Chapter 166

It was still early in the morning . As my fading consciousness came back by the sounds of my alarm, I placed my hand on the alarm to snooze while still being wrapped in my cushion . Meanwhile, I was still thinking that I still had some free time to stay wrapped in my cushion for a little longer, but I decided to slowly open my eyes to check the time on the clock .

I don't want to get up...

While still being in a half-asleep state, I decided to stay inside my cushion for a little longer and closed my eyes, when suddenly an external force forcibly woke me up .

"Wake up . "

As I opened my eyes again, I noticed a hand that was shaking me as if it were trying to wake me up . I titled my head, only to find that Karen was trying to take me up .

"... What are you doing?!"

As I was unable to process the sequence of events because of still numb brain, all I could do was to ask her to explain what she was doing .

"It's fine if I wake you up every now and then . "

"Uh, that's not and don't dodge my question..."

I'm sure that I asked her to explain the reason to why she was trying to wake me up . Yet, she is now staring at my sleepy face while still bending on her knees . I should still be safe for the time being, rather, I find her behavior more of a mystery than anything else .

Having Karen trying to wake me up is an event that happens once in a century . I'm a person who usually wakes up normally in the mornings in the first place, so it is impossible for someone to come to take me up in case I'm late . Therefore, I can't think of a reason for her to kneel next to my bed, while staring at my face . As my mind was gradually retrieving its consciousness, my confused increased and I ended up staring right back at her, without uttering a single word .

"..."

"..."

Both of us were lost for words, and kept on staring at each other for a few more seconds .

What the actual...

I could feel that the two of us stiffened in our positions as if time had stopped for us . I wonder why I have to go through this – the first thing in the morning . Even Karen who came to me first was revealing an awkward expression implying that she didn't think of what to do next, after acting out of her character and trying to wake me up .

"... Do you, perhaps, need something?"

For the time being, let's ask her if she has any business with me . I waited for her answer in this subtle ambiance until she opened her mouth to speak and replied my question to a further confusing question .

"... How are you feeling?"

"Huh?"

"Did your heart skip a beat?"

It looks like she has no intentions to answer my question, but it's fine, I concluded that it would be better to go with her flow .

"Well, I'm actually feeling quite awkward right now even if you ask me . "

"I see..."

Karen showed a disappointed face to my honest answer before she immediately stood up and left the room .

"Hurry up and come down . "

I followed Karen with my eyes while attempting to solve this mystery that just became more confusing as I was trying to solve it . I mean, this is not an erotic manga where the younger sister wakes up her brother with a kiss . I wonder what happened to her . It was thanks to the various mental impacts that I received this morning, that I was completely woken up .

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Strange . Something is definitely strange here...

I started thinking back of the morning event again in the middle of class . This time it wasn't because of only Karen, but even Say and Lina . Both of them were acting strange today as well .

When I entered the classroom, the first person to speak to me was Saya . She was asking me, if I did my homework or if I wanted to copy her homework . I think there is no need to mention that she isn't used to suggesting me to copy her homework . As for Lina, she was pretty straightforward .

"Hey, this book is interesting . Give it a read . "

Somehow, I feel that both of them are trying to be nice to me . Or to put it bluntly, they were awfully assertive today; trying to initiate conversations with me as much as possible . As far as I know, today isn't a special day and nothing happened to me for them to act that way . The mystery is getting more complicated as the time goes by .

"Kamiya Yato . "

This time, Lina called me with a low voice tone in the middle of the lesson .

"What?"

"You can sleep if you want to, you know . "

Did this angel hit her head or something?

I narrowed my eyes and directed them at Lina who just uttered something ridiculous .

"Maybe you should go to the infirmary instead?"

"... But, I'm not sick or anything . "

When I advised her to go to the infirmary out of concern, she replied with a serious face, which was also strange . Lina would never speak about such a topic with a serious face . I'd rather believe in the end of the world than to believe in the sanity of Lina who switched from scolding me for sleeping in class to suggesting the opposite all of a sudden . I got more worried about her health and kept insisting on her to go to the infirmary or to leave the school early, but she continued to refuse to state that she was alright, while still showing a gentle smile on her face .

