The room had been quiet for nearly twenty minutes.
Outside, the neighborhood had settled into the stillness of late night. The occasional sound of a passing vehicle drifted through the closed windows, but otherwise, the house was peaceful. The bedside lamp had been switched off, leaving only the faint glow of the digital clock on the desk to illuminate the room.
Rio lay on her right side, facing the wall.
Her eyes were open.
She had been staring at the same spot for so long that she was beginning to recognize the faint patterns in the wallpaper. She had tried closing her eyes, adjusting her pillow, and even changing positions several times, but sleep remained stubbornly out of reach.
Every time she closed her eyes, the same memory returned.
Ryota standing beside the bed. The hesitation in his expression. The unusual seriousness in his voice.
I want to get to know you better.
Rio released a quiet sigh.
"...Seriously."
She rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling. She had spent the entire day dealing with dangerous monsters, troublesome guilds, and the increasingly bizarre situations that seemed to follow her wherever she went. Yet none of those things had managed to keep her awake. A single confession from Ryota had accomplished what an entire floor of terrifying monsters couldn't.
She reached toward the bedside table and picked up her phone. The screen illuminated her face, revealing the time.
12:47 AM.
Rio stared at the numbers for a moment before letting out another sigh.
"...Great."
She had promised herself that she would think about his question and give him an answer tomorrow. It had sounded simple enough when she said it earlier. She could take the night to consider her feelings, organize her thoughts, and decide what she wanted to tell him in the morning.
Unfortunately, thinking about it had only made everything more complicated.
She unlocked her phone, briefly checked her notifications, and then closed them again. There was nothing particularly interesting waiting for her. In truth, she wasn't even sure what she had intended to look at. She had simply picked it up because she needed something to distract herself.
After a moment, she turned her head.
Ryota was already asleep.
He lay on his back beneath the blanket, one arm resting loosely beside him. His breathing was slow and steady, and his expression was completely relaxed. There wasn't even the slightest indication that he had confessed his feelings to the girl sleeping beside him only a short while ago.
Rio stared at him.
Her eyebrows slowly drew together.
"...Unbelievable."
She looked back at her phone, then toward him again.
"I'm having an emotional crisis, and the person responsible is sleeping peacefully."
Ryota didn't move.
Rio narrowed her eyes.
"How can you sleep so easily?"
Nothing.
He was completely unconscious.
For a moment, she considered waking him up just to complain. She could shake his shoulder, tell him that he had no right to leave her dealing with all these troublesome feelings while he enjoyed a perfectly peaceful night's sleep, and demand that he explain himself.
Then she realized how ridiculous that would be.
He had asked her on a date, not committed some unforgivable crime. Besides, she had already promised to give him an answer in the morning. There was no reason to start another argument in the middle of the night.
Rio sighed and raised her phone again. Almost absentmindedly, she opened the front camera.
Her own face appeared on the screen.
She examined her reflection for several seconds, tilting the phone slightly to get a better look. Her silver hair was somewhat messy from lying against the pillow, and her blue eyes looked tired. Her expression was considerably less composed than the one she usually showed other people.
She studied herself from different angles before finally muttering under her breath.
"Why does he like me that much? I'm just a plain lady."
Rio lowered the phone slightly.
There was nothing particularly remarkable about her appearance, at least not in her own opinion. She had never considered herself especially attractive. She didn't spend much time worrying about her looks, and she certainly didn't think she possessed some extraordinary charm that would make someone fall for her.
If anything, she had always considered Akari prettier.
Her younger sister had a naturally charming appearance, and even when they were children, Rio had occasionally heard people compliment Akari's looks. Rio herself had never thought much about such things. If someone asked her to compare the two of them, she would probably say that Akari was the prettier one without giving it a second thought.
Rio looked at her reflection again.
"...I'm not exactly what most guys are looking for."
She wasn't particularly interested in fashion, didn't know much about makeup, and had never been the sort of woman who went out of her way to attract attention. Her daily routine had always revolved around work, responsibilities, and Evermount. Romance had rarely entered the equation.
In her previous life, she had already reached thirty years of age and was still single.
Not that she had particularly minded.
She had been far too occupied with Royal Knights and the game to devote much time to relationships. There had been people who tried to approach her, both within the guild and in her real life. She had heard the occasional gossip about someone attempting to pursue her, but those attempts rarely lasted long.
