Chapter 22: Living Together

Chapter 22: Living Together

"A secret!?" Yuzu stood up with a start, her eyes sparkling like stars as she stared at Ichigo, as if to say... tell me, quickly tell me...

"Yuzu!" Pushing Yuzu back into her seat, Karin looked at Lolita and asked, "Did you and my brother... know each other before?"

"Ah, we just met the night before last... Speaking of which, Kurosaki-san is truly a responsible and kind person. Knowing I had nowhere to stay, he insisted I come home with him..." As she spoke, Lolita smiled at Ichigo, though this smile was mostly composed of mischief.

"Brother Ichigo..." Karin and Yuzu looked at Ichigo simultaneously, their gazes somewhat strange, as if they were seeing him for the first time.

Sitting across from Ichigo, Isshin Kurosaki whispered, secretly giving Ichigo a thumbs-up, "Yo! Ichigo, as expected of my son! You moved fast!"

"Bang!" Ignoring Isshin's teasing, Ichigo slammed the table and stood up, shouting at Lolita, "Who said I told you to come back with me! From start to finish, you were the one rambling on your own! You just followed me, thick-skinned and uninvited!"

Facing Ichigo's accusation, Lolita didn't refute him immediately. Instead, her expression shifted from 'shock' to 'sorrow' in an instant. Her deep blue eyes seemed to harbor a silent, intense indictment of the darkness in modern society...

"So that's how it is... Even though the night before last, you firmly told me you would take responsibility, which is why I gave you my most precious thing—my spiritual power... It turns out you are just like other men. After taking the most valuable thing from me, you choose to discard me... It was my own naivety and foolishness to believe your flowery words about the duties of a Soul Reaper... I am sorry... I apologize for disturbing you all. I shall take my leave..."

"What!?" x3+1!

Combining the previous conversation with Lolita's 'heartbroken' expression and the ambiguity of her words, the three bystanders, plus one of the people involved, cried out in shock.

"Hey, hey... don't, don't, don't just say whatever you want!" Ichigo pointed at Lolita, who was already at the door, his voice stuttering... After all, anyone would be nervous—no, wait, tense—upon hearing such baseless claims.

Seeing that Lolita was about to leave, Yuzu extended her small arms to hug Lolita's perfect, fair arm, holding her back. "Sister Kuchiki! Don't go! We can talk this through!"

"Brother Ichigo! Look at what you've done! I despise you! You are the enemy of all women!" Karin glared fiercely at Ichigo, forcing him to swallow the words he was about to say.

The gorilla-like father seized the opportunity to join in, hugging the shiny portrait on the wall and wailing, "Mom! Our Ichigo has turned into an irresponsible bad boy!!! Waaaaah!"

As if to deny Ichigo a chance to speak, Lolita brushed a strand of hair with one hand and added, staring out the window with a flat tone, "Yesterday, I thought that event had left an indelible mark—a scar—on your heart. It seems I underestimated the hardness of your heart, Ichigo Kurosaki..." To the three onlookers, Lolita's back looked so desolate... (Stop using static electricity to manipulate the wind as your background effect!)

"Brother!"

"Brother Ichigo!"

"You brat!!"

...

"Waaaah... I... I get it! Stay! Just stay, is that enough!?" Faced with the three onlookers who didn't know the truth, Ichigo roared in frustration, grabbed Lolita's hand, and dragged her upstairs. "You, come with me! I have something to say to you!"

Lolita followed along, saying flatly, "Let's get this straight, no hanky-panky..."

"..." The person climbing the stairs nearly tripped and fell.

...

"Bang!"

Throwing Lolita onto the bed, Ichigo slammed the door shut and turned around. "I said! What on earth were you rambling about just now!?"

"That hurts, you know. Even if you've hit puberty, you shouldn't be so rough with a girl, little boy." Rubbing her slightly reddened wrist, Lolita sat on Ichigo's bed.

"Don't change the subject! Why did you tell my family those lies?"

"Lies? No... everything I said was a fact, not a single word was a lie..." Lolita hugged a pillow from the corner of the bed, looking quite innocent.

"Ugh!" Thinking back, Lolita indeed hadn't lied, but... "What was with that tone of yours! It sounded like I did something irresponsible to you! My family misunderstood everything! No! You go down there and explain it to them right now!"

"Whoosh!"

"..." Slowly removing the soft item from his face, Ichigo stared with dead fish eyes at Lolita, who sat calmly on the bed, and roared, "What are you doing!!!"

"Young Master Kurosaki, have you misunderstood something?" Picking up another pillow and ignoring Ichigo's roar, Lolita said calmly, "The tone I use to speak to your family is my business, and how they interpret it is theirs. Even if it is a misunderstanding, I have no obligation to explain my tone to them... Anyway, I don't care..."

"But I do!" No... this woman is definitely enjoying this. "Damn it, how am I supposed to face my family from now on? Forget about that gorilla of a father, but my image in Yuzu and Karin's hearts has been ruined by you... Arghhh—!!!"

"Whoosh!"

The Kurosaki boy was hit again.

"You're too noisy! Don't whine about such trivial matters. Don't worry, it'll be fine..."

"How can it be fine!? You heartless demon, stop saying such cold-blooded things!!" (Demon, you say? You're right, my true form is a demon, but I won't tell you that.)

"I know, your situation is like playing a galgame; right when you've worked so hard to conquer the target, the power cuts out and you didn't save the game... All efforts turned into bubbles. Yeah, that feeling is indeed painful..." (Did Shuster really convey the frustration of not finishing a game through the soul link before falling asleep?!)

"Hey! Don't use that otaku stuff to describe my feelings! And don't make it sound like I'm a sis-con, I never play galgames... Wait, what are you measuring in my room?"

"Hmm, I'm measuring the distance. It turns out your room is just big enough, so... I've decided to become the master of this room..."

"Big enough for what? Wait... what do you mean by 'become the master of this room'?"

"Literally, little boy. I've taken a liking to this room, so I'm requisitioning it! I've checked, you don't have any other spare rooms, do you?"

"Then what about me? Where do I sleep!?"

"..." Lolita blinked at Ichigo, let out a soft 'Oh,' and nodded as if she had just realized something...

"Hey, what's with that expression? Don't tell me you planned to take over my room from the start without considering me?" Ichigo was dumbfounded.

"How could that be, little boy... I've considered it for you. I'll give you two choices..." Brushing her long hair, Lolita lay on her side on Ichigo'