房客(糙汉)何璐程曜坤

|She seems to be on edge... is she suspicious about me or is there something in the building...|

Zoemi thought to himself and approached the panicky girl, crouching down by her and helping her gather the medical books that she dropped.

"Studying hard to be a doctor I see~"

"?!?!" *plop*

The black-haired boy asked and the Burushi-like girl shocked by his words and actions fell on her butt making the expression of a startled baby bunny while clenching the stack of books to her body.

The girl change out of the showy cute clothes that she had on when the boy and his parents were leaving the clinic and was now wearing baggy pajama trousers and an oversized hoodie, with her bushy hair once again covering most of her face.

Instead of getting even closer and potentially getting into a rather awkward situation, Zoemi sat down right when he was crouching and extended his hand to pass the Burushi-like girl the book that he picked up.

"In the morning you've asked me about the Kampf um die liebe. Sorry for not saying anything then, I do know it. I completed all routes except for Grazio's."

Zoemi said with a brilliant smile that caused the girl to stare at him wide-eyed while clenching the books she was holding even harder.

"Oh, my name is... Kuro Aku, what's yours?"

The boy asked, tilting his head in a captivating way – although he almost introduced himself as Zoemi, which would be terrible.

Why?

Because if anything, the name Zoemi would be the single word that would let Cherro know that he remembers everything and is beginning to plot something.

"..."

"~?"

The Burushi-like girl fidgetted and looked at the black-haired boy meekly just as if she also struggled to speak out her name...

|AHA~! She must also want to say the name that she remembers instead of the one from this timeline!|

...and Zoemi immediately caught on to her hesitation as a confirmation of his hypothesis about the current state of the world...

"...Hikaru Yuu... Yuusha..."

"..."

The girl revealed and her face instantly turned bright pink from the embarrassment over the way her name sounded, leaving Zoemi slightly speechless.

|Although I'm not the one to talk, now I see why she didn't mind her name being Burushitto all that much...|

He thought but didn't let any of his emotions show on his face and instead resigned from handing the book back to the timid girl and instead stood up, offering her his hand to help her stand up.

"It's nice to meet you, Miss Yuu~!"

Accidentally or not, Zoemi smiled devilishly and called out to the girl not by her family name but by her first name, confidently familiarizing himself with her all of a sudden.

Whether it was something in his voice or that heart-stealing smile he had, instead of scolding him for acting overly familiar during their second meeting Yuusha accepted his hand and let herself be pulled up easily.

Already judging by his school uniform, the cheeky boy was younger than her but he was already much taller – or maybe Yuusha was simply that petite.

All in all, the girl found herself at a hugging distance from the unexpected guest that she thought would not even remember her.

"...M-mister Kuro... did... did you come here because some of the symptoms my father warned you about have occurred...? My parents are out for a moment so..."

The girl feeling her heartbeat skyrocketing because of the closeness of the smooth-talking boy managed to ask the first and reasonably important question.

"Thankfully my health or your parents aren't connected to my reasoning. I showed up because I wanted to meet you~"

Zoemi answered with a light shrug, without letting go of Yuusha's hand and looking her deep in the eyes.

"I want to talk with you, you see~ Comfortably~"

The boy said, lowering his voice and leaning closer to the bewitched girl looking up at him as if he was some kind of idol.

|Burushi is smart. Even if she suspects me to be connected to Cherro, she will catch on me asking for talking in a place outside of his reach... if only that is possible in this timeline...|

Zoemi thought to himself watching the expression the timid girl was making while having an internal battle with herself about what she should do.

"Yuu~ Something tells me that you know that you can trust me~"

Zoemi said leaning down a bit so she would feel his breath on her hair.

"I-it's too early for that...!"

But it seemed that Zoemi's act was a bit too much for the embarrassed girl as she jumped away while holding one hand to her ear, looking up at the black-haired boy with a bright red face.

|...too early... is it a matter of time then... is Cherro's surveillance weaker the latter it is? Damn it, I can't figure it out now, I need more information but haste can ruin it all! That's why she's panicking so much...!|

Zoemi wondered, straightening his back and looking at the nervous girl gasping for air while looking up at him with misty eyes.

