Chapter 168: A Trait That Sees the Future!
The clouds parted and mist dispersed, a rainbow stretched across the sky.
In short, some things had happened that would be rated H to describe, and the atmosphere in the room had become somewhat intimate.
At this moment, the messy black sheets were stained with water marks, making one reluctant to lie on them. So on the not-so-small bed, Luke and Yumiko squeezed together in one corner…
Normally, it would have been unbearably hot by now, but thanks to the heavens' cooperation, the rain was still falling steadily outside, so the room was actually quite cool.
Somewhat unexpected; he had thought that at the crucial moment, Yumiko would become a bit bolder, but who knew she would remain just as shy, completely matching his impression of a young girl, shy beyond words, the entire process requiring him, a patient, to carry out everything... Mm, but that mixture of eager compliance and shy retreat, that hybrid of a girl's emotions, was quite cute all the same.
Only, in the afterglow, why did she like to burrow into him so much? Luke looked at Yumiko in front of him, her head pressed against him constantly rubbing, her body also constantly pushing against him.
In the conventionally understood display of shyness, her arm was placed between them, fingers still endlessly poking at his waist.
If described as a cat, she was a bit too clingy in this state.
Because he could already feel half his body hanging off the edge, he couldn't help but speak up: "Um... Yumiko, could you move inward a little? I'm about to fall off the bed."
Hearing him, Yumiko lifted her makeup-free face. A faint blush still lingered on her cheeks as her hazy, unfocused eyes stared at him and asked, "You said you liked me earlier... so how much do you like me?"
"Eh?!"
Luke instantly stiffened. His instincts screamed danger.
Such a simple question contained terrifying killing intent. At this moment, whether or not he'd fall off the bed was hardly a big deal anymore. A body, after the release of affection, needed emotional comfort even more. Knowing this, he hurriedly began choosing his words, but he was already too late.
Her large eyes gradually focused and narrowed, and the finger poking his waist curled from a finger into a claw.
More seriously, she slowly spoke: "You... hesitated."
Luke immediately defended himself. "Think about it! If you ask whether I like you, the answer is obviously yes and comes instantly. But if you ask me to quantify how much, naturally I need a moment to think, right?"
He drew his arm out of the soft, bouncy stress ball and pulled Yumiko into his embrace. While buying time, his thoughts raced.
Thanks to years of inventing excuses for Hiratsuka-sensei, his answer was set in an instant.
"Then tell me." Yumiko stared directly at his face.
"Words alone aren't enough to answer something like this." His expression grew quite solemn, his gaze fixed tightly on her.
"Mm. That makes some sense~"
Yumiko nodded lightly, signaling him to continue.
"Words are powerless. Only by taking concrete action to thoroughly advance the in-depth development of relationship work, consolidating foundations, and producing results can love be comprehensively expressed."
Yumiko's expression immediately went blank. "Hah? What does that even mean?"
"It means..."
Luke's fingers sank into her messy hair, gently parting the soft strands before his hand fell onto her back.
"In the early stages of relationship development, words alone can't properly express everything, because love requires actual proof!"
"Proof? What proof?"
Yumiko's blank look vanished as she raised her eyes and pouted, looking at him resentfully. "...Wait. Are you spouting nonsense to trick me again?"
"How could you say that? I'm talking about proving it through action and deepening the scope of our relationship."
"What action?"
"One more time." The hand resting on Yumiko's smooth back pressed gently, and her seemingly frail body that carried an athletic tone was pressed onto his body. Her fairly nice bust pressed against him, soft and bouncy, quite comfortable.
She roughly understood what "one more time" meant...
"Huh? Eh?" Panic filled Yumiko's face as she quickly braced both hands against his chest, speaking rapidly:
"Wait a minute, we literally just finished! And it was my first time!"
"Weren't you the one asking how much I like you? Why are you running from the answer now!"
"Give me a break! I'm tired!"
Yumiko broke free from his arms and, using the horizontal axis as a pivot, rolled away, her body tumbling toward the other side of the bed.
"Hah. A girlfriend's passive and unenthusiastic attitude toward relationship development makes it very difficult to continue progressing!"
Mm, he followed Yumiko, tumbling after her as well.
Despite having plenty of space, the two insisted on piling together near the edge.
Held in Luke's arms, Yumiko looked toward the rain-blurred window.
"Hey, shouldn't you stop the rain soon? We still have school tomorrow."
