Perhaps there was something wrong with her taste buds.
Or maybe the extreme pressure made her feel terrified.
Despite it being a bowl of old hen soup, Ichiko found it difficult to swallow.
Sweet, sour, bitter, spicy—it felt as though countless flavors were mixed together, accompanied by Haruko's slightly eerie, strange smile.
Scene after scene flashed rapidly through her mind.
In the basement, Haruko leaned close to her ear, emphasizing that she couldn't like Sento, demanding to know why she had abandoned her.
On the rooftop, she forced herself to say she liked her, the rain pouring and thunder rumbling on that stormy night.
That infatuated face kept repeating to her—We'll be together forever~
Like a black and white television with poor signal, the scenes in her mind played and accelerated, accompanied by hoarse, grating sounds.
Her heart pounded faster and faster, and gradually, only the roaring sound after a sonic boom remained, lingering incessantly.
Everything that happened felt like just a momentary daze.
Until Haruko's voice sounded, "What's wrong, Ichiko?"
Ichiko suddenly looked up, her lips trembling, but she still couldn't describe the taste of the chicken soup, which seemed to have been mixed with chili, bitter melon, sour vinegar, and various other seasonings.
What kind of restaurant was this? The food they made was completely dark cuisine!
Haruko tilted her head in confusion, picking up a piece of chicken with her chopsticks. "It feels fine, the taste is normal."
That's not right, could it really be that there's something wrong with my taste...
Before she could fully recover, on that adorable, doll-like face, a pair of scarlet vertical pupils, completely opposite to human eyes, were staring at her infatuatedly, her smile as eerie as ever.
"Rumble—"
Thunder sounded outside the sealed window, just like that night on the rooftop.
The vivid red rainy night, she didn't know if it dispelled the darkness or dyed the darkness even deeper.
Haruko... she's a true yandere!
Perhaps she herself didn't know, she even contradicted herself, and might even have two personalities, but there was no doubt.
From this moment on, Ichiko was certain, Haruko—
Was a yandere!
Fear and dread spread from her spine throughout her body, and even breathing felt difficult.
It wasn't her taste buds that had a problem, but Haruko; she had actually become yandere!
In her ear, Haruko's disappointed voice sounded again, "So Ichiko doesn't like the takeout I ordered, does that mean you don't like me?"
She turned her head in disappointment, standing up like a puppet.
Ichiko remembered that in the novel she had just read, there seemed to be a similar plot.
She quickly shouted, "No!"
"Of course I don't dislike Haruko, I actually... Haha, it's because the takeout is too delicious, I'm a bit fond of it for a moment."
Ichiko's smile was stiff and bitter. She quickly picked up the bowl and ate while praising Haruko.
There was no other way, she had to say she liked Haruko.
This was the pressure Haruko brought; if she didn't say she liked her, she would turn yandere.
It inexplicably felt like being choked little by little, making it hard to breathe.
I'm just pretending to like Haruko, just pretending to like her, just to appease her, there's nothing I can do, right...
Ichiko comforted herself like this in her heart, enduring her fear of Haruko and struggling to finish this dinner.
She squeezed out a smile, "Thank you, Haruko."
But this smile was extremely forced; rather than a smile, it was more like Ichiko forcefully changing her facial muscles to appease the little one in front of her who seemed to have lost her reason.
As soon as Ichiko said this, Haruko "sure enough" returned from that strange state.
Smiling brightly, utterly adorable, "Mm, as long as Ichiko likes it~"
Her peculiar vertical pupils returned to normal, and the scarlet color in her eyes gradually faded.
Ichiko felt extremely uncomfortable eating the entire takeout meal; it felt like it wasn't food for normal people at all, without any normal taste.
After eating half, Ichiko felt it was difficult to swallow and quickly pushed the rest away.
"Actually, I'm not very hungry, this is enough. Speaking of which, how long have I been asleep?"
She quickly changed the subject, feeling her taste buds protesting.
Haruko just picked up the bowl and shook her head slightly, "I don't know how long it's been either, oh. Since Ichiko is full, I'll come back in an hour~"
After saying that, she didn't give Ichiko a chance to ask further questions and happily walked out the door.
It wasn't until the moment the door closed that Ichiko suddenly grabbed the corner of the nearby table, bent her body halfway, looked down at the ground, clutched her heart with one hand, and gasped for breath.
The pressure from Haruko was too great.
The takeout from the restaurant was also dark cuisine.
Even when she was a child, picking up garbage to eat alone, she had never felt so uncomfortable eating a meal.
Ichiko had a headache, and what she couldn't understand even more was, what was Haruko's purpose in keeping her in this room?
She didn't know, and she didn't dare to look at that novel. After hiding it under the pillow, she lay weakly on the bed, her eyes staring blankly.
The 6 hours of rest had greatly relieved her body.
But now, the mental shock was far greater than the physical one.
"One hour..." Ichiko murmured, "Later, if Haruko is emotionally stable, maybe I can ask again?"
She silently counted the time in her heart, but when she felt about 15 minutes had passed, the door opened.
Haruko walked in, struggling to carry a bucket of water, swaying unsteadily.
"Ichiko, it's time to take a bath, oh."
Towels, shampoo, body wash, a change of clothes...
Everything was complete.
Haruko placed the accompanying items on the floor and smiled gently at Ichiko, "Sorry, oh, the bathroom is broken, so you'll have to manage in the room, oh. It's okay if the floor gets wet, oh, I'll clean it up later, oh."
Ichiko's smile froze once again.
She was now certain that Haruko intended to keep her here permanently.
Strength...
She still couldn't use it.
Had an hour passed so quickly?
Why, after so long, had she still not regained her strength?
Seeing that Ichiko wasn't moving, Haruko tilted her head blankly again, then seemed to realize something, and her face immediately turned red.
She glanced away, saying shyly, "C-could it be, Ichiko wants me to help you bathe? This... this might be too soon, oh dear, I'm so shy..."
"N-no need, I can do it myself."
Having someone else bathe her, especially in such an open, almost empty room, the intense sense of shame even overshadowed the hint of unease in Ichiko's heart.
Haruko put her index finger to her lips and smiled mysteriously, "Then I'll come back later, oh. The time is... half an hour."
"Wait, Haruko!"
Ichiko called out to Haruko, "After I finish bathing later, can we... can we have a good talk?"
"Okay!"
Haruko replied and slowly walked out the door.
Looking at the drizzling rain outside, she stepped towards the sofa in a good mood.
[Host, you actually gave up such a good opportunity, you're not villainous enough]
"Kai, you don't understand. Right now, Ichiko is in a stage where she thinks, 'Anyway, we're both girls, it's nothing.' Even if I say I'll help her bathe, she'll just overthink things related to my yandere side."
"Physical contact like that, oh, needs to wait until she becomes curious about me."
"Only after she has the thought, 'We're both girls, why is Haruko so special?' and blushes, is it what you call a good opportunity."
"Things like this, oh, can't let Ichiko get used to them in advance, oh."
"After all, I need to make her realize that I, as a girl, am also unique!"
With the cup of water today, she must have realized my softness, right.
Haruko took out an item obtained from the System's lottery draw.
Delicate Soft Candy: Eating it can make the skin more delicate.
So next, how about something deeper?
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