Tokyo Soft Rice King.

It always felt like it was swearing and expressing its dissatisfaction, but Kuroba Akira couldn't understand cat language.

"Meow..." Blacktail's meows became low at the end, as if it were saying 'okay'.

Then Kuroo patted Kurohime's foot, turned around and took a few steps forward, then looked back at Kurohime.

Having already experienced this once, Kuroba knew that Kuroo was telling him to follow.

"Oh ho? There are actually benefits?"

What other benefit could a kitten provide? A dead mouse?

But then he thought back to the first day he transmigrated to this world, when Kuroba Akira met the kind-hearted but sharp-tongued Granny Kobayashi by following Kuroo, thus avoiding sleeping on the streets.

So let's go and see what happens this time, just in case there's a surprise.

Having tasted success once, Kuroba Akira didn't rush home but decided to take a slightly longer route.

Following Kuroo around the residential area, they arrived at a grove of trees, where Akira Kuroo saw the entrance to a shrine.

Kuroba Akira had lived in this area for almost half a year but had never been to this place.

So there used to be a shrine nearby...

However, judging from the faded color and missing piece on the torii gate, this shrine may have been abandoned for a long time.

Kuroo continued walking forward, passing through the torii gate and entering the shrine. Kuroba Akira, being a materialist warrior, was not afraid of the dark, nor of ghosts, and followed without hesitation.

As he climbed the stone steps and crossed the path, the dilapidated worship hall came into view.

Then, on the offering box, Kuroba Akira saw a figure.

The sky is cloudless tonight, and the moonlight is still bright.

The moonlight shone on that person, as if a misty aura surrounded them.

Is she a fairy? A god? from an abandoned shrine?

Or perhaps... she's just a high school girl who ran away from home.

After all, he was still wearing a sailor uniform.

The real reason that Kuroba was staring at him so intently was...

She is so beautiful.

Seeing this reminded Kuroba Akira of the exaggerated descriptions used in Japan in his previous life, such as "once-in-a-millennium beauties," though most of them were overrated.

But at this moment, he seemed to have truly met a beautiful girl who deserved that description.

Her clean, fair face was devoid of a smile; her hair and eyes were as black as night. She possessed a delicate, straight nose and cherry-red lips, a beauty that was captivating yet cold and lifeless.

She sat there quietly, like a calm sea without a ripple, blending into the dilapidated temple backdrop, giving the impression of a fairy descending to earth.

So beautiful it takes your breath away...

"Meow, meow meow meow?"

Black Tail's cry snapped Kuroba Akira out of his daze.

Looking down, I saw Kuro's smug little face, as if to say, 'How about it? Is this benefit acceptable?'

Yes, very much so... but it's not enough.

Reviewing the key points for striking up a conversation that he had just remembered, Kuroba Akira stepped forward.

Then he started to say...

"Beautiful lady, would you like to come home with me?"

The worst way to pick up a girl.

Chapter Fourteen: The Girl Awaits the Gods

The girl's reaction to Kuroba Akira's obviously scheming flirting was...

No response!

"..."

She remained seated there blankly, her expression unchanged.

Despite his disastrous first attempt to strike up a conversation, Akira Kuroba did not give up.

Not only that, he was also quite certain that he had attracted the other party's attention, because although the girl's expression was still cold as ice, her gaze had been fixed on Kuroba Akira, this unfriendly newcomer.

Kuroba Akira was actually deliberately using this statement to test her, to see how she would react, and then to choose the next step based on her reaction.

This is the essence of flirting: adaptability and knowing what to do with the person.

If the other person seems happy, it means she is indeed a girl favored by the gods, and it will be relatively easy to get to know her. If she is very angry, feels insulted, or even just frowns, it means she has no expectation of being picked up by anyone and is full of wariness towards strangers.

However, this beautiful girl with long, straight black hair is not at either end of the spectrum of emotions, but rather in the middle.

She might not know how to react, or even understand what the person in front of her is trying to do.

Judging from her numb appearance... she's quite ill.

