Roa Wants to Cuddle

Sitting on the edge of the bed, he sighed and switched his perspective to his Sword Art Online self.

At that moment, Kazuto Kirigaya was playing a computer game with a look of pure contentment. His fingers moved nimbly and quickly, almost leaving afterimages as they flew across the keyboard. The character on the screen performed one precise, difficult maneuver after another under his control.

After he beat the boss without taking any damage and finished the game, he started playing another game called I Wanna.

Roa had played that game in his previous life, too. It was an original, notoriously punishing game series in which players had to win through their own skill. Each stage was packed with more traps than the last, making it a serious test of both reflexes and composure.

In his previous life, he'd died more than ten times on the very first stage before barely making it through. He'd died over a hundred times on the second. As for the third—sorry, he'd deleted the game.

But he couldn't help wondering why he was playing this game.

Seriously, what had you been doing while you were in control?

Roa felt a pang of frustration. Seeing the familiar art style made his fingers itch, and he couldn't resist playing a few rounds.

After breezing through the entire game, Roa relinquished control of his other self and went back to bed for a few more hours.

But just as he closed his eyes, an unruly hand reached over again.

Roa frowned and opened his eyes. His adorable little face was already wearing a distinctly impatient expression.

Honestly, cuddling with Roxy was nice and all, but right now he wanted to sleep.

Fortunately, the girl didn't do anything else, and he let out a sigh of relief before drifting off again.

The next day, Roxy stared with a flushed face at Roa, whom she was holding tightly in her arms. He slept peacefully, though his brow furrowed now and then. Roxy's cheek was nearly pressed against his. Feeling his soft, fair cheek and his small, slender body, she found herself thinking that the child before her had a strange sort of charm.

She silently scolded herself, then moved her leg off Roa and pulled her hand out from under his shirt. Sitting up in bed, Roxy got to her feet.

Once she was up, she realized she felt surprisingly well. She'd actually had a good night's sleep.

The thought that the boy made a wonderful body pillow crossed Roxy's mind.

She cleared her throat a few times and glanced at the little boy, who was still fast asleep. Then she got up to wash and get ready. When she was done, she quietly crept over to Roa.

There was no denying it: Roa was incredibly cute when he slept. His usual cool expression had softened, and the warm sunlight fell across his delicate features. His alluring collarbones and cheeks made one's heart skip a beat. Even Roxy wanted to lean in and kiss his adorable, fair little face.

He was so cute—so cute it was practically cheating!

And as everyone knew, lolis and shotas were the same kind of creature.

If Rudeus saw him, he'd surely go wild. He'd definitely cry out, "Lolis are power!"

If Jiang Feng from his previous life saw him, he'd surely be moved to say something like this:

Darwin: "Survival of the fittest—and lolis survive." Hemingway: "A man can be destroyed, but he cannot be without lolis!"

As the old saying goes: "The wildfire never burns them away; the loli breeze brings them back." Hong Mai: "Lolis bring both victory and defeat." McMahon: "Lolis know no borders." Confucius: "Among any three people, there must be a loli." Laozi: "Cute can be cute, but nothing is cuter than very cute." As the old saying goes: "The heart of a lolicon is known to all."

Sound reasoning, backed by evidence. Impossible to argue with.

This showed just how devastating shota could be. Especially a deadpan shota—his power was tripled.

This was the sort of little boy who made countless uncles squeal. Too bad that when you wanted to cuddle him, he'd cruelly tell you he was actually a boy.

Someone this cute had to be a boy!

In the end, Roxy woke Roa with a guilty look on her face.

Roa rubbed his eyes, feeling a little groggy. He looked around and noticed Roxy's flushed face, which left him somewhat puzzled.

"Good morning, Master Roxy."

Roa yawned.

"Good morning, Roa."

Roa glanced at Roxy in confusion. For some reason, she seemed oddly guilty today.

He rolled out of bed, his gaze still hazy, and fumbled around for the clothes he'd taken off the day before.

But his hand came up empty. Puzzled, he scratched his head. He remembered leaving his clothes right there.

Then Roxy produced the jacket he'd taken off from somewhere. Without changing expression, she came over and helped him put it on, her movements a little awkward.

Roa looked at her in surprise. A hint of a smile appeared on his cool little face. "Thank you, Master Roxy."

Roxy felt as if an arrow had struck her right in the heart. She screamed inwardly, Roa is so cute today, too!

She could feel something strange stirring inside her.

Roxy helped Roa to his feet. "Um, would you like me to help comb your hair?"

Now that she mentioned it, his hair did feel a little messy. He thought it over, then gave Roxy a faint smile. "If you don't mind, could you comb it for me? Of course, I'll help you too, Master."

As she ran her fingers through Roa's silky hair, Roxy felt a little envious.

She wanted hair that lovely, too. She smoothed out the boy's slightly tousled hair and caught the faint, delicate fragrance on him. Her mind drifted.

For some reason, she wanted to pick the boy up and hold him.

The boy turned to look at her, his golden eyes dazzling.

"I'll comb yours, Master Roxy."

Roxy turned around, her long hair falling to her waist.

The boy leaned forward, his fingertips gliding over the girl's smooth, deep-blue hair. Then, all at once, he moved closer and leaned beside her. His handsome, expressionless face seemed to say, "Master Roxy, your hair is so pretty."

Roxy's face turned bright red. She deliberately turned away, avoiding the boy's gaze, and stammered, "Is that so? Thank you for the compliment."

The boy slowly combed through the girl's hair, his nimble, gentle fingers passing over each strand.

For some reason, she thought of her mother. Her mother used to comb her hair just as carefully.

"Master Roxy."

The boy's childish voice brought her thoughts back from far away.

"What is it?" Roxy asked in confusion.

"Master Roxy smells like me." Roa's tone was flat, but he was clearly teasing her.

"Wah!" Roxy's face turned scarlet. She rapped the boy hard on the head. "Don't say weird things like that!"