Most gave up after encountering her strict attitude. Some were intimidated by her reputation, while others simply realized that getting close to her would require more patience than they were willing to offer.
Rio had never made much effort to change that impression. She had responsibilities, goals, and Evermount. For a long time, that had been enough for her.
So why was Ryota different?
She slowly lowered her phone onto her chest and stared at the ceiling.
Before the reset, she had always dismissed his feelings as admiration. He had been a fan. An enthusiastic one, admittedly, but still a fan.
His ridiculous marriage proposal on the first day they met had been so absurd that she hadn't known whether to laugh or call someone to take him away. She had assumed he was simply overwhelmed by meeting the Silver War Goddess in person.
It had been easy to dismiss him that way.
A fan could admire someone without truly knowing them. A fan could become infatuated with an image, a reputation, or an idealized version of a person. And Ryota had barely known her back then.
But this time was different.
The reset had changed everything.
Ryota had returned alongside her. He had entered her life before Evermount even launched, and unlike the people who had only known her as a famous player, he had been there for the ordinary parts of her life.
He had seen her when she was tired, irritated, and frustrated. He had watched her make mistakes, lose her temper, and struggle to handle situations she would never have admitted were difficult. He knew the girl who complained about household expenses, argued over food, and occasionally became so absorbed in her work that she forgot to rest.
He had seen both Rio and Riona.
Not just the Silver War Goddess. Not just the Guild Master of Crowned Era.
He had seen the person beneath those identities.
And somehow, after seeing all of that, he still wanted to be with her.
Rio turned her head toward him again. Ryota remained asleep, his expression peaceful and undisturbed.
"...What do you even see in me?"
There was no answer, of course.
She sighed and returned her attention to the ceiling. It would have been much easier if he had remained the same annoying fan from their first meeting. She could have brushed off his proposal, called him an idiot, and moved on with her life.
But he wasn't simply a fan anymore.
He was the boy who had reset alongside her, the person who had become part of her daily routine, and the one who had stayed beside her when everything was uncertain.
And now he wanted something more.
Rio pressed her phone lightly against her chest.
She couldn't simply dismiss that. Not anymore.
Her thoughts gradually drifted toward the way she had viewed relationships when she was younger. If someone had approached her during her early high school days and asked her on a date, she probably would have reacted very differently. She might have called him an idiot, laughed at the suggestion, or simply refused because she had more important things to do.
At fifteen, romance hadn't been particularly important to her. She had been young, and the idea of dating someone just for the experience had never seemed especially appealing.
But the mind inside this fifteen-year-old body was not truly fifteen anymore.
She carried thirty years of memories, thirty years of experiences, and thirty years of understanding what it meant to build a life, lose it, and suddenly be given another chance.
Her perspective on relationships was different now.
She wasn't interested in dating someone simply because the idea sounded exciting. If she chose to date someone, she wanted it to mean something. She wanted to be with someone she could trust, someone she could rely on, and someone whose presence she wouldn't grow tired of after a few weeks or months.
Someone she could imagine spending the rest of her life with.
Rio blinked.
Then she slowly turned her head toward Ryota.
"...The rest of my life?"
The thought sounded surprisingly serious when she considered it.
She had never imagined herself getting married in her previous life. It wasn't that she opposed the idea. She had simply never found anyone she wanted to share that kind of future with. Her life had revolved around Evermount, and even when people approached her, she had never felt particularly compelled to accept their advances.
But now, she was being asked to consider someone who had already become part of her life in a way she hadn't expected.
Rio stared at Ryota's sleeping face.
Was he someone she could imagine spending her entire life with?
The question lingered.
She didn't immediately reject it.
That alone surprised her.
She tried to picture a future with him. Not just tomorrow's date, or the two of them walking around a restaurant and spending an afternoon together, but something much farther away.
A future where they continued living together. Where they grew older, argued over trivial things, and laughed about ridiculous memories. Where Ryota continued being troublesome, and she continued complaining about him.
A future where he was still beside her.
Rio's expression softened slightly. Then, as though embarrassed by her own thoughts, she quickly looked away.
"...No. That's too far ahead."
She pulled the blanket higher.
"I'm not deciding the rest of my life at nearly one in the morning. That's ridiculous."
She needed to think about tomorrow first.
Just tomorrow.
And yet, even as she tried to put the thought aside, another memory suddenly surfaced.
A classroom. A group introduction. Sayanaki sitting nearby with that familiar mischievous expression.
