I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

Walking naked into the bathroom, the silver-haired girl spoke casually, ignoring her, and stood under the showerhead before turning on the hot water.

Kasumigaoka Utaha stared wide-eyed, bewildered, as her silver hair was quickly soaked, and her flawless, slender body was flushed with a delicate blush from the heat. The rising steam perfectly concealed the parts that wouldn't pass censorship.

Despite the stunningly beautiful scenery, it gives one a strange feeling, like a doll cleaning itself.

Recovering from her shock, Kasumigaoka Utaha instinctively held her breath, not bothering to guess the other person's intention to deliberately come in and take a bath for her to see. She quietly left the bathtub, trying to hide all her movements, and walked past her from behind, her steps small but firm as she walked towards the bathroom door.

Even though she was no longer afraid of or wary of this android, she still didn't want to take a bath with her!

Fortunately, without any obstruction or the terrifying scene of her suddenly turning her head 180 degrees to glare at her, Kasumigaoka Utaha arrived at the bathroom door smoothly.

She bit her lip slightly, ignoring the phone on the shelf, and prepared to rush out in one go.

Crack! Crack!

Kasumigaoka Utaha's expression changed drastically. She pressed the doorknob several times, her movements becoming increasingly frantic and anxious: "The door...the door won't open?! How is this possible? The lock is clearly..."

“I’ve made this bathroom a locked space. You can’t open that door, whether it’s locked or not.”

"..."

Her body stiffened, and she slowly turned her head.

The silver-haired girl turned off the hot water. Her long hair, which should have been wet and clung to her delicate curves, was instead wrapped in a towel like hers after a flash of light, revealing only her slender, fair neck.

More than pretty and cute, she seems eerie.

Kasumigaoka Utaha kept a straight face, not letting herself lose her composure over such a "trivial matter," and spoke with a mocking tone:

"I have no interest in taking a bath with you. If you're so capable, how about we switch places with your older brother?"

The silver-haired girl looked at her calmly: "I won't do anything that my brother hates."

"You don't care if I hate you?"

"If you dislike me, it will also affect my favorability towards my brother, so it's not something I can ignore."

This answer surprised Kasumigaoka Utaha quite a bit—this guy actually cares about her feelings?

She couldn't believe it no matter how she thought about it, so she continued to question, "Then what are you doing now? You said you were going to take a shower, but you locked me in the bathroom and won't let me out? Do you have some kind of misunderstanding about the word 'hate'?"

"This is a plan to shower together and build rapport."

"??? I've already finished washing!"

"First, so as not to disturb your conversation with your brother; second, so that you can quietly enjoy your time taking a bath alone."

The silver-haired girl said seriously, her face completely devoid of any joking expression: "This is what thoughtfulness is. No one dislikes thoughtful and gentle behavior, and the proof is my brother."

"..."

She thought it was going to rain in the bathroom, but it turned out she had just made herself speechless.

Kasumigaoka Utaha's cheek twitched slightly. Her initial surprise and wariness turned into an indescribable subtlety, leaving her at a loss for words.

what is this?

He deliberately came in after I finished showering, saying it was out of consideration for her?

Locking the door and even creating a closed space, just so he could shower with himself?

There's a limit to how much you lack common sense!

Ultimately, the idea of ​​suddenly wanting to deepen their relationship is absurd, completely different from the previous attitude that seemed like they were about to kill each other at the slightest disagreement.

Like a machine yet not like a machine, like a human yet not like a human—what kind of android did the "Black Curtain" create?

"I'm sorry, I have no intention of developing a relationship with you."

Kasumigaoka Utaha said coldly, pressing the doorknob a few more times, then pounded on the door in a fit of impotent rage: "So let me out!!!"

The girl completely ignored her protests, turned to face the bathtub, and lightly touched the cooled bathwater with her fingers. Faint white steam rose instantly, and the temperature in the bathroom rose again.

Hearing the sound of someone entering the water, Kasumigaoka Utaha turned her head and glanced at her. While she was submerging her neck and starting to blow bubbles, she quickly grabbed her phone from the shelf, turned on the screen, and immediately redialed Tenkuji Yu's number.

However, after a long busy signal, the call never went through.

She put her phone down and checked the signal strength. Could it be…?

“The locked space is a one-way street; you can enter but not leave. Unless your brother opens the door and barges in, you won’t be able to contact him in any way.”

The silver-haired girl sat in the bathtub, watching Kasumigaoka Utaha stand silently like a statue with the gaze one would give a monkey, and slowly began to speak:

"Ten minutes. Come in and take a ten-minute bath, and I'll let you go."

"..."

Kasumigaoka Utaha remained silent for a long time, as if she was struggling with whether to condescend to comply with the other party's conditions or continue banging on the door to the death.

After what seemed like an eternity, she finally let out a heavy sigh, put her phone back on the shelf, and looked down at the girl in the bathtub with a calm expression.

"Just ten minutes."

