While waiting for the takeout, Hisaki suddenly tilted her head and said something to the white fur ball curled up on the sofa pretending not to exist.
“Shiro, while we wait for the food, want to go see your room?”
Rina was idly twisting a strand of half-dry hair around her finger, but at those words, her fingers stopped.
She looked up, a flicker of surprise passing through her sky-blue pupils.
“…My room?”
“The second bedroom, the door on the left side of the corridor.”
Hisaki’s tone was light.
“It’s prepared for you.”
Rina was silent for two seconds.
Then, on her face—still flushed pink from the recent shower—a rather insufferable smile slowly spread.
“Huh~?”
She dragged the sound out long, sat up straight from the sofa, crossed her legs, and let one slipper dangle and sway from her foot.
“And here I thought you, this perverted kidnapper, would just drag me straight into your room to sleep with you.”
She said it with absolute confidence.
“Mm.”
No rebuttal. Not even a change in expression.
She tilted her head slightly, her long black hair slipping from her shoulder, and then—
Her dark red eyes fixed on Rina with a dull expression.
“If you want, we can do that right now.”
“Wha—?!”
“…The bed’s in the master bedroom. Less than ten steps from here.”
Hisaki’s voice was unhurried, and there wasn’t a trace of joking in those dark red eyes.
“I promise, once Shiro lies down on it, she won’t want to get up.”
Rina’s smile froze on her face.
The look in her eyes when she said that was too serious.
So serious that Rina’s mind uncontrollably conjured an image—
Herself being pressed onto that bed by this woman with the absurd strength, struggling for three seconds, then giving up, and from then on becoming one with the mattress.
…That’s not “not wanting to get up after lying down.”
That’s being pinned down so hard she literally can’t get up, isn’t it?!
Rina snapped her face to the side, turning the back of her head to Hisaki, and used every ounce of effort to make her voice sound utterly unbothered.
“…I’m going. To look at the room.”
A soft laugh came from behind her.
Rina didn’t turn around.
Too dangerous. Everything this woman says is too dangerous. Better to just ignore it.
Ignoring is the most effective defense mechanism humanity has against incomprehensible things.
She jumped off the sofa and headed toward the corridor.
Hisaki followed at a leisurely pace, their footsteps alternating in the quiet hallway.
The second bedroom’s door was white, the same color as the corridor walls. The moment it swung open, Rina’s steps halted.
The room was bigger than she’d imagined.
In the center was a 1.5-meter bed with pink bedding, three pillows neatly propped against the headboard.
A fluffy round carpet lay beside the bed, the kind that would swallow your toes if you stepped on it.
In the corner sat a giant lop-eared rabbit plush, its long ears drooping, staring at her with a dull expression.
It was cute.
Too cute.
So cute that Rina was momentarily speechless.
She stood in the middle of the room, looked around, and then spoke.
“Just how long…”
Her voice was lower than usual. No deliberate arrogance, just genuine confusion layered over it.
Rina turned around, her sky-blue eyes fixed directly on Hisaki.
“…have you been stalking me to get all this ready?”
This couldn’t be explained by “being well-prepared” alone.
Rina stood there, running through every possibility in her head. Getting the measurements right requires observation.
Observation requires distance.
Distance requires…
She remembered the bridge above the underpass.
Hisaki must have watched her from that bridge.
Then calculated her height, her weight, her shoe size, her clothing size, her sleeping habits, her favorite colors, the type of plush toys she might like.
I see.
Rina muttered four words to herself, then looked at Hisaki, her expression turning somewhat complicated.
…So this is the birdcage yandere type?
A term she’d read in a book, never imagining she’d encounter it in real life.
Hisaki leaned against the doorframe, her dark red eyes quietly watching her.
She just smiled.
Rina felt goosebumps crawl from her arms all the way up to the back of her neck.
Hisaki followed Rina into the room.
She stood by the bed, watching the white fur ball in front of her…
Then Shiro opened the wardrobe.
The moment the doors slid open, Rina saw a wardrobe full of clothes.
Rina ran her hand through the row of underwear, her mouth twitching.
Even things this intimately personal had been prepared.
“Planned this for a long time, huh.”
She muttered under her breath, then pushed the drawer back and closed the wardrobe doors.
The escape plan’s difficulty just went up.
She re-evaluated the situation in her mind.
This level of preparation meant the kidnapper absolutely would not let her get away easily.
She glanced sideways at the kidnapper leaning against the bed.
This woman was still smiling.
