help me!" Tears welled in Nagasaki Sose's eyes.

"Okay... uh, okay."

Mr. Luvaro replied stiffly.

*******

Tomorrow's two updates will be posted after midnight so they can make the rankings. I'm terribly sorry.

And please vote for me, pretty please!

Chapter 35: Sose: Mom's Back!?

Lu Yi knew he had to keep his eyes on the big, black G flying through the air, but the situation made it hard to concentrate.

It was like being in the middle of a heated war, listening to a general deliver a rousing speech, only to have your attention drawn elsewhere.

The battle's right in front of you. Focus!

Damn, she's so soft!

Face the enemy!

Damn, she's so soft!

Attack!

Damn, she's so soft!

Private Lu Yi, step forward! What are you whispering about over there?

Calm down, Private Lu Yi. Keep your eyes on that pale, snowy beauty... No, I mean, keep your eyes on that evil big G!

Lu Yi could feel two soft mounds pressing against him. Her body was warm, soft, and fragrant, fresh from the bathtub.

"Y-you, hurry up and go outside. And make sure you wrap yourself in the towel. I didn't look, okay? You can't sue me for emotional damages later!" Lu Yi said hurriedly.

"Just hurry up and kill the bug!" Nagasaki Sose was so frightened that tears sprang to her eyes.

She was genuinely terrified.

A Celestial Dragon who lived in a high-rise apartment couldn't stand the sight of something like that.

Keeping his eyes on the big G flying through the air, Lu Yi pulled Nagasaki Sose behind him and grabbed a weapon with two words in its name from nearby: a clothes hanger!

Suddenly, the big G flew straight at him.

Lu Yi narrowed his eyes and swung the hanger hard, cutting through the air with a sharp whoosh.

It dodged.

Damn it, my Dragon Strike missed!

"Mm!" Nagasaki Sose whimpered and clung tightly to Lu Yi.

Sister Sose, stop shaking, stop shaking.

Lu Yi tried to banish the non-material cultural heritage that had popped into his mind—Ru Ware.

I've always supported Zhou with "Blue and White Porcelain."

I'm not interested in Ru Ware at all.

He looked up and saw the big G flying at him again.

Lu Yi was getting annoyed. So you want to pick a fight, huh?

He grabbed a washbasin from nearby and brought it down hard with all his strength.

Kaboom!

"Smack!"

The big G was instantly killed. Lu Yi let out a long breath. Looks like the original-game players really were more useful. From now on, I'm kicking out anyone who plays the long sword.

After flushing the big G down the drain, Lu Yi glanced at the window. "It probably crawled in through a gap in the window. Our place is always clean. We've never had anything like this before."

"That's because you don't clean properly!"

Nagasaki Sose wiped her tears, looking utterly pitiful.

"No way. Sakiko helps me clean!" Lu Yi declared righteously.

Nagasaki Sose paused, then wiped her tears and said, "Then the room really must be clean. It probably crawled in from outside. Cockroaches... I mean, those things do come out more easily when it rains."

Damn it, she didn't believe me until I mentioned Sakiko. Toyokawa Sakiko really is the ultimate trump card, huh?

Is the power of a White Moonlight really that strong?

Is Sakiko your dad or something?

She's my wife!

As an upstanding gentleman, Lu Yi wanted to leave without so much as a sideways glance after slaying the demon. But Nagasaki Sose caught his sleeve and said softly, "Could you wait outside the door? I'm scared that thing might show up again."

That thing?

Team Member Sose, do you know what you're saying?

Seeing Nagasaki Sose's fingers trembling, Lu Yi sighed. "All right. I'll stand right here. Just call me if you need anything."

Nagasaki Sose pursed her lips and said quietly, "Thank you."

She hadn't expected Lu Yi to agree. It was a pretty unreasonable request, after all. She was staying at his place, eating his food, and now she was asking him to stand guard outside the door.

Lu Yi was treating her like a princess.

Keeping a wary eye on her surroundings, Nagasaki Sose sank back into the hot water. The quiet atmosphere was soothing, but she suddenly felt a little anxious and called toward the door. "Lu Yi, are you there?"

"111." Lu Yi's voice sounded muffled through the door, but it still made Nagasaki Sose feel safe.

Nagasaki Sose felt a little calmer. After a while, she started getting paranoid again and called outside, "Lu Yi, are you still there?"

"I'm here."

Hearing Lu Yi's answer, Nagasaki Sose smiled and relaxed as she sank into the hot water.

Then she remembered what she'd done earlier. Her head erupted like Nagasaki had been hit by an atomic bomb, and a mushroom cloud rose over it. Her cheeks turned as red as ripe apples, and the longer she soaked, the redder she got.

At least I had a towel on.

But I think I hugged him pretty tightly. He didn't notice, did he?

That was the first time I'd ever hugged a boy of my own accord.

Didn't he have any thoughts about it?

"And... I should thank him, too," Nagasaki Sose muttered, curling up in the bathtub.

For letting her stay here, for shielding her from the rain earlier, and for helping her deal with... that thing. Most importantly, he still hadn't changed out of his soaked clothes, had he? What if he caught a cold?

Nagasaki Sose couldn't help worrying.

That idiot. I told him to stand guard outside the door, and he actually did.

Can't you think about yourself for once?

Idiot, idiot. You deserve to catch a cold!

What an idiot. There can't be another one like him in the whole world!

Nagasaki Sose muttered under her breath, but her reflection in the bathwater wore a warm smile.

For the first time, she wasn't doing something for someone else.

Someone was helping her without wanting anything in return.

It gave her a strange feeling.

It felt...

warm.

After Nagasaki Sose finished bathing, Lu Yi hurried off to shower, too. He hadn't had any dirty thoughts while waiting by the door—he'd nearly frozen to death. Who had time for that?

And why was Nagasaki Sose looking at him so critically when she came out of the bathroom?

What did I do now?

Lu Yi came out after a hot shower and saw Nagasaki Sose struggling to fasten the buttons on her clothes. "Don't force it. You'll ruin them."

Nagasaki Sose was wearing clothes Toyokawa Sakiko had bought here. They were only from Taobao, but Sakiko knew how to put together a lovely outfit. Since Nagasaki Sose had no clothes of her own here, she could only wear Sakiko's. The only problem was that the clothes were a little tight around the chest.

Nagasaki Sose looked up at him, then turned her head away without a word, as though she were thinking about something.

Giving me the cold shoulder, bro?

Or are you trying to mess with my head?

Lu Yi could tell you the diameter of Teyvat, but he had no idea what went on in a woman's heart.

So he could only sit down on the couch and sneeze, feeling a little cold.

"Achoo!"

"Did you catch a cold?" Nagasaki Sose asked.

What else? Did I get hit by an elemental reaction?

Lu Yi did feel a little heavy-headed. He leaned back against the couch without answering.

Nagasaki Sose came closer and touched his forehead with the back of her hand. It was a little warm, but not hot enough to count as a fever.

"Go lie down," Nagasaki Sose said, taking Lu Yi by the hand and leading him toward the bedroom. Suddenly, everything flashed before their eyes.

Nagasaki Sose blinked. The nightscape beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows, the high-rise apartment—wasn't this her room?

But... Nagasaki Sose looked down at Lu Yi, whose arm she was holding. How had he come here, too?