At night, Hakuto sat by Ayumi's bedside, quietly keeping her company as she drifted off to sleep.
"Hakuto-nii, aren't you going to sleep?"
"I'm not sleepy yet…" Hakuto rubbed his eyes. That was a lie—he was exhausted, completely drained!
But to prevent anything from happening to Ayumi, he had to fight off his drowsiness.
However, it seemed like Ayumi wasn't all that sleepy either. As she lay in bed, she suddenly started chatting with Hakuto, who was sitting beside her.
"Hakuto-nii, are you dating Nao-nee?"
"(눈_눈)? Have we done anything only couples would do?"
Hakuto subtly glanced at the curtain in the middle of the room. On the other side, Nao was lying down.
There was no guarantee she wasn't eavesdropping.
So he refrained from bad mouthing Nao. Besides, he wasn't in the habit of teasing little kids—at least, not right now…
"Huh? You're not?" Ayumi tugged at the blanket covering her. "But it really seems like you are…"
"What makes you think that?"
"It's so late, and you're still with Nao-nee. That means you're a couple…" Ayumi pouted.
"You're overthinking it. It just so happened that we had something to deal with."
"Is that so…"
To Ayumi, a middle schooler, the relationship between Hakuto and Nao was definitely not ordinary.
Even if they weren't a couple, they were probably close to it.
"Forget it, let's not talk about this," Hakuto said. He had no intention of discussing romance with a middle schooler.
"Tomorrow is Saturday. Is there anywhere you'd like to go?"
"You don't have to worry about me, Hakuto-nii. I'm fine now."
"It's alright," Hakuto said with a smile. "Tomorrow, I'll call your brother back. In your current condition, someone has to stay with you."
"But I don't feel that bad anymore…" Due to family circumstances, Ayumi had learned to be independent at an early age.
Having lived with her older brother for so long, she didn't want to trouble others too much. She didn't think she needed anyone to watch over her right now.
"It's the weekend anyway. Knowing Yuu, he'll have time…" Hakuto shook his head.
In his eyes, a cold or fever was a minor issue—what really mattered was the risk of things spiraling out of control.
But at least with Hakuto by Ayumi's side, he didn't have to worry about that for now.
Hakuto swore that if Ayumi used her ability right under his nose and ended up in danger…
He would immediately find a noodle to hang himself with or a banana to commit seppuku!
"Alright, time to sleep." Hakuto patted Ayumi's head and tucked her in properly.
"Good night, Hakuto-nii."
"Yeah, good night," Hakuto said with a smile. "If anything happens, just call me. I'll be in the next room."
With that, he turned off the light and walked to the other side of the curtain.
It was the middle of the night, and the room was pitch-black—so dark that he couldn't see his own hand in front of him.
Fortunately, his enhanced computing ability had also improved his physical functions.
At the very least, he could still see in the dark, though it wasn't as clear as when he fully activated his abilities.
Hakuto looked toward his bed. Nao was sleeping peacefully next to it, looking completely at ease.
But judging by the rhythm of her breathing, Hakuto knew she wasn't actually asleep.
After all, she had spent the entire day sleeping. If she could still fall asleep so easily at night, she'd need to see a doctor.
Still, Hakuto didn't disturb her. He was exhausted and just wanted to collapse onto his bed.
However, just as he lay down, Nao spoke.
"Ayumi's asleep?"
"Probably not yet."
"Oh…"
Nao stared into the darkness beside her. Though she couldn't see Hakuto's face, she could hear his steady breathing.
"Keep your voice down. If you have something to say, wait until Ayumi is fully asleep," Hakuto whispered.
Even though they were talking quietly, Ayumi, sharing the same room, would still hear bits and pieces.
Nao nodded, though Hakuto couldn't see it.
After a while, when she estimated that Ayumi had fallen asleep, she nudged Hakuto with her foot.
"Hakuto… Hakuto~" she whispered. But there was no response.
"Hmm?" Nao was startled. She turned over, facing Hakuto.
But just as she did, she heard his deep, even breathing.
"Huh~? He fell asleep?"
Nao was dumbfounded.
She never expected that after he was the one who said, "We'll talk later," he'd be the first to fall asleep.
If this were before, she would've kicked him awake immediately—though, to be fair, she'd never slept this close to him before.
Just as Nao was thinking about settling the score with Hakuto in the morning, he suddenly trembled violently in his sleep and woke up with a jolt.
Nao, startled by his sudden movement, almost thought there was an earthquake.
"What's wrong with you…?"
Hakuto stared blankly at the ceiling. It wasn't until he heard Nao's voice that he slowly came back to his senses.
"Nothing… Just a nightmare…"
"What did you dream about?"
"I dreamt that…" Hakuto frowned. Strangely enough, he couldn't remember what the dream was about.
But since he had already mentioned it, he couldn't just leave her hanging. So he made something up.
"I dreamt that all my money was stolen…"
"That would definitely be a nightmare for you."
As someone who was practically his best friend, Nao understood better than anyone what money meant to Hakuto.
Since he was already awake, Nao figured it was a good time to get to the point.
"Since you're up, let's talk about the important stuff."
"Nope, not happening. Tomorrow." Hakuto turned over, facing away from her, and prepared to sleep again.
"Huh~?" Nao was speechless.
But since he was already awake, how could she possibly let him off the hook?
"Don't sleep, don't sleep, get up!"
"President, I'm really tired. Let me sleep…"
"If you go back to sleep now, your nightmare will come true!"
"What a vicious curse… But I don't believe in that stuff. Good night (-ｪ-)｡o"
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