This is getting really scary...

I spent the rest of the day getting bewildered by their strange behaviors and couldn't get any rest .

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It was now the lunch break after the morning classes ended, yet Lina and Saya's strange behavior continued to trouble me .

"Um, Yato-kun . "

"Yes..."

"Do you want me to feed you lunch?"

"No, thank you . "

Yato was wishing that they would return to normal selves at least in the lunch break . He shook his head right and left with a tired expression to Saya's strange question that made her seem like a different person altogether . She changed to the point that he unintentionally found himself speaking to her in a formal manner .

"Kamiya Yato, do you need anything you want me to buy for you?"

"No, thank you! Just please, stay how you were!"

He felt a cold chill from Lina's broad smile who was sitting on the other side, and swiftly refused in a formal manner again . This kind of attitude was scary . He didn't have the courage to look at either of them, as they were staring straight at him from both the sides, and he kept his face down, looking at his lunch with an awkward expression on his face .

"Uum, did I, perhaps, do something to you?"

"Eh? Why are you asking?"

"Both of you are acting kind of strange today . Aren't you two being way too nice to me...?"

"But Isn't it fine to be nice to you?"

Yato expressed his thoughts while still facing the ground as Saya and Lina feigned ignorance .

"That's not my point... Lina, you're being particularly scary today . Are you really okay in the head? Maybe you have a fever . "

Yato was actually suspecting that Lina was sick . It was the only justification he could come up with . However, despite pointing out that matter, Lina did her best to keep her smiling face as her lips were twitching .

"I'm doing great as usual . It's not very polite to keep pointing at people with your finger by the way . "

While still keeping the same smile on her face, she gripped Yato's finger that was pointing at her direction and tried to push it down .

Ah, I felt a terrible pressure on my finger...

The strength she put on her hand to push down Yato's finger didn't match up with her kind smile . It became clear that she was just acting and was not actually sick . Yato felt a little secured when he noticed the fail in her acting .

So, she's just acting . I'm actually feeling glad now .

Now that he realized that they were acting that way on purpose, he moved back his sight to his finger that was still feeling pressure from Lina's hand .

"This kind of hurts..."

"It's just your imagination . "

When he commented about it with a displeased voice, Lina immediately let off from his finger and turned her face to the other side . Yato was still unable to grasp what she wanted to do by switching from her kind acting to her awkward character repeatedly . He rubbed his finger slightly and got driven by thoughts when he suddenly heard a voice coming from the opposite side .

"Is it that strange?"

"Yes, that's the only way I can describe your attitude today . "

Yato answered Saya without hesitation .

"Why are you doing this in the first place?"

Since Lina avoided to answer him, he asked Saya the same thing .

"Eh? W-What do you mean? We're acting normally, aren't we?"

Apparently, even Saya wasn't intending to give up on her acting as she averted her eyes . Her tenaciousness on feigning ignorance was impressing . Despite knowing that her attitude was obvious, she had no intention of answering him honestly . One side seemed displeased while the other was clearly suspicious . In addition, both sides were avoiding to look at the third party that was sitting between them . It was a mysterious composition that nobody would understand even if they see it .

What am I supposed to do now... ?

While sitting between them, Yato placed his elbows on his knees and continued his attempt to think of a justification for this situation . A few moments later, his phone started ringing . He took out his phone and looked at the screen to read the old man's message name on it .

"Thanks for yesterday . I just wanted to report to you that the I took the thief to the office . Let's go to some restaurant next time again!!"

Too late . Isn't he supposed to send this message in the night of that day of the incident? Rather, he sounds rather excited...

