#66 Trying to enter the strange world

I quickly bought some food for Yukina and went back to the dorms. This time Receptionist didn't try to stop me so I guess Sae-chan really solved it in such a short time. She can be really helpful sometimes but I don't get her cold attitude towards everyone else. Anyway, I have been asking for help quite a lot and she didn't want anything in return, I should give something to her. I am not ungrateful pr*ck, I guess I will try harder the next special exam. I doubt she would want me to buy her something and it seems that by becoming a teacher of a higher class, she will also receive some benefits.

I entered my room and couldn't help but smile, it's always good to return to your place. I took a random bowl and filled it with a bit of water and put it on the ground. I heard that it is hard to monitor if your cat is drinking enough water so I bought a lot of wet food just in case. I hope she will be able to eat it because I have no idea how old she is.

But the first thing first...I crouched down and took Yukina from the top of my head and put her on the ground. This time she didn't show any signs of resistance.

"Listen up" I bought my closer to her and placed a palm over my face, making only my eyes visible.

"If you gonna pee on the floor I might as well make a dinner out of you!" I said with a threatening tone and my wide-open eyes started to shine in a dangerous red color.

*Meow!* She just tilted her head when she saw me and released an ignorant meow.

*sigh* I will have to train her, hopefully, it won't be too hard.

When I was thinking of making dinner for myself and Yukina, I heard the ringing sound of my phone.

"Who is it?" I decided to accept the call without even looking at the display, I switched on a loudspeaker and returned to what I was doing before.

"..." No one answered me so I frowned and checked the caller's identity.

"Hello? Horikita-san? If you don't plan to speak, I will just end the call" I said with a slightly annoyed tone.

"Umm...What are you doing right now?" When she finally spoke out, it was in quite an awkward tone.

"Huh? I am making dinner right now. Why?" I said and opened the canned food for Yukina and stuffed it all into a small bowl and placed it next to the bowl of water.

"...Does your 'making dinner' means eating from a can?" She probably heard the sound when I opened it.

"No, that wasn't for me but for my kitten" I answered her and lightly petted Yukina while she was busy with her food.

"You have a pet? How come I have never seen you with it?"

"She isn't really mine, I am just taking care of her until the real owner is discovered but in case no one will be found then I guess I will keep her. I just found her today so that's why you have never seen me with her." I quickly explained but I was still oblivious of why she called me.

"...I see. I guess I shouldn't bother you since you seem to be busy" Sha said almost as if in relief.

You wanted something from me yet you are relieved that I am too busy to help? What kind of logic is that?

"If you need something important then I can spare some time..." After I said this, she immediately replied in a panicked manner.

"No need! Good night!" She said and ended the call.

What the hell? I looked at the phone's display with a confused expression.

This was the weirdest phone call I have ever had.

Whatever, since I already have a phone in my hands, I might as well contact Kei.

"Yes, Felix-kun?" She accepted a call almost instantly and the way she called my name, I guess she is alone.

"Hi, I just wanted to tell you that if you need any water then you can simply ask."

"Huh? There is no need but if you need some you can also ask, I bought some for you when I was outside"

What she said slightly surprised me.

"...I bought the entire pack for you too" I said with a slightly awkward tone.

"What? Pfff, haha. The synergy between us really sucks, haha" She started laughing when she heard me.

We kept on talking while I was preparing ingredients for my dinner.

"Umm...would you mind if I come to your room? I am studying a bit during these holidays and I even try to train every day, however, I only have knowledge of those few hours you have spent on teaching me. If you wouldn't mind, I would like to learn new moves."

Hmm, it looks like she didn't forget about it and she even trained on her own.

"I don't mind but tell me when you want to come, I am about to make dinner for myself so if you plan to come immediately, I can make dinner for you too."

"Oh? Free dinner? Count me in! I will be there in a second!" She shouted with an almost exaggerated happy tone.

"I also want to introduce you-" Before I was able to finish my sentence, Kei already ended the call.

...whatever

After 10 minutes, I heard someone knocking on my door so I opened door.

It was Kei and she had surprised expression when she saw me.

I see, it's her first time seeing me after my eyes changed.

"Are you going to absent-mindedly stare at me or will you come in already?" I said with a teasing smile and she immediately woke up.

"Sorry! Are those...contact lenses?" She apologized and came in and I closed the door behind her.

Hmm...what should I say? Let's try something. I thought with an amused expression before speaking out.

"They aren't" I gave her a short answer without any explanation with a mysterious smile across my face.

"...You know, it's hard to believe that your eyes changed like that. If you were born that way, I might believe you but this is too much." She said with a slightly doubtful expression but it didn't look like she convinced herself that it was an entire lie. Maybe she was trying to believe me but the logic was in the way.