And one particularly irritating comment.
Rio Asahi.
Wouldn't it be funny if you eventually became Rio Asahi?
Rio's eyes widened.
"...Oh."
She remembered exactly how annoyed she had been.
Sayanaki had made the comment during their class introduction, teasing her about the possibility of marrying Ryota and taking his surname. At the time, Rio had dismissed it as one of Sayanaki's usual jokes. She hadn't thought much about it, and she certainly hadn't expected Ryota to ask her on an actual date shortly afterward.
Rio slowly turned her head toward the sleeping boy.
Then she narrowed her eyes.
"...You."
Ryota continued sleeping.
She looked back at the ceiling, remaining silent for several seconds before her eyebrows drew together.
"Wait."
She sat up slightly.
"Did I somehow jinx myself?"
The more she thought about it, the more irritated she became. Sayanaki had been teasing her about marrying Ryota before anything had even happened. Now Ryota had gone and asked her on a date, leaving her awake in the middle of the night questioning her entire understanding of romance.
It was almost as though Sayanaki had somehow summoned this situation into existence.
Rio scratched the side of her head in frustration.
"...I'm going to give that girl a piece of my mind."
She could already imagine Sayanaki's reaction. The crimson-haired assassin would probably grin, act completely innocent, and claim that she had merely predicted the future. Then she would make another joke, probably something even worse.
Rio pressed her lips together.
"...Annoying."
She glanced at Ryota again.
The boy responsible for her sleepless night was still resting peacefully. Rio stared at him for several seconds, but her irritation gradually faded as she remembered the way he had looked at her when he asked.
He hadn't demanded an answer. He hadn't tried to pressure her or insist that she return his feelings. He had simply told her what he wanted and allowed her to decide.
Even when she reminded him that they were only pretending to be a couple, he hadn't tried to argue. He had understood why she was hesitant, accepted that she needed time, and thanked her for being honest.
Rio lowered her head slightly.
"...You're really an idiot."
There was no real irritation in her voice anymore.
She reached toward the bedside table and placed her phone down. Then she looked at him one last time.
She still didn't know exactly what her answer would mean for them. She wasn't certain whether she was ready to begin a relationship, and she wasn't even sure she could properly explain everything she felt.
But she had finally understood something important.
She didn't want to reject him simply because she was afraid of changing what they already had. At the same time, she didn't want to accept just because she was grateful to him, or because he had become someone she couldn't imagine losing.
Neither would be fair to him.
If she gave him an answer, it needed to be honest. It needed to be hers.
Rio slowly lay back down and turned onto her right side, facing the wall again. She pulled the blanket over herself and closed her eyes, trying to put her thoughts in order.
She had made a decision.
She wouldn't tell him that she loved him. Not when she wasn't certain that she understood her own feelings well enough to say something like that.
But she wouldn't turn him down, either.
Tomorrow, she would agree to go on the date.
Not because she had already decided to become his girlfriend, and not because she wanted to reward him for confessing. She would go because she wanted to spend time with him in a different way, without hiding behind their usual jokes or pretending that the question between them didn't exist.
She wanted to know what it felt like to be with Ryota when neither of them had to pretend.
And she wanted to give herself the chance to understand why the thought of him asking someone else on that same date bothered her more than she cared to admit.
That was the answer she could give him honestly.
It wasn't a promise of love. It wasn't a commitment to a relationship.
It was a chance.
A chance for the two of them to discover what they might become.
"...Tomorrow."
She whispered the word quietly.
Behind her, Ryota shifted slightly. His breathing remained steady, and he showed no sign of waking.
Rio glanced back once.
Then she muttered under her breath, "Idiot... I can't believe you made me think this much."
She pouted at his sleeping face, but after a moment, the corners of her mouth lifted into a faint, reluctant smile.
"Well... I suppose one date won't hurt."
With that, she turned away, pulled the blanket up to her shoulder, and finally allowed herself to rest.
Tomorrow, she would tell him her answer.
She would agree to the date, but she would also make one thing clear: he shouldn't expect her to suddenly become a lovestruck girlfriend just because she had accepted.
Knowing Ryota, he would probably find a way to tease her about that, too.
Rio closed her eyes.
For the first time that night, the thought didn't make her feel quite so nervous.
Tomorrow, she would take one small step toward an answer she hadn't been able to find tonight.
And whatever happened afterward, things between them would never be quite the same again.