This..."
Ichiko was momentarily speechless and quickly brainstormed.
If it were an ordinary person, the question might be about whether her figure was cute or something similar.
But since the object was Haruko, Ichiko felt she couldn't answer directly.
Because Haruko was a yandere!
She had a tendency for self-harm, and her thoughts were different from others.
Recalling her previous understanding of yanderes, Ichiko only felt that neither of her two options was very good.
A: Don't like.
Haruko might misunderstand that I don't like her, which could worsen her condition, potentially causing her to fall into that strange state, maybe even turn dark, or more likely, collapse!
B: Like.
This was indeed an option with no real problem, the only issue was that her goal was to make Haruko no longer a yandere, just pretending to like her was enough, so saying it directly like this, would it deepen the misunderstanding?
After a little thought, Ichiko also knew this was an easy question, there was only one answer.
She awkwardly replied, "I like it."
Haruko blinked again, her tone innocent, "Then what do you like the most?"
"Uh... hands, hands."
Her eyes showed guilt, but thankfully, she was behind Haruko at the moment, arranging her hair, so her guilt wouldn't be noticed.
But answering like this should help avoid it, right?
She thought so.
But then she heard Haruko say faintly, "Since Ichiko likes them, how about I give you my hands?"
Ichiko's movement paused, "Give... give?"
Haruko nodded gently, "Yes, Ichiko, do you want the left hand or the right hand? I'll cut it off and give it to you."
Suddenly, Ichiko's guilty eyes became flustered, she quickly came before Haruko, her smile forced, her tone as gentle as possible, "Give... you don't have to give them to me, what I prefer is a healthy, complete Haruko."
"Is that so..."
"Mm-hmm, that's right!"
"Okay, then I'll eat more meat and take good care of my body."
A docile smile bloomed on her face, extremely cute.
Ichiko was stunned for a moment seeing it.
Then, ecstatic.
She seemed to have found a way to treat Haruko!
Because I said I liked hands, she mistakenly thought I'd be happy if she cut off her hands for me.
Now I said I hoped she would be healthy.
She would really try to increase her nutrition and recover her body.
So yanderes are like this!
As long as I watch her more, it seems like nothing will go wrong?
Looking at Haruko squinting and giggling foolishly, a tiny, pointed canine tooth occasionally visible, Ichiko also showed a relaxed smile for a moment.
Indeed, the normal Haruko is still very cute.
She chose to ignore the issue about hands, the atmosphere between the two became harmonious, and they finally started a normal conversation.
After a night of rain yesterday, the morning outside the window gradually brightened, a ray of sunlight spilled from the window, landing right on Ichiko.
Wearing a patient's gown, she spoke eloquently with a smile, her slender fingers gently moving, as if describing the scene she was talking about for Haruko.
The sunlight dyed her black hair with a layer of golden afterglow, her half-profile was quiet and gentle, making Haruko's heart skip a beat.
"Really beautiful."
Ichiko, who was just talking about school topics, was stunned for a moment hearing Haruko's words, "What?"
Haruko showed shallow dimples and said softly, "I said, I like you!"
Ichiko was startled and couldn't help but turn her head away.
"Really, saying such things again."
A blush appeared on her delicate face, coincidentally hidden by the sunlight, and for a moment, Haruko only felt that she looked even better.
However, this warm and ambiguous atmosphere didn't last long.
There was a knock outside the door, and Inari came in with a Doctor.
The Doctor glanced at Haruko and said, "Have the patient's family members been contacted? Family signature is required here."
"Uh..."
Ichiko and Inari both looked at Haruko.
The signature should have been obtained yesterday, but the situation was urgent, plus the guarantee from Young Master Inari, it had been delayed until now.
Ichiko said, "I originally wanted to contact Chi Song Ge, but I thought it would be better not to let them worry about such things, so I planned to wait until you, Haruko, woke up to see."
Haruko hesitated for a moment and asked, "Can't I sign myself?"
From memory, the original owner's family background was ordinary, her parents were farmers for generations, living in a not-so-wealthy village, far from Jiuzhou City, and couldn't come at all.
As a villainous supporting character, she also had a similarly villainous brother.
Three years ago, her brother learned from her school teacher that Haruko's first-year high school grades were very good, and with two years of hard work, she had a chance to get into a 985 university. The brother, who had just started university, chose to drop out and get involved in society.
Because he had no ability and was naive, he was deceived and followed a gang leader.
In the two years, he didn't achieve much and had been in jail a few times, but he sent back tuition and living expenses one sum after another.
Until a year ago, he blocked a knife for the gang leader, and although he lost an arm, he also became the leader's confidant and managed to get a commercial apartment in the inner ring of Jiuzhou City.
This was also where Haruko currently lived.
In the original work, after the original owner was killed by Sento, her brother appeared as a new villain who turned dark, frantically attacking Sento with the gang leader's forces, living for about two hundred chapters before still meeting a tragic end.
But Haruko knew that when it came to family, whether he turned dark or not, her brother was very good.
Although she had transmigrated, she also respected this feeling, and if there was no need, Haruko didn't want to make the original owner's brother worry.
Mainly, she was afraid he would conflict with the male leads, that would be truly troublesome.
Regarding this, in the small look she gave the Doctor, she might as well have written the words "I have a hidden difficulty".
The Doctor expressionlessly glanced at Inari.
The latter said lightly, "Anyway, it's nothing serious, just let her sign herself, it's just a formality."
"Okay."
The Doctor nodded and didn't say much else.
After handing over the doctor's orders for Haruko to sign, the Doctor left on her own accord.
Haruko weakly glanced at Inari, activating her acting skills, instantly becoming a little more naive and delicate.
But since Ichiko was there, she didn't overdo it.
"Thank you, Master Oriental."
She said it weakly, which in Ichiko's eyes meant she was a little scared.
Ichiko couldn't help but turn back and said protectively, "Inari, don't scare Haruko."
"Huh?" Inari pointed to himself, "How did I scare her?"
He's only said one sentence from the moment he entered until now, okay!
Ichiko: "Your eyes scared her, just be like you usually are, you're not suited for acting cold and aloof."
Inari: "..."
He was very wronged.
Just now, it was clearly because he didn't want to make a sound and disturb the Doctor that he kept quiet, okay!
Ichiko held one of Haruko's small hands and gently squeezed it, "It's okay, Haruko, he won't scare you like he did before."
Haruko nodded gently and looked at Inari again, "I... I'm sorry."
Inari magnanimously waved his hand, "Forget it, it was nothing anyway."
"No, no." Haruko quickly shook her head and explained, "What I mean is, when you just came in, I knew you wouldn't do anything to me, but I was still a little scared."
"Regarding this, I have to say I'm sorry, you clearly helped me so much, and yet I still thought like that."
She lowered her head, her brown hair happened to be illuminated by the sunlight, showing a thin layer of golden mist, her frail appearance couldn't help but greatly increase people's goodwill towards her.
Inari touched his cheek, feeling a little embarrassed.
Her reason for apologizing was actually this.
And was she blushing when she lowered her head?
It felt... quite cute.