What should be the boy's next move then...

"In such a case, how about we exchange contact info~?"

Zoemi decided it would be the next best thing to do – after all, having the ability to talk and exchange messages whenever they wanted would be a heaven-send for communicating in secret...

"N-no...! It's too early for that too...!"

"...?!"

Yuusha flinched and shook her head vigorously backing off towards the staircase, looking down to hide as much of her crimson-red face as possible, confusing Zoemi to no end.

|Ah...!|

But then Zoemi understood what she must have meant!

|Fuck! Why didn't I think about it sooner? Of course, that piece of filth has a way of surveilling wireless communication! It is very much possible that the technology in this whole world relies on magic that he controls but the public isn't aware of it!|

...he started overthinking everything even more than ever before, reaching a rather outlandish conclusion...

|And in the first place, my getting overly familiar with her is actually bad too! No wonder she's acting so on guard! She still suspects me but even if I would be in the clear and continued acting so recklessly, Cherro would pick up on it in no time... I wonder why he allowed me to be alive for so long in this timeline, to begin with. There just be something that I am still missing...|

"I see. Sorry to hear that... in that case... would you mind if I continued to visit you like today? I am interested in you and want to prove to you that I am worthy of your trust."

Zoemi thought and barely held himself back from gritting his teeth but on the outside, he was smiling apologetically and asking in a sweet voice.

"...!"

His words caused the timid girl to flinch and look up at him while biting her lips.

She fidgeted a bit, lowering her head and deeply pondering about an answer while Zoemi waited, all tensed up.

After all, from his perspective, the Burushi-like girl must not only know a lot more than he did but also possibly already have some sort of plan of action in mind... It might even be that she had some clues about Miriette!

His actions earlier could be easily classified as rushed and the girl must have been pondering whether to include him in her scheme or not, leaving the boy on edge.

"...you... you can... B-but only for a bit...! A-and...! I-if you show up when my parents are home, d-don't tease me like that... o-okay...?"

"!!!"

After a prolonged silence between the two of them, Yuusha faltered and nodded her head bashfully before instructing Zoemi in an embarrassed voice, causing the black-haired boy's eyes to widen in realization.

|HER PARENTS ARE CONNECTED TO CHERRO!|

"Of course! I'll see you again, Yuu~!"

Zoemi shouted in his mind but merely smiled gratefully on the outside while walking back to the door.

"I already can't wait~!"

"?!?!"

He added, putting the book on a cupboard by the entrance and winking at the flustered girl.

As he left the clinic and started walking down the sidewalk blending with other people, Zoemi's expression darkened.

He had far too many questions and not nearly enough opportunities to learn the truth.

The Burushi-like girl didn't seem desperate, merely flustered – which must have meant that even though Cherro's influence was deeply rooted in this timeline, there was somebody or rather something that was restricting his power still.

The boy looked up to the partially cloudy sky, furrowing his brows deep in thought.

After all, Cherro's domain was magic, if that was the case, then could it be that the power holding him back from doing whatever he wanted and erasing Zoemi before he was even given a chance to be born was... star power.

Truth be told Zoemi could not feel his spiritual energy at all, but at the same time, he didn't feel the emptiness that the lack of it should be causing.

If so...

...then, maybe he already had it, but only his access to it was obscured in order to not alarm Cherro...?

But for something like that to happen it would have to mean that the spiritual energy and star power existed here too, and the person who hid ZOemi's power was none other than the faceless god, Guide!

Guide addressed Zoemi before as their Heavenly Star Warrior, and despite taking away a part of his memories – didn't Guide tried rushed and gave them all back right before Zoemi woke up in the new timeline?

A being like that would not leave their champion without any means of fighting back the piece of filth trying to take over...!

"...it's time to try out meditation..."

Zoemi muttered to himself while almost passing by his own house...