“Since when have you known about it?”
“…Since our foreheads touched.”
“That’s practically from the beginning!”
Realizing that Rubia had known from the start didn’t disappoint her; instead, she smiled even brighter.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Umm… if it were the Rubia I know… it wouldn’t just be a forehead touch… ahem.”
Definitely, the tongue too…
“Oh my…”
Rubia, who had been approaching me with her consistent smile, had a crack in her expression.
“W-well… when I showed you my… my underwear, I couldn’t hold back…?”
Because nobody was around, she gasped out like a total perv… huff, huff…
“…What couldn’t you hold back?”
As Rubia arrived in front of me, a forced smile was painted on her face. The corners of her mouth trembled perilously.
“There’s such a thing…”
Feeling embarrassed… I turned my eyes away from Rubia, fearing she’d realize I had strange thoughts.
“K-kiss…? I-it could happen, right? If it were me, I would definitely… hehe… a k-kiss would definitely happen with Noa and……”
Rubia, seeing me avoid eye contact, let her words trail off.
“More than a kiss…?”
“…Hmm.”
Gasp…! Rubia, covering her mouth with both hands, cautiously parted her lips.
“Y-you don’t mean… all the way?”
“…Hehe.”
I had nothing more to say, so I just laughed.
“Wow, damn it… ha! This crazy girl… so fast…”
“Eek! Don’t insult Rubia!”
“No, um… yeah, I’m sorry.”
With a bright red face, Rubia muttered to herself while slapping her cheeks to regain composure.
“Well, that could happen. Yeah… in the past, it would have been enough…”
Taking a deep breath, she returned to her usual expression.
“Phew… I thought I’d get caught someday, but I didn’t think it would be this soon. Then, I’ll ask just one more thing.”
“Y-yes…?”
“Why did you show me your underwear?”
“Eep… that’s…”
It’s a really silly reason. Totally petty and pathetic…
“Once… I went underwear shopping with Rubia and another ‘me.’ So… I wanted to get… revenge…”
Crunch- A rough sound echoed from within Rubia’s mouth.
“…You went underwear shopping together?”
“Y-yes…! You even picked out underwear for each other!! So bad, right?!”
“Wow… this is… a story I didn’t know… ha, this is just ridiculous…? So, does that mean you can’t see me again, right?”
This time, Rubia’s face turned red for a different reason as she chewed her teeth and gently grabbed my hand.
“Let’s get revenge.”
“…H-how?”
“Hmm…”
A moment of silence.
Moments later, Rubia’s voice, as if feeling shy, crept out.
“I want to… eat soybean paste stew.”
“…Y-yes?”
“I want to eat soybean paste stew.”
“Uh, um… b-but we need to finish the trial quickly—”
“No.”
Interrupting my words with a firm voice, Rubia added playfully.
“Time… is stopped, so it’s fine.”
“Huh…?”
“So, let’s take it easy and have fun, okay?”
“Hmm…”
Accepting my silence as agreement, Rubia brightly smiled and pulled my hand.
“Hehe… it’s my first time eating food from Noa.”
*
Click—
“Hmm… excuse me.”
I managed to pull Rubia, who had been hesitating at the door, inside the house.
But… as expected.
There was nobody home.
“Phew… I- I can take off my shoes and come in, right?”
“…That’s right?”
I naturally took off my shoes and went in first, slowly helping Rubia remove hers.
“Uh, uh… I-I’ll do it myself. Eep…”
“Might it smell bad?” Rubia murmured and wiggled her feet as she stepped carefully on the floor.
“Oh, wow… the floor is so soft?”
“…It’s just the flooring being loose.”
“Flooring? Hmm… It’s still nice and soft, though? Hehe.”
Then she tiptoed lightly closer to me.
“Please guide me, Noa.”
“Guide…?”
“Yup!”
Rubia nodded cheerfully, a face full of anticipation.
But… is there really anything to guide in this small house…?
“Umm… got it.”
First… I opened the door right next to the entrance.
My room.
Not the same old room.
But a weirdly changed… room.
Though really, the only thing that changed was the contents of the closet.
“This is…”
“This is my room… It’s not like there’s much to see… right?”
“Is that the blanket Noa sleeps with?”
“…Y-yes.”
“Wow…”
Rubia slowly entered the room, looking around before stealthily approaching my blanket.
And.
“Can I smell it?”
She threw herself onto my blanket, burying her face in the pillow.
If you’re going to sniff it right away, why even ask?!
“Ugh!! W-what are you doing…!!”
I hurriedly ran over and carefully lifted the pillow Rubia was burying her face in.
“Wow… it really smells strongly of Noa…”
“Ahh! D-don’t say weird things!”
Hearing such perverse breathing, I hugged the pillow tightly, and now she was staring at my closet, gulping.
“…Teddy bear.”
“Eek… n-no…”
I gripped Rubia’s hand tightly with one hand while holding the pillow in the other.
“R-Rubia, you perv…!”
“That’s right. I’m a perv.”
“Eh…”
“Did you just realize that? Remember when Noa’s bandage went missing sometimes? When I said ‘I’ would wash it?”
There were so many…?
“I secretly took all of them… um, for ‘my’ pride, I’ll stop here.”
“W-w-wait… what… what did you do…?”
“Go ask outside. What I did with my underwear back then.”
With a playful expression, Rubia chuckled and jumped up from her spot.
“By the way… is that rectangular box a compu… computer? Is that it?”
