"'Asakusa Temple' stop, 'Asakusa Temple' stop."
The polite yet cold voice of a female announcer echoed from the subway broadcast.
Then Hayato felt the "pillow" beside him stir slightly, and he too regained consciousness.
"We've arrived at the station."
A soft voice spoke beside his ear.
Hayato immediately straightened his back, instantly waking up.
He glanced beside him; it was Sawamura Airiri, with a gentle smile on her face. "Get ready quickly, or you'll miss your stop," she reminded him.
"Ah, mm," Hayato nodded, then paused and said, "Sorry, my apologies."
He was referring to the fact that he had rested his head on her shoulder the whole way.
To be honest, Hayato had gotten plenty of sleep today, and his schedule wasn't tiring, yet he hadn't expected to fall asleep in the train car. He instinctively lit up his phone screen to check the time, but unexpectedly saw the operation he had performed before falling asleep.
—The interface was displaying a math problem.
"...It seems that high school math is a good sleep aid no matter when," Hayato muttered, then stood up.
He walked towards the door of the car.
"Um…" Miyajima Tsubaki called out to him.
"Hm?" Hayato turned around.
The "girl" was pursing her lips, as if wanting to say something, but in the end, it transformed into a smile, and she simply said, "Goodbye."
Her small hand lightly waved in front of her chest.
"Mm, goodbye," Hayato chuckled. "If anything comes up, you can call me directly."
He made a "6" gesture, bringing it close to his ear.
At the same time, the subway braked to a stop. With a steam engine-like sound, the doors fully opened. Unbeknownst to him, the car had already become crowded.
The crowd surged out like sardines.
Hayato blended in, becoming one of them.
Miyajima Tsubaki watched Hayato's retreating figure, gradually fading until she could no longer distinguish him, before finally withdrawing her gaze.
She whispered, as if in a sigh,
"Sayonara."
The person "Sawamura Airiri" was about to completely disappear after the train reached its destination. And the image of the "girl" in the young man's heart would become a fleeting memory. As for today… and the memories from this period of time, neither long nor short, neither deep nor shallow, the young man might quickly forget them, or perhaps remember them for a while. But one day he would be able to smile and talk to others about how he once met such a girl.
Miyajima Tsubaki believed the event would unfold as expected.
As for herself.
She gently touched the corner of her lips, then placed her hand over her heart.
She had been a little mischievous, hadn't she? She scolded herself inwardly, but couldn't help but reveal a knowing smile.
… … … …
Stepping out of the station.
The setting sun had already dyed the street red. Hayato rubbed the back of his head, preparing to ask Nanao Akane if she wanted to buy some groceries to take back.
[Host!]
Suddenly, he heard a voice calling him.
Hayato was startled, looking left and right, but saw no one speaking to him. Had he seen a ghost?
[It's me! Ai-chan!]
"Who are you?"
[Your most, most, most, most intimate system! Du Ai-chan blinked her sparkling eyes, sending a secret glance to the host.]
"Oh, so I still have a system. I almost forgot about it," Hayato wiped away a cold sweat.
[Host! I advise you not to go too far, or Ai-chan, Ai-chan will—]
"What, can you self-destruct?"
[…Ai-chan, Ai-chan will cry for you to see. Du, Ai-chan's eyes were already brimming with tears; any normal boy seeing this would feel a sense of "pity."]
"Heh."
[Hey, Host! Why are you laughing so mockingly! Du, Ai-chan stomped her feet in anger, then realized Ai-chan didn't seem to have feet. The water in her upper eyes instantly became more than in her lower eyes...]
Lower eyes? Could it be her bu… *cough* *cough*.
"Is there something you need?" Hayato got straight to the point.
"Report, Host! Ai-chan performed her mission very well, constantly monitoring the surroundings for the Host while he was sleeping—*beep*, Ai-chan wants a pat on the head and puffed out her chest like she was asking for praise."
"Nothing should have happened, right?" Hayato said, surprised that he was even getting a report.
If anything had changed during that time, the System should have woken him up long ago, not allowed him to sleep comfortably until his stop.
It was less of a report and more of an attempt to gain credit—
However, seeing her dedication, Hayato decided to praise her a little.
After all, it was just a matter of moving his lips, and it wouldn't cost him anything.
But,
"Actually, a tiny something happened while the Host was sleeping, but Ai-chan judged there was no danger, so she didn't notify the Host to wake up. *Beep*, but Ai-chan thought about it afterwards and decided she should still tell the Host, so that's why she's reporting now."
"Hmm?" Hayato wondered.
"While the Host was sleeping, the lady next to the Host kissed him—"
"...Pfft." Hayato almost spat out his water.
"But it was on the forehead. The situation at the time was, while the Host was sound asleep, that lady looked at the Host's sleeping face forty-eight times, swallowed thirty-two times, licked her lips seventeen times, muttered eleven sentences, and then two minutes before arriving at the station, she finally made up her mind, adjusted her direction slightly, pressed her chest against the Host's arm, then aimed for the Host's lips, but then changed her mind twice, and finally pressed her mouth onto the Host's forehead. *Beep*, Ai-chan is trying hard to recreate the situation at the time, and hates that Ai-chan doesn't have a physical body, otherwise she could perfectly recreate the scene."
Hayato stopped in his tracks, and even the thought of calling Nanao Akane vanished at that moment; he had a very strange feeling.
"Damn it."
Hayato cursed, "I was taken advantage of."
He had originally thought that Sawamura Airiri was more mature and steady than other women her age, never expecting that this seemingly upright woman would also be driven by lust!
Hayato recalled Sawamura Airiri's appearance again: dignified yet mysterious, young yet mature.
To this day, he still hadn't figured out the reason for the strong sense of incongruity about her.
It's just—
"You're only telling me about such a big thing now!?" Hayato was furious.
It was big, truly big.
He pulled out his phone, wanting to ask Sawamura Airiri what exactly she wanted.
But after a pause, and organizing his words, he decided to start with a subtle probe, and then gradually push her towards the core of the issue.
"Send me a text when you get home," Hayato said.
And then, after that day,
Hayato never saw Sawamura Airiri again.
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