"What's this?"
Ai approached with casual familiarity, leaning over to examine the document in Luo Shu's hands.
Upon seeing its contents, she gasped:
"Isn't this... me?"
Her eyes suddenly narrowed like a fox spotting prey as she grinned:
"I'm starting to suspect things~"
"You had this dossier-like thing yet thought another girl would be here..."
"Did you not even look at it properly?"
"Or... did you know it wouldn't be your Mai Sakurajima in this room, but me instead?"
Faced with Ai's teasing expression, Luo Shu was at a loss:
"While I don't know what's happening yet, I'll admit the undeniable fact that it's you standing here."
He sighed dramatically:
"Though I was rather hoping for Mai Sakurajima before coming."
"Even if you say that," Ai gave Luo Shu a puzzled look before asking, "but who exactly is Mai Sakurajima?"
"A super popular actress about your age."
The moment these words left Luo Shu's mouth, realisation struck. He pressed urgently:
"You don't know Mai Sakurajima, do you?"
"No? Why?" Ai blinked in confusion as Luo Shu immediately pulled out his phone and Googled Mai Sakurajima right before her eyes.
Within seconds, search results completely unrelated to Mai Sakurajima appeared. Ai stared blankly at the screen.
Ignoring her bewilderment, Luo Shu narrowed his eyes in understanding:
"I knew it would come to this!"
Though he hadn't watched the entire anime series Mai originated from, Luo Shu remembered one key detail – there was a period when the entire world forgot Mai Sakurajima's existence.
This phenomenon was somewhat similar to Megumi Kato's low presence caused by her weak Power of Existence, but the disappearance was more complete, as if the entire person had ceased to exist.
Suppose that after Luo Shu received the room key, Mai Sakurajima had indeed been present in this room, but then the phenomenon of existence erasure suddenly occurred.
The Mai Sakurajima who existed in this world vanished, creating a bug in the world's operation that was automatically corrected by natural laws.
In that case, someone would have taken Mai Sakurajima's place and appeared here as her substitute.
And this person who replaced Mai Sakurajima...
Luo Shu turned his head to look at the girl beside him, whose eyes seemed to speak for themselves.
'Was Ai Hoshino the one who replaced Mai Sakurajima?'
Having sorted out the problem, Luo Shu relaxed slightly, put away his phone, and then asked Ai Hoshino:
"Though it might be a bit late to ask, were you having dinner here just now?"
"That's a very abrupt change of topic," Ai Hoshino muttered, then flashed a playful smile. "But yes, that's exactly what happened."
Ai Hoshino scratched her head awkwardly as she spoke:
"Since my place is too far from Minato Ward, I didn't have time for dinner after rushing here, so I just grabbed some instant ramen from the convenience store... It doesn't smell too strong, does it?"
As she spoke, Ai Hoshino sniffed the air around her, mimicking a dog's movements.
Though Luo Shu wanted to lie and say it wasn't strong, before he could speak, Ai Hoshino had already guessed the answer from his expression.
"I knew there was still a bit of a smell."
Ai Hoshino sighed helplessly, quickly tied up the plastic bag on the table, tossed it into the bin, and waved at Luo Shu:
"I'll go freshen up. You can wait here for a bit."
Without waiting for Luo Shu's response, Ai Hoshino walked to the nearby washbasin, opened a set of toiletries, and started brushing her teeth.
The sofa wasn't too far from the washbasin, and with no obstacles in between, Luo Shu could clearly observe all of Ai Hoshino's movements from where he stood.
Seeing this girl who showed not a trace of fear, Luo Shu couldn't help asking:
"Aren't you scared at all?"
"Huh?"
Ai Hoshino, holding her toothbrush, paused before bursting into laughter as she realised what Luo Shu meant:
"Of course I'm scared~"
"But that was before you got here."
"Before I came? So you're not scared now?"
Luo Shu didn't know he had a sedative effect.
"Not scared now."
Ai mumbled through her toothbrushing, blinking at Luo Shu:
"After all, you're quite good-looking by my standards~"
Hearing this, Luo Shu's face fell.
So you were just worried the person coming might be ugly, is that it?
"Don't make that face~" Ai complained almost coquettishly. "Meeting an unknown guy in a place like this, isn't it normal to worry?"
As the mood lightened, Luo Shu asked:
"So what exactly were you imagining me to look like?"
Tilting her head, Ai continued brushing while grinning mischievously, her voice slightly muffled:
"Obviously, a bald uncle with a belly bigger than my head, or maybe a scary white-haired grandpa. Something like that?"
"Heh~" Luo Shu gave a knowing dry laugh before retorting: "If you were that scared, why come?"
"Seems the Shinomiya family made quite the threat."
Ai sighed dramatically: "Exactly! Threatening to bankrupt the agency director who took me in at every turn. Really scary people."
Luo Shu studied Ai's profile as she suddenly stopped talking, rinsing at the sink with no intention to continue.
After the gargling sounds, Ai approached, took tissues from the table to wipe her mouth, then unexpectedly sat beside Luo Shu, looping an arm around his neck and blowing minty breath at him.
The sudden movement clearly transmitted toothpaste freshness, leaving Luo Shu momentarily stunned.
After her prank, Ai grinned: "See? No bad breath~"
"...Actually quite nice." Luo Shu paused before smiling.
Though tempted to question how Ai's moves were so smooth, feeling the slight tremble in the arm around his neck, he held back. Now wasn't the time.
"I'm very possessive."
Luo Shu wrapped an arm around Ai's waist, speaking seriously:
"I won't interfere with your pursuits, but the boyfriend position in your life? That's being abolished."
Faced with this almost predatory declaration, Ai leaned closer to whisper in his ear:
"Is now really the time for this?"
Luo Shu pinched her cheek lightly, chuckling:
"What a little demon!"
Noticing Ai's faint apprehension, he smiled and closed the distance.