They had walked for hours before finally seeing people again, a village.
The village looked normal, which according to Kaito's current life trajectory, probably meant it was cursed, haunted or run by some kind of cult.
There were chickens, dirt roads, a tavern that smelled like old beer and roasted meat. The air wasn't on fire here and no one had tried to murder him in the last twenty minutes.
Honestly? That was an improvement.
He limped through the front gate beside Lyria, trying not to look like he'd been smacked in the face by a flaming monster boss (even though he had). Her armor clinked with every step, his shirt was mostly rags and bad decisions.
[SYSTEM STATUS: Stable(ish)]
[WARNING: Desire Field Sensitivity Increased – Leak Detected]
Kaito blinked. "What do you mean by 'leak'?"
The system didn't answer. It just… shifted, his vision fuzzed and suddenly..
Text popped over people's heads.
Like floating emotional name tags.
A tired-looking farmer walked past.
[SUBJECT: STRESSED ABOUT DEBT – Mild Foot Fetish – Hates Wife's Meat Pies]
Kaito squinted. "Wait what."
A merchant laughed nearby.
[SUBJECT: Fantasizing About Tavern Maid – Regret Level: Medium]
"Nonononono....." Kaito whispered, waving at the windows like they were flies. "Stop! Stop reading people's.... Oh gods is that one thinking about a scarecrow?!"
[SUBJECT: Deep Shame – Scarecrow Incident]
"WHY IS THAT A TAG!?"
Lyria glanced back. "What's wrong with you now?"
"Nothing!" Kaito said quickly. "Just uh… brain noise, glitch static. Very normal, definitely not reading people's emotional sex files."
She frowned. "You're twitching again."
"That's just my fight or flight reflex screaming."
More villagers passed.
[SUBJECT: Single – Bi-Curious – Currently Judging You]
[SUBJECT: Thinks Lyria Is Hot – Avoids Eye Contact]
Kaito almost choked. "Okay, that one's very relatable."
They walked toward the tavern. It looked safe(ish) and maybe a little Cozy. Probably filled with bread and trauma.
Kaito wiped his forehead.
[WARNING: DESIRE-SENSE OVERLOAD – Reduce Exposure]
[Or turn around and sprint into the woods screaming]
He groaned. "Can I uninstall my eyeballs?"
Lyria opened the tavern door, didn't wait just walked straight in.
Kaito sighed, took a deep breath, and followed her in.
Big mistake.
Inside were more people, more emotions, more desire windows... So many desire windows.
A barmaid bent over the counter. Kaito got a flash..
[SUBJECT: Wants to be pinned down by someone strong – Weekly daydreams – Currently wondering if you're into swords]
He looked away fast.
NOPE, not doing this.
His brain was overheating.
He turned to Lyria, desperate to focus on something, anything normal.
She was ordering meat and drink calm, cool. Completely unaware her presence was giving off:
[SUBJECT: Emotionally Suppressed / Tension: 92% / Desires: Redacted]
[BOND PARTNER – Compatibility: Rising]
[Status: Jealous. Denial Active.]
Kaito blinked. "Oh, She's in emotional denial."
"Stop staring," she said without looking at him.
"I'm not staring."
"You're definitely staring."
"I'm reading your mood."
"You're what?"
"N-Nothing."
He sat down at the table like his knees had betrayed him.
This was fine. Everything was fine.
His system was leaking secret thoughts, his love interest was emotionally constipated, and he was surrounded by horny strangers.
Totally normal Tuesday.
The Food was awkward.
Not "bad first date" awkward.
More like "sat across from a beautiful, dangerous woman who may or may not be emotionally imploding while your horny glitch system whispers her repressed feelings in your ear" awkward.
Kaito stabbed his fork into what looked like meat, might've been meat? Could've been grilled monster thigh,who knows but he didn't ask.
Across from him, Lyria chewed slowly, eyes down. Her armor was still on, fully strapped, tightly buckled, not even a finger exposed.
Few nights ago she was naked in his arms. Now full war mode.
He sighed.
She hadn't touched him once since they entered the village.
Didn't lean close.
Didn't steal his food.
Didn't insult his intelligence.
Which, by now, basically meant something was wrong.
The system pinged again.
[PARTNER SCAN: LYRIA]
[Emotion: Defensive | Stress Level: 61% | Repression: High]
[Desire: …Redacted]
[Note: She's lying to herself and everyone in this tavern]
Kaito stared at the data window hovering in his vision.
Then stared at her.
Lyria didn't even look up.
He cleared his throat. "Sooo…"
"No."
"I didn't say anything yet."
"You were about to."
"I could've been saying anything."
"You weren't."
He shut his mouth, looked at the floor. Then blurted anyway..
"Are we just not going to talk about what happened?"
She didn't flinch. Just took another bite of bread.
"What happened?" she said flatly.
"Oh cool. We're doing the amnesia defense now."
Silence...
Kaito leaned in, lowering his voice. "You kissed me, you synced with me. You literally rode me like..."
"Stop." Her voice was sharp, but not angry. Just... tired.
Kaito sat back, hands up. "Alright."
Another ping.
[PARTNER INTERNAL STATUS: Jealousy - Suppressed. Obsession - Repressed. Affection -…Leaking.]
He almost choked on his beer.
She liked him, She just didn't know how to like him without destroying everything around her.
He looked at her again.
Lyria was tense. Not warrior-tense, emotionally tense, Like her own system was threatening to crash from mixed signals.
She didn't hate him.
She was scared, and it made her want to run.
Kaito rubbed his face. "Okay. You want space, I get it."
She didn't say anything.
"I'll sleep downstairs, i'll shut off the link for a few hours if I can figure out how. Just don't... don't shut me out completely."
A pause...
Then:
"You're an idiot," she muttered.
He smiled a little. "Yeah."
Another pause...
"You're not sleeping downstairs," she added, quieter now. "This town's too close to old Core routes."
"So... I'm not allowed near you, but I still qualify as bait?"
Her lips twitched. Just a little.
She didn't respond.
Then suddenly everything felt different.
It started with a whisper, a soft, slow whisper like silk sliding across skin.
"Found you.."
The tavern door didn't open,
It disintegrated.
Wood turned to ash midair.
Everyone in the room froze except Lyria.
She was already on her feet, sword half drawn.
Kaito's system flared red.
[ALERT: SYNC PREDATOR DETECTED]
[CLASS: CORE BOUNTY AGENT – LEVEL UNKNOWN]
"bounty hunter?"