Yato gazed at the message on the screen with an awkward expression on his face . Something good must have happened to him to send me such message . Perhaps he was praised by some young women or perhaps he punched his boss in his face . Anyway, the old man sounded as if he were in a really good mood . Yato kept gazing at the screen of his phone while imagining the old man's face as he was typing the message . Lina and Saya who were sitting on his sides took a quick glance at the screen, and then looked at each other with a blank expression on their faces .

This mail is from that detective, right? → Saya

I don't know, let's ask him . → Lina

Both of them started a conversation with their hand gestures . They were a bit unskillful at communicating but somehow managed to understand each other, partially .

Try asking him .

Eh, why me?

Lina pointed at Yato's phone and Saya repeatedly as she asked her to ask him about it . Saya who understood Lina's gesture pointed at herself and got a reply of Lina shaking her head vertically . There was no possible way Saya would do something as daring as that, of course .

No, I can't do that! You ask him!

Saya refused by shaking her head left and right and started pointing at Lina and Yato's phone . Lina distorted her expression as if she wanted to say, 'huh, me?' While Saya firmly nodded at her, affirming her doubt . If one of them were able to ask him so easily they wouldn't be wasting their time communicating with each other with gestures . Incidentally, both of them didn't notice that they looked so irritated while concentrating on their strange gestures . Yato sensed something off from Saya's expression and lifted his head .

"What is it, Saya?"

"Eh? Ah, Nothing! I was just wondering who sent you that mail... I mean! You know, you don't know many people who send you messages . "

While unable to control her flustered attitude from being noticed by Yato, Saya ended up asking him in the heat of the moment .

"That's quite harsh of you..."

Yato replied with a slightly dissatisfied attitude before he shifted his sight to the phone screen .

"It's a mail from a detective acquaintance . Something happened recently so he reported to me about the situation . "

Listening to Yato's nonchalant response, Saya replied with a monotonic voice tone . The mail was from that detective, after all . This could be their chance . It won't sound unnatural if they asked him one more question about this topic . Therefore, Saya gathered up some courage and asked him in a very natural manner .

"A-Are you in good terms with that detective?"

"Not at all . "

Yato gave an immediate answer to Saya's nervous question . The two girls felt a little relieved by that reaction .

"The other day when I retrieved back his stolen wallet, he hugged me from the overexcitement . "

"What?!"

"What?!"

That feeling of relief didn't last so long before it crumbled down . Lina and Saya overreacted to what Yato said . Anyone would usually show a minor reaction to that statement, but both of them were particularly sensitive to words like 'hug . ' Yato was taken aback by their unexpected reply .

"Huh, aren't you supposed to laugh at this part?"

"OF COURSE NOT!!! Not at all!! Why should I laugh?"

"I find nothing funny in what you just said!"

Lina and Saya got more heated up when Yato looked confused . He thought that the way, he phrased it, was wrong and decided to correct himself .

"Wait . Let's see . Maybe I shouldn't have said it like that . I mean even if he hugged me, you should bear in mind that he was under pressure . His wallet had all the money he needed for this month, so you can't blame him if he gets overjoyed and jumped at me when he got it back . "

"That's not an excuse for you to forgive him!"

"Since when did you become such a good person!"

Um, do they have to deny it like that really?

Yato was getting more and more bewildered when his excuse proved to only add fuel to the fire . On the other hand, Saya and Lina finally understood what happened and lost interest . That detective wouldn't have hugged him if they weren't in good terms .

Just how dense could this guy be?

Yato doesn't consider himself to be very close with that detective . Thus, the conclusion that Saya and Karen came up with was narrowed to one . That is, only the detective person is into Yato .

Why didn't he realize it already...?

He should have noticed it by now...

The girl who has a phobia of men and the angel who never talked with a man in her long training were speaking as if they understood what it means to love someone . Both of them let out a heavy sigh . Meanwhile, Yato gave up on trying to figure out their strange behavior that was shifting the entire day .

"What are you getting mad at me for—"

"Listen here Yato!!"

"Uhh, yes!"