'School?'
'What's so great about school? If the rain gets heavier, maybe classes will even be canceled.'
Then again, Yumiko actually enjoyed school life. She was completely different from him in that regard.
"Give it a little longer. I'm technically still sick."
"Mm."
She answered softly.
In the small space between them, the two idly played with each other's fingers in a childish but strangely entertaining way.
Luke eventually asked, "Yumiko, how do you feel?"
She poked his palm and looked puzzled. "About what?"
"About earlier!" He gestured as he spoke. He had properly helped her relax her body beforehand, and had constantly watched her expression so she wouldn't be so nervous. Though from a physical standpoint, he still felt she had been quite relaxed... but to be safe, he still asked.
"Mm~" Yumiko embarrassedly tugged at her hair, humming and hawing for a while before finally answering: "It was not bad. Not as painful as I imagined."
Looking at satisfied Yumiko, he...
"So, is this your accumulated experience over time?" Yumiko's eyes narrowed again.
You reap what you sow. It seemed he was never going to get around this question.
He looked at her curiously. "So what do you actually think about that?"
Yumiko opened her narrowed eyes and glanced at him. "Hey, isn't this something you did to me?"
"What do you mean?"
Luke blinked.
"Why are you acting confused? You're the only exorcist I know."
She started pulling at her hair again, so Luke immediately slapped her hand down. Careful, hair loss!
"Mm~ Ever since I met you, I sometimes have strange dreams."
"Erotic dreams?"
"Shut up!"
"...I'm sorry, Yumiko-sama. Please don't poke my waist."
Everyone knew Luke's waist was about as sensitive as the soles of his feet. A light touch there could make him jump instantly. Yumiko had discovered this weakness long ago and occasionally used it to threaten him.
The hand aimed toward his waist slowly withdrew.
Yumiko glared at his mouth with fierce eyes, as though ready to seal it shut if he said anything stupid again.
"They're precognitive dreams!"
"Precognitive dreams?"
"Mm. Dreams where I see the future."
"Um... Yumiko-sama."
"What?"
"Please tell me the winning lottery numbers for the near future. You know what I mean."
"I can't see things like that! I only see things related to you and me!"
"Tch. What a shame."
"Hah?! Are you saying lottery tickets are more important than things involving us?!"
Queen Miura's murderous glare returned.
This time Luke answered immediately. "Of course not."
"Then what?"
"If you saw something bad in our future, you might dump me before it even happened."
Luke curled one hand like a claw. "Besides, do you really think I'd let you escape that easily? The future should be seized with your own hands!"
Yumiko immediately clenched her fist and 'forcefully' punched him.
'Damn it, is it because of this that I can't sense any other futures?'
The dreams she experienced varied between vague and extremely clear. She forgot most of them after waking, but fragments remained, enough for her to confirm that some later became reality.
Her ability also seemed to be gradually strengthening. At first, she could only glimpse events in the near future. Recently, however, some dreams appeared to show things much farther ahead.
More importantly, the dreams did not merely show images. They carried emotions with them.
Though slightly annoying, she had to admit that most of the emotions reaching her from those possible futures were not unpleasant.
"It's all your fault!"
"Mm-hm. Mm-hm."
Luke nodded repeatedly.
Still... He did not remember possessing any item that could cause something like that.
'...Right?'
Luke paused. 'Wait.' He actually did have one.
He began checking through his items.
[A Maiden's Prayer: Fulfill a girl's hidden wish to add one gemstone to this necklace and awaken one trait for that girl. Current gemstones: 1.]
'Oh.' 'So it was you!'
Luke had always assumed the trait might have awakened in Miko, that little one. Apparently not. That meant all the bizarre incidents constantly surrounding Miko were entirely caused by her own constitution.
As for Yumiko... A trait capable of glimpsing the future. Just how powerful was it?
'Seriously, what a useless item description.'
Not only did the item fail to identify the girl whose trait had awakened, it did not even explain what the awakened trait actually did!
Still, Luke vaguely remembered receiving a system notification in the past about fulfilling a girl's hidden wish and awakening a trait.
If that was the case... Could he strengthen [A Maiden's Prayer] with an Enhancement Stone and obtain more detailed information?
'Eh, forget it.'
He did not have an Enhancement Stone right now anyway. He could worry about that whenever he obtained one.
Luke turned his attention back to Yumiko.
"Then, Yumiko, tell me more about those precognitive dreams."
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