After Work, I Brought Home a Devilish Beauty - Chapter 75

It was late at night.

Under normal circumstances, Yuichi should have been fast asleep by now. Yet, for some reason, he was still wide awake, without even the slightest hint of drowsiness.

Of course, it wasn’t difficult to understand why.

After all, there were two beautiful girls sleeping in the same room as him.

They weren’t sharing his bed, but they were still living under the same roof—and in the same room.

How was he supposed to fall asleep?

Just thinking about it was enough to make his heart race.

Unable to resist, Yuichi quietly raised his head and looked at Alice’s sleeping face under the pale moonlight.

Perhaps because it was her first time sleeping together with Chiba, Alice still hadn’t gotten used to it. She had curled herself up in the corner of the bed like a kitten, and she’d even forgotten to pull the blanket over herself.

“You’re going to catch a cold sleeping like that, you idiot.”

Yuichi sighed helplessly before reaching over and covering her with the blanket.

Chiba, on the other hand, was surprisingly easy to take care of.

It was a little disappointing that Yuichi couldn’t see her sleeping face since she was lying with her back toward him, but at least her sleeping posture was perfectly normal.

Yuichi stared at her for a while, lost in thought.

As expected, he still couldn’t forget what had happened earlier.

Chiba had accepted his kindness.

She had even allowed him to hug her.

Logically speaking, that should have meant their relationship had progressed beyond ordinary friendship.

Yet for some reason, Chiba had been acting as though nothing unusual had happened afterward.

That left Yuichi incredibly anxious.

Perhaps that was why he couldn’t fall asleep.

…I should probably make sure.

Yuichi hesitated for a moment before quietly speaking.

“Are you asleep?”

Chiba didn’t respond.

She remained completely motionless.

Is she really asleep?

No.

It didn’t seem that way.

Chiba usually went to bed quite late, and her sleeping posture tonight was completely different from her usual one.

Then I just need to wait.

Sure enough, after hearing Yuichi’s voice, Chiba soon turned over.

Her large red eyes slowly opened.

“What?”

Yuichi fell silent.

He had been preparing himself mentally for this moment, but when the time actually came, he found it difficult to speak.

After a long hesitation, he finally gathered his courage.

“I’m saying… we’re dating now, right?”

Chiba tilted her head in confusion.

“What does ‘dating’ mean?”

“What? You don’t know?”

Yuichi sighed helplessly.

“Dating means becoming closer than ordinary friends. I’d be really happy if you were willing to date me.”

To Yuichi’s surprise, Chiba immediately rejected him.

“I don’t want to.”

…She rejected me that quickly?!

Yuichi’s expression instantly crumbled, his eyes beginning to well up.

“Why?! At least think about it!”

“…Because your eyes are starting to look lewd.”

“What?! You’re kidding! It’s so dark. How could you possibly see my eyes clearly?”

“Hmph. Don’t underestimate a demon’s eyesight. I can see perfectly even in complete darkness.”

Chiba sounded incredibly smug as she said it.

Yuichi’s confidence immediately faltered.

“Do… do my eyes really look that lewd?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll seriously change! Please! Please give me at least one chance!”

Yuichi clasped his hands together and knelt before her with an almost religious devotion.

Chiba rested her chin on one hand and thought about it for a moment.

“Not now. We’ll talk about it later.”

“When will that be?”

“After you attain Buddhahood.”

“What?!”

Yuichi’s face turned pale.

“No matter how I think about it, there’s no way I can become a Buddha! And certainly not within the next fifty years!”

“I don’t care. Go to sleep.”

The next morning.

When Yuichi woke up, he discovered that both Chiba and Alice were nowhere to be seen.

At first, he assumed they had simply gone out for a walk.

Then he noticed an envelope sitting on the desk.

“If you wanted to go out, you could’ve just told me. Why bother leaving a letter…?”

Yuichi smiled helplessly as he picked up the envelope.

He didn’t think much of it as he opened it and began reading.

But before long, the smile disappeared from his face.

The message was essentially this:

Because Yuichi has recently become dangerous, I need to take Alice somewhere else and keep a low profile for a while.

Yuichi’s hands began trembling uncontrollably.

He stared at the letter in disbelief.

Finally, he couldn’t hold himself back any longer.

“Ha—?!”

By the time Yuichi arrived at work, he was still furious about what had happened.

“What kind of treatment is this?! Being treated differently just because of a little problem with eye contact is even more unfair than—”

He stopped himself before finishing that thought.

Yota Sasaki, who had been working nearby, immediately rushed over with a grin.

“What? What?! What happened?!”

Yuichi clenched his fists and complained angrily.

“Chiba said my eyes looked lewd, so she’s breaking up with me!”

“Huh? Who’s Chiba?”

Yota looked confused.

“I remember you mentioning that name before. Is Chiba your girlfriend?”

Yuichi froze.

For a moment, he was about to say, How could you not remember her?

But then he suddenly remembered something.

Wait… something like this has happened before.

The last time he’d confided in Yota about Chiba, it had been because she had suddenly disappeared.

But at that time, Chiba’s very existence had been erased from the world.

Naturally, Yota couldn’t remember her.

Realizing this, Yuichi answered honestly.

“Yes.”

“What?!”

Yota’s eyes widened.

“I was just joking! I didn’t actually expect it to be true. When did this happen?”

“Uh… probably… a few days ago.”

Yuichi’s answer was noticeably hesitant.

For some reason, Yota suddenly leaned closer.

He stared directly at Yuichi with a serious expression.

Yuichi remained calm on the outside.

Inside, however, he was panicking.

Could he have figured out that I’m lying?

Although Yuichi and Chiba had done something that could technically be considered a couple’s behavior, it was limited to hugging.

And, more importantly, Chiba had clearly rejected his request to officially date her the previous night.

So, strictly speaking, they couldn’t really be called a couple.

Fortunately, Yota didn’t seem to notice anything suspicious.

Instead, he clicked his tongue in disdain.

“Tch. I hate people like you who are always showing off. Are you seriously bragging to me about arguing with your girlfriend?”

Despite the sarcasm in his voice, Yuichi immediately relaxed.

He then replied jokingly,

“I’m not showing off. I’m just venting.”

“To the person listening, there’s practically no difference, okay?”

Yota sighed dramatically.

“Seriously… I want a girlfriend too.”

His voice sounded as though he were about to cry.

Yuichi could only respond helplessly.

“See? You’re still the same.”