Chapter 21- Second morning in another world.

Running through the peaceful morning street, Arisa stopped as she reached the gate to Riyoko's house.

As Arisa was about to call out his name, she halted as she recalled a memory.

"According to the letter Reine left in my house, she said I should just go in…"

After hesitating for a bit, she then entered the gate and walked through the small yard toward the door.

Suddenly, as she was walking through the small yard, she felt a strong and odd sense. she quickly stopped and turned around as she moved her hand in front of her.

"This feeling… I see!" she said, feeling as if something was there, "Reine must have placed a unique and hidden high-level barrier here. That's why she was so confident in just letting me in,"

She smiled with a slight sense of excitement, "it seems I have a stronger magic sense now. this is great!"

She faced back toward the door and began walking once again, "This is good… if I keep this up, I can…"

Gently opening the door, Arisa slowly walked inside, "Hello? Are you there, Riyoko?"

"Oh! Wait a sec," Riyoko answered from deep within the halls, in a room far from the door.

Not long after, Riyoko walked toward her with an outfit fit for an outing.

"Heh, look at you. All dressed up," Arisa said, sounding slightly impressed by his looks.

"Is it too much? I don't usually wear stuff like this, I just put on what Reine's note told me to wear," He said, checking his outfit closely and consciously.

"I see… As expected of Reine, she definitely knows what she's doing…" she said, sounding further impressed as observed his looks more carefully.

"I… I see…" Riyoko said softly, feeling a little embarrassed and cautious of Arisa's gaze.

Arisa looked him in the eye, noticing his discomfort, "don't worry too much, I honestly think it looks good on you," she said with a smile.

Riyoko averted his eyes and nodded as if he couldn't take much of her bright smile.

"She's so bright… I think I might actually burn from it…" Riyoko thought, emphasizing her incredibly bright aura in comparison to his dark and gloomy self.

Calming down after he let his thoughts run, he looked back at Arisa and sincerely smiled, "thanks, I don't usually wear things like this so I was a bit worried," acting mature and composed.

"Hmm… when you look at him this way, he actually looks good compared to when he's gloomy or stressed…" Arisa thought.

"She's just so nice that she gives comfort to gloomy people like me… I shouldn't let her kindness go to waste," Riyoko thought, "luckily, I can act quite well. All those acting and pretending to hide my true self from other people in the past wasn't quite a waste after all!"

"By the way," Arisa said, "you seem to have been doing something over there, what was it?"

"Oh, I was just having some snacks while I wait, I was cleaning up after myself after you arrived so it's all good,"

"Cleaning up…?" Arisa thought, "from the looks of it, it seems that he showered recently and that he had to put on that kind of clothes… plus, he was eating, and when I arrived he was already cleaning up…"

"Say… how long have you been waiting?" Arisa asked with curiosity as if something was up.

"About thirty minutes or so, maybe just a little after that… it's not much really," Riyoko said in a considerate tone.

"Thirty minutes!?" Arisa thought, "wait… the moment I arrived here I read Reine's note and went straight to this place… I didn't need to change or shower since I prepared my body right before I left last time," Arisa thought, "with all of that in mind, it should have been less than fifteen minutes when I left my apartment… Was my sense of time off? Or is it…"

"What's wrong?" Riyoko asked, noticing Arisa stare at one place for an odd amount of time.

"Oh… nothing, something just came to mind, sorry about that," she smiled then turned around, "come on, I'll take you to where we need to be,"

Riyoko nodded, as a feeling of excitement began to build up inside him.

Walking through the small yard, Riyoko suddenly stopped and turned around, as if he noticed something.

Noticing, his odd movement, Arisa locked her eyes on him.

"If I'm right… he just went past the high-level hidden barrier…" She thought, "could he have…"

Riyoko raised his hand in front of him as if he was trying to feel something.

"Riyoko…?" Arisa asked with a curious tone and look.

"Oh! Sorry!" Riyoko quickly turned back to face Arisa, feeling a bit embarrassed, "I thought I noticed something. I don't even know what it is I thought I noticed, my imagination must have been playing at me," he laughed awkwardly, trying to play things cool despite feeling embarrassed.

Arisa continued to look at him silently with curiosity.

