Thanks, Ryuuen. If You Can't Say It Right, Don't Say Anything

She still held her drink in her right hand, but raised her left to block Ryuen's strike. She redirected Ryuen's arm with a soft, yielding force, then shoved her in the chest.

Ryuen hurriedly blocked with her other hand, but Ayanokoji didn't stop attacking. Instead, she pressed forward with even more force.

Using just one hand and one leg, she drove Ryuen back step by step. No matter what move Ryuen tried, Ayanokoji effortlessly countered it and followed up with a combo.

The housing agent watched the scene unfold. He had to admit, watching women fight was pretty interesting.

Once they'd fought enough, Ryuen immediately called for a stop.

When Ryuen stopped, Ayanokoji stopped too.

"I never thought there'd be someone this vicious at school."

"In our year alone, apart from her, there's also Koenji. You're probably third in strength."

Well, that was about third place in the original story too. Even after the upgrade, she was still third. Though, that wasn't quite right—if he remembered correctly, she'd struggled a bit against Albert in the original. So the upgrade hadn't been for nothing.

At least Ryuen seemed a lot stronger than she had in the original story.

But she still couldn't beat those two monsters.

"Third, huh? Tch, that's annoying."

"Come on, stop being annoyed. Have I finished rubbing the medicine on your back?"

"You have, but don't even think about moving. You're sleeping facedown in bed tonight."

"Hey! What about the dishes after you finish eating?"

"Would you like me to take care of them?"

Ayanokoji joined the conversation, looking confused as the two of them turned to stare at her.

She thought it over. Had she said something wrong?

"Oh, I forgot to mention: Ayanokoji has a noticeable cognitive impairment, especially when it comes to social etiquette."

The housing agent filled Ryuen in, then turned to Ayanokoji. "The dishes are our responsibility. You're an 'outsider,' so you shouldn't volunteer to take that task on."

"But I thought it was something you wanted to do, Chukai-kun. And you said that because you couldn't do it yourself, right?"

Ayanokoji's reply left the housing agent speechless. Why did Ayanokoji seem so airheaded now that he'd become Lumei?

And... more endearing, too.

Because Chukai-kun wanted to do it, she wanted to do it as well.

Her thinking was so simple that the housing agent's expression turned complicated.

Even Ryuen, standing beside him, gave him a strange look.

"You've already hooked up with someone else? Or were you two hooked up already?"

"How can you call that hooking up?"

"You're saying it doesn't count? Come on, let me ask you this: since you put it that way, what if he wanted to marry you?"

With her arms crossed, Ryuen asked Ayanokoji directly. She wanted to see whether Ayanokoji really was as clueless about social etiquette as he'd claimed.

"Marriage? Sure. It's just getting a certificate, right? What's the problem?"

There were a lot of problems...

Watching Ayanokoji answer so simply, the housing agent couldn't help sighing.

She always took things at face value. She didn't understand the deeper implications, so she never considered them.

An ordinary girl would think much further ahead: the two of them living together, sleeping together, having a child, raising that child, and all the rest. If she liked the person proposing, she might even have imagined their grandchildren's names.

But Ayanokoji thought marriage was just a marriage certificate?

"You... I think I understand what you meant now."

After Ayanokoji's blunt response, Ryuen turned to the housing agent.

This was what you meant by not understanding social etiquette?

She didn't understand a damn thing!

"So she's still learning. She's gradually figuring out the things people usually know by listening to them talk. But her classmates probably don't discuss marriage, so she knows nothing about it."

The housing agent had to defend her. What a mess.

Ryuen changed the subject. "Then what if Chukai-kun wanted to sleep with you?"

"Hey! Why would you ask something like that?"

The housing agent hurried to stop Ayanokoji. "You don't have to answer that kind of question..."

"Sleep together? As in sleep in the same bed? Sure."

She still didn't understand a thing.

Ryuen's expression remained complicated.

Yeah, she was beginning to understand what was going on with Ayanokoji.

"No, I mean have sex. Do you know what sex is?"

"I understand. Um... you want me to have a baby? That probably wouldn't work. My father doesn't want me to have a child too young."

Ayanokoji's answer was no, but she wasn't refusing to have sex with the housing agent. She was refusing to have a child.

So your repressed side turned into natural airheadedness after you changed gender...

The housing agent watched as Ryuen edged closer to a breakdown. She kept trying to find something Ayanokoji would refuse, but Ayanokoji kept misunderstanding her.

Well played, Ayanokoji.

Thanks for Nothing, Ryuen. If You Can't Say It Right, Don't Say It

"Where did this weirdo come from? Has nobody ever taught you about this stuff?"

"About it? I've studied it. Isn't it just for having children?"

Ayanokoji looked a little confused. What on earth had her father been thinking, being so reckless?

If she'd been the housing agent's daughter, she'd have been so cute he'd have become a total daughter-doting dad.

As it turned out, even a mad scientist wouldn't hesitate to experiment on his own adorable daughter. He didn't care that she was his precious little girl.

