The situation is getting worse .

Meanwhile Yato, Lina, and Saya were dealing with Rouga's evolution, Karen was shutting herself alone inside her room, making a perplexed face .

"What should I do..."

While sitting on the top of her desk, she contemplated what she should do next . She was deeply troubled by Yato's case on whether he really likes men or not . She swiftly ran back home the moment she witnessed him with that middle aged man, but there was not any way that she could forget about what she had seen in that short period of time . She felt as if she got retaliated for teasing Saya about this matter recently .

"What should I do..."

As she was unable to come up with a conclusion, she repeated the same phase again and again . She was taking her stance while sitting on top of the desk since the time she entered her room . Yato's preference is Yato's preference . None of my preference . It's wrong to scold him for something that doesn't have anything to do with her . Those were the thought that overtook her mind the more she pondered about it .

There are three options left for Karen to take . The first one is to accept Yato the way he is . The second is to act as if she didn't see him today, and the third is to persuade him to change his mind and become straight .

Honestly, she was still doubting the fact that Yato is really into old men . She did see them kissing each other, though, she still gambled on the possibility that it may not be the case . Instead, she wanted to gamble on that possibility . Else, she doesn't have the confidence that she could keep up with all of this .

"What should I do..."

She repeated the same phase again, this time with a heavy sigh along it . A complex feeling took over her mind and she was about to give up thinking about it before suddenly, she heard the door opening up along with the voice of someone yawning and climbing the stairs .

He is back .

The moment she heard that sound, she came up with the fourth option . That is to ask him directly . If she asked him straightforwardly, everything will be cleared away . Karen stood up, opened the door of her room and saw Yato walking corridor with a sleepy face .

"..."

"..."

As Yato noticed that Karen was staring at him silently, he stopped walking and stared back at her while looking confused . Karen was glaring at him with unusual eyes . A few seconds elapsed as they both stared at each other . She promptly left her room, but once she faced him personally, she lost for the words to speak to him and stiffened in her place .

She couldn't decide whether she should ask him straightforwardly or phrase her question in an indirect way . She also feared the situation where he will answer her with, 'yes, I'm into guys . ' Karen couldn't properly speak as the various thoughts in her mind took complete control over her .

"W-What is it?"

Yato was the first one to break the silence . Karen's eyes started to dart around .

"Nothing..."

She retreated before realizing it . It was too much for her to ask him something like that, after all . She missed the best chance to find out the ultimate truth . Karen dropped down her sight as she felt disappointed by herself . As he noticed that she was obviously acting suspiciously, Yato looked at her with bewildered expression before he suddenly remembered something and changed the topic .

"Come to my room . "

"Why?"

"Just come . "

Karen didn't have a clue about the reason he invited her to his room, but she felt that it's a great opportunity to ask him again .

I still have a chance .

She resolved herself and prepared to ask him this time for sure .

―――――――――――――――――――

What was waiting for Karen inside Yato's room was a therapy that utterly destroyed the resolve she had only a few seconds before .

"Look how huge she became . "

"Total bliss..."

She forgot about all her problems as she embraced Rouga in her evolved form . Yato watched her with a satisfied face .

"I knew you'd react like this . "

His plan on making her happy by witnessing Rouga's new form was a great success for him and a great failure for her . She lost against Rouga's fluffy fur and completely forgot to ask him the question that was troubling her .

"I want to stay like this forever..."

"That's too absurd . "

Yato immediately replied to Karen's relaxed wish .

Whatever...

Karen casted away her plans of asking him and focused on burying her face inside Rouga's fur . Later that day, she didn't ask him anything .

Let's forget about everything in this world and enjoy this fluffy sensation .

―――――――――――――――――――

Surely, there was no way she could forget about everything in the world and the next day, she spent her time at school regretting her naivety .

I didn't ask him...

With a depressed spirit, Karen placed her face on the desk and thought about what happened to her yesterday . She couldn't believe that she missed the second chance to ask Yato because of the trap that was set for her in his room . She considered asking him today, but she already ran out of courage to do so . What made it more difficult for her to ask was the fact that Yato was acting just as usual to the point that she doubted the scene she witnessed back in that narrow alley .

"Kamiya-san, are you okay?"

"You don't look alright . "

The trio who used to cling to her too much asked her from behind, though she only responded with a heavy sigh . Since the day that dragon got defeated by Yato, they always clinged to her and asked about her brother . They also talked with her about different topics, but regardless of their aim, they were still nothing but a hindrance for Karen . She often replied to them randomly so they can go away, but this time, she didn't have the composure to talk to anyone . She kept thinking about what she should do next until she came up with an idea .

It's impossible for her to ask him on her own at this point . Thus, she decided to stop thinking about it alone and went to ask someone else's advice .

"By the way, Kamiya-san . How is your brother doing?"

"Is possible to meet him sometime?"

