Mai Sakurajima didn't take the tea bottle. She just looked at it, then at Kaito, with a mixture of contempt and exhaustion. The anger was still there, a faint ember beneath a layer of hunger and fatigue.
"I don't..." she began, her voice hoarse from disuse. "I don't need your pity."
"The System is making me feed you," Kaito repeated, his voice monotone. "I hate it when the System makes me do things. Take the drink."
He pushed the tea a little closer. She recoiled.
"Stay away from me," she hissed, but it lacked the force from two days ago. "You're the last person on earth I'd accept anything from."
Kaito let out a sigh. The [Forced Dinner] mission glowed in his vision. The [Painful Reversal] penalty seemed to pulse. He couldn't fail this. And the "direct order" approach wasn't working.
He glanced at the convenience store. He could go in, buy an onigiri, and toss it to her (Option 1). But she'd probably just throw it back. She was too proud, even starving.
He needed... more effort.
"How problematic," he murmured.
He lowered the hand holding the tea, but he didn't put it away. Instead, he turned and started walking slowly toward his building, just around the corner.
"My apartment is nearby," he said, not looking back to see if she was listening. "You're coming. I'll cook something. It's cheaper than the convenience store."
He expected her to follow him out of sheer logic. Efficiency.
"Are you crazy?"
Her voice made him stop. He turned. She was still leaning against the vending machine, hugging herself, looking like a ghost about to dissipate.
"Go to your apartment?" she spat, as if the word tasted foul. "The apartment of the delusional stalker who thinks he knows everything about me? Who insulted me at the train station? I'd rather disappear."
Kaito stared at her. The silence of the night was filled by the distant hum of traffic. He could see the [Dissipation Rate] flashing in his vision. She wasn't kidding.
Fia was silent. The System was silent. It was just him.
His efficiency plan had failed. Now he'd have to use the "other" thing. The thing he hated. Feelings.
He rubbed the back of his neck, a rare gesture of discomfort.
"Look," he began, his voice still monotone, but a shade lower. "I didn't say all that... about your mother... to hurt you."
Mai scoffed. "Oh? You looked like you were enjoying yourself."
"No," Kaito insisted, staring at a streetlight above her head. It was easier than making eye contact. "I said that because it was the fastest way to generate a strong negative emotional response. I needed you to hate me."
She blinked, confusion overcoming anger for a second. "What?"
"I calculated it," he explained, as if describing a math problem. "I had two missions: 'Anchor You' and 'Ignore You.' They were contradictory. My goddess-guide was having a mental breakdown, which was annoying. I needed a solution that satisfied both."
He finally looked at her. "If you hated me, you'd ignore me. And if you ignored me, you'd be fulfilling the 'Personal Mission,' and Fia—the goddess—would stop screaming in my head about 'increasing bonds.' I'd have peace. It was an efficient plan."
Mai stared at him, incredulous. "You... hurt me on purpose... so I would leave you alone?"
"Yes," Kaito said simply. "It was the logical solution."
"That's the most insane, selfish thing I've ever heard."
"I know," Kaito agreed. "I'm an idiot. But the plan worked. You hate me. You ignored me. I had two days of almost-perfect silence."
He paused, and his expression darkened.
"But I didn't expect... this."
He gestured at her. At her pale, trembling, and almost transparent state.
"I'm not insensitive, Sakurajima," he said, and the use of her name felt heavy. "I'm just apathetic. I didn't expect the System to react so... drastically."
"What are you talking about?" she asked, her voice now just a whisper.
"When my affinity with you went so negative, it broke the world," Kaito said, irritation rising in his voice. "The System 'fired' the original protagonist. Sakuta. The guy who was also supposed to be able to see you. The safety net."
Mai's eyes widened. She had no idea who Sakuta was, but the words "protagonist" and "safety net" sounded terrifying.
"I didn't want this to happen," Kaito continued, and now he sounded genuinely angry. That low hum of sadness in his chest was back, and it pissed him off. "I just wanted you to ignore me. I didn't want the entire universe to ignore you."
He took a deep breath. "I know what it's like to be ignored until you almost disappear. I grew up like that. It's... problematic. It's the most annoying feeling in the world."
He looked at his own feet. "I didn't want this to happen to you. My 'efficiency' caused this. And now, if you dissipate, I suffer a 'Painful Reversal' as a penalty. So, this is crisis management."
He had said more than he planned. He had opened up. What a waste of energy.
Mai was silent. She watched him, her expression unreadable. She was processing the most distorted, and yet, most honest logic she had ever heard. He wasn't a malicious stalker. He was... something much more complicated. A logical idiot with a pang of guilt.
Kaito got tired of waiting. He turned and walked to the convenience store's entrance.
"I'm making scrambled eggs. It's the only thing I know how to make that doesn't involve a microwave," he said over his shoulder. "I'm not going to attack you. I barely have the energy to stand after talking this much."
He entered the store, went to the refrigerated section, and grabbed a carton of eggs and a loaf of bread. He paid at the cashier (who served him instantly) and left.
He walked past her; she hadn't moved.
"My apartment is 301. Here," he said, tossing the iced tea bottle to her.
This time, out of sheer reflex, she caught it.
[+1 Affinity (Mai Sakurajima)]
"You've got five minutes to decide," he said, walking toward his building. "If you don't come, I'll eat all the eggs and let the System reverse me. Whatever."
He didn't look back. He entered the building's lobby.
Mai stood still, the cold tea bottle in her trembling hand. The sensation of solid plastic was real. The man was a complete logical and emotional disaster.
But he was the only one who could see her. And he had just told her why.
She took a sip of the tea. The sweet, cold liquid went down her dry throat and was the best thing she had ever tasted.
She looked at the building.
"How problematic," she whispered, copying his word.
And then, she followed him.
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