Rina’s mind raced.
There’s no way I can outrun her right now.
She’d experienced Hisaki’s strength firsthand—that grip that didn’t budge an inch.
And she didn’t fully understand this apartment’s electronic lock system yet. If she ran to the door and couldn’t get it open, that would be awkward.
Act obedient.
First, act obedient. Let her lower her guard. Once I figure out the way out, then I run.
But what about after I get out?
Rina frowned.
A kidnapper who studied her to this degree in one month—this woman’s drive and persistence were far beyond normal.
Even if she successfully escaped, would she give up?
Definitely not.
She’d chase after her, find her with the same patience and persistence.
…How do I keep from being caught again?
That was also a problem.
Rina sighed, so quietly only she could hear it.
“So hard.”
But.
She remembered that punishment.
That “forced return to previous bedridden state, spending the rest of your life in bed.”
White ceiling, the smell of disinfectant, the window that was always closed…
No.
Absolutely not.
Rina clenched her fist tightly, giving herself a mental boost.
No matter how hard it is, I have to get out.
To avoid being sent back to that hospital bed, to use this healthy body to do the things she’d dreamed of in her previous life, she had to complete the mission.
Hisaki had somehow walked up beside her without her noticing. She lowered her head and asked softly.
“Does Shiro like it?”
Rina looked up and saw Hisaki’s gaze sweep over the wardrobe, then land back on her face.
Those dark red eyes held a hint of expectation, a hint of seriousness, and a hint of smugness…
Rina stared into those eyes, and a strange thought suddenly popped into her head.
If there was no system.
If there was no ridiculous mission requiring her to escape from captivity to be revived.
Being caught and taken care of… might not be so bad.
She wanted fried chicken, this woman ordered fried chicken. She wanted to sleep in, this woman probably wouldn’t stop her.
She wouldn’t have to do anything, pampered like a young lady, while that kidnapper who looked like some elite professional served as her personal maid.
She’d just have to indulge her maid’s strange little quirks from time to time.
Rina shook that thought out of her head.
What do you mean “from time to time”—that’s the whole point!
And even if she was taken care of well, it was still a cage.
No matter how pretty the cage, it was still a cage.
She was a person, not a golden canary.
So Rina put back on her signature insufferable expression—chin lifted slightly, eyes narrowed, the corner of her mouth holding three parts disdain and seven parts contempt.
“Hmph~ Who’d like stuff prepared by a perverted, obsessive kidnapper!”
Hisaki heard that and, sure enough, didn’t get angry.
She just looked at Rina’s face, and then… smiled.
So cute.
This Shiro, she’s just too cute.
Hisaki straightened up, turned toward the door, and her tone returned to its usual gentleness.
“Then Shiro, take your time getting familiar with the room. I’ll call you when the food arrives.”
And then she left.
She really left.
Rina watched Hisaki’s silhouette disappear at the end of the corridor, stunned for two seconds.
This kidnapper actually gave her alone time?
Is that trust?
Or confidence?
Rina thought about it for about three seconds, then decided…
Not thinking about it.
She turned around and faced the bed with the pink bedding.
Bed.
She walked over and sat down.
The mattress was just right—not so soft you sank in, not so firm it was hard. It was the kind of softness that supported every curve of your body perfectly.
She reached out and touched the fluffy down pillow. It felt like a cloud.
Rina leaned back and flopped onto the bed, lying flat.
Her silver-white hair fanned out across the pink bedsheets, and the ceiling light cast a soft glow.
She stared at the ceiling for three seconds of blankness, then…
She rolled over.
Then rolled again.
She rolled across the bed twice, threw open the blanket, crawled under it, then rolled once more, wrapping herself into a tightly sealed blanket cocoon.
Only a white-fur-ball head poked out, sky-blue eyes blinking.
Being wrapped up felt reassuring.
In her previous life at the hospital, the blanket was the only barrier between her and the world.
Wrap the blanket tight, and the sounds outside grew quieter, the smell of disinfectant faded, and the pain of examinations and treatments became less real.
Rina burrowed deeper into the blanket.
Comfortable.
The bed was comfortable, the blanket was comfortable, the pillow was comfortable.
Hisaki was a perverted kidnapper, but she did have good taste.
Rina mentally slapped a “pervert, but aesthetic sense on point” label on Hisaki while she lounged in her blanket cocoon, not wanting to move for now.
Anyway, the food hadn’t arrived yet.
I’ll lie here a bit longer first.