"Um... are you sure about this? Won't I be troubling you?" The blue-haired girl, Rin Tsubasa, asked worriedly.
"Not at all. How could I find it troublesome to help a cute girl like you?" Alistair replied with a delighted smile.
"So, you're worried about your lack of experience, right?" Alistair asked.
"Yeah... I haven't done it yet, and I'm worried I won't be able to give Masaki-kun a good experience..." Unconsciously, Rin Tsubasa revealed her boyfriend's name.
"In that case, let me guide you. My girlfriend and I have been together for a long time, and I'm very experienced... Here, let's exchange LINE details first." Alistair took out his phone and showed her his LINE.
"Um, okay... Alistair Vance? Is that your name?" Rin Tsubasa asked, seeing Alistair's LINE display name.
"Yes, that's right. And yours... are you a food blogger?" Alistair used his real name on LINE simply for communication and couldn't be bothered to change it.
However, after looking through some of her posts, Alistair saw the photos she'd just taken, along with previous pictures of her eating at other dessert shops and various reviews.
Scrolling back further, there were LINE posts about her traveling to other cities during the holidays to find dessert shops. Clearly, she was like a food explorer, but only focused on sweets.
Alistair didn't know what LINE was like before the transmigration, but in this world, it was used similarly to an instant messaging app, just without all the flashy extras. It was also somewhat like Twitter, where everyone could see one's posts.
Hmm? Is this her boyfriend?
Alistair found a photo of her with a boy. The boy was wearing a white shirt, had delicate features, and brown choppy hair. He looked decent.
"Your boyfriend looks very gentle." Alistair commented.
"He is! Masaki-kun is a very yasashii (kind) boy. He accommodates me no matter what I want to do." The blue-haired girl smiled with a look of pure happiness.
"Yasashii, huh~ And you? Is your name Rin?" Alistair asked, looking at the display name [Rin-chan] on LINE.
"Yes, my name is Rin Tsubasa, I'm a first-year student at Sakura Public High School. My hobbies are eating sweets and exploring dessert shops." The blue-haired girl introduced herself enthusiastically.
"You're full of spirit... We can discuss the guidance later. I need to head home now. See you later." Alistair stood up, picked up the two cake boxes, and prepared to leave.
"Okay! Bye! Be sure to contact me!" Rin Tsubasa waved her hand.
...
"Woof! Woof! Woof woof!" "Woof woof!"...
About halfway down the road, Alistair started hearing continuous barking from nearby, which didn't stop until he reached the vicinity of the apartment building.
"Tsk, these stray dogs are annoying..." Alistair pressed his temple. He was quite irritated after listening to the barking for so long.
Alistair followed the sound and found an alley. The alley was deep and dark, and combined with the barking, it felt somewhat terrifying.
Alistair looked at the dark alley entrance, and the pinkish-purple glow in his eyes began to emit again, making his vision gradually clearer.
Step, step, step...
Alistair strode in, his footsteps echoing in the narrow alley.
The pack of stray dogs in the alley heard the sound of someone approaching, turned their heads toward the alley entrance, and then saw Alistair's figure.
"A girl?"
Alistair raised an eyebrow, surprised to see a person leaning against the corner, covered entirely by a tattered blanket with only her head sticking out.
"Woof! Woof woof!"...
When they realized Alistair wasn't doing anything, the stray dogs started barking again, and a few slowly crept closer, trying to nip at Alistair's legs.
As they barked furiously, the girl pulled the blanket higher, covering her head as well.
Whoosh—!
"Awoo~ awoo..."
Alistair suddenly kicked out, sending one stray dog flying into the wall. He hadn't held back at all in that kick. The dog could only let out faint whines after dropping from the wall.
"So noisy. Annoying." Alistair muttered under his breath, then quickly ran past the dogs.
Approaching the other stray dogs, Alistair delivered an unreserved kick to each of their heads, leaving them all in a half-dead state on the ground.
"Hmph, stupid dogs." Alistair dusted off his trousers with a cold snort, then walked to the corner and spoke, "Hey, who are you? Why are you here?"
Alistair hadn't intended to bother with her, but upon closer inspection, he confirmed that the girl was white-haired.
This piqued Alistair's interest again. He decided to come over to "console" her, as he hadn't encountered a white-haired girl yet.
"Um..."
She carefully pulled the blanket down a bit, revealing a pair of eyes that blinked as they looked at the dark figure standing before her.
"Um... I'm already homeless..." The white-haired girl said in a dispirited voice.
"Do you want to stay at my place then?" Alistair squatted down and asked her.
"Really?!" The white-haired girl exclaimed in surprise.
Uh, seriously? I just asked casually, and you're that trusting?
"Of course. You can stay for as long as you need." Alistair smiled.
...
"So, you just picked her up? Do I look like an idiot to you?"
Chiaki looked at Alistair with disdain while eating cake.
Chiaki had a look that said, "Don't lie to me. We're past that stage where you know how deep I am and I know how long you are... maybe I don't know the length? Never mind, we're in that kind of relationship now. Who are you trying to fool?"
"Believe it or not, that's what happened." Alistair replied indifferently.
"Fine, fine. I believe you, okay? But you need to figure out how to explain it to Mom and Dad. Mom might be back in a few days." Chiaki looked at Alistair's nonchalant attitude, felt speechless, and decided to let him be, but still gave a kind reminder.
"Mhm, got it." Alistair played with his phone, flipping through Rin Tsubasa's old LINE posts, and responded casually.
"Sigh, I'm going upstairs then." Chiaki stood up, glanced at the white-haired girl sitting quietly on the sofa, cursed her inwardly as a cow (for her large chest), and went upstairs slightly depressed.
"Um... Alistair-kun..." The white-haired girl looked somewhat embarrassed.
"What is it?" Alistair looked at her.
"I'd like to take a bath..." The white-haired girl was a bit shy. Eating, living, and bathing all depend on someone else. It feels shameful.
"...Go ahead. You can wear Chiaki's clothes for now." Alistair put away his phone and headed upstairs.