"Don't worry, I have no intention of harming you, so there's no need to be so hostile towards me."

"I hate your self-righteous and forceful approach to others."

"Really? Then I won't do that next time."

Kasumigaoka Utaha didn't believe a single word.

The girl moved aside half of the bathtub, dried herself off, and stepped into the perfectly warm water.

Then I hugged my knees, silently curled myself into a ball, and waited for ten minutes to pass.

If you can't beat them, can't you at least avoid them?

Just wait ten minutes, and refuse to talk to the killer!

"I originally wanted you to spread your legs, and then I would lean against you and let you hold me."

Kasumigaoka Utaha suddenly opened her eyes, looking in surprise at the silver-haired girl facing her.

If it weren't for the fact that it was just the two of them there, and that cold, bland, girlish voice, she would have thought it was a sexually harassing statement coming from an older man.

However, the android's expression and eyes did not seem to be teasing him at all.

"But as I just said, I won't force you."

The silver-haired girl turned her head away, mimicking Kasumigaoka Utaha's posture, and huddled in another corner of the bathtub, hugging her knees.

Her profile was exquisite and flawless, her features as perfect as a doll's, and her black pupils, like glass beads, were set in her eye sockets.

She held her head high, staring blankly at the ceiling, giving off a strangely lonely and empty feeling.

Kasumigaoka Utaha was taken aback, as if a string in her heart had been touched, and the hostility that had formed a defensive barrier was now weakened.

Her mind went blank, and she inexplicably asked, "Are you really trying to develop feelings for me?"

“…Yes.” The girl nodded and said softly, “I am indeed very unhappy about your presence and do not want you to move in…but if these things cannot be avoided, I can only try to build a good relationship with you and do everything I can to make you acknowledge my existence.”

"Why?" Kasumigaoka Utaha stared at her intently.

The other party is clearly just an android, a being created by a dark force, a kind of surveillance device.

But without realizing it, she had come to regard the other person as a human being, a little girl with a complex stance and an eccentric personality.

Through the misty fog, Kasumigaoka Utaha and those bright, deep black eyes met quietly.

"Because I don't want to disappear."

Chapter 128 Naming, Itoko

The next morning.

Yuu Tenkuji got up early and first turned on his computer to look up information about Asuna and Masuzu Natsukawa.

After confirming that they hadn't disappeared and that both of them were still alive, he breathed a sigh of relief and went out to run.

After circling around the area, and even making a special trip to check out the outskirts of Soubu High School and Black Lily Academy, I couldn't go in since the school gates weren't open yet—in short, I didn't gain anything at all. I didn't encounter any magical creatures or familiar pretty girls along the way, and then I returned to my lodgings.

As soon as you open the door, the aroma of food wafts out – it's an authentic Japanese breakfast.

White rice, tofu miso soup, pan-fried salmon, thick omelet, and some spicy and sour pickles.

"It's actually quite nice to come home to a meal waiting for you after a busy day..."

Tenkuji Yu sniffed and couldn't help but sigh.

Recalling the days when he would make breakfast for Qiong and himself after his morning run, the corners of his mouth, which had been slightly curved, gradually narrowed, and he sighed almost imperceptibly.

Looking back now, those ordinary and tiring times seem like a simple and happy life.

"Thinking like that is just being sentimental." He shook his head, went inside, and closed the door.

As I entered the living room, a silver-haired girl with a single ponytail was just placing the last bowl of miso soup on the table and untiing her apron.

Unlike usual, there was breakfast for three people.

"Kasumigaoka Utaha hasn't woken up yet. Should we go and call her down for breakfast?"

“Hmm, otherwise making three servings would be a waste.” Yuu Tenkuji pulled out a chair and sat down, glancing at the android who was as expressionless as ever. “If you can’t wake her up, don’t do anything unnecessary. I’ll take over.”

He was afraid that if this guy found out that Kasumigaoka Utaha was sleeping in, he would resort to some extreme measures to wake her up—like conjuring up cold water out of thin air or hanging her upside down.

“Understood.” The girl nodded, paused slightly, and then continued, “Do you need me to deliberately not wake her up, and then have my brother go up and play some naughty pranks on her? By the way, her nightgown is a see-through lace long dress, which is very suitable…”

"No need, hurry upstairs." Yuu glared at her coldly, and as she obediently turned to go upstairs, he suddenly asked in a deep voice, "Where did you see these scenes?"

"My brother's collection is recorded in the system."

"I knew it..."

Yuu Tenkuji pressed his forehead, his face contorted in pain.

Who said this thing is privacy-conscious?! It saw all of a man's most important possessions and even ruthlessly analyzed his XP...

Great, now we have another reason to assassinate the system!

The silver-haired girl quickly came downstairs and said to him, who had already suppressed his murderous intent, "Kasumigaoka Utaha told us to eat first. She still needs to tidy herself up and change her clothes."

"Okay, let's eat slowly then."

"Ah."

The two sat side by side and ate breakfast quietly.