"Ichiko, is that you?"
As soon as Ichiko hung up the phone, Haruko slowly woke up from her "coma".
Her voice was hoarse, with a hint of a cry.
Ichiko's expression softened, and she asked with concern, "Haruko, don't speak yet, you're still injured. Inari's Doctor will be here soon."
Haruko forced a smile, "It's okay, Ichiko. My forehead hurts a little, and my face does too, but other than that, I'm fine."
"Your face..."
Only then did Ichiko notice. Gently wiping away the water stains on her face, there was a clear fist mark.
She gently brushed aside Haruko's beautiful hair and saw a wide but not deep gash on her forehead, still oozing a little red.
Ichiko gasped, forcing herself to calm down.
Haruko had been watching Ichiko's subtle expressions and could easily guess what she was thinking.
With a nervous yet relieved tone, she asked, "That Tao... Ichiko, my face, it should be okay, right? If it becomes ugly, will you... will you not want me anymore?"
Her lips trembled as if she was about to cry, "She just... just now said she wanted to slash my face. If I hadn't dodged that knife, I would have... would have really been disfigured, woo woo woo..."
"Ichiko, please... please don't abandon me!"
Panicked and helpless, Haruko's acting was in full swing, tears streaming down her face.
Ichiko, who had originally been rational, felt a surge of anger upon hearing this!
She reached out and grabbed an apple nearby, using force with her arm as if venting her emotions.
"Bang!"
The apple was crushed.
Haruko, who had been pretending to cry, couldn't help but freeze for a moment.
She knew Ichiko had some combat ability.
But wasn't this a bit too much?
How did the original owner manage to knock Ichiko out and lock her in the Xiao Hei room before?
Shock was one thing, but the act couldn't stop.
She still had to keep crying.
It wasn't until Ichiko gently wiped away her tears that Haruko slowly began to whimper, "Ichiko?"
Ichiko showed a reassuring smile, "Relax. When have I ever said I didn't want Haruko?"
"Don't think such things again in the future." After giving the instruction, Ichiko inspected her from head to toe again, confirming that Haruko only had a gash on her forehead and some slight marks on her face that hadn't faded, but was otherwise fine.
Helping Haruko to a chair, Ichiko said softly, "Haruko, wait a moment. I'll help you with some simple treatment."
With that, she walked towards the cabinet below the TV, skillfully opened it, and took out the emergency medical kit inside.
However, while selecting the medicine, she couldn't help but pause.
This scene now seemed to have happened often before.
Since Haruko entered her third year of high school and started living here, there was a period of cohabitation where Haruko occasionally came back injured.
She only said she fell. Could it be...
A thought weighed on Ichiko's mind. She took the disinfectant, cotton swabs, and gauze and walked towards Haruko, "The disinfection process might hurt a little. Bear with it, okay?"
"It's okay, I'm used to it!"
Haruko obediently closed her eyes and slightly raised her head.
The intermittent voice of the System sounded in her mind.
[Emotion Value +3...]
[Emotion Value +5...]
[Emotion Value +10...]
She knew that Ichiko had significant emotional fluctuations because of her words, which were captured by the System.
Unfortunately, the emotion value would gradually decrease as the various protagonists adapted.
Haruko couldn't repeatedly exploit the same situation to farm emotion value.
For example, when she played the victim, Ichiko's initial heartache would add a lot of emotion value.
Later, even if she played the victim again and Ichiko still felt heartache, the added emotion value would be much less.
Calculating it, every single point was crucial!
Stop the bleeding, apply medicine, and temporarily wrap the forehead with gauze.
Ichiko was not a professional Doctor; she had only learned some basic emergency methods.
As for the specific situation, it would have to wait for a real Doctor to assess.
Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.
The door, which hadn't been closed, was opened. Inari quickly walked in with two Doctors. His first reaction was the pool of crimson on the floor, and his pupils couldn't help but contract, "Hey, what's going on here?"
Ichiko stood up and explained, "It was some delinquent girls from Haruko's high school who were looking for trouble with her. Haruko was already injured when I arrived. Taking care of Haruko was more important, so I didn't chase after that group when they ran away."
Inari gestured to the two Doctors with his eyes.
The two Doctors nodded.
The two exchanged a glance. The female doctor handed the medical kit to the male doctor and took on the task of examining Haruko.
"There's a little bleeding, and the face has suffered trauma. Fortunately, there are no issues inside the mouth, but to prevent swelling and pain in the face, external application is also needed. Recently, focus on light food, and you'll recover after a while."
What the female doctor said made everyone present breathe a sigh of relief.
Immediately after, Ichiko arranged, "Haruko, rest for a bit, then go take a bath."
At this moment, Haruko looked at Ichiko with anticipation, "Ichiko, can you help me wash?"
Inari raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.
Haruko looked at Ichiko's clothes, which were also very dirty because she had just performed emergency treatment on her, so she simply said, "How about we wash together? Because I also got your clothes dirty, Ichiko."
Inari's mouth kept twitching.
His gaze darted back and forth between Haruko's face and Ichiko's face.
If it were before, Ichiko would have agreed without hesitation.
But knowing about Haruko's strange feelings for her, and that kind of yandere behavior.
Reason told Ichiko that she couldn't agree to this request.
She pursed her lips and smiled, "How about letting the Doctor sister help? As a Doctor, she definitely knows where not to touch water."
Seeing this, Inari stepped forward and nodded, "If you're recovering, you can wash yourself. Isn't this small place of yours crowded for two people?"
"Okay... okay." Haruko looked a bit disappointed but didn't object.
Seeing this, Ichiko rubbed her temples with a headache. It wasn't just the matter with the delinquent girls this time; Haruko's yandere tendencies were also a big problem. If Inari hadn't been here, would she have forcefully insisted on washing with her?
With an apologetic look, she said to Inari, "You've been troubled this time as well. Why don't you sit down for a bit? I'll take care of the floor."
Like a diligent wife, she skillfully started doing housework after putting on an apron.
Inari went out, looked up at the camera in the corridor, and said to the bodyguard in the hallway, "Let's go to the property management to check the cameras."
Upon arriving at the property management office, as the Young Master, the security guard naturally wouldn't stop him.
Before long, they saw the scene on the surveillance footage where Haruko and Lala met.
Facing such a delinquent girl, Haruko in the footage was timid and hesitant, not even daring to look at the other person.
"Indeed, utterly foolish."
Inari nodded, not seeing anything unusual about Haruko.
However, there was one thing he didn't understand.
He turned to look at the bodyguard behind him and asked, "What did you see from Haruko?"
The bodyguard was startled for a moment, "She seems used to being bullied. This doesn't look like someone asking the other party to return money."
"Yes, her personality is very timid." Inari rubbed his chin, "But what I don't understand is, if she's so timid, why did she dare to commit such a taboo act by kidnapping Ichiko back then?"
"Sento is much more terrifying than these delinquent girls, right?"
He felt something was off after calming down earlier. Haruko's reason of sacrificing herself for Ichiko didn't quite hold water.
She acted too timidly. Who gave her that kind of impulsive courage?
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