The girl sitting alone in the adjacent classroom had cascading black hair that reached her waist. Although he could only see her from behind, Sora recognized her identity at a glance.
"...Ruri?"
"If I remember correctly, the class next door also has P.E. right now. Why is she staying in the classroom alone?"
Sora was curious, but he didn't rashly go in. Compared to chatting, his cleaning duties were more important right now.
After taking a few steps, Sora quickly noticed something was wrong.
"Why does Ruri keep rubbing her eyes?"
Arriving at the back door of the adjacent classroom, Sora pondered for two seconds before finally reaching out and sliding the door open.
Hearing the sound of the door opening, Gokou Ruri quickly turned her head. Seeing that the person entering was Sora, a flash of pleasant surprise involuntarily crossed her small face:
"Eh... Sora?"
"I just finished P.E. class and came back to get ready for cleaning duty, and I happened to see you in the classroom... Are your eyes uncomfortable?"
Sora walked over to Kuroneko's side as he spoke.
"Umm..."
Gokou Ruri averted her small face, her pearly white teeth gently biting her lower lip:
"My eyes... hurt a bit..."
Hearing this, Sora complained:
"It looks like they must be hurting quite a lot."
"They don't hurt that much."
Gokou Ruri retorted guiltily.
Sora gave a light click of his tongue:
"If it only hurt a tiny bit, you would definitely say you're fine, not that it hurts a bit."
Gokou Ruri: "..."
Although Elf and Kuroneko were both chunibyo girls, their personalities were not the same.
For example, Elf preferred to act spoiled, was more delicate, and was bolder and more direct. If she accidentally got hurt, she would definitely say it hurts a lot and then act spoiled, asking Sora to help blow on it.
Ruri was different. As the eldest daughter of the Gokou family, she had developed a personality since childhood of not wanting her family to worry. When encountering problems, she usually endured them silently.
"Do you need help?"
Sora looked down at her.
"I don't need any." Gokou Ruri averted her small face.
"It's just a backlash from my magic power. I'll be fine after resting for a bit."
"Since you're fine, I'll be going out then?"
Sora turned, preparing to leave.
"W-Wait a minute..."
Gokou Ruri involuntarily reached out her small hand, nervously gripping one of Sora's fingers. She tilted up her pretty face, a shameful blush appearing on her fair, jade-like skin:
"I-I actually do have something I want to ask of Sora... This afternoon, while observing other worldlines, my ocular power was overly depleted, and my Eyes of the Dark Night suffered a backlash. Now I have no way to lift the seal."
Sora looked down, his gaze falling on the girl's slightly red and swollen, beautiful eyes, feeling somewhat unsure:
"No way to lift the seal... Does that mean you can't take your color contacts out?"
"Y-Yes..."
Gokou Ruri shamefully averted her small face.
After some explanation, Sora quickly understood the reason.
Kuroneko had stayed up late 'cultivating' (reading manga/light novels) last night, and had been very sleepy all day today. When the P.E. teacher said they could have free time, she secretly slipped back and rested alone in the classroom.
Upon waking up, her mental state had recovered a lot, but her eyes had become sore and painful, super uncomfortable.
"I see. No wonder I saw you constantly rubbing your eyes earlier."
Sora took his phone out of his pocket as he spoke:
"I saw news before about someone sleeping with color contacts in and finding they couldn't take them out... Let me search for what to do."
"Found it..."
"It says to use two drops of eye drops, and then you can take the color contacts out."
Sora looked up at Kuroneko:
"Did you bring eye drops?"
"I already checked my schoolbag." Hearing this, Gokou Ruri shook her head, her voice weak.
"I forgot to bring them when I left home this morning."
"I'll message the others to see if they have any."
Sora sent messages to 'Inmate Eight', Mahiru, and Elf, but unfortunately, none of them had the habit of wearing color contacts, so naturally, no one carried eye drops with them.
"I asked, none of them have eye drops." Sora put away his phone, his voice steady.
"It seems I'll have to go to a convenience store outside the school to buy some."
Gokou Ruri hesitantly bit her lower lip:
"But didn't Sora just say you still have cleaning duty?"
"There's no rush, it won't be too late to clean when I get back. Of course, Ruri is the most important."
Sora answered casually.
"I-Idiot Sora!"
Gokou Ruri stared blankly for half a second. For some reason, her pretty face suddenly flushed red at a rapid speed, her gaze dodging shyly, and even the roots of her ears turned red:
"M-Most important or whatever... you're not allowed to say strange things!"
It was clearly just a very ordinary sentence, what are you being shy about!
This is the second difference between Elf and Kuroneko.
Elf's sense of shame was very weak; her hobby was playing the piano bare-bottomed after a shower.
But Kuroneko was different. She had low attack power and super low defense. A casual remark could break through her defenses and make her feel ashamed.
"Anyway, wait for me in the classroom, don't walk around."
Sora reached out his right hand and rubbed Kuroneko's small head.
Gokou Ruri's body trembled slightly, and she subconsciously nuzzled gently against Sora's palm. After reacting to what she was doing, her small face grew even hotter, and she hurriedly leaned back:
"A mere Sora, cease your overstepping... you're not allowed to touch my head! Otherwise, you will suffer a dark curse!"
"Yes, yes."
Sora withdrew his hand, turned, and walked towards the door:
"I'm going to the convenience store, wait for me in the classroom."
"Got it..."
Watching Sora leave, Gokou Ruri quietly breathed a sigh of relief. With her pretty face flushed, she lay on her desk, then raised her right hand and gently touched the spot where her head had just been rubbed. Her fingertips seemed to still be able to feel the lingering warmth.
Her eyes still hurt a lot, but her heart was devoid of the loneliness and grievance from earlier. Instead, it was quietly enveloped by some unspeakable warmth and sweetness.
Meanwhile.
On the other side.
Sora went to the lobby on the first floor, changed his shoes at the shoe lockers, and while walking outside, sent a message to Mahiru, indicating he would be going to the library a bit later.
After explaining the situation, Sora walked briskly out of the school and went to a convenience store not far away. He quickly found the eye drops and bought some snacks on his way out.
After paying and returning to school, as he passed the general building, he happened to see a group of energetic girls training in the dance studio on the first floor. Each girl held two pompoms in her hands—it was the cheerleading squad.
Sora paused slightly, looking towards a girl in the middle of the formation. The girl had fluffy blue hair, and the ahoge on top of her head was bouncing cheerfully—it was none other than Yanami Anna.
He could tell that Anna genuinely enjoyed the cheerleading training; the bright smile on her face was completely devoid of any falseness.
After looking curiously for a couple of seconds, Sora quickly withdrew his gaze and returned to the classroom building.
"I'm back."
Sora pushed the door open and entered the classroom.
Kuroneko was still sitting in her seat, looking exceptionally well-behaved and honest.
"Thank you for your hard work, Sora." Gokou Ruri turned her head, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Once I lift the seal of the Eyes of the Dark Night, I will bestow a reward upon you."
"Well, I'm truly grateful for that."
While complaining, Sora handed the eye drops over.
"I bought the stuff, put the drops in yourself."
"Umm... my phone just dropped on the floor." Gokou Ruri's voice was shy, stammering. "When I picked up my phone, my hands touched the floor, so I can't touch my eyes. But without using hands to hold them open, my eyes will involuntarily close when the drops fall... So, Sora, can you help me put the eye drops in?"
Sora was speechless: "If your hands aren't clean, then go to the restroom and wash them."
"My ocular power is too severely depleted... When I stood up earlier, I felt so dizzy. I'm worried I might bump into someone..."