A sliver of morning light slipped through a gap in the curtains, bathing the room in a soft glow.
The girl awoke. She opened her eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling, different from the one she was used to seeing.
For a moment, the girl was bewildered.
But she quickly remembered she had stayed the night at Fumiya-san's home. This was his guest room.
Realizing this, the girl sighed in relief. She let out a small yawn, turned her head, and glanced around.
"Huh?" she gasped, startled.
Because she discovered a boy slumped over the side of the bed to her left, fast asleep. And her left hand was still tightly clasped with his right.
"Wh-wh-what? Fumiya-san???" Nijika's eyes flew wide open.
Fumiya Jin stirred and quickly woke up.
As he sat up, a series of cracks and pops echoed from his joints. Clearly, for someone of his height, sleeping in that position all night had left his body incredibly stiff and sore.
But Fumiya Jin acted as if nothing was wrong, even giving Nijika a small wave. "Morning."
Nijika was bewildered. "Why are you... uh... didn't you say you'd go get some rest after I fell asleep?"
Fumiya Jin rolled his eyes and raised his right hand—and, of course, the girl's left hand, still clasped tightly with his, rose with it.
"You were holding on this tight. How was I supposed to leave?"
Nijika stared in surprise, a flush of heat rising to her cheeks as she quickly tried to pull her hand back.
But after a few tugs, she couldn't get it free!
The strange part was, Fumiya Jin wasn't even gripping her hand tightly to stop her...
What was going on?
Nijika looked down, and upon closer inspection, she finally understood.
Last night, when they had first joined hands, it had been a simple, normal grip. With that kind of hold, one person could easily pull their hand away as long as the other didn't tighten their grip.
Now, however, that was no longer the case. Their hands weren't in a standard ten-finger interlace, but several of their fingers were now tightly intertwined, locked in the spaces between each other's. Because of this, even with Fumiya Jin doing nothing, it would take considerable effort for Nijika to pull her hand free by force.
"How did it end up... like this?" Nijika asked, astonished.
Fumiya Jin gestured with his free hand. "Last night, after you fell asleep, I tried to pull my hand away to leave. But right when I was about to get free, you suddenly locked your fingers with mine and started gripping tighter and tighter, even mumbling some incoherent sleep-talk..."
"I waited for you to quiet down and tried a few more times, but I couldn't get my hand out without nearly waking you. So, I gave up. If I'd woken you up, all that effort to calm you down would have gone to waste, wouldn't it?"
"Wh-what? Really?" A deep, lovely blush spread across Nijika's fair cheeks as if a drop of red ink had bloomed on paper. She lowered her head in utter mortification.
"Oh my gosh, what did I do...? I'm so, so sorry, I had no idea this would happen..."
Fumiya Jin waved it off. "It's not that big of a deal. My body's a bit stiff, but I still got some sleep, so I feel alright. Come on, let's get some breakfast. We have to head to the battlefield soon."
Nijika looked up at him, her expression full of concern. She could even see faint bloodshot veins in his eyes. "But are you really... okay like this? Do you want to sleep a little more?"
"No need, I'm fine," Fumiya Jin shook his head. "Besides, even if my body is a bit stiff and tired, it's a fair trade for a clear-headed teammate."
Nijika froze for a second, suddenly feeling an immense weight of trust and responsibility settle upon her.
Biting her lip, she looked at Fumiya Jin with determination. "I... I understand. I'll give it my all."
...
Breakfast was simple: fried eggs, ham, and milk.
After they finished, Nijika habitually stood up to clear the dishes, but Fumiya Jin stopped her.
"That can wait," Fumiya Jin said, looking at her seriously. "We're entering the instance in ten minutes. There's something important we need to discuss before then."
Nijika paused, then sat back down, her expression turning serious as well. "What is it?"
"We... need to pick codenames for ourselves," Fumiya Jin said with a grave expression.
"Huh?"
Nijika was baffled.
"Is... uh... is that really considered important?"
"Of course," Fumiya Jin nodded. "Think about it. How did I find you?"
"From my school uniform and... my name?" As she said it, something clicked. "You mean you're worried other people could find us the same way?"
Fumiya Jin nodded. "We can't be sure how many people will be in this game, and we don't know if there are any malicious players among them. It's necessary to prevent doxxing before it can happen."
As he spoke, he stood up, walked over to a cabinet, and pulled open a drawer. He took out two decorative, cartoon-style face masks. One had a cat design, the other a rabbit.
"I prepared these, too. Pick one," Fumiya Jin said. "The last instance proved we can't bring in outside items like phones, but a mask might be considered part of our clothing. It might be allowed in."
"So cute!" Nijika took the masks and looked them over before choosing the rabbit one. She looked at Fumiya Jin with admiration.
"You think of everything. I never would have considered this..."
"It's fine. Everyone has their own strengths. Just do your best when it's your turn to help." Fumiya Jin shrugged. "So... any ideas for a codename?"
"A codename..."
Nijika scratched her head.
"I might have ideas for an online handle, but a codename people would actually call me... that's so hard to come up with."
"Actually, I already thought of one for you," Fumiya Jin said.
"What is it?"
"Pudding."
"Pudding?" Nijika blinked.
