Baby Yui Wants to Sleep -2-
Orion Academy Dormitory.
A time when the first-year cadets had left for their exams, leaving only a few second-years behind.
Rohan's room was occupied by girls who didn't even make a sound when they walked.
'Oppa... I miss you.'
'Rohan's empty spot feels so much bigger than I thought...'
Clara and Sion both pictured the same person in their minds.
And they kept having the exact same thoughts.
The two girls were sending Rohan messages as if reporting their daily lives.
Sion glared at her smartphone, which showed no replies no matter how many she sent, then got up from her bed.
She placed a hand on Clara's waist, who was lying face-down, engrossed in her game.
"Clara."
"Y-Yes?"
"Before we go shopping with Rohan, I at least want to buy something to wear that day."
"Ah...! Sh-Should we go now?"
Sion nodded. They prepared quietly, without a fuss.
And the conversation topic shifted naturally with the flow.
"I watched a few videos earlier, and cooking seemed simpler than I thought."
"R-Really...?"
"They say beginners are guaranteed the basics as long as they stick to the recipe. If we play the video and do it together, it should work out somehow."
Finding and learning household chores.
It was one of their desperate attempts to fast-forward the time while waiting for Rohan to return, including physical training together.
It was also something they'd need when the two of them started living together someday.
"O-Of course, Oppa will be tired when he gets back too...! Sh-Should we try it after training today...?"
"Mm, we can't keep being the ones emptying the fridge every time."
Clara agreed with Sion and recalled a line she'd once read in a book.
The sentence that said if you captured someone's stomach with your cooking, they'd never escape.
What if she became a cooking master and captured Rohan's stomach? Her head filled with bubbly fantasies.
"Hehe..."
Unaware that her own stomach had already been captured in reverse.
Clara let out a little laugh.
"Hmmm."
Hex of the Reverse Praise Society was currently standing on the ocean.
Beneath him floated a massive sea monster serving as his footing.
'Is that where the grand general is?'
He fixed his gaze on the transport ship that looked like a dot in the distance.
The uninhabited island where the cadets were was only faintly outlined due to the weather.
'If I go any closer, I'll be spotted.'
Hex kept his distance from Juyeon as cautiously as possible.
Then he channeled his mana to extract the factors stored in his body.
Ziiiirrrrk───.
Mana formed a double helix above his palm.
The geometric structure commonly called DNA.
'Paradise Knights and the other instructors... A year's worth of stacks should be about right.'
There was no need to definitely kill anyone. He just needed to buy time until Juyeon and Omega settled things.
Without Juyeon here, the rest were little more than playthings for him and Omega.
The moment Juyeon fell, that uninhabited island would turn into a living hell.
And it'd be a golden opportunity to snag a bunch of precious test subjects. Thinking about his research made it impossible not to get excited.
"..."
Hex reined in his rising elation.
And adjusted the factors while recalculating the possibilities.
This time, Omega's combat body was no exaggeration in being tailored for Juyeon.
He'd truly thrown everything into focusing on that.
'Omega. I believe you can win and get your revenge. Bring me those precious test subjects as gifts.'
The more he weighed the evidence, the higher Omega's win rate seemed. And he had plenty of usable hostages, didn't he?
Plus, he'd fully analyzed the skills and abilities of the instructors guarding the cadets on the island and the Paradise Knights who came as reinforcements.
In a showdown between Omega and Juyeon, they couldn't create any variables.
And yet.
For some reason, he felt uneasy.
A speck of anxiety created an itch he couldn't ignore.
'Hmmm...'
But he ignored it.
Such emotions were meaningless to someone who believed in theory.
He focused on the task at hand.
'Shall I?'
The factors Hex created trickled from his hand into the sea.
Causing chaos on the uninhabited island was one of his main missions.
But preparing a back door for Omega to escape was also his responsibility, just in case.
There was no one to replace Omega, so he had to keep him alive somehow.
'Omega's got a fiery temper, but he values his own life.'
Hex covered his anxiety with conviction and anticipation.
And began delicately manipulating the mana, drip by drip.
"Why aren't you sleeping? Hungry?"
"N-No... I'm not."
After much agonizing, Ichinose clamped her mouth shut for now.
Her rational side—that it was embarrassing—had won out over her instinct that craved comfort, so she fiddled with the clothes she'd been using as a pillow, reshaping them.
She lay down.
Tossed and turned, then sat up again.
Reshaped them.
Lay down. Tossed and turned, sat up. Reshaped them.
Mechanical, repetitive motions.
"..."