Riyoko lowered his head in embarrassment as he began walking forward, "T… though I think I'm fine… it was just probably my imagination due to all this excitement I'm feeling…"

Passing by Arisa, Riyoko stopped as he noticed Arisa not moving while she continued to look at him.

"Arisa…?" He asked in a concerned tone.

"Ah! Sorry, my mind was just thinking of something again… hehe, I'll stop that now, don't worry,"

"I… I see,"

Riyoko turned back around, avoiding eye contact with Arisa, "I hope she wasn't just creeped out by me…" he thought.

"There's no way… right? It was… just a coincidence," Arisa thought.

And so, they began walking together.

Walking closer to Riyoko, something suddenly struck hard within Arisa's mind.

"Riyoko…" she said, sounding serious.

"Yeah?" Riyoko said, still feeling somewhat embarrassed.

"Let's take a small detour, there's still time before the place we have to go opens, so accompany me for a bit,"

Feeling curious, Riyoko nodded and agreed without question.

As they walk away while being led by Arisa, Reine smiled as she watched them unnoticed from a tall building nearby.

"hmmm…" Reine interjected, with an expression and tone filled with interest as she focuses her eyes on Riyoko.

"oh, cousin…"

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Later, inside Arisa's home.

Riyoko sat still, stiff as a rock, on the couch in Arisa's living room. hearing the very faint sound of water splashing on the ground from a distance due to the complete silence, Riyoko slightly tilted his head toward the doorway leading to a small hallway in the deeper part of the house.

"Arisa told me to just wait for her here then left without saying anything else…" hearing the faint sounds of water splatter, Riyoko's imagination began to run wild, "I… Is she… taking a shower right now…? Why!?" He thought, trying to make sense of things as he began to imagine Arisa in the bath.

Riyoko suddenly slapped himself on the cheek, "w… what are you thinking? you stupid virgin! Control yourself!"

He let out a sigh as he slouched on the couch, feeling mental fatigue, "did she perhaps not shower today? If that's so then her spacing out earlier kind of makes sense. She was probably conscious about it or something… I had a similar situation in the past…"

He looked pale and disturbed as he recalled an unwanted memory of attending an event while forgetting to brush his teeth after eating chili.

"I was so conscious about it back then too…" he said, sounding depressed and in pain as he covers his head in regret.

"But if I think about it… I didn't even notice or smell anything when we met. In fact, it seemed like she just showered way earlier than I did…"

Meanwhile, Inside the bathroom at the far end of the hallway.

Arisa was drying herself, brushing her towel over her smooth and clear skin, wiping off the remaining water as she fixed another towel on her hair, waiting for it to dry.

Moving to another side of the bathroom, she looked in the mirror and looked at herself more carefully.

"Good… I look fresher now,"

Arisa then grabbed a bottle of perfume then lightly sprayed her clothes which were placed on a basket.

After a couple more preparations, she once again looked in the mirror, wearing her more stylish clothes.

"Great… now I look better and fresher…" she thought, "a lot more than him!"

She walked out of the bathroom with confidence, protecting her pride as a woman, not wanting to be outdone by a man.

"When we were walking together, I noticed he smelled nice and that he was well prepared to go outside today… when I compared myself to him, I suddenly felt really bad… I can't get myself get outdone by a man in such a thing… I'm a girl after all!" she thought, touching her hair.

"Hm? maybe I should blow dry this for now… ah, I left the blow dryer in the living room…"

"Though… inviting a man to your home while you take a bath all of the sudden…" she suddenly stopped in the realization of what she had done, feeling a bit embarrassed, "it's… not a very ladylike thing to do… unless…"

As her face started to be redder, she quickly shook it off, "stop! stop! I was being too comfortable with him!"

She held her head, feeling embarrassed, "ugh! What a blunder… it's because he's so much like…"

Recalling a sudden memory, she suddenly expressed a melancholic look.

"I see… it's because of that… huh…?"

She once again shook her head and began to look straight with a normal look, "stop thinking about it! Everything is getting better now…"

Entering the living room, she smiled and waved, "hey sorry I took so long, mind if… I…?"

Arisa was stunned, seeing Riyoko shivering with fear on the sofa ass Reine stood closely in front of him, emitting an ominous mood.

"Oh… Arisa… looking and smelling fresh I see…" Reine said.

Arisa shivered, hearing her suspicious tone as Reine gazed at her with a blank expression and dead-like eyes.