"Inspired by your hair color," Fumiya Jin explained. "Miss Pudding... sounds decent enough, right?"
"It's cute, but isn't it a little... shameless?" Nijika scratched her cheek. "It's like I'm calling myself as sweet as pudding..."
Fumiya Jin thought for a moment. "For you, Nijika, I think it's a perfect fit."
"Oh..." Nijika paused, her face flushing slightly. "If you say so... then... okay, I'll use that one. What about... you?"
"Of course I thought of one for myself," Fumiya Jin's gaze turned a little mischievous. "Nijika, do you know how to say doctor in English?"
"In English?" Nijika thought for a moment. "Doctor?"
"Nope, nope," Fumiya Jin immediately shook his head. "That's the word, but not the pronunciation. Yours is too standard. It needs to be more... Japanese. More like katakana."
"More Japanese?"
Nijika scratched her head in confusion.
Then, she tentatively sounded it out: "Doku...tah?"
"Yes, yes, yes! That's the one!" Fumiya Jin exhaled, looking completely satisfied. "Now that's what I'm talking about."
Nijika was completely bewildered.
What was that all about?
Why did that make him so happy?
...
With their codenames decided and masks on, the two of them prepared to leave.
But then Fumiya Jin noticed another problem.
He looked Nijika's dress up and down.
It was very cute.
But wearing a dress like that into a dangerous instance was a little...
"Uh..." Nijika quickly understood his unspoken concern and scratched her hair, embarrassed. "I didn't expect to stay the night. I thought I'd be going home, so I was planning to change into combat-appropriate clothes today... Should I run home and change now?"
"That's too much trouble," Fumiya Jin shook his head. After a moment's thought, he added, "You could wear one of my T-shirts; it's okay if it's a little baggy. But any of my sweatpants would be way too big for you..."
"Then what should we do?" Nijika wondered. "Should we go to the nearest shopping district and buy a pair?"
If there were no other options, that seemed like the most reliable plan.
Fumiya Jin considered it and was about to agree when he suddenly remembered something.
"Today's Saturday... I have an idea. Wait here a second."
Fumiya Jin left his house and walked over to the detached house next door, ringing the doorbell.
A moment later, accompanied by the sound of pattering footsteps, the door opened...
A beautiful, white-haired girl with striking features, wearing a black and white rosette headband, peeked out.
Seeing Fumiya Jin, she started in surprise. "Oh? Fumiya-san? Are you... out of seclusion?"
As she spoke, her gaze lingered on Fumiya Jin, and her heart began to flutter erratically.
What's going on? Fumiya-san seems... so much more handsome now. Is it just because I haven't seen him in a few days...? Am I really this boy-crazy?
"Yeah, I'm done with my seclusion," Fumiya Jin nodded.
This whole 'seclusion' business was just a white lie.
The girl before him was Kei Shirogane, the same girl he had happened to save while he was seeing death countdowns everywhere.
After they met by chance, he learned she and her father were looking for an affordable place to live. Since he happened to have a house for rent, he offered it to them.
After they became neighbors, Kei Shirogane, eternally grateful for him saving her life, would come over every so often to help clean his house as repayment. Fumiya Jin didn't mind.
A few days ago, however, Fumiya Jin had believed his own demise was imminent. Worried that she might get caught up in whatever was about to happen, he told her he was going into a writing seclusion for the week and asked her not to disturb him.
As a result, Kei Shirogane hadn't contacted him at all.
"Kei-chan, I need your help with something urgent," Fumiya Jin said, looking at her.
"Oh?" Kei Shirogane was taken aback. "What is it? If it's something I can do... I'll do my very best!"
"You won't have to try *that* hard..." Fumiya Jin said with a wry smile. "Could you... lend me a pair of your sweatpants?"
"Huh? My... sweatpants?" Kei Shirogane was baffled. "You want to borrow them... for..."
Fumiya Jin was 180cm tall, a completely different build from her. The chance of him wearing her pants was practically zero.
So, if he wasn't going to wear them, why would a boy ask to borrow a girl's clothes?
Even someone as relatively innocent as Kei Shirogane couldn't stop her mind from going down a strange path... and her cheeks flushed faintly.
No way...
Even if it's for... that ...
...borrowing sweatpants is kind of a... weird fetish, isn't it?
If it had been anyone else, Kei Shirogane would have already called them a pervert, slammed the door in their face, and ignored them forever.
But this was Fumiya-san...
He was different!
"Do you... want a pair I've already worn?" Kei Shirogane averted her eyes and scratched her hair, her voice barely a whisper.
Seeing her reaction, Fumiya Jin instantly knew what she was thinking. He rolled his eyes. "Where is your mind going? An unworn pair would be best, obviously."
Kei Shirogane blinked, letting out a small sigh of relief, though strangely, she also felt a tiny pang of disappointment. She turned back to Fumiya Jin. "Then what are they for... to be worn?"
Fumiya Jin explained, "A female friend of mine is visiting and she accidentally dirtied her dress. She doesn't have a change of clothes, so I thought I'd ask you for help."
Hearing this, Kei Shirogane's heart, which had just begun to relax, instantly tensed up again.
A girl...
In Fumiya-san's house...
Dirtied her dress so badly she can't wear it anymore...
Wh-wh-what???
_____
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