Getting interrupted by Saya's intimidating shout, Yato closed his mouth and listened to her . She looked pretty scary at that moment .

"You are too defenseless in the first place! You never know what may happen to you if you keep taking everything casually like that!"

"Uh, what are you talking about?!"

"I'm telling you to be more wary of your surroundings!"

"That's not the answer I was expecting . "

After getting scolded for something he didn't know, Yato had no other choice but to wait for Saya to finish her unreasonable speech . It was Saya and Lina's misunderstanding to begin with and now it's getting a lot worse to the point that fixing it is no longer possible .

"Chief!"

At that moment, Yato heard Rouga's voice calling for him .

"What is it?"

"There is something that's been on my mind for a while now, can I come to you?"

Another unusual strange behavior came from Rouga this time . Yato couldn't hide his bewilderment anymore . Rouga would never ask for permission to come to Yato's side . Something must have happened to her . Ignoring the complaints that came from both sides, Yato focused on Rouga's voice in his head and looked at his surroundings to check if anyone were around before summoning her .

"Chief!"

The moment he summoned her before his eyes, Rouga jumped at him . He was honestly happy with her summoning . Patting her fur helps him calm down .

"Rouga?"

"Why is she here?"

"She told me that she had something on her mind and wanted to come here . "

Yato answered Lina and Saya, who moved their sight from him to Rouga who was getting her fur brushed, and it was thanks to that, she stopped complaining to me .

"So, what happened?"

After satisfying her fur for quite a while, Yato finally asked Rouga who was strangely in a good mood .

"Chief, do you like that uncle?!"

The next moment, Yato's mind stopped functioning for a few seconds . Her question was too straightforward . Yato stiffened in his place as if he were turned into a rock .

... Come again?!?!

"What... did you say?"

"I asked you if you love that uncle . "

Yato believed that he might have heard her wrong so he asked again and got the same question back . Now that he confirmed that it was not a mistake, he went to solve the second mystery resulting from that question .

What does she mean by uncle?

He spent a split of a second searching his memories for a person in an age to be called an uncle and immediately found it .

The old man, huh .

He was lost at first since he is used to calling him old man and not uncle, obviously . But that's fine .

"Why are you asking me that now?"

"I asked you because big sis Karen told me . "

Karen? Why did her name come up at this point? Why did she say something like that to Rouga in the first place?

The first explanation he thought of was that Karen was playing some kind of prank, though soon he denied it when he recalled her behavior this morning . Now that he thought about it, she was acting weird since the day he called her to see Rouga's new form . On that day, he came back from a Chinese restaurant with the old man .

Could it be that she saw me...

Recalling up to that point in his memories, Yato abruptly closed his mouth and arranged the situation in his mind .

Arresting the pickpocket a few days ago .

The old man overreacting from the joy of getting his wallet back .

Noticing Karen's strange attitude when he returned home .

Karen waking him up this morning .

Saya and Lina's abnormal acting .

Finally, Rouga's straightforward question .

Everything that happened today could be justified with one event . That is the chance that Karen saw him with the old man that day .

"What did Karen say?"

"She said that it's already too late for you . "

Everything is evident now...

"Hmmm..."

An inorganic sound leaked from his mouth as he struggled to control the emotions gushing inside of him .

Let's ask her what is too late about me when I return...

He felt like he went through a similar situation only recently .

I guess I need to tell her again...

Lina and Saya who noticed Yato's sudden change in ambiance inquired him in a reluctant voice and got a cold glare in return .

"Y-Yato-kun . "

"W-What is it?"

I need to speak with these two as well...

While holding Rouga in his hands, Yato prepared for the moment that he would solve this series of complicated events with one line .

After that, the misunderstanding was solved like every other time .

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Bonus

"Did you reflect on what you did?"

"Yes . "

"Really?"

"... Can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"Won't feel suspicious if you see two guys hugging and almost kissing each other?"

"I... would feel suspicious actually . "