No, You’re a Walking Air Conditioner

"Actually, it's fine!"

Yuigahama stuck out her pink tongue and said, "But Shouko-chan says a lot of good things about Kuromori-kun, like how gentle and thoughtful you are..."

"Oh, and what about that?"

"Hmm~"

Yuigahama puffed out her cheeks. "Kuromori-kun can be so careless sometimes."

"Sorry."

"I'm not asking you to apologize."

Yuigahama sighed, lifting her hand to tuck her hair behind her ear, and gently said, "I always felt like Shouko-chan was a lot happier now. Before, whenever I saw her, I always worried that she'd disappear if I wasn't careful. She had to be cautious about everything, afraid that one wrong move would make someone angry..."

"But now… There's a light in Shouko's eyes."

"And it's all thanks to you, Kuromori-kun. So, thank you."

Haruto raised an eyebrow and looked at her. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"Huh?"

Yuigahama looked at him in surprise.

Haruto calmly said, "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have initially been so proactive in helping Shouko. So really, it was you who helped her the most."

"I didn't do much at all."

Haruto refused to take any credit. In truth, he hadn't done much, but there were some things only he could do, so he did them.

Even so, they were all simple things for him.

Besides, there were things he didn't even need to do.

For example, helping Shouko learn how to speak.

Anyone could have done that, but it just so happened he had the skills to help her learn faster.

If it weren't for Yuigahama and Yukino's involvement at first, Haruto wouldn't have gone to see Shouko that day, and he wouldn't have had any further contact with her.

Yet, Yuigahama didn't acknowledge her efforts, choosing instead to praise others... That wasn't right.

"Really… Is that so?"

Yuigahama covered her mouth, looking at him in shock, clearly unsure of herself.

"That's right."

Haruto stated it plainly. "So, you and Yukinoshita have done a great job, and you deserve the praise."

"Hmm~"

Yuigahama pouted and turned away. "Kuromori-kun, saying something like that all of a sudden is kind of rude..."

Just being honest—what's rude about that?

Haruto, speechless, said, "Yui, you should have more confidence, how about that?"

"I-I'm not lacking in confidence."

Yuigahama responded, her voice shaky, then fell silent.

Yukino had mentioned this to her, but she didn't expect Haruto to notice as well.

Haruto glanced at her, stood up, and said, "Yui, you look cute today too. Well, it's getting late. I need to go buy some ingredients, so I'm heading off."

"Okay, see you later, Kuromori-kun."

As Haruto left, Yuigahama bit her cherry-red lips softly, her face a little flushed—she wasn't even wearing makeup today.

The other party really put effort into calling her cute.

Was he trying to cheer her up?

Why couldn't he just say it more clearly?

Yuigahama looked at Haruto's retreating figure, only to see her dog wagging its tail next to him...

"Hey, Sable, stop running off!"

Yuigahama hurried to catch up, grabbing Sable's collar ring, and scolded angrily, "You silly thing, why do you want to follow Kuromori-kun everywhere!"

Haruto stayed quiet. Was this dog's behavior inherited from the Yuigahama family?

Yuigahama attached the leash to Sable again and said apologetically, "I usually keep Sable on a leash, but she just ran off..."

Haruto replied nonchalantly, "Yui, do you live nearby?"

"Mhm."

Yuigahama pointed not too far away. "It's over there. Kuromori-kun, would you like to come over for a bit?"

Haruto shook his head. "Let's leave it for another day, maybe next time if there's an opportunity."

"Alright then."

Yuigahama followed him out of the park and said, "Kuromori-kun, I'm going for a walk with Sable. See you tomorrow."

"Okay, see you tomorrow."

"Sable, come on, time to go!"

"Woof woof..."

"Ahhh, Sable, slow down!"

"..."

Watching Sable drag the girl away, Haruto silently prayed for Yuigahama in his heart.

Back at the apartment.

He stored the groceries in the fridge and turned to start working on something important.

*WHOOSH*

A strong gust of wind blew, and a figure fell from the sky, landing right in front of him.

"Master."

It was a short, soft-looking doll girl.

She was wearing a maid outfit and holding an absurdly large scythe. At the moment, she stood in front of Haruto, bowing respectfully, but there was no expression on her face.

Her voice was cold and emotionless.

This girl wasn't human. In fact, she wasn't even a living being.

She was a doll, created by Haruto after the "Demon Summoning" incident.

A doll without a soul.

Haruto glanced at the doll girl, then turned to look at the dark, cold edges. After a while, he asked, "How are things today?"

The Demon Summoning incident was still ongoing, even now.

In other words, people were still dying every day.

The elderly, children, teens, adults... People of all ages.

There was no pattern, and the source couldn't be found.

So it couldn't be stopped.

The doll girl existed to kill monsters and save survivors.

"Sixty-four people were trapped today, 18 died, and 46 were rescued."

Eighteen more people had died?

In total, almost a hundred people had died during this period!

Haruto remained silent for a moment, then said, "Continue. Don't let any monsters escape."

"Yes."

The doll girl turned and quickly vanished.

Under the blood moon, she stood still on the ground, her eyes dull and lifeless.

Half an hour passed.

Haruto didn't gain anything today and left the oddity behind.

The doll girl continued standing there, until, at some point, a monster appeared to take a life, and then the doll girl began to move.

She had no soul, no name, only a mission.

That mission—kill all the monsters!

❀❀❀

The next day.

At 7 a.m., after several days, Mafuyu's wake-up service resumed.

Haruto answered the call, and Mafuyu's voice came through: "Haruto-kun, don't sleep in, wake up."

"I don't remember."

"Hm?"

Mafuyu's voice immediately shifted, and in a daze, it felt like everything had frozen.

Haruto quickly said, "I'm getting up now!"

"...Insult."

Mafuyu quickly said, "I'm heading to Sobu High first. Anyway, don't fall asleep."

"Housekeeper Mafuyu-chan."

"W-what did you say!?"

"You misheard, I didn't say anything."

"...Insult!"

With Mafuyu's "insult" the morning wake-up call ended.

Haruto got up, dressed, and pulled back the curtains.

The sun was shining brightly outside, and the spring weather was just right.

At this point, nearly a month had passed since the new semester began.

"Time flies so fast."

Haruto sighed, looking at the slightly widening gap in the sky before looking away.

After making breakfast, there was a knock at the door.

Haruto opened it to find Sora rubbing her hands together, entering with a warm breath. "It's so cold today, my hands almost froze."

The temperature was indeed a bit low today, probably no more than ten degrees. Haruto could feel the chill radiating from Sora's body. "Help me warm up your hands."

"...Do you think I'm a heater?"

Sora glanced at him and stuffed her hands into her pockets. "No, you're a walking air conditioner."