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Meanwhile, in a high-end apartment on the west side of Itogami Island's city center, Asagi Aiba also lay on her back in her bedroom, staring blankly at the ceiling she'd known since childhood, so familiar she could trace every detail with her eyes closed.
"Really... what am I even doing?"
Taking a deep breath and slowly exhaling, Asagi raised her hand to rest against her forehead, blocking the light from above.
Recalling how she'd watched Bokue and those girls decide their respective tasks with just a few words at "customs," the blonde girl couldn't help wanting to bury her head under the covers and hide.
After all, she'd stood there like an NPC in a game, stupidly on the sidelines unable to insert a single word, only able to wait until everyone else had arranged what needed doing before Bokue sent her home with a simple "You don't need to run around with us, Asagi."
To put it bluntly in couple of words—she'd stood there like a lackey.
It was the same when Bokue mentioned making Itogami Island private territory. Her first reaction wasn't "how to do it" but "how is that even possible?"
Asagi had never realized she'd fallen so far behind Bokue without noticing. It seemed her understanding of him was still stuck in their childhood summers playing games and watching anime together. The ten years of separation had just been growing from seven to seventeen for her.
So even after reuniting, Asagi still interacted with Bokue the same way as in childhood, naturally returning to his side using their childhood friend connection, then naturally becoming intimate using that same connection, upgrading to girlfriend status.
Afterward, she'd continued the same pattern—demanding his companionship as his girlfriend, getting jealous when she saw Bokue getting close to other girls...
But thinking carefully, she had no right to any of it.
From their reunion until now, they'd only spent one month together.
In that month, Itogami Island had experienced incident after incident.
From Lotharingia's Apostle, to the Black Death Emperor faction remnants, to the masked angels afterward... Bokue had handled almost everything single-handedly.
And she'd been no help at all—several times even needing Bokue to rescue her.
Asagi hated this feeling of being unable to do anything. It reminded her of when her mother was seriously ill in childhood.
It was the same then—she couldn't do anything, could only wait for a miracle.
But now she was the renowned "Cyber Empress," with unmatched hacking skills worldwide.
Because of this, Asagi had thought she'd caught up—at least gotten a bit closer to Bokue's pace.
But now it seemed she was still far behind, perhaps even further than in childhood.
She was starting to hate herself more and more...
"Haah—"
Asagi took a deep breath, exhaling slowly and heavily, then rolled over on the bed, burying her face in the pillow as if trying to hide.
But just then, a golden light flashed in the air beside the bed.
Someone sat down beside her without ceremony, lightly patting the blonde girl's bottom as she lay face-down under the covers.
"What are you doing? Lying in bed before lunch—skipping lunch for an afternoon nap? That's not how you diet."
"..."
The familiar presence invaded her senses. Even without hearing his voice, Asagi knew Bokue was sitting beside her.
But she didn't even want to roll over, choosing to keep her face hidden. After a long while, she managed:
"So what if I'm dieting? None of your business..."
Hmm?
Something was off here.
As childhood friends who'd known each other since young, Bokue understood Asagi quite well.
Generally, when the blonde girl entered this state, she was either angry or emo. As kids, if Bokue beat her 22-0 in PvP games like King of Fighters or Street Fighter, Asagi would look exactly like this. Ask if she was angry and she'd definitely say no, but ask what was wrong and she'd go silent.
So the question was—they hadn't played King of Fighters today, hadn't even had any arguments. What was with Asagi's attitude?
Unable to figure it out and knowing asking wouldn't help, Bokue got straight to the point.
"By the way, Asagi, I wanted to ask—now that I've moved to the top of Keystone Gate, would you like to move there too?"
"...Move?"
Asagi still didn't lift her head, speaking in a muffled voice face-down:
"Be specific—is it just you, Bokue, or are the 'others' there too?"
She emphasized "others," clearly meaning Rias and company.
"Well... of course they're all there."
Bokue answered honestly.
"But it's not like we're all living in one big communal space. Everyone has their own place. Like me—I brought my entire Tokyo apartment over. If you're willing, I could move your house there right now, either as upper and lower floors or placed separately..."
"...No."
Before he could finish, Asagi refused again.
But not in the cold tone of deliberate stubbornness—rather, it was filled with inexplicable disappointment, a sense of giving up.
Unless...
Vaguely guessing at a possibility, Bokue raised one eyebrow subtly.
He'd seen this before. As kids, if Asagi was a step slow on weekends and Yuuma and Irina invited him hiking first, the blonde girl would use this same tone. Though she'd say "It's fine, go ahead," she'd go home and cry secretly under her covers.
Like an abandoned little animal.
Of course, this situation wasn't hard to resolve. It only took one thing.
"Well, there's no rush anyway. If you change your mind, just let me know. But before that—"
Bokue didn't continue speaking. He directly grabbed the blonde girl hiding face-down under the covers and lifted her up.
Before Asagi could process what was happening, her legs were spread as she landed securely in the youth's embrace.
"Wait... Bokue, what are you—!"
Asagi was startled by his sudden rough handling. Though she was still fully clothed, preventing any immediate penetration, what would happen next following this trajectory needed no explanation.
"Nothing much, just want to stop you from overthinking."
"Huh? Overthinking? I'm not... and I don't want to right now..."
Asagi squirmed, making minimal resistance.
"No, you do."
Without further discussion, Bokue stood from the bed carrying the blonde girl, pushed open the door, and headed straight for the bathroom downstairs.
Soon, the sound of running water mixed with the girl's intense voice echoed from behind the closed bathroom door through the empty living room.
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