"If you don't believe me then I can't force you but I don't blame you for not believing so don't be sad or anything. Anyway, I want to introduce you to someone." I actually didn't think that she would believe me but it was still surprising to see that she tried to despite the circumstances.

She tilted her head in confusion when she heard my last sentence and waited for me to explain.

"Yukina!" I lightly shouted, testing out if she would come if I called out her name.

"Girl's name?!" Kei blurted out and covered her mouth with a hand soon enough.

Soon enough, a little kitten came out of her hiding spot under the bed and run up to me.

"*sigh* It's a cat" Kei sighed in relief and this caused me to look weirdly at her.

"What did you expect?"

"Aah! Nothing, nothing at all! She is so cute!" She gently grabbed Yukina and started to cuddle with her.

This surprised me because I could still remember her reaction towards Ichinose, yet she let herself be petted right now. Is it because of Kei or is it because she already recognized this place as her home and with me here, she isn't afraid? I would need Ichinose to come here, to test it out but I don't really have time for that right now.

"Alright, alright, calm down. Her name is Yukina and I found her today so I will be taking care of her until the real owner shows up. That being said, could you stop pestering her? She just had her dinner and she should rest a bit."

"Alright...what will you make for dinner?" She answered with a sad expression before asking me with an excited expression.

Her mood is too easy to change...

"Don't expect anything luxurious, only scrambled eggs with rice and a little bit of chicken meat" I told her as I was walking to the kitchen.

"Wow, I am glad I came here, hehe" I heard her giggle behind my back as she was following me like a tail.

I was already halfway done with dinner before she came so I finished making dinner in a few minutes.

...

"Wow! That's amazing, are you thinking about a chef career?" When she tasted it for the first time, her eyes started to shine and she started looking at me with a scary look in her eyes.

"Um, thanks but I am not interested in being a chef. I didn't expect you to be interested in learning new martial moves, not to mention that you kept on training. Why are you training? Is it to keep your body in shape and enhance your curves? Haha." I chuckled a bit because there are a lot of women out there who train just to keep their bodies in shape for their boyfriends. Of course, I am also aware that there are cases where it's just their hobby or they are training for self-defense reasons. I am curious about what is Kei's reason.

"Umm, I guess I want to be stronger not to be bullied again but...staying in shape is also a little part of the reason." She turned a bit red and she started to whisper.

I nodded at her with a smile, satisfied with her answer so I focused my attention back to the food.

However, I noticed that she kept on throwing me a particular look as if she wanted to ask me something.

"What is it? If you want to ask me something then there is no reason to be embarrassed. You can tell me or ask me anything you want" I reassured her with a kind smile and when she heard me she hesitated a bit but she took a deep breath.

"What...do you think of...m-my body?" She asked me with a fully red face while looking to the side, not daring to make eye contact with me.

What?! What should I say not to offend her and not to sound too lewd?

"*cough* I think that you look really good but training will never hurt you and will only benefit you. So you don't need to train for keeping your body in shape but you should still do it for self-defense reasons. Plus it's healthy, even if you have great body shape by nature, the same doesn't have to apply to your health." I coughed a few times to erase the awkward air around the dining table.

"Alright, thank you" She answered in a really low voice but with a smile across her face.

I spent the rest of the evening by showing her new martial art moves but she only practiced it for a bit because she didn't want to get sweaty with the water supply problem right now.

I walked her to her room and I also took one pack of water bottles I bought for her.

"Here you go, with this much water, you will be able to wash yourself a bit." I put down the pack of 6 bottled water on the ground in her room and said goodbye. She was pretty annoyed that she bought the water for me too yet I didn't want to take it with me but I was able to somehow calm her down.

When I returned back to my room, I immediately took off my shirt and jumped into my bed.

I sat down in a cross-legged position, closed my eyes and started concentrating.

I was currently trying to enter the same dream world where Asao discovered the monument and those enormous doors.

However, after 15 minutes of concentrating, I frowned because I was unable to enter that world.

What am I doing wrong?

What Asao had and I don't?

.

.

.

?! Perhaps it is because of his strange almost emotionless mindset. Maybe if I will throw away all the thoughts away and simply think of NOTHING I might be able to make it. After all, he didn't show any signs of discomfort when he was forced to live in that small cell, which was quite strange. He was a little kid yet he didn't care about anything around him. It almost looked like he was uninterested in mundane things and his thoughts were in a completely different dimension.

I don't regret getting rid of danger in my body but I should have asked him for some information before killing him but I doubt he would tell me. I even doubt that he knew something about that world.