The fading voice that called out to her neared, closer and closer until-
"Shihon!"
"Wha….huh?"
She flinched, and raised her head, staring into Liohime's face as she sat on the bed.
"Yes, Master?"
"You got tears running down your cheeks."
"What the…o-oh."
Sitting on the large queen-sized bed back at home, Shihon wiped under her eyelids, and tried to force herself to smile.
Liohime continued to pace around the bedroom with a troubled expression, and for good reason.
"Are you sure that's everything that happened while you were away from me, Shihon?"
"W-Well-"
"And don't lie to me. I can tell when you're lying."
"That's everything, I promise! Wait…you can tell?"
She did a double take and tilted her head, before Liohime sighed and turned to face her once again.
"It happened back at the fair a couple hours ago, when you said that you wanted to go to the bathroom. It took a while for me to notice until then, but your nose twitches when you lie."
"Ehhhhh???"
She pinched her nose softly and averted her eyes while he continued, "I didn't call you out cause I thought that you were just overwhelmed with everything that happened during the Laser Tag game, so I accepted what you said and left you alone for a while…only for me to receive a mental link from you."
She pulled in her bottom lip and winced.
"I'm…sorry…"
"Haaah, the damage is done already, so quit apologizing. Still, we're in a big rut now."
--Hours before, Liohime had found Shihon in Margaret's car due to the location from the mental link between them appearing in his mind.
He had found Shihon battered, but barely moving as her hands released from the limp neck of the man below her, and he froze before quickly taking her away from the scene and immediately returning home.
He had demanded answers, and she gave them to him in the same exact expressionless state that she was when he found her.
This is bad, he thought. This is really fucking bad.
"Okay, so just to do a recap," he now said, "A member of the Magical Beast Cornerstone Corporation found out about your Magical Beast Girl status due to you taking a bullet for a woman named Margaret and surviving…"
"Mhm."
"...Which is weird because I have no clue why they know about your durability when you have never been hatched in that place. Anyway, you mentioned that Margaret saw you entering the fair and you also saw her. We have no clue if it was an accidental meetup and the man with her simply stayed back in the car for an unknown reason, or if she was forced to spy on you and lure you to her car."
"Mhm."
"Also, the man with her in the car mentioned that investigations were underway to find the thief and owner of you, and you said that the way he spoke made it seem like he did not have a hunch on who it was."
"That's all correct, replied Shihon, "But you don't have to worry about that guy anymore, Master. He has been taken care of and the call to the Head Representative of the branch had been cut before he could finish his sentence-"
"I'm not optimistic about the theory that there are no more problems here, Shihon," Liohime interjected with a grumble. "You said that he tried to cry for help but it was cut right after he started, right? That's already pretty bad. Also, the state that you left him makes it worse. I don't know just how fucked up his neck is, but you most likely killed him."
Shihon shook her head in disbelief, not at the man's plausible death, but at Liohime's worry.
"T-There was nothing that I could have fucking done about that, though. I'm not one hundred percent sure about that random's status, but if he had lived unscathed, there was a huge chance that we could have targets at our back while the news gets out, and your life could be at risk! I do not wanna take a chance where you could get hurt badly because of my existence, Master!"
"Okay, fair! But still, if this guy that you hurt is dead and the Representative finds out about his missing body that is still in that woman's car, things can turn out to be even worse for us, clearly because he heard a split second cry for help!"
Shihon groaned and averted her trembling eyes, while Liohime rubbed his head and turned away from her, trying to calm himself down and lower his voice.
"Look, Shihon," the latter continued, "I know that you wanted to enjoy the outdoor life with me and spend lots of time together. I too began to have a chance of a normal life with you, and I started to enjoy it so much…"
Shihon held her breath, expecting him to say something that could sadden her, and sure enough, it came.
"...But we might need to slowly close that lid and keep your existence under wraps, like I originally wanted to do since the beginning."
"-urk."
"It's for your own good, Shihon. Like you said, I don't want a target on our backs either. But if we keep on exposing yourself to the outside world, it's like slowly stretching your finger closer and closer to a fire and expecting not to get burned."
She lowered her gaze and bit her lip in frustration.
Fuck….why did this have to happen?
She messed up, big time.
She had gone out of her way to expose herself by leaving the house for groceries in order to take care of her sick Master, and even though it was a kind act that Liohime appreciated and did not scold her for, she had gotten caught between a rock and a hard place as she attempted to save Margaret in the alleyway, which led to this, and it could lead to a worse outcome.
All I wanted to do….was to care for him, like he does for me…
"...I just….wanted you to rely on me."