“Ah… uh, yeah…”
“Hmm…”
After staring at the computer for a while, Rubia shook her head and turned her back.
“Yeah, I think it’s best not to look at it. Can I ask you to guide me to another place?”
Seeing Rubia’s somewhat downcast expression, I quietly nodded.
Just in case… I tightly held Rubia’s arm and led her out of the room to show her the bathroom.
With sparkling eyes, she looked around the bathroom and quickly approached the sink, carefully turning the lever.
“Wow, wow! The water comes out so well!”
And then, she began washing her hands with a bright smile.
“The soap smells great too… and the bubbles are fantastic, right? Wow… I want to take one home.”
In that tiny bathroom, with cheap soap, seeing her look so pleased makes me feel…
“R-Rubia… do you see that cylinder over there?”
I’m getting all flustered…!
“Cylinder? Hmm… yes.”
“That’s something called shampoo… it’s a liquid soap for washing hair! Specially for hair!”
“Oh my, there’s even such a thing?”
I rushed over, placing the shampoo bottle near Rubia’s nose.
“How’s it…? Smells good, right?”
“Wow…”
“And next to it, this is… um… it softens hair. It makes tangles manageable… conditioner!”
I wafted the scent to Rubia’s nose and squeezed some into her hand.
“Good heavens, there’s even something else for hair? But why is this so hard to wash off? It keeps feeling slippery…”
Ah, right… I hadn’t thought of that.
“Umm… just… scrub a little harder. Hehe…”
I rubbed the cheap bar of soap all over Rubia’s hands while cleaning off the remaining conditioner.
“And… this is a really amazing item…”
I pulled out a hairdryer from the towel closet and showed it to Rubia with a flourish.
“What’s this…?”
“Watch closely…”
I unraveled the cord carelessly and plugged it in.
And then, tap tap-
Wiiing…
“Huh? Warm air…”
“Yes! This is a hairdryer used for drying hair!”
Rubia’s eyes sparkled as her curiosity grew.
“Wait… you can use it even without magical power?”
“Of course!”
I turned off the hairdryer and cautiously placed it in Rubia’s hands.
She awkwardly turned it on with a fidget.
“Eek! Oh… is this how you use it?”
Then she started using it on her hair, surprised by the sudden noise.
“Exactly!”
While I moved Rubia’s stiff arms around to help spread the warm air, she looked at me with pure joy, like a child who discovered a new toy.
“Ugh…”
“Puhahaha! Wow, this is really fascinating… Is it like an artifact?”
“If we must say… it’s similar…?”
With a pleasant hum, Rubia inspected the hairdryer, then turned it off and looked at me.
“Is there nothing more to show?”
Next? Next… hmm… oh!
“Vacuum cleaner!”
“A vacuum c-cleaner?”
“Yes! It’s for cleaning up…! Umm… it looks like this, and, eh, I’ll just show you!”
I set the hairdryer down from Rubia’s hands and took her by the hand.
We dashed out of the bathroom towards the place with the vacuum cleaner.
“Ta-da!”
“…Is it a weapon?”
Puhuhaha… It’s not a weapon; it’s a vacuum cleaner…!”
With a slight hint of wariness in her eyes, Rubia tilted her head.
“Hmm!”
With my shoulders boldly back, I plugged in the vacuum cleaner and pressed the button.
Brrr- Wiiiing…
“Eek…!”
Startled by the louder sound than the hairdryer, Rubia shrank back.
“Um… this is what you use for cleaning?”
“Yup!”
I held the vacuum cleaner and gathered up a few strands of hair I had casually dropped.
Then.
Wiiiing…
I swept the vacuum cleaner over them.
“Whoa?”
“Did you see that?!”
“The hair… disappeared.”
“Yes!”
“Is it magic…?”
“Hehehe…”
Then, I dropped more hair and Wiiiing…
“It’s being sucked inside!”
“Exactly. A vacuum cleaner is a machine that sucks up small dust and debris… um, it’s an artifact!”
I turned off the vacuum cleaner and handed it to Rubia, who cautiously accepted it with a nervous demeanor.
“D-do I push this forward to turn it on?”
“Yup… like this…”
I placed my small hand over her stiff one to turn it on, Brrr— Wiiiing…
“Oh, it moves back and forth really well.”
“Right… it has tiny wheels under it.”
“Wow, you’re so smart. How did anyone come up with this?”
Her tentative movements with the vacuum became bolder as she started moving it freely.
After completing a lap around the living room, Rubia turned off the vacuum cleaner with a bright smile.
“Cleaning is fun!”
I smiled back at her beaming face.
“Is there… anything else?”
“…I have a trump card.”
“OMG… what is it?”
“Hehe… wait a moment.”
I showed Rubia the smartphone that was sitting on the sink.
“…What is this?”
“This is called a smartphone…”
I quickly pressed the unlock button.
“…Oh my.”
“Can you see? It’s a communication crystal and, um… a video transmission artifact… and… all sorts of mixed things…? Huh? Rubia? Are you listening— gasp!?”
With a strange expression, Rubia seemed to either be listening intensely or not at all, and then, suddenly, she hugged me tightly with a big smile.
“W-why so suddenly?!”
“I… really tried to hold back on physical contact, but this time, Noa made the first move.”
“Eh? What did I… do…? Eep?!”
Rubia gently bit my earlobe, lifting my wrist to show me the background of the smartphone.
“Oh, wait…”
Inside the background was an illustration of Rubia, the priestess of the black sun, and my favorite character.
