"Ah?"
Listening to Haruko's words, Ichiko felt a bad premonition rise in her heart.
The black tea, it couldn't be the same as last time, right!
She still remembered the last time she drank black tea, Haruko had added computer components right in front of her.
This time, surely not...
Ichiko shook her head, quickly comforting herself, this time it definitely wasn't, after all, Haruko had changed, hadn't she?
Haruko noticed Ichiko shaking her head, "Hmm? Is there a problem, or is it that Ichiko doesn't like it?"
"Not really, I just feel more like eating fruit."
Ichiko immediately showed a smile.
She already knew that when it came to the word "like," Haruko had an unusual obsession, which was the most important trigger for her yandere transformation!
If anything didn't go her way, she might turn dark.
When this word came out, Ichiko knew she actually had no choice.
Reasonably avoiding it was the experience she gained last time.
She watched as Haruko put down Dan, and then ducked into the kitchen again.
Ichiko glanced over, feeling an inexplicable palpitation.
Subconsciously, she turned to look at the kitchen and called out, "Haruko!"
"What's wrong?"
Haruko's voice sounded puzzled, and the juicer could still be seen rolling inside.
Seeing this, Ichiko let out a long sigh of relief.
What was that, it scared her.
"Here~"
A peeled apple was handed to Ichiko.
Ichiko reached out to take it, and found the apple was a bit cold, clearly taken from the refrigerator.
It seemed Haruko was quite obedient.
It was really fruit, she had thought it was something else.
Ever since Haruko became very well-behaved, she had never forced her again.
Wait.
Well-behaved?
Ichiko raised her eyes and looked at the smiling Haruko, whose small face was close to hers, her delicate skin incredibly clear.
It seemed like before Haruko had her episode on the bridge, she was also this well-behaved?
Hiding that yandere side behind this disguise called "well-behaved."
Speaking of which, Haruko clearly wrote a suicide note and was extremely disappointed in herself.
The words in the suicide note further clarified something she herself wanted to say.
—I am no longer your Haruko.
Yes, the signature at the end after "Good night."
The words "your" were clearly crossed out.
At that time, not knowing if Haruko would wake up, she felt a pang in her heart from regret because of this last sentence.
Just a few words, yet they seemed to constantly remind her.
Originally, Haruko belonged to you.
Now, Haruko has nothing to do with you anymore, and you will never see Haruko again!
But after Haruko truly woke up?
Ichiko had prepared herself for Haruko attempting suicide a second time; heart-wrenching pain; hitting her, cursing her "betrayal"; or continuing to show her yandere side.
Ichiko had prepared herself mentally for such extremely bad possibilities.
But after truly waking up, she acted out for three days, seemingly not liking her anymore, but in reality, still secretly cared about her in her heart.
Her acting out like that didn't make people feel scared.
Instead, it showed a cuteness different from being well-behaved.
After all, it was like acting spoiled.
These days, Ichiko had been happy about Haruko's recovery, and was busy catching up on things she had fallen behind on due to being sick, so she hadn't thought deeply about it at all.
Why had Haruko been so desperate that she wanted to end her life?
But after waking up, her emotions were as stable as a normal person's, and she didn't mention anything related to the time before she attempted suicide at all?
She didn't even ask much about Murasaki and the marriage contract, nor did she ask much about who attacked her that night!
Only when she was alone with her would she mention it unintentionally.
Now, she belatedly remembered this matter.
Ichiko suddenly felt countless inconsistencies rushing towards her.
Things she hadn't thought deeply about in her mind all surfaced.
Had Haruko really become normal?
She was even more well-behaved than half a month ago!
The living room, which was originally filled with warm light and made comfortable by the air conditioning, slowly became dim and distorted in Ichiko's eyes.
Dan was held in Haruko's arms.
Those strange vertical pupils seemed to glow green.
Looking up again, Haruko's pupils also became vertical like Dan's, her smile becoming increasingly strange and creepy.
The apple in her hand... gradually became rotten.
Ichiko suddenly shivered.
After closing her eyes tightly.
Opening her eyes, she saw Haruko tilting her head in surprise, asking with concern, "What's wrong, Ichiko?"
The Haruko in front of her, although her pupils were a tiny bit strange, cuteness was her synonym.
Dan was just staring at that apple with wide, curious eyes.
The living room hadn't changed at all.
Was what just happened a hallucination?
Cold sweat dripped down Ichiko's back, and she gently patted her chest.
Maybe the pressure was too great, she was a bit nervous.
Meeting Haruko's gaze, Ichiko actually had a faint feeling, although the girl was very well-behaved, yet...
She could feel Haruko's full love from this one fruit.
If she didn't eat this fruit, if she didn't say she liked it, she might have a deeper, more terrifying reaction.
Thinking of a certain uncomfortable night, Ichiko's toes still subconsciously gripped the floor tightly.
She hadn't done anything, hadn't said anything, but why could she always feel pressure from Haruko's eyes!
She really hated this feeling!
Of course, she didn't know that Haruko's cat pupils skill didn't distinguish between friend or foe, anyone who met her gaze would feel pressure and fear.
In the current situation, she couldn't not eat this apple, right?
Haruko would definitely make baseless associations!
It was hard to imagine that an apple could make someone sweat profusely.
Ichiko would rather eat savory tofu pudding than this thing.
By the way, she was a sweet faction person.
Ichiko tried her best to control her facial expression, took a bite, and tried her best to smile, "Hahaha... it's really delicious."
Little did she know, the hand holding the apple was trembling slightly.
She didn't even notice that Haruko was smiling even happier.
Ichiko thought to herself, thankfully it wasn't something else.
Just bear with it, and it will pass.
Liking it was naturally impossible.
She even felt disgusted.
But, let's just humor Haruko like this.
Haruko chuckled softly, "Great, Ichiko likes it just like me, let's peel an orange after dinner."
"Orange?"
Ichiko was startled, "Rito... Haruko, is there... a lot of fruit?"
"It's not that there's a lot of fruit, mainly considering it's for three days, I prepared a little bit of everything."
Haruko walked to the refrigerator, deliberately opened the door wide, and at the same time took out servings of prepared dinner ingredients.
She deliberately said, "What should we eat tonight? Usually, Ichiko decides, suddenly deciding myself is a bit difficult."
At that moment, what appeared before Ichiko was.
Besides various fruits, bottles of drinks, iced water, and beer emitting cold air.
It was clearly winter, these things didn't need to be in the refrigerator, but putting them all in there, drinking them would truly chill one to the bone.
She swallowed, her lips a little pale.
She remembered a certain day in the past, the food she ate that day was all composed of sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, and salty, and had a foul smell like something rotten.
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