It felt a bit glaring...
When she finally groggily woke up around noon, a ray of golden sunlight was shining on her face. The silver-haired girl wearily opened her eyes, spread her arms wide, and let out a big yawn.
Her current posture could hardly be called well-behaved. Her head wasn't resting on the pillow but was parallel to it; a soft, thin quilt was messily wrapped around her body; and her waist and legs were practically slanted across the entire bed, looking just like a crab pincer trying to clamp it shut.
Ryu's home originally only had a relatively spacious single bed. With her sprawled out like this, she had commandeered the entire thing. It was hard to imagine how the person sharing the bed had felt.
Speaking of which, turning her head to see the empty space on the other side, the corners of the girl's mouth turned down at an unhappy angle.
"He's not here... oh right, he seemed to say something this morning... Mmph~"
What an inconsiderate man... Although she was the one who slept in, Lucy felt she was at least entitled to complain a little.
By the way, why was she still listless even now, while he could get up early full of energy?
Without a doubt, his physical exertion was greater. She even had cybernetic modifications on the muscles used for exertion in her lower back and thighs, yet after a night of entanglement, she was exhausted while he seemed completely fine—this wasn't scientific!
Was it magic? Did that guy secretly use magic?
Damn it... if there's such an effect, use it on me too!
Wait!
It is said that the first time a battle occurs, it's like heavenly thunder stirring earthly fire, but that's just false advertising from games and manga. In reality, it's full of awkwardness. Guys who seem rich in theoretical knowledge might even cause injury if they act according to stereotypes.
"..."
Recalling the specific process of last night, no matter how "modest" Lucy tried to be, she had to admit the intensity had been ramped up to a certain level.
Just looking at the traces on the bed, it was at a level that would make one wonder, "Just how many people were tossing around in here?"
But Lucy didn't feel much discomfort right now. Or rather, quite the opposite; a sweet yet disheveled feeling still lingered, and her body felt light and airy, as if she couldn't feel gravity...
This made her feel that she might be a shallow woman with overly strong desires.
This isn't normal; this is very abnormal!
Could it be that the guy had secretly used healing magic on her, blocking out pain and the like?
Tsk!
Although it wasn't a bad thing and she had benefited from it, Lucy was still a bit displeased:
It was like having everything controlled silently by someone else, losing dominance and being at their mercy. For the silver-haired girl who liked to take the initiative, this could even be considered a form of humiliation.
—Thinking this, Lucy's face suddenly turned red.
This is bad. Remembering it too clearly is making my body temperature rise...
To prove that she was a free-spirited woman who wouldn't be swept away by desire, Lucy hurriedly shook her head and got up from the bed.
"Mmph... it's already noon~"
She looked back at the messy bed with drifting eyes: "Cleaning this up is going to be such a hassle..."
She was not a woman skilled in housework.
***
When Ryu returned home, the sheets from the bed had already finished spinning in the washing machine and were hanging on the line like curtains, tilting slightly in the wind.
The layout of the apartment was simple, leaving no place to hide. Ryu saw Lucy busy in the kitchen at a glance, and his eyes couldn't help but light up:
The girl, who had only simply washed up, was wearing a slightly oversized white shirt that just happened to cover the perky curve below her waist, revealing her porcelain-white, rounded thighs that naturally pressed together, leaving almost no gap when viewed from behind.
And Ryu knew that these thighs could be quite powerful when necessary, holding onto him as if they wanted to devour their prey and refusing to let him leave.
Looking further down were tight, graceful calves and a pair of bare feet hidden in slippers.
Even hearing the sound of him entering, the girl didn't turn around, emitting a subtle atmosphere of displeasure.
In fact, the face turned away from Ryu was expressionless right now, indeed looking like she was in a bad mood, her eyes rolling occasionally as if waiting for something.
It wasn't until a pair of hands wrapped around her waist, hugging her from behind with her back pressed against the man's chest, that Lucy rolled her eyes with a bit of coquettishness. That cold and indifferent aura instantly collapsed~
"Oh my, isn't this the busy man of our house? Leaving your lover alone at home the day after confirming the relationship—didn't you think she might feel lonely?
It's a good thing you didn't leave a little note by the pillow, otherwise I would have thought I had a one-night stand~"
This biting sarcasm was distinctly different from Lucy's usual style!
Ryu found it amusing and rested his head on Lucy's shoulder. The girl deliberately acted resistant, but that weak force looked more like she was acting spoiled, resulting in them rubbing temples intimately instead.
"Hearing you say that makes me too happy."
"Hmm?" Lucy turned her head in astonishment, only to be caught off guard by Ryu's kiss.
"Mmph!"
Her resistance gradually slowed, and her body became soft and pliable. Just when she wanted to turn passive into active, the man suddenly pulled away, leaving her slightly upturned tongue tip feeling at a loss. It immediately retracted in shyness, and Lucy bit her lip in embarrassment and annoyance.
