Early in the morning, the blazing sunlight slipped through the gaps in the curtains and fell across Cid's face.
Feeling the warmth, Cid slowly opened his eyes.
After getting up, he followed his usual routine. He tossed the bedsheets, soaked in sweat from training his Magical Power, into the washing machine, then went to rinse himself off.
After a quick wash, Cid stepped out of the bathroom looking refreshed.
It was Saturday, so there was no school. There was no training either, since Rias and the others would be heading into the Rating Game tonight. To avoid overexertion, Rias had given everyone the day off to rest and adjust their condition.
His older sister, Claire, had been dragged out shopping by Akeno Himejima under the excuse of "building bonds." Since that meant Claire would not be bothering him, Cid found the reason perfectly valid and even hoped it would happen more often.
Not having to go to school and deal with the strange looks from his classmates felt great. Especially knowing that tonight he would finally get the chance to deal with the Evil Piece made it even better.
Although a lot had changed, at least this small window of daily relaxation remained the same. He could still enjoy the mental ease that came from a quiet morning bath.
"Aaaah!!!"
Well, so much for that peaceful routine.
With a slight turn of his head, Cid looked toward the source of the scream.
There stood Asia, frozen in place. Her cheeks were flushed bright red, her shoulders trembling, and faint wisps of steam seemed to rise from her head. She covered her face with both hands, trying to block her view.
But through the gaps between her fingers, her wide-open eyes made it obvious that, despite her embarrassment, curiosity had gotten the better of her.
Ah. Because Asia's presence was so faint, he still had not fully adjusted to living with her. In a moment of carelessness, he had forgotten to put on clothes. At home, he always did whatever felt most comfortable.
Tsk. Just thinking about it made him want to kick Asia out again. His perfect solo life…
To be honest, this was not the first time he had been in a situation like this.
The last time, though, it had been with a moody princess who could suddenly go berserk and slash at people. With someone like that, he could stay calm, joke back, and even turn the situation around.
But he could not do that with Asia. If he treated her the same way he treated Alexia, with her personality, she would probably faint on the spot. So there was no need to panic. He just had to act like usual.
Having sorted that out, Cid calmly took a towel from a nearby cabinet and wrapped it around himself, covering what needed to be covered.
Then he extended a slime thread from his hand, using it to open the refrigerator. He pulled out two bottles of Eta's milk, held them in his hand, opened one, and drank it down in a single gulp. Letting out a satisfied sigh, he finally turned back to Asia.
"Asia, if you're going to take a bath, wait a moment. I need to grab something I left inside."
"Cid-san, I… I…"
Seeing him wrapped in a towel, Asia slowly lowered her hands from her face. She tried to speak, but her words came out in a stammer.
"Oh, right. If you want some milk too, you can have this one. It's specially made by a friend of mine. Drinking milk after a bath feels amazing."
Asia wanted to say something, but her mind had gone completely blank from embarrassment and nervousness. Ignoring her flustered attempts, Cid placed the bottle of milk in her hands and walked past her.
As he passed, he reached out and lightly tapped her shoulder from behind, as if to say he understood.
"No, that's not it, Cid-san. That's not what I meant. I mean… I mean…"
Whatever Asia was trying to say, Cid did not really care. Given her gentle personality, she would probably just pretend none of this had happened. There was nothing for him to worry about.
After returning to his room and getting dressed, Cid was about to head out when he suddenly remembered something. He turned back toward the empty living room and called out.
"Asia, someone will come by later to deliver your enrollment papers and school uniform. It should be the same person as the one from the day before yesterday, Nu. Keep an eye out."
"Got it, Cid-san. I'll pay attention."
Hearing Asia's reply, Cid nodded. From the sound of her voice, she seemed to have calmed down.
As he closed the front door, a door next door happened to close at the same time.
Following the sound, Cid looked over and met the girl's gaze.
Oh, it's that former backup heroine who's already been written out. I think her name was Hime… Hime… something?
Forgot.
There was no helping it. For a character who seemed to have lost her heroine status for some reason, he really had no interest in remembering her name. She couldn't serve as an audience member for an Eminence in Shadow, nor as a proper friend for a background character. She was stuck awkwardly in between.
"S-senpai!"
While Cid was still trying to recall her name, the girl in front of him snapped out of it and let out a startled cry.
"Senpai, how are you feeling? Are you alright?"
She stepped closer, scanning his body up and down with clear concern in her eyes.
"Huh?"
Her voice pulled him out of his thoughts. Seeing her approach with the clear intent to check his condition, Cid did not have time to think and just blurted out the closest name he could come up with.
"Himeharu, don't do that. I've mostly recovered, so you don't need to worry so much."
The girl froze.
She slowly raised her head, pointed at herself, and stared at Cid in disbelief, her voice trembling slightly.
"Senpai… I didn't hear wrong, right? Did you just call me Himeharu?"
As she spoke, she even turned to look behind her. Compared to believing that her Senpai had forgotten her name, she would rather believe that, as a Shrine Maiden trained since childhood, someone had somehow approached her without her noticing, and that "Himeharu" was that person.
Of course, that possibility was even less likely.
As expected, there was no one behind her.
"Huh? Himenatsu, what are you talking about? What Himeharu? I just called you Himeharu."
Realizing he might have gotten it wrong, Cid corrected himself at lightning speed.
"Himenatsu!?"
Her voice rose even higher, her face full of shock.
"Slip of the tongue, slip of the tongue. It's Himeaki."
Cid refused to believe he could miss a fifty percent guess.
The girl fell silent.
After a long pause, she stared straight at Cid, pointed at herself, and spoke in a firm tone.
"Himeragi. Senpai, my name is Himeragi. Yukina Himeragi. Please remember it this time and don't get it wrong again."
By the end, her voice carried a faint hint of pleading.
"Got it, Yukina. I'll remember it this time."
Cid said that, but he made no promise he actually would.
Like he said, he had no interest in someone who had already lost her position as a heroine. If it were Kojou Akatsuki, that would be a different story.
Although he had already confirmed that Kojou Akatsuki was not an Eminence in Shadow, which greatly lowered his interest in him, Kojou's fully optimized physique and the way the story seemed to revolve around him still made Cid keep a bit of interest.