“Nghh…” Is it morning?

  The sun outside was starting to permeate into Hecate’s room. Damn… Did we actually sleep the whole day? I had no way to know for sure, but it somehow felt like the early morning sun. I think I needed that… We all did after what we had been through…

  “Mhmm? *Yawwwn…*” Hecate stretched in my arms as a ray of light illuminated her face.

  “Are you awake? Good morning.” She slowly opened her eye and looked around the room for the source of the voice.

  “Iroha…” With a blissful smile, she let out a sigh and leaned back against me. “Forget waking up… I’m going back to sleep. I wanna stay like this forever…”

  Ahh~! So cute! How am I supposed to let go after hearing something like that? And so, I squeezed her tighter. “You want to? Let’s do it! Let’s do nothing but cuddle for two days straight!” I moved a leg over hers, and she catched my other leg. It’s on… There’s no way to untangle us anymore. We’re staying like this forever!

  “Ahahahaha! Yes! What’s the worst that can happen?”

  Good question… “Hmm… If I had to guess, I’d say Carol’s gonna show up and yell at us if we take too long.”

  “Good point, good point…” Hecate nodded. “But so what? We’ll drag her in and trap her between us. I bet it’d feel even better.”

  “Yeah… But she’ll probably bite us… Which is not something I would say no to…”

  “You’re the worst, Iroha… I can’t believe you’re fantasizing about another girl while you have me in your arms.” She faked a sob. “But I’m with you one hundred percent! Let’s have her bite us all over!”

  “Re- really?” I didn’t know my day was gonna go like this… “I feel like that would make the mood kinda weird, but if you’re sure, let’s go for it. Let me grab my phone and call her over.”

  “Ahahahaha! Don’t get all serious about it.” Hecate finally broke off from my grasp and sat up. “I was obviously just joking… We can’t cuddle for the whole day. Aren’t you hungry? Who’s gonna make breakfast for everyone if we don’t get up, you silly?” She poked my nose. So cute… I might melt at this rate…

  “Guess you’re right. How are you feeling right now? Doing better?”

  “Yes… I’m feeling a lot better… In more ways than one…” She stood up and walked over to her wardrobe. She didn’t even hesitate before taking off her negligee and putting on a dress. “It hurts a lot less now… It’s almost fine. But it’s still a bit strange…” Somehow, watching is not making my face as red as yesterday. Sleeping together must have increased our tolerance for these things temporarily. “I’m still not used to the eye patch.”

  “It’d be stranger if you got used to it in just one day…” She gently brought one of her hands over her right eye, as if to make sure it was really gone. Some things can’t be healed in a single day… I reached for her frail shoulders before she could feel bad. “What do you want to do today? I’ll stick with you until you feel better.”

  “Oh really? That’s so nice of you…” She smugly turned to face me. “Since you’re putting your fate in my hands, I wish to learn everything about you.”

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “Huh?”

  “Isn’t it romantic? Lovers opening up to each other? Fufufu…”

  Her giggling… I’m getting worried now… “Well… I get that, but… What exactly does that mean specifically?”

  “I want you to show me your place.”

  “Seriously?” No no no… That’s really embarrassing… “You can’t… There’s nothing interesting there, and it’s not good for guests…”

  “Why are you blushing already? Hmmm… I remember you saying you liked games and anime, and… What was it? Cute girls? Could it be that the reason you’re embarrassed is because your room is filled to the brim with goods of such girls?”

  Sh- she… Wow… She hit the nail on the head…

  “Yeah…”

  Can’t even look her in the eyes… It’s embarrassing even admitting something like that…

  “Wait… I guessed it right?” Was it an actual guess? For a moment I thought Carol told her… Though, Carol’s the type to treasure that information instead of sharing it… “Now I have to see it! I feel like I’d have material to tease you with for ages!”

  “To tease me?! That’s your reasoning? Now I really can’t show you! No way!”

  She pitched up her voice with a whiny tone. “Ehhh…? You won’t do me this tiny little favor? Even after I got hurt defending you?” Unfair! That hits me right where it hurts!

