Hearing Luo Shu say Mahiru Shiina's name, Mira's expression froze.
She turned to scrutinise Luo Shu carefully, then reached out to pinch his cheeks:
"Is there any girl around me that you don't know, Shu-kun?"
Mira Tsubakihara seemed a bit angry when she said this, but also not quite.
"...Is this just a coincidence?" Luo Shu mumbled with his cheek being pinched. "Compared to that, what's with the 'little boyfriend' on your LINE account?"
"Eh?" Mira Tsubakihara's expression seemed to freeze, her hand automatically releasing Luo Shu's cheek.
Seizing the opportunity, Luo Shu pressed on:
"Someone seems to have referred to me as their 'little boyfriend' on social media. But as far as I recall, we haven't actually started dating yet."
"My, my... who could be so shameless as to claim Shu-kun as their boyfriend without permission..."
Mira's voice trembled slightly, her expression visibly nervous.
Seeing this, Luo Shu smiled brightly: "Indeed, who could it be? Maybe someone Mira-nee knows?"
"Of course not! How would I know such a person? It must be your imagination, Luo Shu."
Mira waved her hands with extreme awkwardness, forcing a dry laugh before finally lowering her head in apology under Luo Shu's amused gaze:
"I'm sorry!"
"What are you apologising for?" Luo Shu looked genuinely surprised.
"For calling you my boyfriend without permission... Anyway, I'm sorry."
Watching the bowing Mira who kept stealing glances at him, Luo Shu didn't know how to respond:
"No need for apologies. If anything, someone like me being claimed as a boyfriend should feel flattered."
Hearing this, Mira looked somewhat concerned: "Does Shu-kun have self-esteem issues?"
"I don't think so?" Luo Shu rubbed his chin in confusion.
Was he that insecure? It didn't seem likely. If anything, he was just someone with few people to talk to - more solitary than anything.
"Then why say you're flattered?" Mira looked puzzled, then surprised. "Isn't it normal for Shu-kun to be liked by girls?"
At this, Luo Shu paused before tentatively asking:
"Mira-nee, do you think there's a possibility..."
"What possibility?" Mira tilted her head in confusion.
Taking a deep breath while keeping his eyes on the road, Luo Shu said:
"That I might be a two-timing scumbag."
Mira blinked, then, after some thought, asked suspiciously: "Kisara and Utaha?"
She then tactfully inquired: "How far have things progressed with them?"
Luo Shu didn't evade the question: "About to the point where their parents would break my legs if they found out."
"I see..." Mira forced an uncomfortable smile. "No wonder you'd think yourself a scumbag."
She then muttered under her breath: "To think they got ahead of me... Kisara, I can understand, but since when did Utaha have that kind of courage? This doesn't make sense..."
Pretending not to hear the muttering, Luo Shu calmly continued:
"Anyway, for someone like me to be liked by a girl is something to be happy about, right?"
He deliberately used "a girl" instead of Mira's name to indirectly express his feelings.
Hearing this, Mira visibly brightened. Leaning back in the passenger seat while watching the receding road ahead, she mused:
"Shu-kun has quite simple moral values, doesn't he?"
Luo Shu didn't answer, only sighing: "Although you say that, I'm probably the type who becomes bad once I have money and power?"
When he was poor and hadn't transmigrated, Luo Shu had indeed fantasised about being surrounded by super beautiful girls, sharing beds and such.
But he knew in his heart this was just a dream. Normal people struggle to handle even one woman, and after 35, it would be downright lethal.
But now that he'd transmigrated, even come into contact with supernatural powers, and encountered Kisara who tolerated him without limits, and that Miss Utaha who impulsively went to a love hotel with him...
With all this, Luo Shu could no longer control his lower half.
He couldn't even control his upper half, constantly thinking about whether he could seize this opportunity to achieve a harem.
Hearing Luo Shu say this, Mira Tsubakihara burst out laughing: "Having self-awareness is good too..."
After speaking, Mira paused, then gazed out the window:
"Shu-kun, do you think there are girls in this world who don't mind such things?"
Luo Shu's foot on the accelerator immediately loosened, causing the car to jerk momentarily.
Finally, Luo Shu steadied the wheel and said helplessly:
"Mira-nee, if you keep talking like this, I'm afraid I won't be taking you to Mahiru Shiina's place next, but to a hotel instead."
Mira Tsubakihara suppressed her laughter upon hearing this: "For the first time, taking a girl to a hotel is a terrible option."
"Then... at home?" Hearing such words, Luo Shu's mind immediately became active.
Mira smiled without answering, merely reaching into her bag to retrieve a key, then blatantly slipped it into Luo Shu's pocket.
It was the key to the apartment next to Luo Shu's current residence - Mira Tsubakihara's apartment.
Luo Shu turned his head to look at her in surprise, at which point Mira blinked and said:
"Shall we set a code word?"
Hearing this, Luo Shu murmured: "Kisara will find out."
When it came to catching cheating, Miss Kisara was absolutely an expert.
Even an idiot like Luo Shu knew not to do it in the same building.
Yet Mira Tsubakihara's following words made Luo Shu admit he was indeed an idiot.
"This is a test."
'A test...' Luo Shu chewed on these words.
Either eat Mira right under Kisara's nose, or don't eat at all... Hiss, this seems like no choice at all!
Thinking this, Luo Shu muttered:
"Isn't this making me learn to be bad?"
Mira Tsubakihara replied righteously:
"If Shu-kun learns to be bad, then it's not my fault anymore."
"That way, I can tearfully hug Kisara and say I'm the victim."
"Shu-kun, I think you wouldn't want me and Kisara to argue, would you?"
"Ah, this..." Luo Shu was truly dumbfounded now.
Miss Mira, your words are so very Japanese!
With Luo Shu looking utterly torn between laughter and tears, the car arrived at the address where he'd previously dropped off Mahiru Shiina, stopping before a high-end apartment near Shiba Park.