Chapter 17: So happy, so happy, so sweet, so sweet

At some point, a faint sakura-pink blur entered Someya Sara’s hazy vision. Houya Riai’s hair. She had stepped right up to her; they were so close they were almost touching.

This time, Someya Sara smelled Houya Riai’s scent more clearly: cold osmanthus mixed with weeds, earth, and the faint rot of insect corpses.

Houya Riai, meanwhile, breathed in everything coming from the girl: the light fragrance of her hair, the soft rhythm of her breathing, the warmth of her skin, the sweet-tart orange scent. All of it smelled wonderful.

Sticky sheets, the girl’s delicate, wet gasps, pale tender skin, silver-white hair tangled around her ankles: those images flashed through Houya Riai’s mind.

Since Someya Sara couldn’t see, Houya Riai let her barely-legal, teenage-desire-filled gaze roam freely over the girl’s body.

So cute.

I like her so much…

Just looking made her body burn; her cheeks were scorching. No matter how she clenched and unclenched her toes inside her thick-soled shoes, the heat wouldn’t fade.

Come to think of it, if Hoshiori Tsukiyo really hasn’t come home in ages, they must not have “studied” together in forever, right? No wonder Sara-nee is trying to bring her back…

But would once or twice really be enough?

With that strange thought, Houya Riai leaned down slightly. Her sakura-pink hair fell forward, almost brushing the girl’s lips.

“Sara-nee, you poor thing.”

[Beep.]

[Temporary Mission Progress: 60%. Keep trying, host.]

“I-it’s… okay…”

The animal-like instinct in Someya Sara sensed a subtle shift in the air, a suppressed emotion in Houya Riai’s voice, but the system prompt made her dismiss it as imagination. She kept playing her role, sniffling miserably.

“Tsukiyo-nee… she wasn’t… wrong. A blind person who can’t do anything really is just a burden…”

“It’s already really nice that she’s still willing to support me…”

As she spoke, Someya Sara’s fingers nervously twisted the hem of her clothes; looking pitiful and fragile, impossibly easy to feel sorry for.

Houya Riai’s gaze dropped to those fingers.

Pale, thin, with neat, rounded nails that shone a pretty pink like tiny seashells.

A tingling warmth spread through her lower belly. Houya Riai pressed her thighs together; they were already damp. The sudden thought startled her: Don’t twist your clothes; twist me instead.

The idea alone made her feel like the happiest, sweetest person in the world. If those slender fingers twisted her instead, she’d go dizzy, legs weak, eyes unfocused, rolling back…

It’s fine if Sara-nee can’t see; she could lean in herself or guide the girl’s hand to touch her.

[Beep.]

[Temporary Mission Progress: 80%. Keep trying, host.]

Hearing the prompt, Someya Sara only felt exhausted. She was lying so hard, yet it still wasn’t enough.

[You can do it, baby!] Xiao Nuosang cheered from the sidelines.

Someya Sara: “I know…”

So she kept going: Hoshiori Tsukiyo always smelled like other people’s perfume lately; said Someya Sara belonged under a car; took her anger out on her whenever she felt like it; every lie spilled from the girl’s lips.

“But it’s okay. I believe Tsukiyo-nee still likes me.”

“And I like Tsukiyo-nee the most. More than anyone.”

With those two lines, Someya Sara finally cleared the mission. After a few more polite responses to Houya Riai, she hurriedly escaped downstairs.

The moment she changed into house slippers at the entrance, she heard a strange noise from the living room.

Everyone knows that when one sense weakens, the others grow sharper. Having adjusted to this body, Someya Sara could now catch sounds she’d never have noticed with normal sight.

Right now, she clearly heard something in the living room; not the fridge or any familiar appliance, but a faint, almost imperceptible electronic hum.

More than that, she felt a subtle gaze. Not human eyes; more like an invisible spiderweb lurking in some corner of the room. Usually impossible to pinpoint, but undeniably there.

No…

Not a spiderweb.

A few seconds later, she corrected herself.

The gaze carried a sense of scrutiny and recording. And it wasn’t coming from just one place.

“Xiao Nuosang, is anyone home?”

[Eh? What’s wrong, baby?]

Xiao Nuosang sounded puzzled.

Someya Sara pressed her lips together, turned toward the living room, and stared with eyes that saw nothing but dim shadows.

“Xiao Nuosang… I-I feel like someone’s watching me.” After a moment’s hesitation, she whispered.

[Nobody’s here, baby. I’m not picking up any other life signs.]

Xiao Nuosang answered immediately, then added reassuringly:

[Maybe you’re just tired from the last few days and imagining things.]

An illusion?

Someya Sara thought it strange, but she couldn’t see, and Xiao Nuosang said the place was empty; maybe the game really had made her paranoid.

“It’s… probably that, yeah?”

She mumbled uncertainly, trying to comfort herself.

However, as all those profound works like Man-Eating Tree 🌲, Semen Wrist, Dark Psychology Hole, and Humanity’s Secret ❤️: One Wrong Move Ruins Everything wisely say:

If someone or some place makes your subconscious feel uneasy, trust your primal sixth sense. You might miss something, but you’ll never get hurt.

And so, hidden in the secret corners of the girl’s apartment, several surveillance cameras blinked with faint, almost invisible red lights, quietly running.