"A scamr?"
Hearing Yutsuki's words, Shido looked at the girl lying on the street in surprise and said in confusion, "Is that so? I don't think so. That girl looks about the sa age as us. Maybe she ran into so trouble."
"Too sweet! Too naive, Shido!"
Patting Shido's shoulder, Yutsuki spoke with earnest gravity.
"You can't judge everything just by the surface. Who says a high school girl can't be a scamr? This society is much more complex than you imagine. Old people faking illness for fraud, won engaging in 'compensated dating' to make money, fake couples claiming they lost their wallets while traveling and asking for travel expenses, and so on. Even if you don't see it, there are people in this world who live by feeding off the kindness of others. A beggar you see on the street might make more money than a corporate slave working in a month."
"I-I see..." Faced with Yutsuki's long lecture, Shido broke into a slight sweat. Although he went along with her words, his gaze still involuntarily drifted back to the girl on the ground.
Honestly, Yutsuki was right. Shido occasionally saw similar news on TV. Even for soone like Shido, he had no intention of giving away the money in his wallet to that kind of person.
But... for so reason, Shido felt that she wasn't that kind of person.
"What if... I an just what if... if that girl really is in trouble and no one goes to help, wouldn't that be pitiful?"
Hearing Shido's words, Yutsuki raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why do you think that?"
"Um... intuition?"
"Honestly, you..." Yutsuki was left speechless by Shido's unconvincing answer. She scratched her hair, hesitated for a mont, and finally sighed in defeat. "Fine, being a softie is one of your good points, I guess. If it really is soone in trouble, I'd have a bad conscience if I ignored them."
"Mhm. Thank you, Yutsuki."
"However, before that. Let confirm sothing."
Confirm?
Under Shido's puzzled gaze, Yutsuki made a shushing gesture, signaling him to stay put. She quieted her footsteps and slowly approached the woman.
"..."
(No obvious external injuries. Breathing is quite steady. Even though her eyes are closed, she's clearly faking sleep.)
The other party clearly didn't notice Yutsuki's approach and remained motionless on the ground, playing dead.
First, Shido's guess was wrong. After a brief observation, Yutsuki made her judgnt.
(However, having said that... she doesn't look like a scamr either.)
In this cold winter, the girl was wearing only a thin set of indoor clothes with a coat thrown over them. She wasn't even wearing socks with her slippers. While this didn't clear her of suspicion in Yutsuki's mind, there was clearly no need to deliberately suffer like this just for a scam.
She had ssy, unkempt short grey hair and heavy dark circles under the fras of her red glasses. Though they weren't as bad as Reine's, it was clear she had been pulling all-nighters for a long ti. Her lips were very dry, looking like she hadn't drunk much water, and her nutrition seed lacking.
"...I'm... hungry..."
The girl's eyes peeked open a tiny slit. Upon spotting Yutsuki, she let out a faint moan. Her stomach cooperated with a loud "growl," making her ssage perfectly clear.
(I guess she's not wrong in a way... whatever.)
A mysterious girl hungry and collapsed on the street saved by the protagonist—Yutsuki felt that obsessing over these details would only make her tired, so she sighed. She turned and waved to Shido, calling him over to help.
Furthermore, she couldn't tell if it was just her imagination, but Yutsuki felt like she recognized this woman, even though her face was clearly one she was seeing for the first ti.
(Could it be...)
...
Carrying the girl who claid to have fainted from hunger on his back, Shido followed her directions and arrived at the entrance of a high-end apartnt building with Yutsuki.
"Is... is it really here?" Shido asked the girl in disbelief. No matter how he looked at it, he couldn't connect a girl who almost starved to death on the street with such a luxury apartnt.
"Yeah. Ah, were you thinking I should be living in a run down apartnt?"
"Ugh, n-no, it's not that..." Embarrassed that she had seen right through him, Shido answered vaguely. But the girl didn't seem to mind; in fact, she looked rather proud and giggled.
"Hehehe, it's nothing. What do you call it? Right, gap moe! As a guy, shouldn't you be getting excited right now?"