This refers to mental illness.

Kuroba Akira had met people with similar feelings before. In his previous life, when he was a college student, he volunteered in the earthquake-stricken area and met a little girl who had lost all her family members. Her eyes were just as empty.

After the initial sorrow, emptiness followed.

There will be no one to care about me anymore, and nowhere to go back to. I don't know what to do.

When people lose hope in life and feel that nothing matters anymore, they become like this—dull and listless.

There is no greater sorrow than a dead heart, and her heart was dead at that moment.

But... what does that have to do with me?

Kuroba Akira didn't care about the girl's mental illness at all; he just wanted to confirm whether the stunningly beautiful girl with long, straight black hair had any talent that would earn his favor.

So he shrugged and continued to provoke the girl's nerves with a flippant tone.

"What? Aren't you a girl waiting for God? A pitiful high school girl in a sailor uniform staying in a place like this, you must be a girl waiting for God who ran away from home."

When she heard that the girl with long, straight black hair was running away from home, her expression finally changed.

She became even more dejected, hugging her knees and curling her body up further, like a clam closing its shell to protect itself.

At the same time, Akira Kuroba was also observing the girl's body.

There were no signs of physical assault on her face or body, so it wasn't domestic violence, but emotional abuse cannot be ruled out.

Her sailor uniform looked quite clean, indicating that it hadn't been long since she ran out alone.

The fact that she didn't even have a small suitcase or a work bag suggests that she ran out unprepared, and it's highly likely that it was an impulsive act.

However, judging from her reaction to running away from home, she seemed to feel more regret than remorse, indicating that she probably has no intention of going back.

It's true that talent makes a difference; one's thinking becomes much clearer.

Thank you, class monitor.

Kuroba Akira naturally wouldn't let the long-haired girl become even more withdrawn, so he continued to approach her and said.

"You're not really planning to sleep in a place that looks like it's haunted, are you?"

"..."

The girl with long, straight black hair didn't reply, burying her face in her knees.

Kuroba Akira squatted down in front of the offering box and played a game of touching and grabbing with Kuroo, patiently waiting for the girl to speak first.

After a while, about ten minutes later, the girl with long, straight black hair seemed to have finally composed herself, slowly raised her head and asked.

"...What is the God-Waiting Girl?"

"Uh……"

Kuroba Akira was speechless; she hadn't expected that the first thing she would say would be to ask this question.

But her voice is also very nice.

It's not the kind of affected, strained voice, but a low, gentle, and very clear voice that's very pleasant to listen to.

Not only is she beautiful, but she also has a lovely voice. What kind of succubus human form is this?

The most outrageous thing is that she didn't even know what the God-waiting Girl meant?

Kuroba Akira began to explain it to her.

"It's like you, a high school girl who ran away from home, has no money, has fallen out with her family, doesn't want to go home, and just wants to wait for a god who can provide her with food and lodging for free. So she is jokingly called 'the girl waiting for god'."

She nodded, indicating that she understood.

Kuroba Akira scratched his head and continued.

"However, calling you a god waiting for a girl is indeed an inaccuracy. After all, you don't look like you're waiting for a 'kind' god... So what are you waiting for? To die?"

"..."

Are we just waiting to die?

Kuroba Akira's words forcibly restarted the black-haired girl's almost frozen thoughts, ruthlessly pulling her back to reality.

Yes, no matter how much you wallow in self-pity, as a living being, you still need to eat and sleep.

Am I going to die here?

Do not……

The girl with long, straight black hair asked herself a question and realized that she didn't want to die like this.

Since they didn't want to die, they had to find a way to get food and shelter.

From that moment on, the girl finally began to take the boy who had barged into her world seriously.

She recalled the boy's first words, and only then did she finally get to the point.

"...You...want to take me home?"

If I am a girl waiting for a god, are you the god I've been waiting for?

The gods brought by the cat...

However, Kuroba Akira seemed to have forgotten his earlier flirtatious manner, scratching the back of his head and saying awkwardly.