007 – Should I Peek at Tokisaki Kurumi While She’s Bathing?

Hearing Souta's urgent warning, Kurumi instinctively—

Wanted to trigger a Spacequake.

It wasn't that she was being rebellious on purpose.

It was just that…

If someone tells you "Don't think about an elephant," your mind immediately pictures an elephant.

It was the same kind of psychological effect.

Suddenly, Souta felt a slight tremor and immediately turned to Kurumi, his voice tense:

"Hey, hey… Kurumi-san? What are you doing?"

Kurumi quickly suppressed her urge, looking a little surprised.

"I was just testing it."

She tilted her head slightly and mused:

"The space here… is incredibly stable. Even using minimal force, I couldn't shake it at all. When I gradually increased my strength to the maximum, all I managed was a slight tremor. It seems we really aren't in my original world anymore."

"Wait… You just decided to test it right away!?"

Kurumi shook her head with a smile.

"Relax. I made sure to hold back and stabilize it afterward."

Souta let out a deep breath, feeling somewhat relieved but also exasperated.

"Next time, at least warn me first. I'm just a regular guy, you know—I could literally get scared to death!"

After that, he walked into his bedroom, grabbed his old iPhone and laptop, and returned to the living room.

Handing the iPhone to Kurumi, he said:

"Use my phone to do your research. I'll use my laptop."

"Just search for 'Date A Live'—that should give you everything you need."

At that moment, a strange feeling crept up on him.

Having Tokisaki Kurumi search 'Date A Live' on a smartphone to investigate her own existence…

Something about that just felt deeply surreal.

Kurumi took the iPhone and frowned slightly at the foreign characters on the screen.

After a brief pause, she asked:

"Rokuhara-san… This world isn't Japan, is it?"

Souta glanced at her and asked tentatively:

"Wait… don't tell me you can't read it?"

Kurumi simply smiled and said nothing.

It was one of those "figure it out yourself" expressions, as if she didn't want to openly admit it.

Souta frowned slightly.

"So the system doesn't translate text? Does it only handle spoken communication and messages sent through the system phone?"

Kurumi nodded, agreeing with his guess.

"That seems to be the case."

Souta rubbed his forehead, then sighed.

"Alright, I'll do the searching myself. You can just watch the anime on my laptop."

"That would be quite helpful."

Kurumi nodded politely, accepting his arrangement.

She mentally made note of all the things Souta had done for her.

Souta dragged over his gaming chair, set up the laptop for Kurumi, and did a quick search for Date A Live.

Then, he explained:

"I've already told you most of the story, but now you can see it for yourself—this way, you'll know I wasn't lying."

Kurumi pouted slightly, her tone playful:

"Ara, it's quite sad that you'd think I doubted you. I never suspected you, Rokuhara-san. Can't you trust me a little more?"

She crossed her arms and made a slightly sulky expression, looking a bit like a little girl throwing a small tantrum.

Then, shifting her focus, she lightly ran her fingers over the laptop's touchpad, her movements fluid and practiced.

Having lived among humans for years, she was no stranger to modern technology.

"Well, it should be interesting to watch anyway," she said with a soft smile.

"I'm quite curious—before we met, how did you see me? What kind of role did I play in your eyes?"

"Take your time. I'll call you when I'm done researching."

With that, Souta picked up his old phone, opened "google", and started reading the Date A Live light novel.

Simply looking up summary articles online wouldn't give him detailed enough information.

If he relied on incomplete data, he could easily miss crucial details.

It was better to just read the novel properly from the beginning.

But when he saw that Date A Live had already reached volume 20, his eye twitched violently.

Looks like I'm pulling an all-nighter…

The Next Afternoon

Souta finally put down his phone, yawning heavily.

Eighteen Hours of Nonstop Reading

After eighteen straight hours of reading Date A Live without sleep or rest, Rokuhara Souta had finally finished the novel.

He rushed into the bathroom, splashed cold water on his face, and then returned to the living room—

Only to find that Kurumi had fallen asleep at the table.

She had headphones on, and the anime was still playing on the laptop.

As Souta walked closer, he could hear her soft breathing.

He gently removed her headphones and closed the laptop.

"She actually fell asleep in a guy's house on the first day we met…"

Souta looked at Kurumi's sleeping face, then muttered to himself:

"Is she really that trusting, or does she just see me as harmless and completely non-threatening?"

If it was the latter…

That's kind of depressing.

Kurumi's sleeping face wasn't peaceful—her delicate brows were tightly furrowed, as if she was having a nightmare.

"She's probably dreaming about the past…" Souta thought.

Now that he had finished reading the novel, he knew for sure—

Kurumi had really been deceived by the First Spirit into killing her own friend.

That was why she was so desperate to go back in time and change everything.

Souta couldn't help himself—

He reached out and gently rubbed Kurumi's brows, smoothing out the deep furrows.

For a moment, they relaxed—

But soon enough, they knitted together again.

Souta sighed and repeated the action.

After doing this several times, Kurumi finally stayed still.

Just as Souta was feeling satisfied with his work—

Kurumi's eyes suddenly opened, staring straight at him.

"..."

Souta froze completely, then forced an awkward smile and said:

"D-Don't get the wrong idea! Your brows were furrowed, so I was just trying to smooth them out! I wasn't trying to do anything weird!"

Kurumi blinked slowly, then smiled mischievously.

"I know. I actually woke up the first time you touched me."

"Then I decided to test you—to see if you'd try doing anything inappropriate while I was 'asleep'."

She chuckled softly.

"The result? You're surprisingly well-behaved. But still… staring at a sleeping girl's face for so long—"

"That's not a very good habit, Rokuhara-san."

Although she pretended to scold him, there was no real blame in her tone.

Stretching her arms with a soft yawn, she smiled and said:

"Good morning, Rokuhara-san."

Souta pointed to the window and sighed.

"Not morning. It's already past 6 PM—the sun's about to set."

Kurumi looked genuinely surprised.

"That late already…? Wait. Don't tell me—you didn't sleep at all?"

"Nope." Souta grinned, his excitement barely contained.

"After a whole night of research, I finally found the answers you wanted!"

Kurumi stared at him for a moment, then sighed helplessly.

"Rokuhara-san… I wasn't in that much of a hurry to get information. We could've taken our time. More than anything, as a friend, I want you to take better care of yourself."

"It's fine! I'm used to pulling all-nighters."

Then, changing the subject, Souta said:

"Anyway, I got some toiletries for you. Want to freshen up first? After that, we'll eat and go over the details."

Kurumi nodded in agreement.

Soon, the sound of running water came from the bathroom.

Souta froze slightly.

Wait… when I said "freshen up," I meant washing your face and brushing your teeth—

Not taking a full bath!

Now, the question was—

As a man, should he try to take a peek?