"Rito, what exactly is this secret seasoning?" Mikan asked with a flushed face of embarrassment after coming out of the bathroom.
"Secret." He chuckled a bit.
"Whatever, I didn't even want to know anyway." She pouted and left upset.
The fact that the smell was so strong that they noticed it the moment she opened the door made her blush deeply.
The effect wasn't as obvious on Lala and Zastin, much less on Rito, though it was still stronger than on those two.
"Man, would you like to market this?" Zastin asked.
"It's not something easy to produce, so no." He refused categorically.
"I see…" Zastin left disappointed.
"Rito! Let's go to sleep~!" Lala, wearing dinosaur pajamas, hugged him.
"Miss Lala, can I stay in the living room a bit longer?" Peke asked.
"Of course." Lala agreed easily.
"Thank you."
"Lala, don't you want to sleep with me tonight?" Mikan asked.
Lala thought for a moment before answering: "Huh… Alright!"
"That…" Rito was about to say something but stopped.
"What's wrong, Rito… Disappointed about something?" Mikan looked at him with a smug glance tinged with provocation.
"Not at all." He denied, but his look betrayed him.
"Haha, who are you trying to fool when you can't even hide it, Rito~!" Mikan had fun.
"Is Rito jealous?" Lala's eyes sparkled.
"Well…" He touched the tip of his nose.
"How cute~!" She bent her arms with her hands closed in front of her mouth.
"At least call me cool." Rito argued.
"You're cool *and* cute, Rito!" She threw herself at him, hugging and rubbing her cheeks against his.
He sighed tiredly but soon smiled.
"Thanks for the food~" Mikan said, walking away.
"What, what… Mikan, are you going to eat something delicious? I want some too!" Lala went to her.
"No, Lala. I said that because you and my brother were acting so intimately, got it?"
"I know, Mikan, I was just teasing you. Haha, you're so adorable~!" Lala hugged her too.
Mikan blushed.
Lala was someone she could never beat no matter what.
…
In his room, alone… Rito stares at the ceiling while slowly getting sleepy.
However, without Lala to hug, he could only substitute with a pillow he held against his chest.
'It's not the same…' He thought.
It took almost an hour until he finally fell asleep.
The smell of grass and the wind hitting his face woke him up.
Upon opening his eyes, he found himself in a familiar plain. He stood up.
Tall grass, a hot sun with a pleasant breeze.
The smell of the grass grew stronger with the swaying of the wind.
It was like a vast free pasture, and only a single solitary tree could be seen miles away.
"This is kind of creepy…" He murmured, thinking it was similar to the start of a horror movie.
At the loud sound of the wind, he briefly closed his eyes, shielding them with his hand.
'No rabbits in sight.'
Slowly, he walked toward the solitary tree in the more sloped area, passing through the grass about 1.20 meters tall.
*Rustle~*
He stopped walking and held his breath.
"Squeak..."
A low but very familiar sound. It was the same sound that Earth rats made.
The grass was tall, and he couldn't track it, and before he could find it, his mind was attacked.
It was as if two enormous hands were trying to crush his head like a balloon.
But even with great pain, it didn't compare to the pain he felt when he was burned to ashes.
"Ahhh!"
He pretended to fall with a low *Thud*.
Feigning great pain, he saw a 30 cm tall rat approach and sniff the air.
Perhaps sensing something, the rat on two legs touched its front paws to the ground and turned with the intention of fleeing.
'Wanting to escape? It's not that easy!'
Rito's body began to release a white aura, and his feet were reinforced.
Using great force while still lying on the ground, he literally leaped toward the rat like a cheetah with his arms extended and hands open.
"Squeak!!"
The rat sensed the danger and emitted a louder sound, attacking his mind, but that didn't stop him.
Rito reached it with his left hand and, without mercy or pity, crushed it.
"Squeak?!!"
The rat's scream became louder.
With its small front claws free, it tried to scratch his hand and escape. With its head twisting downward, it aimed to bite him, but Rito's free hand reached it first, and holding its small head, he twisted it as if opening a soda bottle cap.
*Crack!*
"I did it!"
In his hand, the rat was reduced to ashes and left behind five purple orbs the size of passion fruits!
'I'm lucky!' He thought as the orbs disappeared upon being collected: 'Today is really a beautiful day!'
Suddenly, tens of thousands of red eyes fixed on him.
Those eyes glowed intensely, and then he felt his head hurt more than if he'd been hit with a club.
"Ahhhh!"
This time, he let out a real scream.
The mental attacks increased. The pain became unbearable.
He wanted to flee, but he had no strength.
There were too many mental attacks at once.
After much struggle, his mind went dark.
==
==
"…"
Opening his eyes, Rito was panting, breathing audibly through his mouth.
He didn't know if his head had exploded, but it felt like it was about to before he completely lost consciousness.
His body trembled slightly.
It wasn't the worst death he'd experienced, but it was certainly not a pleasant one.
'At least I got this…'
In the three-dimensional space in his mind, he saw the five purple orbs the size of passion fruits next to a smaller purple orb about half the size.
Recalling the scene of being surrounded by thousands of rats, he thanked God they didn't attack him with claws and fangs but instead with mental attacks. Otherwise, it would truly have been a horror movie scenario…
'So there were no rabbits in that part of the plain because it was the territory of those rats…'
Getting out of bed, he went to take another shower.
==
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