"I am very happy... that you admitted it was 'our house' just now~"
"!"
Lucy lowered her head, hiding her expression, but her ears were flushed red—though whether from anger or shyness was unknown.
"Don't get cocky!"
"Why, are you unwilling?"
"..."
Lucy fell into a trance:
She didn't have many memories of her parents, and the few she had were terrible.
Because she showed extraordinary talent as a child, she was sent by her parents to an Arasaka training facility. nominally, it was to receive high-end education, but in reality, it was Netrunner training. Every day, she explored the Old Net without sufficient protection.
Most of the children in her batch died under the merciless firewall attacks of the Old Net AIs. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say Lucy and the others had been sentenced to a slow death!
Later, although she escaped, she didn't go home—her parents hadn't sold their child because they were at the end of their rope. As Arasaka employees, they actually lived quite well; they simply offered Lucy as a sacrifice purely to "contribute" to the corporation.
Lucy, who felt absolutely no parental love and even doubted the concept of "family," trusted "companions" more instead. The thought of building a family with someone or even raising offspring had never crossed her mind.
Now, she had never been so intimate with someone, and the relationship with Ryu was incredibly close to the definition of "family"...
So she was terrified!
She had absolutely no confidence in whether she could adapt to a normal family relationship!
"You... would be better off marrying someone else."
Lucy held the hands resting on her waist, leaning her center of gravity back against the man, her voice dropping a few octaves.
"I won't be a good wife... and I'm afraid I won't be a good mother either. You deserve a better partner."
Ryu remained silent. Lucy closed her eyes while listening to the man's heartbeat.
She wasn't a naive little girl dreaming of being saved by Prince Charming—although, in her eyes, Ryu was indeed a Prince creating light.
The happy endings in fairy tales were ultimately just romantic fantasies; reality wasn't that simple.
The Kuse parents seemed open-minded and kind, but could she play the role of a daughter-in-law well? Could she meet their requirements and become the matriarch of a clan?
—Lucy knew she wasn't cut out for that.
She was truly deeply attracted to this man, even feeling that being used and discarded one day wouldn't be a big deal; at least before that, she had experienced true love.
Additionally, from an objective standpoint, Lucy hoped Ryu would have better development in the future.
Because this man was doing something extraordinary!
She had stayed in the company for a while and knew that Ryu's plans weren't just talk. He was truly pushing them vigorously, investing unimaginable resources, some of which could almost be considered charity.
—Cybernetics, Virtual Reality, and Medicine were all profitable, but the development cycle and return rate were issues.
This was why many large corporations were unwilling to do pioneer research: following behind others actually made more money.
Ryu's series of investments genuinely aimed to drive technological progress and implement it at the livelihood level, allowing those in need to get help.
As a member of the company, Lucy was deeply involved in this and saw with her own eyes how those children smiled...
But she was at most a technician. Whether she married Ryu or not didn't hinder her from contributing her strength.
Fortunately, as a mercenary of Night City, she had little feeling for marriage to begin with. It didn't matter if there was no legal husband-and-wife relationship.
"I'm actually surprised you'd say that."
"As a man, shouldn't you feel lucky and happy? To have settled a woman so easily."
"It seems that in your eyes, my image is about the same as a playboy."
"...If you really were a playboy, things would be much simpler for me."
Lucy's lips moved slightly: "Then I could leave without any lingering affection, continuing to live without cares or ties."
Ryu's grip tightened, his voice gentle: "You will be a good mother, Lucy."
"Hah?"
Lucy opened her eyes: "Did you not hear me? Forget about being a mother; I have no intention of getting married at all!"
"But for the sake of those young patients at the Medical Center, you work hard every day, and even learn to develop control software for prosthetic limbs in your spare time... There's no reason you wouldn't like your own child."
"..."
Lucy didn't speak.
For her, the crux of the problem wasn't whether she liked children or not, but that she rejected the so-called parent-child relationship from the bottom of her heart!
"No confidence?"
Ryu let go of his hands, applying force to the back of Lucy's knees with one hand, letting her fall back into his embrace as he picked the girl up in a princess carry.
"!"
Lucy let out a startled cry, subconsciously hooking her arms around Ryu's neck.
"What are you doing!"
"There are some things you won't know the result of unless you try!"
Ryu looked down at her, beaming: "Let's make a baby!"
"Do you not understand human speech?!"
Lucy's eyes widened: "Also, don't talk about having a baby as easily as raising a pet!"
Ryu ignored her completely, simply asking forcefully: "Back to the bed, or right here?"
"..."
This man is serious!
Lucy's small mouth parted slightly as she murmured: "You guy... don't you get tired?
To be honest, did you also get cybernetic modifications?"
Ryu turned around and placed her upper body on the empty dining table.
"How can mere machinery compare to a body forged through a thousand hammers!"
________________________________________
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