"Forget it, forget it. Big Sis, just forget it."

Seeing that Ryuen looked ready to slap herself, the housing agent hurried to talk her down.

He was genuinely afraid Ryuen would reenact that famous scene right in front of him.

"Sex isn't just for having children. How could you equate the two?"

"It's also for... satisfying desire?"

Ayanokoji touched her chin, trying to remember. "I think I've heard people talk about that. If it doesn't lead to a child, then I suppose it wouldn't be a problem..."

"No, you absolutely need to remember this: refuse no matter who invites you, okay?"

The housing agent hurriedly added, worried Ayanokoji might think it was no big deal and end up getting seduced by some guy one day.

Damn, why did this feel like the start of some erotic comic? The more he thought about it, the stranger it got.

"Is that so? Is it really important?"

"It is. Very important. Thank you. And regardless of whether they're a man or a woman, if anyone asks you to have sex, please refuse."

"Even you?"

"Even... Mmph!"

The housing agent was just about to say yes, but Ryuen covered his mouth. "Of course, not him. Tell me, do you have feelings for him?"

"If you mean feeling close to him, then yes."

"Then he's the exception. You should only do that sort of thing with the person you love most."

"The person I love most? Does my father count?"

Ayanokoji thought about it. The person she felt closest to was probably her father.

After him came the butler. He'd told her she should go out and see the world instead of staying shut away in one place. She shouldn't become her father's plaything.

She didn't quite understand what the butler meant, but he was usually right.

So Ayanokoji had escaped with the butler's help and was hiding from her father. Lately, her father had seemed increasingly frightening, and for the first time, she'd felt rebellious.

But she'd never felt that way before, so she didn't know it was rebellion.

"Father and daughter is off-limits. Someone your own age, someone you aren't related to—that's what you want. What you have with your father is familial love, not romantic love."

"But aren't familial love, friendship, and romantic love all forms of emotion? Romantic love eventually becomes familial love, and friendship, if it deepens enough, becomes brotherly love—which is also familial love. So doesn't all emotion lead to familial love?"

Ayanokoji's words short-circuited the housing agent's brain. It made sense, but... damn.

How was he supposed to explain that feeling?

"But familial love makes you feel safe, while romantic love makes your heart flutter, makes it beat really fast."

"Oh. Then I don't love Chukai-kun."

Ayanokoji immediately understood. She didn't love Chukai-kun.

"I only feel safe around him, so I suppose we've already reached the familial-love stage."

No, that was just dependence. And Ryuen, thank you—if you can't say something right, don't say it at all.

The housing agent gave Ryuen a silent, dead-eyed stare of gratitude. He'd nearly thanked her ancestors for eight generations.

That was some favor you did him. Come on.

"Don't listen to her. She can't even pass modern language class. If you take her seriously, you'll misunderstand everything."

The housing agent rubbed his back. Even after applying medicine, the burning pain still hurt.

Damn those bastards. He should've hit them a few more times.

"Also, don't overthink familial love or friendship. Just follow your heart. If your heart flutters, that's romantic love. If you want to get close to him, that's friendship. As for familial love... for now, the only people you can feel that for are those who share your blood."

"Hmm... Human emotions are so complicated."

"How have you even survived this long?"

"Hehe~"

"Don't try to get out of it by acting cute! And who taught you that?"

"I saw Kushida do that when she made a mistake, and the boys stopped bothering her afterward. So it doesn't work?"

"It works, but I'm not angry. Why are you trying to get out of trouble by acting cute? No, it's a bad habit. Forget you ever saw it."

The housing agent felt like he was raising a child. Why was she so clueless...

Ayanokoji's father, seriously—how could you trust your daughter to be on her own?

(After all, he never expected his daughter to run away from home. (Lol))

So the rest of the evening was spent educating Ayanokoji. After nearly driving the two of them crazy, she came to understand ordinary people a little better.

She still had a long way to go.

"Hehe, looks like you're out of luck tonight. Should I ask them to excuse you from class?"

"No need. I should be able to move tomorrow. My back doesn't hurt as much now, and I should be able to walk without much trouble."

It was only a little swollen. Ayanokoji had checked, and it was just a flesh wound.

He couldn't sleep on his back tonight, or the pressure would hurt. But sleeping on his stomach or side should be fine. That girl hadn't hit very hard; otherwise, he might've been in real trouble.

At the very least, he had to finish Plan A tomorrow. As for the fact that he'd been beaten up...

Those bastards—don't think this is over. Just wait. Once he'd dealt with what he had to do, he'd settle the score with them.

"Could you even move tonight?"

"I hurt my back, not anything below it. Why wouldn't I be able to move? Do you think I'm easy to handle?"

"Want to try?"

"Sure."

After tasting forbidden fruit, it was hard to forget how good it felt. The two of them had only just experienced that pleasure and wanted to enjoy it a few more times, so before long, they were at it again.