The dry sound of a lock clicking echoed. "CLICK." He pushed the door open, stepped in first, and said curtly:
-"Get in."
Yurika followed timidly behind him. She scanned her surroundings; the house was unusually silent, with not a soul in sight.
-"Do you live alone?"
-"Yeah."
He pulled out a wooden chair and gestured:
-"Sit down."
As she sat, Yurika winced slightly as a sharp pain shot through her wound. Without a word, he approached and knelt on one knee in front of her:
-"Give me your leg, let me see."
A bit flustered, Yurika turned her face away and muttered:
-"No need... I can do it myself."
He raised an eyebrow and stood up abruptly as if to leave:
-"Suit yourself. Keep your pride and enjoy the pain then."
Seeing him turn his back without a hint of regret, Yurika panicked and reached out:
-"Hey! I only said that, are you really leaving?"
He stopped and looked back at her with a nonchalant gaze:
-"Didn't you say yourself that you didn't need it?"
Having said that, he still returned, sat down, and carefully touched her ankle. Yurika shivered slightly from the pain. He looked up and asked:
-"Does it hurt a lot?"
-"No... it's fine."
-"Okay."
The room fell into silence, save for the rustling of bandages. To break the suffocating atmosphere, Yurika asked hesitantly:
-"Why... did you save me?"
After tying the final knot on the bandage, he stood up leisurely:
-"What, was I supposed to just watch you lie there and die?"
Yurika burst out laughing, a laugh tinged with bitterness:
-"That sounds so fake."
-"Think whatever you want."
He pointed toward the sofa in the living room:
-"You're sleeping there tonight."
Looking at the sofa cluttered with snack wrappers and messy belongings, Yurika couldn't help but grimace:
-"I can't believe it... how can you live in this mess?"
-"So what? It looks normal to me," he replied indifferently before turning and heading straight into the bedroom.
Yurika sighed and began cleaning up the "battlefield." She muttered to herself while working:
-"Honestly... I don't understand you men, how can you stand living so dirtily?"
His voice drifted clearly from inside the room:
-"Hey, I can hear everything!"
-"Who cares!" she shot back.
After a while of tidying, seeing the sofa neat and clean, Yurika smiled proudly at her achievement. That night, the cold of Kaito City seeped into her skin because there was no blanket. While shivering in a fitful sleep, she suddenly felt a warmth envelop her body. A silent figure had covered her with a blanket.
Even with her eyes closed, she knew it was him.
-"Thank you..."
-"Yeah, go to sleep."
The next morning, Yurika woke up to a delicious aroma wafting from the kitchen. She was surprised to see him wearing an apron, his hands moving skillfully as he prepared breakfast.
-"Do you usually wake up this early?"
-"Yeah. If I don't, what am I going to put in my stomach?"
Yurika looked at his back and asked half-jokingly:
-"So... is there a portion for me?"
-"Of course."
That short answer made Yurika's heart skip a beat. She stood still, her nose tingling with emotion. It had been years—since her parents were constantly preoccupied with work day and night—that anyone had checked on her or prepared breakfast for her like this. She quickly wiped away a tear before he turned around.
Setting the plate on the table, he urged:
-"Eat quickly, then you have to leave this place."
Yurika's face suddenly clouded with sadness as she bowed her head:
-"Uhm..."
Where would she go now? She had only heard of the Lumen guild in this city but didn't know the address. Suddenly remembering something important, she asked:
-"By the way, what's your name?"
He stopped his chopsticks and looked up at her:
-"Nasuki Ketoji. And you?"
-"I am Yurika Souma."
Yurika took a risk and asked further, hoping a local like him would know:
-"Do you know... where the Lumen guild is?"
To her surprise, Nasuki's eyes suddenly became animated:
-"What a coincidence, I happen to work at that guild."
Yurika's eyes lit up as she cried out in joy:
-"Really? Then can you take me there?"
Nasuki nodded slightly:
-"Sure thing."