Chapter 22: Voyeurism and Bold Plans (2)

I watched him enter a cafe with Cadet Aizel, and then, since the restaurant across the street sold chicken soup, I ate some and watched them.

“Miss, you really eat well!”

“Hurrrrr, here.. Hurrrr.. It’s delicious! So good!”

The shopkeeper looked at me uncomfortably as I ate, but that wasn’t the point.

I’m thinking, “What is it with you and flirting with girls every chance you get, just because you like them?”

I’d seen him hanging out with a girl from Clementine Family when we ran into each other at the Academy.

‘So, are you hiding your powers purely to attract girls..?’

It could be.

My grandfather had said something like that once.

‘Kaen...Men are animals with nothing but women in their heads. Beasts.’

‘And you?’

‘I was like that in my prime. You see, I’m an old man now, and in my younger days I was quite popular. I even had one persistent woman who thought I was good and followed me all the way.’

‘Grandfather is pretty cool!’

If he’s right, it’s not a very remote possibility.

‘Zetto, you beast. You’re hiding your powers for nothing, unlike me, who’s enjoying the ‘pure’ pleasure of hiding them.’

I finished my soup and stood there for a moment.

“Miss, may I offer you a drink?”

I was about to respond to the owner’s friendly mention of a drink, but I caught sight of them coming out of the cafe. They looked strange.

“No, I’ll come back another time!”

I rushed out of the store, trying to get a better look at them.

‘Cadet Aizel is supporting Zetto?’

I wondered if a fight had broken out in the cafe, but it didn’t since the café was quiet.

What in the world could be going on in a cafe that would cause people to collapse like that?

Whatever the reason, I followed them.

Zetto still didn’t move much, and Aizel was just walking down the street, silently supporting him.

It was late, so there weren’t many people on the street and they traveled in silence.

‘Where is this..?’

They make their way to the boys’ dormitory.

Aizel led Zetto to the front of the dormitory, where they were met by a dormitory guard.

“Cadet Aizel, girls are not allowed in the boys’ dormitory!” the guard said.

The guard and Aizel have a conversation, and something crazy happens. Aizel, still carrying Zetto, is allowed to enter the men’s dormitory building.

‘I can’t believe this.. No, no, no, I don’t know yet.’

For a moment, I almost imagined something really weird, but I wasn’t sure.

‘..Maybe he’s just going to take him to his room and then leave.’

No matter how I thought about it, that didn’t seem right.

The dorm guards aren’t stupid so of course she would have promised to come back.

Just then, Aizel walks out of the building alone.

‘Yes, that’s right, I almost had the wrong idea, Cadet Aizel..I thought you were cold, but you’re actually a nice, warm person.’

I don’t know what this has to do with the ‘cool’ Aizel, who had shown off her overwhelming strength during the class placement test, but I was inwardly relieved to see her walking out of the dormitory.

She walked out, spoke to the guard again, and left.

‘That’s it for today.’

I don’t watch him after he enters the dorm since there was nothing to be gained by waiting for him to go into his room and sleep peacefully. Besides, I’m not a very good sleeper.

‘Time to go home.’

With that, my watch for the day was over, and I turned to leave.

‘Cadet Aizel..?’

Aizel, who was leaving suddenly turned around. She circled around the guard in front of the dormitory, approached the dormitory wall, and climbed over it.

“Eh..?”

My mouth dropped open at the rather shocking scene.

‘Cadet Aizel is sneaking into the boys’ dormitory..could it be because of Zetto?’

I rubbed my eyes at the bizarre situation that had just unfolded.

‘What would a grown man and woman do in a room..What are they going to do.. and why are there guards..?’

I knew the answers, but I tried to ignore them.

‘An animal.. I can’t have people’s attention stolen by an animal like that.’

It was at this moment that my suspicion that Zetto was hiding his power to attract women turned into certainty.

***

“Whoa..”

After slipping past the guards, I scaled the walls that surrounded the dormitory and hurried to the room where Zetto would be waiting.

The room was unlocked with a key from Zetto’s pocket, and the door was jammed with a small object to keep it from slamming shut.

Luckily, it was late enough that I was able to get into Zetto’s room without running into anyone in the men’s dorm.

I walked into the room and saw Zetto lying on his bed sound asleep.

I did it on a whim because I had been distracted by the faint scent of him on his clothes since I received them. But that didn’t stop me from accepting his clothes.

No, maybe it was all an excuse. Maybe I’m just rationalizing with myself that it had to happen.

I hadn’t even realized the ‘sin’ I had committed.

‘But..What’s done is done..’

Zetto from the previous timeline was also very weak on alcohol. Once he drank, he would fall into a deep sleep and not wake up for a while.

Zetto hasn’t changed. It’s just that my behavior has changed, and it’s taking longer for him to get to me.

I lay down next to Zetto, who wouldn’t wake up for a long time then I crawled closer to him and burrowed into his arms.

I lay across his thick arms as I buried my face in his chest.

