After the panties incident, Miyu stayed until late chatting with the anomalies, bombarding them with questions like:
Where did you live before coming here? Do you sleep? Can you eat human food? How can you talk if you don't have a mouth?
Only when her endless curiosity was satisfied did she decide to go back home, finally leaving Mochi alone.
Several minutes after Miyu left, Mochi let herself fall onto the sofa. It was already too late to cook something, so the easiest thing would be to order food. While she looked through her smartphone and checked different places, the anomalies wandered around the house until they ended up returning to the usual room; apparently, they still didn't feel comfortable being close to humans.
Just when Mochi was about to decide what to order, the doorbell rang.
Ding—dong.
—Did Miyu forget something? —she muttered while getting up from the sofa and walking to the door—. Miyu, did you forget someth…?
The words got stuck in her throat when she opened the door.
The person on the other side wasn't Miyu.
It was Haruka. Holding two pizza boxes in her arms.
—I'm not Miyu, and I didn't forget anything —she said with a gentle smile and a slightly playful tone, walking inside while Mochi remained in shock—. I came to celebrate your move. The place is amazing —she added as she looked around the apartment.
While Haruka inspected every corner, Mochi entered a state of internal panic. Normally, she would be happy to receive a visit from Haruka… but today was the worst possible day: the two anomalies were still in the room next door.
If Haruka found them…
No, no, no, NO… think, Mochi, think… she told herself.
She needed a way to prevent Haruka from detecting them, and fast. Haruka was examining the apartment carefully; if she continued like that, sooner or later she would reach the forbidden room.
—Haruka, let's eat first. Then I'll give you a full tour. If not, the pizzas will get cold.
—Oh, you're right. I just came back from an assignment and haven't eaten anything since the morning.
Haruka sat at the dining table and tapped the chair beside her twice. Mochi immediately understood the signal and obediently sat at her side.
While eating a slice of pizza, Mochi tried to listen to Haruka's story about the assignment, but her mind was working at full speed on a single problem: preventing Haruka from sensing the anomalies' ether.
How could she do that?
It wasn't enough to simply keep her from seeing them; with how sharp her senses were, it wouldn't take long before she detected them.
She kept racking her brain until she reached an answer:
Cover it. Hide their presence using my own ether. Like a blanket.
Without thinking twice, she focused and sent out a strong ether wave, as powerful as possible, to saturate the room.
—You know, it turns out the anomaly was hiding in a forest and attacked when… —Haruka was calmly telling her story when she suddenly stopped to look at Mochi with an expression somewhere between suspicion and confusion, as if asking what are you doing?
—Just practicing —Mochi said quickly—. You remember you told me to do it whenever I could.
—I see… it's good that you take your training so seriously —Haruka replied, though her tone made it clear she wasn't fully convinced.
While Haruka resumed her story, Mochi kept sending strong ether pulses every few minutes, like some kind of improvised smoke screen.
Then, out of nowhere, Haruka changed the topic… and her tone.
—Tell me, now that you live alone… do you invite other women to stay late at night? Have you become a bad girl in the days I haven't seen you?
It sounded like a joke, but it wasn't a joke.
Mochi let out a nervous laugh as she thought:
She's definitely upset…
They finished eating and got comfortable on the sofa to watch a movie. Mochi turned off the lights, leaving everything in darkness.
The living room was dim, illuminated only by the soft glow of the television.
On the screen, two girls were saying goodbye under the rain, looking into each other's eyes with a smile that hurt.
Mochi tried to hide the lump in her throat; she didn't like sad movies, but she knew Haruka did. That's why she had chosen it, hoping to calm her a little… and it seemed to have worked.
Haruka had been edging closer little by little, until their shoulders ended up touching. In the end, she rested her head on Mochi's shoulder, gently holding her arm. Neither of them said anything. Only the murmur of the movie filled the room.
When the credits started rolling, Mochi blinked several times, noticing the moisture in her eyes. Haruka, on the other hand, looked peaceful, with a small smile.
They stayed like that for a few more minutes, in silence, until Mochi suddenly remembered something crucial: she hadn't emitted her ether pulse in a while.
—Ah, right! —she whispered, letting her energy flow through the room immediately.
A faint hum ran through the air… and then the deep voice of the eye echoed from her room:
—Could you stop doing that, you damn brat?! You're making me dizzy!
The silence that followed was glacial. Mochi froze with a stiff smile.
—Eeeeh… hehe… the TV —she improvised—. Yes, yes, I left the TV on in my room. I'll go turn it off, be right back.
Without waiting for a reply, she jumped off the sofa and dashed away, leaving behind a Haruka with a confused expression and a raised eyebrow.
