Shiina Mahiru looked at the Saiki who was clearly saying one thing but meaning another. [I really didn't expect Saiki-kun to be afraid of something like this. I thought he wasn't afraid of anything.]
(I already said I'm not afraid. I just don't want to touch it. I just find it gross.)
No matter the time or place, Saiki Kusuo had always hated cockroaches and bugs like that. Even before coming to this world, he had never liked these kinds of insects.
Back then, though, he had simply found them disgusting and never wanted to touch them. A long time ago, his instinct had been to stomp them to death.
But he also didn't want their liquid splattering onto himself, so when he saw a cockroach before, he wouldn't tremble.
He didn't know why, but after coming here, over time, seeing bugs started giving him this feeling.
Because no matter who it was, he could use telepathy to know their thoughts, but these bugs were an exception.
Maybe because they were too small and he couldn't sense them, the originally just-disgusting bugs turned into something that felt a little disgusting and a little scary. Even though he could use psychokinesis to touch them, Saiki didn't want to come into contact with these things.
In the past, at home, he had always left it to his mom to deal with.
Saiki bit his finger.
(Damn it, what should I do? Should I just bring Mom over? No, bringing her over for something this small would be too much trouble.)
Shiina Mahiru poked the cheek of Saiki, who was still lost in thought.
Saiki, snapping back, removed Shiina Mahiru's hand. [What is it?]
Shiina Mahiru's face turned slightly red. Looking at her own hand being held tightly by Saiki, she finally stretched out her other hand and pointed ahead: "Um, Saiki-kun, the cockroach seems to be flying over."
Saiki followed the direction and looked. Oh, the cockroach really was flying over.
[It can actually fly!!!]
Saiki finally couldn't suppress his instincts anymore. He grabbed Shiina Mahiru and teleported them both onto the sofa, watching as the cockroach kept circling there.
Shiina Mahiru was completely stunned, suddenly finding herself carried here.
(Oh no, how do I explain this? I accidentally teleported us here. Even though the distance wasn't far, it's still going to be a little weird.)
Shiina Mahiru looked at Saiki very seriously. [I didn't expect Saiki… to be so afraid of cockroaches that he'd move this fast.]
(Alright, let's just go with that!)
[Shiina-san, you should leave first. I'll handle it.]
"Handle it? How are you going to handle it?"
Saiki thought seriously. (There are a lot of ways to deal with it, but they'd all destroy this apartment. Let me think if there's another method.)
Shiina Mahiru picked up a rolled-up newspaper, walked over, swung her hand, and smacked the cockroach.
The cockroach was instantly taken out.
Then Shiina Mahiru turned back to Saiki and gave him a comforting smile.
"It's taken care of, Saiki-kun."
"Clap clap clap!!"
Saiki happily clapped. [As expected of an angel. I finally understand what the other classmates mean now.]
Shiina Mahiru frowned when she heard Saiki call her that, puffing out her cheeks a little unhappily: "Please, Saiki-kun, don't call me that. It always makes me feel really uncomfortable when people say it."
[Got it. Anyway, thank you.]
Shiina Mahiru thought of something and stepped closer: "See! Didn't you just say that cockroaches and bugs like that would absolutely never appear? It's because you ate instant noodles and didn't properly clean up the trash."
[This…]
This really was him slapping his own face.
(Damn it, is there some unnatural force targeting me or something…)
Shiina Mahiru spoke like a nagging mom.
"So from now on, eat less instant noodles, okay?"
[Mm.]
"And for today's lunch, let me prepare it instead."
[Mm…]
"Then for the next while, to repay you for helping me, I'll come help clean your house and cook for you."
[Mm… hm?]
[That's not really okay!]
Shiina Mahiru's face turned slightly red. She shyly said in a small voice: "If you feel bad about it, how about we split lunch fifty-fifty?"
(That's not the point here.)
[That's not what I meant.]
"Then… what is it?"
(This person has way too little sense of self-preservation.)
[I'm a guy, so I probably shouldn't say this, but as a teenage boy, you're a girl casually coming into a guy's house to cook and clean for him. Aren't you worried about something like ulterior motives happening…]
Saiki even started to wonder if the person in front of him had a screw loose in her head.
"I know it's not good, but I wouldn't just do this for anyone. Only for Saiki-kun. Normally, if…"
"If it were a normal situation and some guy had ulterior motives toward me, I'd physically beat him until he couldn't even think about it anymore."
(With those thin arms and legs, how can she say something like that? Remembering that so-called women's self-defense technique I saw before, it basically just excites the attacker.)
Shiina Mahiru said softly: "And Saiki-kun, you wouldn't have that kind of intention toward me. I can tell."
[You're that sure? You're pretty popular at school, you know.]
(Since you can tell, then why…)
"Saiki-kun looks at me the same way he looks at normal people. There's no other intention. And after observing you for a while, I also know you wouldn't do that. I don't even know what kind of girl you like."
[Thanks, but this really feels too much like cohabitation. Let's forget it.]
Shiina Mahiru immediately got anxious. After coming this far, "How can you be like this?"
Shiina Mahiru placed both hands on Saiki's shoulders and said seriously: "Saiki-kun, aren't you too lazy to cook? And you wouldn't want a situation where bugs show up again in your house later and you have no way to deal with it, right…"
Saiki always felt like there was something off about that sentence. Why did the more he heard it, the more it sounded like a threat, and like he had no choice but to accept?
[By the way, your foot…]
Shiina Mahiru: "Saiki-kun, you wouldn't want…"
...
After lunch, Saiki washed the dishes while looking at Shiina Mahiru, whose face was a little red beside him. [I'll handle it. You go rest.]
"No need, I'm fine."
[Have you finished all your medicine? Your cold isn't completely gone yet, right?]
"It's okay."
Shiina Mahiru waved her hand and continued picking up a plate, but her hand slipped. The plate fell, but fortunately Saiki caught it.
(Was that on purpose or accidental?)
"Sorry, Saiki-kun."
[It's fine. Go rest.]
Saiki had already noticed earlier that Shiina Mahiru's condition didn't seem quite right…
Author's note: Today's update is a bit late. It's not because of anything else, just that I forgot I didn't have any drafts saved, so I couldn't make it up. Plus, today was the last day for the King of Glory event to try out skins, so I played too much, then went to practice for the written driving test. I failed the second time last time, and now I'm preparing to take it a third time o(╥﹏╥)o