Ichinose felt like she was losing her mind. No matter how she adjusted it, the discomfort wouldn't fade.
Even Rohan, who was stoking the campfire, was giving her a puzzled look like, What are you doing?
"Can't sleep?"
Rohan asked quietly.
It was such a ridiculous situation that being honest felt insane, enough to make her jump up and down.
"...Rohan."
"Yeah."
Ichinose finally sat up from where she'd been lying.
She asked in a small voice, trying to hide her surging emotions.
"In the current situation, if there's a way to maintain your condition, how much risk do you think you'd take?"
It was half-nonsensical to Rohan.
Still, he stroked his chin, trying to understand, pushed a branch into the flames, and gave a safe answer.
"Kinda hard to parse what you're saying... but yeah, if it keeps your condition up, you'd push as far as you could, right?"
Was that an answer?
An intensely serious and resolute aura emanated from Ichinose.
"I'll be honest."
A stiff voice unlike any before.
Unable to tell if it was tension, a warning, or a confession, Rohan hardened his expression.
"You sick somewhere? Caught a cold?"
"N-No, nothing like that...!"
"Good if it's not. If there's a problem, just say it."
After a deep breath, Ichinose pointed to her bundled-up outer clothes.
"It's uncomfortable to rest my head on, so I can't sleep."
"Huh?"
"...The pillow's so uncomfortable, it feels like it'll wrench my neck."
He might think it was just a rich girl's whining, clueless about real hardship.
Ichinose hurriedly added more.
"I was prepared as much as possible for sleeping in an unfamiliar place. But this is... more than I expected."
"Yeah, it's different when you actually experience it."
"..."
Rohan nodded slightly in understanding, then asked seriously.
"So you didn't sleep last night either? I thought you were out cold."
"I did... really deeply..."
Rohan blinked at her words.
As if to say don't look at her that way, the girl bowed her head, and Rohan's mind raced as he took her in.
It was a simple puzzle that didn't take much time.
'She slept deeply yesterday, but now the pillow's uncomfortable?'
Where had Ichinose rested her head the night before?
The answer was clear.
Once he reached that conclusion, an arrow struck his mind.
'Considering Ichinose's personality... she must've agonized endlessly before saying this.'
Rohan's lips twitched fiercely at her cuteness, but he clenched his teeth to suppress it.
He couldn't laugh here.
Until she lay down with her head on him and there was no backing out, he had to stay straight-faced and serious so she'd feel at ease.
"Alright."
"Pardon?"
Rohan moved slightly away from the campfire. He patted his thigh. Pat! Pat!
His face stayed casually indifferent, though he was putting in max effort to keep it that way.
"Use it if you need to. Pretty cheap price for maintaining condition."
Relieved by his approval but blushing at having brought it up, Ichinose stood awkwardly, moved the outer clothes spread on the ground,
"Ex-Excuse me..."
Hesitated forever, then finally laid her head on Rohan's thigh.
'!!!'
And the comfort that followed.
Ichinose inwardly exploded with surprise like fireworks.
'This is it...'
The perfect 100-point pillow she'd been craving.
Ideal firmness, just-right height and width, even warm heat.
Forgetting the mountain of embarrassment, she already felt sleep coming.
Drowsiness she'd waited so long for crashed over her, blurring her consciousness.
As she sank deep into slumber, something draped over her made her crack her eyes open.
"Sorry. Did I wake you?"
Rohan's dress shirt was up like a blanket.
He was down to just a thin t-shirt now. His trained muscles stood out clearly.
"..."
Meeting his smiling gaze, Ichinose squeezed her eyes shut.
She even lifted an arm to cover them.
Normally she'd express thanks first. But fatigue and sleep dulled her sharp thinking.
Instead, she ended up whining, unlike her usual self.
"I must look pretty ridiculous... right?"
"Nah?"
"I can't deny anymore that I was raised in a greenhouse... I feel it now."
"Never thought that. I just laughed 'cause you seemed like Baby Yui."
"Wh-What?! Baby Yui?!"
Sleep vanished in an instant.
Pure shock.
How low could she sink from classmate status?
"Baby Yui."
"Don't give me weird nicknames... If you tease me too much, I might run away..."
"Sorry, sorry. Go to sleep."
Getting this treatment yet unable to pull her head away—what a scary thing.
"Rohan..."
"Yeah, yeah. Right here."
Her startled wakefulness didn't last.
Sleepiness sapped the strength from her voice, pulling her mind away.
"Thank you..."
Ichinose murmured through her lips.
And properly entered deep sleep.