After eating and drinking their fill, Otto and Kiana returned to the hotel. Otto had no plans to move; this was his and Kiana's little den in Nagazora City.
Kiana took the key card out of her pocket, while Otto stood behind her, his gaze shifting to his own room.
There was still a Raiden Mei hiding in there.
But he didn't go to open the door.
He didn't intend to push Mei too hard. A girl still needed her personal space.
[MyWife.jpg]
"What's wrong?" Kiana swiped the key card, and the door opened. She looked back curiously at Otto, who was standing right behind her as if he intended to follow her inside.
"Tonight, I must once again ask you to adopt this homeless child~" Otto said with a smile.
Kiana rolled her eyes at him and pushed the door open.
"This room is rented in your name, anyway."
She didn't stop Otto from coming in. Since she had already let him in once, a second time didn't matter.
Entering with practiced ease, Otto took off his jacket and sat down leisurely on the sofa.
He was a little tired. It was, after all, his first time going on a date with a girl. But Mei was a very sensible girl, which saved him a lot of trouble.
I should send her a set of cookbooks and kitchen utensils one of these days.
He had, however, already forgotten his promise from that morning about wanting to eat a bento made by Mei.
"Are you showering first, or am I?" Kiana asked, also taking off her outer jacket—which was originally one of Otto's—and folding it carefully.
"Together. You can scrub my back," Otto said with a grin.
"In your dreams," Kiana retorted irritably.
"Beautiful girls don't fart," Otto said, turning over on the couch. He rolled his neck. Although his body didn't feel fatigue, the motion helped to alleviate his mental exhaustion.
It was like how he didn't technically need to sleep, but he still did.
Though his flesh was Soul Steel, his mind was still his own.
"I'll go first then. Are you sure you don't want to come help scrub my back?" Otto teased Kiana, who answered with another eye-roll.
He walked toward the bathroom. His original plan had been to take advantage of her vulnerable state. Kiana had, after all, killed someone. With the right manipulation, he could have coaxed her into the bathroom with him.
But for some reason, he no longer had the desire.
He didn't know if it was because the encounter with the Walter clone had ruined his mood, or if he simply didn't want to anymore.
Just as he was about to pull the bathroom door open, Kiana spoke to his back.
"Otto... am I a bother to you?"
She asked with the same mindset and in the same tone as before.
Otto chuckled softly. Why was Kiana acting like a little puppy afraid of being abandoned by its owner?
But he could understand. By his side, Kiana was gradually coming to understand the meaning of having a place to belong. She was growing reluctant to leave, and because of that, she was worried that Otto would cast her out because she had killed someone.
She didn't want to go back to being alone again.
Without turning around, Otto pulled the bathroom door open and stepped inside. His voice drifted out from within.
"I prefer when you're your usual goofy, happy self."
Then the door clicked shut.
Kiana stared at the bathroom door, her back against the wall. She tilted her head back and looked up at the ceiling, a lost expression on her face.
"I prefer that too..."
Wait a minute, when am I ever 'goofy and happy'?
After speaking, Otto took off his clothes, went to the bathtub to start the hot water, and placed a small stool on the floor.
One generally washed their body before soaking in the tub.
He sat on the stool and was about to wash his hair. Even though his body was made of Soul Steel, life needed a sense of ritual, so he was still going to wash his hair.
He turned on the faucet, and steam gradually filled the room. At that moment, the door was suddenly pushed open.
Kiana walked in.
Otto turned his head in confusion to look at her, his eyes narrowing slightly. Her appearance here was a bit unexpected.
And her attire was even more unexpected.
Kiana was no longer in her White Comet battlesuit. She was barefoot, with only a bath towel wrapped around her body.
Her rounded shoulders and delicate collarbones were exposed, and the steam in the bathroom had tinged her pretty face with a slight blush.
She looked at Otto with a flushed face. He was facing her, looking back at her with a puzzled expression.
What is this girl up to?
Seeing Otto looking at her, Kiana swallowed hard, momentarily forgetting what she had wanted to say.
Otto frowned slightly and said, not unkindly, "You don't have to do this. I'm not going to kick you out."
He had interpreted her actions as a sign of her fear of being abandoned. But Otto's words snapped Kiana back to her senses. She shyly averted her gaze, her cheeks rosy, but then she mustered her courage and looked back at him, her right hand gripping her left forearm.
She mumbled, "That's not what I was thinking."
"I just... you've been so good to me, I wanted to give you something in return, so I thought I could scrub your back..."
Otto had taught her how to get along with Asakura Miyuki, making her understand that friendship wasn't about one-sidedly taking. But Otto was her first friend.
Kiana didn't know what she could give him.
The guy was ridiculously rich; he didn't lack for anything.
She couldn't exactly give him a few pounds of flesh, could she?
So, after Otto's earlier joke, the idea of scrubbing his back as a way of repaying him came to her.
Hmph, this young lady will reluctantly deign to scrub your back today!
Otto looked at Kiana, a little surprised by her reasoning.
But his heart remained calm. His Soul Steel body allowed him to remain rational at all times.
He simply turned and presented his back to Kiana.
"Use some force. Don't be like you haven't eaten. You ate enough for several people tonight."
That one sentence was enough to break Kiana's composure. She bared her teeth and sat down behind Otto, then began scrubbing his back vigorously with a towel.
Just you watch, this young lady is going to scrub a layer of skin off you today!
Meanwhile, in the room next door, a young woman stood in front of the kitchen.
Raiden Mei looked at her new phone, a gift from Otto. Everything on her person had been burned to a crisp by the electricity, so Otto had bought her new things while they were out during the day.
A cooking tutorial was playing on the phone's screen.
Mei was learning how to cook.
She remembered what Otto had said that morning—that he wanted to eat a bento made by her—so she had to learn.
But... this looks kind of simple.
After briefly skimming through the video, Mei felt confident that she could do it.
After tying on an apron, Mei touched her head. Although she wasn't wearing a hat, for some reason her head felt a little heavy.
It must be my imagination.
Paying it no mind, Mei took a kitchen knife in hand. Watching the video, she aimed the blade at a white radish.
"Thwack."
The radish was severed with a single, clean slice.