After dinner, everyone prepared their sleeping bags by the campfire to sleep.
"I feel a bit smelly. I can't even take a bath."
Alice pouted.
She had been terrified by the Gun Devil right after crossing over, and then they had traveled all the way from Hokkaido to Tokyo without any time to clean herself.
"Sorry, sweetheart. The conditions don't allow it. Just bear with it."
Soe said helplessly.
Alice shot a glare at her useless father, crawled into her sleeping bag, and fell silent.
That night, Alice tossed and turned in her sleeping bag.
She opened her eyes and muttered uncomfortably, "No, it's too itchy. I can't sleep."
Back in the real world, she was used to bathing every day.
For the first two days after crossing over, she had been too terrified to think about such things.
But now that she was calmer, it felt completely different.
It was like how some people are used to washing their hair and feel unbearably itchy if they skip a day.
Suddenly, Alice remembered that during the day, when she had been flying with Makoto in the complete-body Susanoo, she had spotted a small river nearby.
Even though it was still winter, at least wiping herself down with water would feel a bit better, right?
With that thought, Alice quietly got up, slipped through the trees, and headed towards the lake.
She had barely left when Makoto also got up to relieve himself.
"Hmm?"
Makoto noticed the empty sleeping bag beside him.
By the lakeside, Alice shivered as the cold wind hit her.
But she still scooped up some lake water and gently wiped her fair skin.
After a moment, she rubbed off some dirt.
"..."
Alice shivered involuntarily.
"So gross. I really needed to wash up."
"Big sister, big sister~"
Just then, a voice like a little girl's called out.
Alice was so startled she almost fell into the lake. Turning her head, she saw a giant seagull the size of a lion.
"Wh-What are you?"
Alice was frightened.
"I'm the Seagull Devil. Big sister, can you give me something to eat?"
The Seagull Devil stared at Alice with wide eyes.
"You're a Devil?"
Alice said, extremely surprised.
Aside from being larger and having a red beak, this Devil didn't seem much different from an ordinary seagull.
'So it was a Devil. It didn't seem as terrifying as I had imagined.'
Plus, its voice sounded like a little girl's, which further diminished Alice's fear.
"Big sister, can you give me something to eat?"
The Seagull Devil said pitifully.
Alice's heart softened.
"Um... we have some leftover rice at our camp. Come back with me, and I'll give you some."
The Seagull Devil shook its head vigorously. "Big sister, I don't want to eat rice."
"Then what do you want to eat?"
Alice asked curiously.
"I want to eat... your eyeballs!!"
Halfway through its sentence, the Devil suddenly raised its voice and opened its giant beak.
Only then did Alice see that inside the massive bird's beak were rows of sharp, shark-like fangs.
This time, Alice was so frightened she fell back into the lake.
Seeing this, the Seagull Devil flapped its wings and quickly pursued, its voice becoming piercingly sharp:
"I love eating human eyeballs! I can't believe I found a living person out here in the wilderness! How wonderful!"
"Help! Help! Help me!"
Alice, who had grown up in a coastal country, actually knew how to swim. But seeing the Devil with its sharp teeth getting closer and closer above her, she forgot completely and just flailed her hands, trying to keep the Devil away.
Swish!
At the critical moment, a giant skeletal hand reached out and grabbed the Seagull Devil firmly in its palm.
Before Alice or the Devil could react, a figure landed on the lake's surface and scooped Alice up.
"What are you doing?"
Makoto asked impatiently.
Seeing Makoto's face, Alice was stunned for a few seconds. Then tears welled up in her eyes, and she burst into loud sobs, wrapping her arms around his waist and crying uncontrollably.
"You, you are... a Devil Hunter? What kind of Devil ability is this?"
The Seagull Devil, held in the Susanoo's skeletal hand, gritted its teeth and asked.
Squish!
But Makoto had no intention of answering. He simply controlled the Susanoo to crush it into paste.
Makoto lifted Alice in a princess carry, jumped to the lakeshore, and prepared to take her back to camp.
However, Alice, her face buried in Makoto's chest, suddenly spoke: "No, don't go back. I don't want Mom and Dad to worry."
Hearing this, Makoto didn't refuse.
He cut down a few more trees, used Fire Release to start a fire, and warmed Alice up.
"Do you want to keep wearing those wet clothes?"
He asked after setting her down.
Alice blushed.
Then, Makoto took off his outer coat and handed it to her.
Alice looked at the coat he offered, feeling a warmth in her heart.
Two minutes later, Alice emerged from behind a large tree, wearing Makoto's coat.
She placed her removed clothes and underwear near the fire to dry.
Suddenly noticing Makoto's peculiar gaze, Alice looked down and saw two very obvious red bumps.
Her face instantly turned bright red. She quickly crossed her arms over her chest.
Makoto averted his gaze. "Don't trust Devils. Most of them are no good."
Although Alice hadn't explained, he could more or less guess the sequence of events.
Alice murmured in agreement. After a while, she sneezed, "Ah-choo!"
Seeing this, Makoto stood up, startling Alice.
"Ni, Nishikawa-kun, what are you doing?"
Makoto looked at her suspiciously. "Going to get your sleeping bag."
With that, he disappeared, reappearing moments later with the sleeping bag in hand.
Alice's face turned bright red again.
She had thought Makoto was going to warm her with his body. That's how it happened in the romance movies she'd watched...
Well, it just showed that the cousins were cut from the same cloth… one reading romance manga, the other watching romance movies.
And both thought they were experts in love.
Wrapped in her sleeping bag, Alice felt much better. Suddenly remembering something, she asked, "Um, Nishikawa-kun, when are you going to do that thing with Erina?"
Makoto shot her a strange look, 'Why was she asking about this?'
But he answered her anyway: "After the house is built. I don't want to put on a show for you all."
Alice was speechless.
For some reason, she felt an inexplicable discomfort.
Seeing the clothes by the fire, Makoto said, "The clothes are dry. Let's go back."
"Okay."