  “I- I- I… Fine… I’ll show you… I’ll show you, okay?” I’m already cringing, but if it makes her happy… “But now that you brought it up, let’s make one thing clear… I’m very moved that you tried to protect me, but… Don’t ever ever ever ever take a hit for me again! Promise me! I may not look like it, but I’m a lot tougher than it seems. I’d probably be fine even if I got run over by a truck.”

  With a neutral nod. “Yeah, you would just pass through a portal and come back.”

  Pfft! “That’s clever. I’m surprised you have the knowledge to make that joke.”

  She shrugged cutely. “But I understand. I remember hearing you talk about stats and how they make you stronger. How does that work? Does that mean you won’t die even if you lose your head?”

  How do HP and Defense work? In games, it’s easy to brush off logic and go with the flow, but since this involves our lives, I guess it’s important to understand… I only have conjecture, but I should be able to explain…

  “I have HP, which is just a number that shows how much damage I can take before I die. If it drops to 0, I die.” Wounds are what make it complicated. “Attacks are then registered into one of two categories. Attacks that can be recovered from, and attacks that can’t.”

  “Attacks that can be recovered are things like cuts, stabs, and other things that are more or less surface level. When I get cut, the cut happens and my flesh is sliced open, then, as soon as the attack ends, the damage dealt is deducted from my HP as a number, and the wound instantly gets healed to allow my body to function more or less like normal.”

  Hecate quietly nodded.

  “Now if someone tried to cut off my head and succeeded, I would die. The way those unrecoverable wounds are handled is different. If a sword was trying to slice through my neck, the attack wouldn’t actually go through, and it would get stopped at the surface level. My flesh would regenerate while the attack is happening, preventing it from advancing and trying to resist until all the damage is done. If the damage exceeds my HP, the regeneration will give in and my head will pop off, but otherwise, I’d get off with just a small cut.”

  That should explain it… Did that make sense?

  “Hecate?” That look on her face… Was she actually paying attention?

  “It’s nothing… I’m just thinking I’m happy for you. A system like that seems perfect for a nerd like you.”

  “Nerd?!” She’s laughing at me? “Come on… I thought you actually wanted to know… I didn’t tell you all that just for you to make fun of me!”

  “Hmm? But I got it… Even with critical injuries, you don’t need help unless you’re already running low on HP. Meaning the only time I should take a hit for you after you’ve been wounded dozens of ti-”

  “Never!” I said. “You promised! It depends on the attacks and type of attacks and other stuff like that… It’s impossible for you to know when it’s time, so don’t do it. I’ll be the one taking hits for you instead, understand?”

  “Of course, of course…” She responded by giggling and turned me around instead, pushing me towards the door. “We have to prepare breakfast now, so let’s leave this for later. Ah… Except later we’re going to your place. Oh well…”

  Sigh… She’s making it hard for me to believe she really gets it, but at least some of it got through to her.

  …

  Hecate and I went to the kitchen and made breakfast for everyone. We were the first ones up, but it didn’t take long for the others to join us. We all ate together, then Hecate and I left the dorm. Katja and Narumi were worried about Hecate going outside and exerting herself when she should be resting, but once I told them we were going out to cheer her up, they relented. Narumi wanted to come along, which I couldn’t allow. I didn’t tell them what we were doing, and I don’t need the extra embarrassment right now.

  We went on a walk. Back to my place. The sun was very mild since it was still early in the morning, and we got there in no time. A twist of the key unlocked the door, but… “Hecate… You’re not gonna get creeped out, right?”

  Please… It will break my heart if she looks at me weird.

  “Hmm? I can’t fathom a world in which I would…” Composed on the surface, but there was a hint of giddiness in her voice. “No matter how weird it may be, if it’s from you, I can only think of it as cute. You can trust me on that!”

  At least our brains are wired the same way… I also find anything they do cute no matter how bad it may get. Never thought the script would flip on me.

  “Oh yeah? Well… Come in, then…” I finally opened the door and welcomed her inside.