房客(糙汉)何璐程曜坤

The dark bedroom that looked so familiar but completely foreign at the same time...

...the incredibly large bed...

...child version of Miriette sleeping peacefully while he was standing guard right next to her head...

Zoemi was seeing it all but he couldn't move nor speak – his body felt alien and unresponsive to the point that it felt like he never could have made it move to begin with.

Similarly, his mouth felt as if it was sewn shut, therefore when the sudden perfect and silky darkness entered the room, he had no way of warning the young girl about it.

He was supposed to be defending her, he was supposed to be her protector – but instead, he was forced to watch the danger approach her.

Like always, from the darkness came a young man and he crawled on the bed making sure that the defenseless child will not wake up – and glanced at Zoemi boiling over in agonizing powerless anger.

"Ugh... what are you looking at with those creepy eyes? Disgusting."

The black-haired intruder scoffed at Zoemi and pushed him to the floor with a single swing.

|I WILL KILL YOU FOR GOOD THIS TIME...!|

Zoemi roared in his mind and...!

"!!!!"

He woke up with a start, drenched in a cold sweat.

It was still dark – actually – after the black-haired boy managed to calm down his breath and reached out for the pocket watch he would always leave on the nightstand by his bed and checked the time, he learned that only five minutes have passed since he laid down...

"Damn it..."

Zoemi breathed out and put the watch down before throwing himself back on the mattress.

"I will kill you for good this time? What is that supposed to mean...? Why do I keep dreaming with such details about something that didn't happen...?"

He breathed out in complaint before resting his arm on his forehead and closing his eyes.

Zoemi knew that normally people would forget about their dreams – but he could clearly remember every detail.

The perfect silky darkness smoothly entering the room like an innocent shadow.

The calmly sleeping Miriette he watched over.

Everything was so vivid and detailed that if he focused he could even easily count every single platinum hair on Miriette's head...!

"...?!"

Zoemi flinched and opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling with an utterly confusing realization.

Miriette in his dreams had platinum-colored hair...!

The more he thought about it the more sure he became.

In his dream, the room wasn't brightly lit at all, but thanks to that her hair was standing out that much more...!

"What is going on...?"

Zoemi muttered to himself in confusion...

------

At the same time, the heroine had trouble with sleeping too...

She was in her bed lying in a fetal position, hidden under the blanket.

And she was both scared and furious.

|He groped me – he almost groped me, that bastard...!|

Her body trembled.

Not even in her wildest dreams would she imagine that a character depicted in the game as the proudest and calmest of all capture target – to the point where holding hands with him was considered by fans to be more meaningful achievement than kissing and getting married to the other choices – would turn out to be such a piece of shit!

|What am I supposed to do now!? I never expected him to behave like that! It wasn't like that in the game! His reaction was completely out of character! I should have slapped him!|

She thought to herself but then she shuddered.

|But those eyes...! How can a human have such eyes...?|

Just the memory of how she was looked at makes Burushitto feel dread - never before was she looked at in such a way.

It felt like Xeonith didn't look at her as if she was a fellow human being!

His eyes were full of animalistic lust.

|Trying to get him to help me save Surou was such a mistake! And the way that bastard dared to speak about him...! It's too dangerous to have Xeonith around... I-I must ignore him from now on! H-he won't do anything to me while we're in the academy, right...? He is concerned about his opinion, so he shouldn't show up at my room – he even said something along those lines himself! So, if I will hurry to my room the moment the lectures are over I should be fine, right? Right?!|

Burushiitto thought to herself trying to calm down, but no matter how she tried to convince herself, her body wouldn't stop shaking.

|And what was that with Zoemi...?! How did he get in there in the first place! That's even more disturbing than Xeonith...! Wh-what if the entire thing was just a part of his event...!|

She flinched and trembled.

Ah...!"

She suddenly gasped and raised up, letting the blanket slide down from her head.

"I get it...! It's all because of the DLC...! The creators of the game must have folded in to the voices of people who liked Slutiette and made a route that would end up in her getting the good end – but since they were sadists, to begin with, they must have made it so the player character is the one getting screwed over...! Nooo...! Why?! It's all her fault..! Because Slutiette is living carefree I am the one getting hated and shunned...!"

The blond heroine complained out loud and hid her face in her palms.

"Screw this! I will mess up with Slutiette and keep away from Zoemi to escape this stupid DLC!"

She suddenly straightened her back and declared making a determined expression while staring at the opposite wall.

"...but... even if I do that what will happen to Surou...? Will I be able to save him...?"

Burushito glanced towards the door and hesitated.

"...y-you wouldn't happen to be there, mister supporter...?"

She suddenly asked getting an odd feeling...

"..."

The heroine waited a bit but since the answer didn't arrive she ended up breathing out and...

*knock* *knock* *knock*

"!!!!"

Burushiitto barely stopped herself from screaming in fear once someone knocked on her door.

"Miss Buru, apparently someone has seen you together with Xeonith – how did it go?"

"Mister supporter?!"

The whisper called out and made the girl gasp in shock.

"That's right – it's me. How did it go? Did you win him over?"

The mysterious voice asked and the heroine flinched and got out of the bed.

"I... I don't want to talk with him – tell me, who else I could ask for help...?"

She asked walking towards the door...

"~You will get Xeonith on your side.~"

The voice's tone changed and Burushitto froze in place and her eyes lost focus.

"..I... will get Xeonith on my side..."

She repeated mechanically and continued to stay still.

"Good."

The mysterious supporter smirked and left her alone...

"...?"

After a few minutes, the blond girl flinched and shook her head, looking around in confusion as if she forgot why she stood up from her bed in the first place.

Instead of calling out to the mysterious supporter once more, she turned around and walked to the desk...

"...I will have to try and convince Xeonith to help me..."

She glanced at her mirror and her chin trembled.

Then, she glanced at the corner of her desk - there was a small blue box sitting there.

Burushitto picked it up opened it, taking out a beautiful golden ring with one big diamond in the middle and two smaller ones to its sides.

She grabbed it and returned to her bed leaving the empty box on the desk.

The blond girl hid under the blanket again while holding the ring securely in her hand she pressed it to her chest.

"...I just want my Surou back...!"

She got teary-eyed and whispered.