What Was a Boyfriend?

Lu Mingfei, out in the room, was suffering through an inner ordeal. Erii really didn't treat herself like a stranger at all. He'd never seen a girl stand in front of him with so little on.

Her shrine maiden outfit was still on the bed. She'd probably come back out to get dressed in a bit.

Sighing, Lu Mingfei gathered up Erii's clothes and walked to the bathroom door.

He knocked.

"Erii, I've left your clothes by the door. You can get dressed in there when you're done. You don't have to answer—just clap your hands if you heard me."

Lu Mingfei called through the bathroom door.

"Clap, clap!" Erii obediently clapped her hands. She seemed to find it amusing, so she clapped several more times. Only when Lu Mingfei called for her to stop did she reluctantly quit.

Half an hour later, Erii came out dressed, with Little Yellow Duck perched on her head.

Seeing that Lu Mingfei looked a little off, Erii sat on the bed, picked up her diary, and wrote: "Sakura, what's wrong? You don't look well."

"Didn't your family tell you not to take your clothes off in front of strange men? Actually, you shouldn't take them off in front of any man."

Lu Mingfei spoke in a weary tone.

"Why can't I take my clothes off?" Erii raised the notebook, asking.

"Because that's the rule in this world. Girls can't just let other men see their bodies."

Since her family hadn't told her, Lu Mingfei decided he'd teach Erii this basic rule himself.

Erii nodded as if she understood, though she wasn't entirely sure.

"Then who can see?" Erii held up the notebook and asked another question.

"It's okay if it's a girl. If it's a guy, then he has to be your future partner."

"What's a partner?"

"Your boyfriend."

"What's a boyfriend?"

"A boyfriend is someone who'll stay by your side until the end, grow old with you, love and spoil you, take you to do all sorts of fun things and eat all kinds of delicious food, never leave you, and eventually marry you," Lu Mingfei explained.

"Want one. A boyfriend." Erii held up the notebook in front of Lu Mingfei.

"You'll have to work at that yourself. First, you need to get a boy to like you, and then you have to really like him too. Only if you both feel the same way can you have a boyfriend."

A few men flashed through Erii's mind. First there was Gen Chisaki. Her older brother was good to her, but she was still a little afraid of him.

Then Sakura's face appeared in her mind. Sakura was fun and strong, and he treated her well. Could he be her boyfriend? Erii was only daydreaming. She often imagined the stories from the anime she watched.

She'd imagined sailing with Luffy and becoming friends with Naruto. Naruto was a monster too, so she'd never thought there was anything strange about those fantasies.

Lu Mingfei gently stroked Erii's head as he explained. He didn't want this innocent girl to get hurt, so this was the only way he knew to explain it to her.

Feeling the warmth on her head, Erii rubbed against Lu Mingfei's hand like a cat.

"All right, enough about that. It's time to sleep."

He'd spent a long time thinking while Erii took her bath. Since they'd finally gotten to go on a trip, he wasn't willing to sleep on the floor.

"Would you mind sharing a bed with me?" Lu Mingfei asked.

"I want to sleep with Sakura." Erii held up her notebook.

"In that case, you sleep on the inside and I'll sleep on the outside. This bed's pretty big, so we can sleep separately."

Then Lu Mingfei placed his Kujo Jotaro diary in the middle of the bed.

"This is the boundary between us. We can't cross it while we're sleeping. Whoever crosses it has to give the other person half their food tomorrow."

Erii nodded repeatedly. Having to give away half her food sounded terrifying.

They turned the lights down until they weren't too bright, then sat against the headboard on opposite sides of the bed.

"Does Sakura have a Stand?" Erii handed him the notebook.

"Stands only exist in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. That's an anime. They don't exist in the real world," Lu Mingfei explained.

"Oh." Erii seemed a little disappointed.

"Erii, why aren't you allowed to leave home?" Lu Mingfei asked in turn.

He really couldn't understand why a girl who seemed so perfectly normal wasn't allowed to go outside. She didn't look seriously ill, either.

Erii fell silent. She'd heard the people in her family say that her bloodline was unstable. She was like a monster from Ultraman, and going outside would cause trouble for others.

She'd wanted to run away from home because she wanted to see the world.

After a long while, Erii wrote in her diary: "Because I'm a Little Monster. Going outside would be bad for other people. Every so often, I have to have a doctor treat me."

"What do you mean, a monster? You silly girl. How could you possibly affect anyone else by going outside?"

He reached out and gently rubbed her head, as though he were trying to comfort her.

Now he understood. Erii probably needed treatment every so often, or she'd get sick.

"When's your next treatment?" Lu Mingfei asked softly.

"In half a month."

Then there was no problem. Lu Mingfei would be in Japan for another three days, and he could take her home on the last day.

"It's getting late, Erii. You should get some sleep. We have more places to visit tomorrow," Lu Mingfei said softly.

Erii nodded vigorously.

They each used a separate blanket. Lu Mingfei covered Erii and tucked her in. Once he was done, he told her not to mess up her blanket; if she got cold, he wouldn't be responsible.

Erii only blinked at him. It was the first time anyone had ever told her something like that. Sakura was so gentle.

On the outside of the bed, Lu Mingfei fell asleep hugging Asahina Mikuru's body pillow, a blissful smile on his face. On the inside, Erii hugged C.C.'s body pillow, with Little Yellow Duck beside her pillow. She lay there with her eyes open, lost in thought.

After seeing Sakura fall asleep, Erii studied his eyelashes, counting them one by one.

A little while later, she reached out and poked Sakura's cheek.

Sakura didn't react, so Erii poked his nose, then his forehead.

He caught her finger. With his eyes still closed, Lu Mingfei said, "Go to sleep. If you don't, I'll throw you out to feed the wolves!" Then he let go of Erii's finger.

Erii scooted farther inside and hid her head under the blanket. She didn't dare poke Sakura again. Sakura was scary!

Happy New Year, everyone!