“Sssh.. Hah..”

..The scent of his body, which I hadn’t smelled in a long time, still made me dizzy.

“Zetto..”

I noticed the bandages that always covered his eyes and suddenly remembered my conversation with Zetto in the previous timeline.

[Don’t you feel uncomfortable wearing the bandage all the time?]

[Haha.. At first, yes, but now I feel weird without it.]

[I was wondering what Zetto’s eyes look like.]

His face stiffened sharply at my casual remark.

[I don’t think that’s something Miss Aizel needs to know.]

The same Zetto who had been so kind to me said something cold to me.

I wondered if there were bad memories I didn’t want to remember.

And then, just before he died, when he was talking to me, letting go of words he hadn’t said before I saw his eyes for the first and last time.

They were blue, the color of the beautiful ocean that I love so much at the beach in Veleshanas.

It felt like fate. But, as much as it was the last, it was the worst.

I wanted so badly to unwrap the bandages around his eyes right in front of me, to open them, to see what he was looking at in his sleep.. but I couldn’t because he would realize that I took them off even if I put them back on.

I didn’t want to be hated by him.

If I was hated by Zetto, it would be hard to live and I would have to start the cycle all over again.

So for now.. I would feel the warmth of Zetto’s body.

I can hear his ragged breathing in front of my nose.

I, and only I, can see him like this.

..This was just right.

I hug him tightly.

‘A kiss.. wouldn’t that be enough..’

An erotic thought flashed through my mind as I remembered my conversation with Zetto earlier.

‘But..I, I....why don’t I have..clothes..?’

“It’s..”

His words trailed off, and I wondered if I had crossed the line with Zetto.

I was angry because I didn’t remember anything and I hoped that my ‘first time’ hadn’t been so unremarkable.

Luckily, it wasn’t.

I wish I could erase it from my memory since thinking about it makes me feel embarrassed and my face heats up.

‘This is..yes, revenge.’

I kissed the sleeping Zetto lightly.

Zetto’s lips were sweet. Was it because of the coffee?

I don’t know since it’s my first time.

I lay like that for a while, face buried in his arms.

***

“....”

I woke up to a familiar ceiling, the ceiling of my dorm room, to be exact.

“Ugh....”

My head ached like it was going to crack, so I put my hand to my head.

‘What happened yesterday?’

Obviously, I drank coffee with alcohol.

‘I was drinking coffee..’

About the time I started to remember a voice I shouldn’t have heard came from across the room.

“You’re up. I wonder why things have changed since last time.”

“Aizel..?”

I look over to where the voice came from and see Aizel leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, wearing the same uniform as yesterday.

‘Why is Aizel here..Ah.’

There could only be one reason.

“You brought me here.”

“Yes. I didn’t know where your keys were, so I fumbled around for a while.”

Aizel gives me her trademark sour look.

I blacked out in the café and Aizel walked me back to my dorm.

‘Isn’t this a pretty dangerous situation?’

I was used to hiding things from her. But I couldn’t question her now, not when she had an ironclad shell around her.

“I was going to leave a note or something but it wouldn’t do you any good, would it?”

Aizel throws her hands up and shrugs.

“Well..” I scratch the back of my head deliberately, trying to organize my thoughts.

The bandage around my eye feels fine when I touch the back of my head. It hadn’t come off, that’s for sure.

Even if my senses were foggy with alcohol, I could still remember the feel of the knot.

‘So, what could Aizel, the regressor, have done in this room..?’

..There wasn’t much.

The materials for the Spectral Sword were stored elsewhere, of course, and I tend to keep my room tidy.

‘My lips are slightly moist..Did I drool or something?’

I naturally wiped my lips. Hopefully Aizel didn’t see that ugly scene.

“Anyway, thank you. You must be tired. I’m not a strong drinker. Next time, be sure to tell me if you’re going to drink.”

I said that to Aizel, who had a nonchalant expression.

First of all, Zetto’s body seems to be strangely weak to alcohol. I guess it doesn’t matter if I level up or not.

In the real world, I was also very weak on alcohol..I don’t know what this has to do with anything.

“I’ll keep that in mind, and now that you’re awake, I’ll leave you to it.”

“Okay, sorry to bother you.”

Aizel unclasped her arms and left the room.

“Ha..”

I let out the sigh I’d been holding in as she left.

This time it was really dangerous. Why on earth would a cafe serve alcohol with coffee?

Cadets are technically adults, so it’s not a problem, but I didn’t expect a cafe to sell alcohol.

‘I should have been more careful since it was the first time I went there..’

Still, I’m glad things didn’t go too badly but I didn’t think Aizel was expecting me to be so weak to alcohol.

At least nothing special happened.

‘Somehow I got put off. Something with memories..and what was that Kaen doing spying on me and Aizel yesterday..’

Given her meticulous and calculating nature, she’s not one to mess around.

‘Please don’t cause me any trouble.’This chapter's initial release occurred on the N0v3l-B1n site.