"Sigh... how did it come to this..."
For the sake of keeping a low profile, Zeroy burned the corpses of the pests to ashes with Hellfire, leaving not a trace behind. Then she sat on the sofa, frowning in distress.
The dream from that morning had left her with no small sense of guilt. It also left her unsure of how to face Patchouli, or how to interact with her.
'Why would I dream something like that? Why would the me in that dream do those things? Am I really that sexually repressed? Zeroy couldn't quite accept it.'
'Should I just confess now? If I confessed, I wouldn't need to agonize over hiding my orientation while worrying about taking advantage…'
'No, that won't do. Confessing over something like this would be ridiculous. And what if Patchi refused? What if she even felt disgusted?'
Zeroy wasn't incapable of accepting that. If she was refused, she was refused. It wasn't as if she were some love-brained fool. She'd be sad, yet not to the point of wanting to die over it.
It was just that Zeroy hoped Patchi's refusal would come from truly having no feelings for her, not because of an overly abrupt confession. So she wanted to find the right moment. For example, after this mission ended. At that time, no matter the result, it would be easier to deal with.
If she was refused, she could quickly throw herself into the next mission or the construction of another world. If accepted, then since it would basically be a half-vacation, they could properly talk about their feelings.
"Forget it..." Zeroy picked up her sword and stood. Better to keep killing pests. Until this mission ended, she would just keep some distance, no more overstepping.
The problem was, she might keep her distance, yet Patchouli didn't know about any of this. Patchouli would still approach her without the slightest guard, just like the lap pillow last night and the shared bed this morning.
If the other took the initiative, she could still distance herself, keeping far enough away that Patchouli couldn't reach her. However, that would only create misunderstandings. After all, why would she suddenly start acting so strange? And if she pulled that far away, people might even think she hated her. So she had to carefully control the degree and manner of keeping distance. Putting all her energy into serious business—that was the best way Zeroy could think of.
'I'm raising the damn flag right now! Come on, come on! You lowly creatures, vile beings, all die beneath my Divine Striker Blade!!!'
...
"..."
Patchouli sipped her tea lightly, her calm gaze falling on the window. The sunlight outside was just right, making the whole city look especially bright. Yet the witch's mood was not so bright.
A boring view. Compared to the Scarlet Devil Mansion's garden and her own library, this was nothing... Her eyes dropped back to the tea before her, the amber liquid reflecting this morning's scene.
When Zeroy woke, she had pulled away from her. Was it because of the dream—because she was embarrassed?
Patchouli knew what Zeroy had dreamed last night. After all, she was the one who guided her into it. Of course, it wasn't a true dream-creation. That would have left traces of magic too obvious for Zeroy to miss. She had only nudged Zeroy toward dreaming something of that sort, so she only knew the rough outline. Yet that was enough.
In the dream, the two of them had definitely gone beyond friendship. Maybe Patchouli had taken the lead, maybe Zeroy had—either way, they were doing it. Waking to find the dream's subject right beside you, sharing a bed—it was normal to shy away in embarrassment.
Still... Zeroy's expression wasn't just embarrassment. At least, embarrassment was only a small part of it. In those emerald eyes, there was guilt, shyness... and something else. Fear? Guilt? Or something more?
Patchouli had only just woken then, so she hadn't seen clearly. Yet Zeroy's abnormal reaction wasn't just this morning. There was also her reaction last night, when faced with the lap pillow. That hesitation was definitely abnormal, and even her movements carried faint awkwardness. It gave off a sense of constraint, even resistance.
'Could it be that, because of my earlier questions about yuri and my behavior during the physical examination, her orientation had been discovered?'
And maybe Zeroy simply wasn't interested in women. She didn't mind others being into women, but she didn't want to be one herself. Maybe she even had some resistance toward the idea.
And then this morning, when Zeroy went out—Patchouli had meant to accompany her, as they usually did. Yet Zeroy had said she was just going out to clear some pests, that there was no need to go together, and Patchouli should stay home to study the Longinuses. It was a reasonable excuse, although looking back, it seemed tinged with deliberate avoidance...
"..."
Patchouli's eyelids lowered slightly.
'...I can't be sure yet. Maybe I'm just overthinking. Maybe Zeroy's oddness had other reasons. Maybe she was just too tired. Maybe it was all just my imagination, me being too sensitive.'
After all, having her stay home to study the Longinuses wasn't unreasonable. It was a perfectly sensible reason. The avoidance might just be what she was imagining. Nevertheless... this was the first time she had liked someone. The first time she felt love. The first time someone had pulled her out of her books.
'How could... how could I just let it fail like this! I'll test her a few more times.'
"I'm back~"
After a whole morning of pest-killing, Zeroy returned. "Hm? Just you here, Patchi?"
Back at the hotel, Zeroy found only Patchouli, sipping tea on the balcony. Kuroka and Shirone weren't around, so her plan to distract herself by petting cats instead of dealing with Patchouli was instantly foiled. She could only walk toward the balcony where Patchouli sat.
"Shirone went home. Kuroka forgot an ingredient for lunch and went out to buy it."
"Lunch is cooking? Then I'll go check the kitchen~" Zeroy's steps turned on a dime, diverting to the kitchen instead.
"..." Zeroy walked ahead. Patchouli, behind her, sipped her tea, calmly watching Zeroy approach only to turn away.
"..." Zeroy felt the gaze on her back, yet she didn't know Patchouli had already noticed her abnormality. So she did her best to act natural.
It wasn't that she had nothing better to do, or that she wanted to see Patchouli and came back on a whim. Her schedule for the day was clear—morning spent hunting pests, back home for lunch, then working on the simulation world in the afternoon, and finally resting properly at night.
So she had to come back. After all, [Azure Box of Revolution] and [Ultimate Karmic Wheel] were still in Patchouli's hands! Without coming back, she couldn't run her utopia simulations!
...
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