"...Um?" Shido was completely baffled, not understanding what she ant. Just as he was struggling with how to respond, Yutsuki, who had been silent all the way, suddenly sighed and interjected.
"The gap moe of a 'drifter girl' having a hidden 'rich lady' attribute, right?"
"Exactly, exactly! As expected of Biri-chan, you really get it!" The girl nodded with sparkling eyes, as if her previous weakness had all been an act.
"Biri-chan..." Yutsuki's mouth twitched at being given such a problematic nickna by a stranger whose na she didn't even know.
Drifter girl? Rich lady attribute? Biri-chan?
Hearing their strange conversation, Shido felt completely out of the loop.
Reaching the main gate of the apartnt, a building of this grade naturally had an automatic lock. However, the girl was clearly in no state to operate the panel right now.
Just as Shido was wondering if he should close his eyes while she entered the code, the girl spoke up.
"Ah. The room is 1801, the code is 1234."
"What about security!?" Shido couldn't help but shout.
"Nice retort, boy!"
"Thank you—Wait, no! Don't give your code to soone you just t. And I'm a guy!"
"My~ what are you planning to do? Boy, you're so lewd~"
"That's not it! I'm talking about general logic!"
"I see. Herbivore on the outside, carnivore on the inside... that kind of gap moe makes one popular. I've learned sothing today."
"Are you even listening to ?" Shido felt the conversation was on completely different wavelengths. Besides, the suspicious glare from the nearby building manager was really starting to sting.
"Is it the 'airhead attribute' this ti? You really love playing around," Yutsuki remarked with a speechless glance at the girl. She entered the code as instructed, and once the gate opened, she urged the two of them.
"Alright, you two. That's enough improv manzai. Let's go."(TL:manzai is a traditional Japanese cody style)
"Okay~"
"I wasn't doing manzai..." Shido muttered to himself as they moved.
Soon, the three took the elevator and walked down the hallway to the designated room. Shido had intended to leave her there, but the girl claid she was so weak she would faint the mont her feet touched the ground, so she insisted Shido carry her inside.
Where did all that energy just now co from then? Shido thought.
"Sigh... I got it. Give the key. I'll open the door for you."
"That's the spirit. Ah, the key is in my back pocket. Be gentle when you take it out, okay?"
"Why would you put it in a place like that!?"
"Oh, don't be such a killjoy. It's a thank-you gift, of course. Even if you accidentally slip your hand into my pants, as long as it's outside the underwear, I'll turn a blind eye~"
As she spoke, the girl tightened her arms around Shido's neck slightly and whispered into his ear in a sowhat suggestive voice.
"—!?"
"In the pants pocket? Got it."
However, before Shido could even process the thought, Yutsuki reached into the girl's pocket, swiftly pulled out the key, and opened the door.
"Eh~ What gives, Biri-chan? You broke the flag I worked so hard to set up." The girl spoke with a hint of dissatisfaction. Shido, on the other hand, breathed a secret sigh of relief. Saved.
"Hm? What are you talking about? I just normally opened the door according to your request," Yutsuki replied flatly.
"Ugh... I see. So that's how it is~" Suddenly, the girl looked like she had reached a realization. She looked at Yutsuki with an intrigued smile. "Biri-chan, did you step in because you were jealous of getting intimate with the boy? Are you a tsundere? Or are you actually a closet lesbian? My, either way is so moe."
"..."
"Um... Yutsuki?" Shido asked uneasily, though his voice carried a tiny bit of expectation.
Yutsuki silently pulled open the door, took off her shoes, and walked inside without a word.
"Ah, right. I forgot one thing." Seemingly rembering sothing, Yutsuki turned back. Looking at the girl on Shido's back, she said with a smile—but in a very pitying tone:
"Despite what I said earlier, in reality, as a shut-in otaku girl like you, none of those attributes actually qualify as a charm point~"
Crack!
In that instant, Shido felt like he heard the sound of the girl on his back turning to stone and shattering.
(Sigh, I should have just listened to Yutsuki from the start.) Shido thought with regret as he let out an exhausted sigh.
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