Onodera Haru’s Rejection Before Confession

"Hm?"

Sensing the delicate and gentle hand slowly creeping towards his groin, his eyebrow raised slightly. Eiji grabbed the girl's hand before she could truly touch it.

"What are you trying to do, Haru?"

"Ah, I-I just wanted to rub the front part..."

With a flushed face, Haru felt incredibly embarrassed, her voice barely above a whisper.

She had summoned all her courage to do this.

"No need. I can handle it myself. You may leave."

"..."

Haru felt disappointed, not only did Eiji reject her advances, but he also dismissed her.

Perhaps it was the hot temperature of the bathroom, or the complicated atmosphere, she couldn't think clearly right now.

She was doing things she wouldn't normally do on a regular day.

Discarding the towel covering her body, Haru hugged Eiji from behind tightly.

"...!!!"

Feeling two round and elastic objects pressing against his back, Eiji's heart fluttered slightly. His body responded more honestly than his mind, a prominent bulge visible beneath his towel.

After being stunned for a moment, he regained his senses.

"Stop, Haru. A girl shouldn't engage in indecent acts with a man before marriage."

"That mindset is outdated, is Kamiki-kun from ancient times?"

Haru responded inadvertently. Then, she realized this wasn't what she wanted to talk about.

"Does Kamiki-kun hate me?"

"Why would you think that?"

"It's because Kamiki-kun rejected me washing the front part of your body... You know, no normal guy would reject a girl offering to do naughty things, unless the guy is gay or hates the girl."

"I'm not gay."

"I know."

Of course, Haru didn't consider Eiji gay.

She discreetly glanced at the large and robust bulge in front of her, feeling proud. It indicated that the man she liked was interested in her still developing body.

"Could it be... Kamiki-kun prefers Onee-chan over me?"

Biting her lower lip, Haru felt her heart pounding. She was afraid to hear his answer, but she knew there was no turning back.

"Let me tell you one of my secrets."

Thinking about the answer he would give her, Eiji decided to be honest.

Even someone with low emotional intelligence and minimal feelings like himself could see that Onodera Haru liked him as the opposite sex.

"To be honest... I suffer from alexithymia syndrome."

"Alexithymia? What's that?"

This was the first time Haru had heard of the syndrome.

"Alexithymia is a condition that makes it difficult for people to identify and express their emotions. People with alexithymia are often described as 'robots' or 'emotionless' because they may appear to lack empathy or emotions. Well, Haru, have you ever seen me smile or show any other facial expressions?"

"..."

This explanation made Haru remember the moments she saw and interacted with Eiji every time he bought candy at her family's sweet shop.

"Do you understand? For me, love or anything like it is too far from my life. So, I can't respond to your feelings. I'm sorry, find another guy. I'm sure you'll find a good guy out there." Eiji said calmly as usual.

"..."

What else can Haru do? She has been firmly rejected, she can't force him to accept her feelings, right

Without saying a word, she left the bathroom.

With his extraordinary Six Eyes vision, Eiji clearly saw the tears in the corner of the girl's eyes.

"This is for the best. I can't reciprocate her feelings, so it's better not to start a relationship from the beginning."

Although falling in love was one of his wishes in the Bucket List book, he wouldn't randomly make a woman his girlfriend.

What Eiji wanted was to meet a girl who could make him fall in love, not the other way around.

"Huff... Taking a long shower makes my mind think of useless things."

Finishing his shower quickly, Eiji returned to his room and slept.

...

The next day.

The Prime Minister once again came to the villa and thanked Eiji for stopping Saori.

There was also a foreign man who joined, the United States Ambassador to Japan.

The man's name was Jackson Williams.

Jackson invited Eiji to America, promising him the best accommodation during his stay in America.

Of course, Eiji declined the offer. He would return to his original world today; he wasn't interested in visiting America.

To avoid trouble, he deliberately kept his return a secret from them. Only Haru knew about this.

After chatting for a long time, the Japanese Prime Minister and Jackson left.

Jackson didn't give up so easily. He intended to establish a relationship with Eiji and persuade him to go to America. Unfortunately, he didn't know the other party would leave soon. If not, he would report it to his superiors, and American officials would conduct a military operation to bring Eiji.

"Dealing with politicians is so tiring... I'd rather exterminate Special Grade Cursed Spirits than talk to them."

Drinking coffee made by Kosaki, Eiji disliked the previous interactions.

In his eyes, whether it was the Japanese Prime Minister who wanted to keep him in Japan or the American Ambassador trying to impress him with life in America, each had hidden motives behind their friendly smiles.

It wasn't hard to guess their motives. The Prime Minister didn't want Eiji to leave because he was considered a nuclear humanoid who would deter other countries from attacking Japan. Meanwhile, America wanted to know the secret behind his power and wanted to see if it was possible to mass-produce people with superpowers.

"No matter which world, America's ambition to dominate the world remains unchanged, huh..."

"Kamiki-kun, can we talk?"

"Hm? Oh, sure."

As Eiji was thinking about many things, he didn't notice the three Onodera Family women sitting across from him. Even Haru was there, though she avoided eye contact with him.

"I've heard from Haru. You're going back to your original world today, right?"

"Yes."

Glancing at Haru who lowered her head, Eiji confirmed.

"Why is Nanako-san asking this?"

"Can you take us with you?"

"Why? Let me remind you, my original world may look peaceful on the surface, but every year, over 10,000 people disappear mysteriously. More precisely, people vanish due to inadvertently getting involved in Cursed Spirit incidents. So, this world is actually much safer than my original world. Now, Watanabe Saori incident was a particular occurrence and shouldn't happen again."

Eiji wasn't surprised by her request. On the contrary, he had guessed since Nanako started asking.

He also mentioned the dangers in his original world. By doing that, he hoped to change their minds.

Anyway, he wasn't lying. The Jujutsu world wasn't a friendly place for ordinary people.

The lives of ordinary people were cheap and could be lost at any time just because of Cursed Spirits or criminal Jujutsu Sorcerers.