Kiana Kaslana ended up staying in the room whose door she had kicked open.
It wasn't on the same floor as Hikari Aoi's room.
In fact—
She didn't have much of a choice.
As someone who hadn't entered through proper means, she naturally didn't have a dorm ID card. If she wanted another room, she'd have to break in again.
But right now—
Kiana hadn't thought that far ahead.
She stood off to the side, watching Hikari Aoi finish making her bed.
Then—
She just wanted him to leave as soon as possible.
After all—
Now that she was full, she needed sleep.
That was one of Kiana's unshakable life principles.
Though she didn't explicitly tell him to leave—
Her expression made it obvious.
Hikari Aoi understood.
Before leaving, he added:
"The bathrooms are at both ends of each floor's corridor. The water room is next to them, there's a washing machine there."
"You know how to use one, right?"
"I do."
Of course she did.
Back when she traveled with her father through the wilderness—
They'd stuff dirty clothes into bags and wash them later in inns.
There was no way someone like Siegfried—lazy about anything unrelated to combat—would hand-wash clothes.
After Hikari Aoi left—
The room fell silent.
Kiana quietly peeked around—
Making sure he had really gone upstairs.
Only then did she head out to clean herself up.
Once she returned—
She lay comfortably on the bed—
Ready to sleep.
But then—
Her gaze landed on the broken door.
"…Wait a second."
The door couldn't even close properly.
Which meant—
If Hikari Aoi wanted to—
He could sneak in at night anytime.
Zero sense of security.
If Hikari Aoi were a girl—
That'd be different.
She might even sneak into his room instead.
But he wasn't.
After thinking for a while—
Kiana rummaged through her backpack.
She took out—
A thin transparent string.
And a small bell.
Then—
She tied the string across the lower part of the door.
This was something her father had taught her.
A simple alarm system for sleeping outdoors.
If anything touched the string—
The bell would ring.
He had also said:
"One day, when you can sense danger before the bell rings… you won't need this anymore."
But clearly—
Kiana wasn't there yet.
If Hikari Aoi really tried to sneak in at night—
Then it would prove he couldn't be trusted.
After all—
Her father had told her:
"The more friendly a man acts toward a woman, the more suspicious he is."
And in her eyes—
Hikari Aoi was too nice.
So besides feeling grateful—
She also maintained a basic level of caution.
Also—
Her dad seemed very experienced.
He always explained things clearly, with lots of practical details.
…How did he even learn all that?
After some random thoughts—
Kiana looked at her little trap again.
Then thought back to her interactions with Hikari Aoi.
Her lips pressed together slightly.
Her emotions—
Complicated.
Finally—
She lay down again.
Feeling the softness of the newly bought bedding—
She let out a small breath.
Then—
Fell asleep.
Meanwhile—
Upstairs.
Hikari Aoi had no idea what she had done.
He was busy training.
Now that he had obtained seven Stigmata—
He no longer pushed himself as brutally as before.
If he kept living like that—
He felt like he'd break mentally before the Third Honkai even arrived.
Now that he had a stable method of growth—
He allowed himself to relax a bit.
And that method—
Was the Friendship Supply.
Opening the interface as usual—
His gaze fell on the Friendship Points.
+20.
No doubt—
This came from Kiana.
Just like when he first met Raiden Mei—
Kiana had given him twenty points.
Back then—
After only two meetings, his relationship with Mei had advanced rapidly.
Her contribution jumped from 20…
To 80…
Then stabilized at 90.
So—
Would Kiana's increase tomorrow?
Hikari Aoi didn't obsess over it.
He wasn't going to force their relationship forward.
For most people—
If someone suddenly started going out of their way to please them—
It would feel unnatural.
Everything had limits.
And honestly—
Hikari Aoi had already crossed that line a bit with both Mei and Kiana.
But—
Mei had been isolated because of her father.
She accepted him.
And now—
Kiana was homeless and alone.
There was no way he could ignore that.
So he let her stay.
"…Come to think of it…"
How did Kiana even enroll in St. Freya later?
It definitely wasn't some random administrator picking her up off the street.
Which meant—
There was only one answer.
Otto Apocalypse.
He was still pulling the strings from behind the scenes.
As for his purpose—
No need to guess.
Hikari Aoi exhaled softly.
Stopped thinking about conspiracies.
With his current strength—
He could probably handle ordinary Honkai Beasts.
Maybe even—
One punch each.
But—
He wasn't arrogant enough to think he could change everything yet.
Still—
As time passed—
The day he gained that "capital"—
Wasn't far away anymore.