A Reason to Continue...

“…It’s getting late, so let me take you to your room.” Yuusuke aggressively stood up, his brows furrowing.

“…Sorry…” I slowly stand up, keeping my head down.

“…”

Yuusuke opens the door of his room, keeping his face upward as he takes a few steps ahead of me.

“…”

…Dammit…

I’m so stupid…

…

….

…..

---

A few hours later, morning.

After we woke up, we headed towards the place where the chief resides to claim our rewards. He’s residing in some kind of office building nearby, so his living space consists of a large desk that has a mountainous amount of documents sprawled across his table, floor, and even some on his bookshelves.

“It’s not much, but will this be enough?” The chief said as he placed a medium-sized duffel bag on top of the table.

Alice unzips the bag, noticing that it’s filled with a good amount of canned food, a first aid kit, and a couple of painkillers tucked within it.

“Thank you so much!” Alice said in a bow, “This would help us a lot!”

“If anything, I would like to thank you two for your hard work,” The chief lowered his head, “If you have time to visit us, we’ll welcome you with open arms!”

“Yeah! Thank you so much for your hospitality!” Alice said, letting down a deep bow.

“Thank you so much…” I bow down as well.

“Oh, right! Yuusuke couldn’t make it today, so he asked me to tell you this: ‘Thank you so much for both of your help. Make sure you stay safe in your travels,”

“…”

“I see…” Alice replied, “Then, can you tell him that we’re thankful as well?”

“Consider it done,” The chief lets out a smile, “But still, he seems really annoyed this morning… I wonder what happened to him…”

“…”

‘If we do things without thinking, then the only thing that’ll come from it is regret.’

‘Use that brain of yours to figure out why you want to have sex outside of staying alive.’

“…”

…

….

…..

---

A few hours later…

We made a round throughout the park one last time, with Alice saying her goodbyes to a single mother and a bunch of kids who were playing around.

After we did so, we took our leave from the park and went back to our original track.

“I never knew you were good with kids…” I smirk, nudging Alice’s side with my arm.

“I was surprised too…” Alice looks up to the sky, scratching her cheek, “They’re kinda cute the more I hang out with them…”

“Even at first glance, your face doesn’t scream like someone that’d be good with children…” I placed my hand on my hips.

“You tryna pick a fight?” Alice glares at me with her hand curled.

“W-Well, but… You can unexpectedly be really cute!” I said, letting out an awkward laugh.

“Eh?” Alice’s face blushes, avoiding my gaze, “W-What are you talking about…”

“…Eh?”

Wait…

Huh?

Is she… actually embarrassed over what I said?

And why does she look really cute?!

“P-Putting that aside, did anything happen with that Yuusuke guy?” Alice asks.

“…Eh?”

“Don’t assume I didn’t notice how giddy you were when he invited you out…” Alice adds, letting out a pout, “Plus, you got back to our room together with him…”

“…”

“So? Did something happen?” She asks, looking at me with her pupils trembling.

“…Nope…” I raised my hand and placed it on top of her head, patting her smooth hair, “Nothing at all…”

“T-There’s no way you did nothi—”

“Nothing happened, Alice.”

“…”

“If anything, I got ahead of myself, so I ended up disappointing him!” I take my hand away from Alice’s head, scratching mine instead.

“Yuiko…” Alice mutters. “Did it happen again?”

“…” I nod.

“…I see…” Alice replied, letting out a small breath.

“Alice…”

I’m surprised she’s this relieved about it…

But…

I can’t help but feel that it’s a different sense of relief than the one I’m thinking of…

“If that’s the case, then you’re gonna have to keep me company for a little bit longer!” Alice straightened her back, taking a few steps forward.

“…Yeah…” My cheeks soften, following her along. “I’ll be in your care…”

“Please take care of me as well!” She looks back, saluting towards me.

A giant smile was plastered on her face.

…

…..

…….