"No, stop . "

She briefly refused them without even turning to them and decided on the person she will ask for advice . There are only 2 possible people she could freely talk with . As she chose the right people she would be asking next, Karen waited for the school to end .

―――――――――――――――――――

"— And that's how it is . "

"Something like that happened . "

After school, Karen invited Saya and Lina to her room and talked to them about what she witnessed in that narrow alley . Lina listened to her story until the end with half-convinced expressions .

"Are you sure you're not misunderstanding the situation?"

"I saw them acting like that 3 times successively . "

Although, she wished that it would just be her misunderstanding . Karen shook her head in response to Lina's doubt .

"Did you notice anything different in him? I don't think he had been like that since so long . "

Maybe if she finds a clue, she could fix Yato's mind . With that faint hope, Karen asked Lina if she noticed anything different . Since it might really just be her misunderstanding, Lina's answer was obvious .

"I didn't notice anything... What about you, Saya?"

Lina shifted the question towards Saya and waited for her reply .

"S-Saya?"

For some reason, Saya's face was pale .

"W-What's wrong, Saya?"

"What should I do... I didn't notice anything . "

Apparently, Saya believed in Karen's misunderstanding without the least doubt . Lina was shocked to find out that Saya took Karen's story so seriously and kept staring at her with a stunned face .

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"Calm down, Saya . It could be just Karen misunderstanding the situation . "

"Y-Yeah, that's right . It could be just a misunderstanding!"

"But they were hugging . "

"Just a misunde... rstan...ding..."

Right when Saya was going to take back her cool, Karen stabbed her with a merciless truth .

Did she really have to say it in this while shuttering...?

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"They must have their own circumstances for hugging, you know . "

"They were both smiling when they hugged and I saw them even kissing . "

Lina's desperate attempts to cheer up Saya went in vain due to Karen's merciless remarks . Saya who heard what she said started acting like a robot when she imagined them kissing and fell into an absent minded state .

"Karen, let me ask you this . Do you really want to resolve this problem?"

"Sorry, I couldn't resist teasing her . "

Her habit of teasing Saya didn't disappear even in this situation . Karen averted her eyes and apologized . The next instant, Saya stood up all of a sudden and objected by yelling, 'but hey!' She may have developed a resistance against Karen's teasing from the countless times she got used by her .

"You didn't hear their conversation, right? Maybe you wouldn't have misunderstood them if you heard them speaking . "

Saya pointed at a reasonable part . Maybe things could have turned out different if Karen heard their conversation .

"I thought about the same thing too, but..."

She halted her words and took out a phone to place it on the table . Inside the screen of that phone, another person, or specifically an AI, she asked for advice, was standing .

"I actually asked Meru about it . "

"And what did she say?"

"Meru, can you please tell them?"

"Understood, Desu . "

Instead of responding to Lina and Saya, Karen asked Meru to answer them in her place .

"I didn't heard the entire conversation since I was concentrating on something else at that time, Desu, but..."

Meru cut her words as if she were hesitating to continue . Saya asked her to continue and waited for her until she opened her mouth again while averting her eyes .

"A raspy voice that's most likely that of the other man said, 'My heart is throbbing . '"

The room got frozen the moment Meru spoke .

"And then master said, 'It can't be helped . It was just a hug, wasn't it?' As... he... seemed somewhat... excited . "

Meru's voice gradually lowered down as she continued speaking, but the important part reached the ears of everyone in that room . It was painful for her to repeat the lines she heard in their conversation . Even Lina who wasn't believing in Karen turned pale . The room got overwhelmed in silence for a few seconds .

'My heart is throbbing,' 'It can't be helped . It was just a hug, wasn't it?'

Those lines were interpreted by the three of them in a dramatized way . They imagined what happened between Yato and that man before Karen saw them as their faces got paler than white . The mood inside the room became heavy and everyone there turned quiet .

"What should we do..."

The first one to break the silence was Karen . Now that they heard their conversation from Meru, none of them could dare go and ask Yato directly . Only by imagining him affirming their doubts, their heart throbbed from fear .

"No way, no way, no way! I still believe in Yato-kun! He is not the type to do something like that!!"

It's not like she doesn't believe in him, but she wanted to believe in him . Even if she screamed like that, Saya was probably the one who believed in Karen the most . She even muttered to herself something like, 'Of course not! There is no way he would be into guys!'

She tried her best to convince herself to the point that it felt painful to look at her . She was flustering more than anyone else . Karen and Lina stayed quiet while trying to come up with an idea . A short while later, Lina looked at both of them with a determined face .

"We are already late now . Nothing will come out from us finding out the reason behind him turning that way . "

Both Karen and Saya agreed with her . They had no other choice but to agree with her .

"All that we can do is secretly guide him to become a straight person . "

Although it was actually not late at all since they were just misunderstanding Yato . Karen, Saya, and Lina started making a plan to guide him . It was no longer possible for them to doubt the credibility of the situation .