She entered the room where the anomalies were and went straight to the eye, which was perched on some boxes. She grabbed it and shook it while whispering with contained anger:
—You two are the ones who need to stop. Don't you see the effort I'm putting in to keep you hidden!? If Haruka finds you, it'll be your end. DID YOU HEAR ME!? Haruka cannot know about you!
—I already know.
Haruka's voice came from right behind her.
Mochi slowly turned around and saw her standing at the door, arms crossed.
—
Several minutes had passed since Mochi was discovered.
Haruka was sitting on the sofa, even more upset than before. In front of her, Mochi sat in seiza position, with the two anomalies at her sides. From the outside, they looked like three scolded children apologizing for misbehaving.
—Sorry, Haruka… I didn't want to hide it from you. I just… I just wanted to find a good way to tell you.
—Mochi —Haruka replied with a cold tone—, you really have become a bad girl. Not only do you invite women to your home late at night, you also hide things from me. What else are you keeping from me?
Mochi slightly frowned internally.
"She's still angry about that…?" she thought, wondering why Haruka had gotten so upset over Miyu's visit. She wanted to ask, but feared making things worse, so she decided to let it go. There were more urgent problems right now.
—Haruka, these anomalies are harmless —Mochi said, turning toward them—. They don't pose any danger to anyone, right?
The anomalies nodded so fast they looked like they were trembling. They didn't know exactly what was happening, but they definitely understood that their lives depended on it.
—And how do you know that? How are you so sure they're not dangerous enough that you can live with them?
Haruka's words left Mochi in silence, unable to respond. She understood her point perfectly: she had allowed two anomalies to stay in her home. She had put herself in danger. This time everything turned out fine… but it could have ended differently.
She wanted to apologize calmly, to explain it properly, but with Haruka this angry, it wouldn't help.
Fortunately, Mochi knew a foolproof method to calm her down.
She took a deep breath, moved slowly until she was right in front of her, and before Haruka could pull away, she took her hands in hers.
Haruka gave a small jolt.
—W-What… what are you doing? —she asked in a voice higher than usual.
Mochi didn't answer. She took one more step, getting close enough that Haruka could feel her warm breath on her skin.
Their eyes met.
—Sorry, Haruka… —she whispered with a gentle smile—. I didn't mean to hide anything from you, I swear. I just… didn't know how to tell you.
—M-Mochi…
—I won't do it again. I promise. So… can we be okay again?
Haruka tried to keep her composure, but the slight tremble in her hands gave her away. Her heart was beating fast, and her face was clearly blushing.
—Tch… honestly… —she murmured, turning her gaze away awkwardly—. You always do this…
—Eh? Do what? —Mochi asked, genuinely confused.
—T-this… —Haruka stuttered, pulling one hand back but unable to completely pull the other away—. Getting this close…
Mochi blinked.
—But it always works, doesn't it? When you're like this and I hold your hand, you calm down —she said with an innocent smile.
Haruka sighed, giving up. Her anger had completely vanished.
—You're impossible… —she murmured, almost inaudibly.
—So you're not angry anymore? —Mochi asked, tilting her head with an expression like an apologetic cat.
—…No —she replied, looking away, though a small smile betrayed her attempt at sternness—. But if you ever hide something from me again, I really will get mad. Understood?
—Promised! —Mochi said cheerfully, still not letting go of her hand.
Haruka noticed their hands were still joined and, resigned, let out a small laugh.
—Let go already… if you keep this up, I might start thinking you're doing it on purpose.
—Eh? Doing what? —she asked, not understanding at all.
—Nothing… forget it. And make sure you don't put yourself in danger like that again.
Relieved to have calmed Haruka's last bit of anger, Mochi sat beside her again on the sofa. Everything seemed to return to normal…
Until the eye opened its mouth.
—Pfff… "danger," she says. The only ones living in danger are us. That girl almost killed us over some see-through panties.
Mochi froze instantly.
—Eye, shut up!
But it was already too late.
Haruka, who had been sitting calmly with her arms crossed, lifted her gaze very, very slowly.
—See-through… panties?
The eye, oblivious to the tension about to split the air in half, continued:
—Yes, today. When she was with that other woman.
The temperature plummeted. The air turned white, visible, as if a snowstorm were about to begin inside the room.
—A-no-ther woman —Haruka repeated, with a voice so calm it was scarier than if she had screamed.
Mochi swallowed.
—H-Haruka, I can explain…
Too late.
In the blink of an eye, Haruka was on top of her, pushing her down against the sofa. It wasn't violent, but it was firm. Mochi ended up on her back, trapped, with no chance to escape.
Haruka looked at her with a serious, intense expression… and her eyes shone in a way Mochi had never seen before.