Chapter 10: Daily Life of Cohabitation (3/4)

The next morning, when I woke up, I was sucking on a hand. It tasted salty.

“Gulp…”

I swallowed instinctively.

Bang!

“Ouch!”

My head!

It hurts so much!

I quickly spit out the hand and clutched my poor little head.

Looking up, I saw Lu Xiu’s face as dark as the bottom of a pot.

“Can you explain why, first thing in the morning, you’re on my bed biting my hand?”

He finished this long sentence without taking a breath.

I wiped my mouth. “Not tasty.”

“What?”

“I said, your hand isn’t tasty.”

Bang!

“Ouch!”

Why did he hit me again!

Clutching the two symmetrical lumps on my head, the pain brought tears to my eyes.

“I asked you a question, and you’re here talking to me about taste? Are you really itching for a shock?”

“No, no, I don’t want to be shocked. I… I don’t know either… maybe you did it first…”

Seeing the forced smile on his face, I wisely shut my mouth.

“I really have to hand it to you. How is it you always manage to piss me off so precisely? Is that another one of your special talents or abilities?”

He sighed deeply and kicked me off the bed. My butt hit the cold floor—painful and freezing.

This guy really doesn’t treat me well at all.

I stood up, rubbing my backside.

And it wasn’t even tasty. Tasted like seaweed, just as I thought.

Nowhere near as good as the roundball guy.

“Hm? Wait, what’s this?”

His voice came from the bed. I turned around and saw he was examining a small ball… no, not a ball, maybe a silver coin?

But right now it looked really strange. It was a sphere, yet no matter how you looked at it, you could only see the front of the silver coin, and yet its surface was definitely a sphere.

Was it the one I ate?

“This…” He frowned, flicking at the little ball with his fingers, but the coin side never changed, always facing me.

“Do you want to eat it too?”

He put down the silver coin and looked at me helplessly. “Not everyone is like you, you know, with your brain connected directly to your stomach, eating instead of thinking.”

“Don’t understand.”

“I didn’t expect you to.”

He stood up and put the ball-shaped silver coin into his pocket.

“Get up, wash up, then we’re going to the Response Bureau.”

“Do I have to go too?”

“What do you think?”

“I think I should stay home and wait for you to come back.”

“Heh, and then eat all my food and run off, right?”

***

He carried me to the bathroom, found a high stool, and set me on top.

In the mirror, I could clearly see myself—lazy and messy just after waking up, my crimson, uneven pupils shimmering with a watery gloss, lips a soft pink, pursed at the moment.

One side of my face, besides the deep red beast markings, had a pillow mark from sleep. There was still underwear on my head, stretched out by my horns, looking almost too perfect.

Baggy clothes hung on my body like a draped sheet.

“First lesson of the day—brushing your teeth.”

He took out toothpaste, squeezed it onto a brand-new toothbrush, and handed it to me.

“I know this one!”

I have it in my memory!

“You put this stuff in your mouth and swallow it, right?”

“…You know nothing.”

He started patiently correcting me: toothpaste shouldn’t be swallowed, don’t chew the toothbrush, and definitely don’t eat the cup.

I was getting annoyed just listening to it.

I’m not that dumb—like I’d really do those things.

Once I got the hang of it, I started brushing away.

Brush the top, brush the left, after the top, brush the bottom.

The me in the mirror struck the same pose. Lifting my arm made my collar tilt, revealing a little patch of rosy-white shoulder.

In the sunlight streaming through the window, it seemed to glow, even the fine fuzz on my skin catching a thin golden hue.

“Gurgle gurgle—”

“Puh…!”

I spat out the water and grinned at the mirror.

Mm, not bad!

Lu Xiu was just about to praise me when he saw me suddenly lift my shirt. He immediately stopped me.

“What are you doing?!” He ground out the words between clenched teeth.

“Eh? Brushing my teeth, are you stupid? After brushing the top mouth, I have to brush the bottom mouth. This is common sense, got it?”

“And you have the nerve to talk to me about common sense?” His voice went shrill with anger.

“What’s embarrassing about it…”

I muttered, not getting his point.

“…Tsk.” He rubbed his messy hair, pained. “Maybe I should have taught you about shame first.”

“Mm… don’t get it.”

He let go, glanced at me, his tone exhausted and powerless: “Fine, finish brushing your teeth, but put your underwear on properly before coming out.”

With that, he closed the bathroom door.

“What’s he even talking about…”

I couldn’t be bothered, so I lifted my shirt and cheerfully started brushing my big mouth.

After brushing my teeth, I felt bright and refreshed.

I even ate five or six extra bowls of breakfast.

“I want more!”

I waved my empty bowl at him and shouted.

“There isn’t any left. You ate three days’ worth of rice in one go.”

“Then cook some more!”

“…You… it’s not your money, so you don’t care, huh?”

He scrubbed the dishes with a blank expression.

“Fine, I won’t eat then.”

I pouted and flopped onto the sofa.

Other than Lu Xiu’s big bed, my favorite place was the living room sofa.

Because it’s big.

Big is good.

“Don’t lie down after eating, it’s bad for digestion.”

“I want to lie down.”

After finishing the dishes, he changed into formal clothes and looked quite serious.

“Get up, time to go to the Response Bureau.”

He nudged the sofa with his foot.

“Is it the place I stayed at before?”

“That was the [Black Box], where they keep contained objects, Aberrants, and demons. Normal people don’t go there.”

“You were locked up in a special Black Box at a branch of the Response Bureau, also called the Containment and Supervision Section.”

“You think I understand all that?”

“…Whether you get it or not, you need to know this stuff. I don’t want my partner to be a clueless idiot.”

“I’m not an idiot.”

He said nothing, just gave me that dead-fish stare.

“…Well, you still haven’t answered me, are we going to that Black Box?”

“No, the Black Box is hundreds of meters below the Response Bureau. Today, we’re just going to hand over the ball-shaped silver coin you coughed up.”

“Alright.”

As long as they’re not locking me up again.

“And you need to change your clothes.” He glanced at my head, obviously relieved when he saw the underwear was gone.

“Best wear a hoodie, cover your horns, put on sunglasses—basically, don’t show any non-human traits.”

“Why? It’s such a hassle…”

“We’re doing this to avoid trouble. There are plenty of people in the Response Bureau who hate Aberrants or demons. If they see you, they might deliberately make trouble. It’s for your own safety.”

“Can’t you just protect me?”

He went silent, but this time the silence was heavier than usual.

Just when I started to think I’d said something wrong, the tense atmosphere suddenly dissipated.

“Go change, I’ll wait outside. And put your shoes on—don’t come back with muddy feet every time and drag it into the house. I’m tired of cleaning up after you.”

He walked out the door first.