"Ma… ma… marriage?!" Lily's face turned scarlet, and for a mont she couldn't string a proper sentence together.
Loris fixed all three of her eyes on Lily, waiting for an answer. "Loris, don't be so rude."
Seeing Lily's embarrassnt, Boros scolded her. Under Shinji's influence, Boros had picked up a fair bit of this planet's manners in recent tis.
"Brother, since when did you get so fussy about this kind of thing?" Loris was visibly surprised.
At last, after struggling for a while, Lily found her voice again.
"N-no… that kind of thing is impossible…" She shook her head in panic, her cheeks afla.
"Really?" Loris didn't seem convinced at all and pressed for a clear answer.
"Y-yes, really…" Lily nodded once again, but her tone carried hesitation.
Because, in truth, she had only denied it out of shyness. Deep down, she could suppress the thought of dating Shiji.
"I see." Loris clapped her hands together, a smile spreading across her face.
"This…" Looking at her expression, Lily felt increasingly uneasy.
Every ti she denied having a special relationship with Shinji, Loris looked delighted.
Which clearly ant…
"Miss Loris." Lily's tone suddenly grew very serious.
"Mm?" Loris let out a questioning sound.
"You're the one who wants to marry Shinji, aren't you?" Lily shot back the question.
"!!!" Loris froze.
She didn't respond right away but instead sank into thought.
Being reminded like that, she realized she had been acting strangely lately… Feeling happy over inexplicable things, bothered by inexplicable things…
"Maybe you're right, but honestly I don't really understand it myself." Loris answered. Her straightforwardness left Lily montarily speechless.
Sip~!
Genos quietly sipped his tea.
He knew this wasn't the kind of situation he should interrupt.
He thought to himself how tough things were for Master, working tirelessly to grow stronger, while also having to deal with the complications of won.
Still… perhaps this, too, was part of his teacher's path to strength.
With that thought, Genos pulled out his little notebook again, scribbling away who-knows-what.
"Lily, since you don't want to marry Shinji, then I'll be the one to beco his wife." Loris suddenly stood up and declared her claim before Lily.
"Huh…? Wait, hold on a second!" Lily quickly countered, "You can't just skip straight to marriage! You need to start with romance!"
"Romance? What's that? Sothing to eat?" Loris tilted her head slightly, her face filled with confusion. She had no concept of what "romance" even ant.
"Miss Loris… you really don't know what romance is…?" Lily was taken aback.
Could it be… because she's an alien?
"Not at all." Loris shook her head.
"I see… so Miss Loris only has the idea of marriage, but not romance?"
Lily finally understood why Loris had been asking such outrageous questions.
"Yes, but what about it?" Even Loris's response sounded uncertain.
"…Then let ask, how do you actually understand the word 'marriage,' Miss Loris?" Lily probed, curious about her perspective.
"Of course it's about producing offspring. But I don't really care about that part…" Loris thought carefully. "For , it's more about wanting to be with him. I just feel happy when I'm around him."
"…" Lily fell silent.
Loris was completely serious, and by this point, she had obviously fallen for him. But that realization triggered alarm bells in Lily's heart. She couldn't just sit back and do nothing, nor could she afford to speak carelessly.
She felt that what she had just said to Loris might have backfired, making her all the more aware of her own feelings. That was definitely not a good thing.
No, no, no!
Lily shook her head furiously.
Why was she treating Miss Loris like so kind of romantic rival?!
Her conflicting thoughts only made her face burn hotter. Her cheeks flushed, her head spun, and her mind descended into chaos.
…
Not long after, Shinji and Saitama carried the dishes out of the kitchen one after another.
"Dinner's ready," Shinji called out.
As Lily passed by him on her way to wash her hands, he noticed her cheeks were still flushed and that she looked distracted.
"Are you running a fever?" Shinji imdiately reached out, pressing his hand to her forehead to check her temperature.
"You really are a bit warm…" But before he could finish the thought, the direct contact from his hand made her face burn even hotter.
"No, you're really burning up…" Shinji began to wonder if Lily really was sick.
"N-no… I'm not sick! I'll just wash my face!" Lily bolted away in a panic.
"…"
Shinji stared after her, baffled. If it wasn't a fever, then why was she so hot? Seriously, there should already be a study to understand won's psychology.
anwhile, Lily splashed cold water over her face at the sink, trying to cool herself down the hard way.
Loris, on the other hand, acted as if nothing unusual had happened.
…
"Let's eat!"
Everyone started their al.
By now, Lily's face still carried a faint blush, but at least the heat had subsided.
What really caught her attention now was the food Shinji had made. The aroma alone was irresistible~! Could his cooking really be this good?
Lily was amazed. Usually, soone with overwhelming strength had at least one area they weren't good at. But Shinji wasn't just powerful; he seed capable of everything.
Curious, Lily tried a bite…
The exquisite flavor blood across her tongue, sending a rush of sensation through her taste buds.
Just one bite left Lily completely stunned. She quickly covered her mouth with her hand, afraid she might lose composure in front of everyone.
"Let's all dig in. I only helped out a little, and Shinji handled the seasoning, heat, and other details. So you can bet it's delicious." Saitama said casually.
"That's right. I love Shinji's cooking the most." Loris nodded with a cheerful smile.
Having spent so ti on Earth already, she had naturally eaten at Shinji's place before. That was when she first realized how incredible this planet's food could taste.
"That's why I want to marry Shinji, so I can eat his food for the rest of my life." Loris declared without the slightest hint of embarrassnt.
"…Don't say things that people can misunderstand." Shinji gave her a speechless look.
Clearly, he had taken her words as nothing more than a joke.
…
After dinner.
Lily sat in the living room, resting for a while. She wasn't in a hurry to leave since she still had evening lessons.
After about half an hour, she and Shinji returned to the room together.
"Alright, let's continue." Shinji sat down beside her, ready to resu tutoring.
But soon, he noticed sothing was off. Lily's focus wasn't there; her mind seed to wander.
After finishing his explanation of a practice problem, he deliberately asked, "Lily, I just covered an important point. Do you rember what it was?"
"Uh… um…"
Lily snapped to attention but couldn't recall what he had just explained.
"I-I'm sorry… I wasn't really paying attention…" She lowered her head in apology.
"It's fine. Just focus from here on."
Then, with a hint of concern, Shinji asked, "Is sothing bothering you? You weren't like this earlier today. If sothing's on your mind, you can tell , maybe I can help."
What he didn't realize was that the very source of Lily's troubles… was him.
"Ah…"
Lily lifted her head, her lips parting slightly as if to speak, but the words caught in her throat.
How… how was she supposed to say this?
After hesitating, she finally blurted out, "What do you… what do you think of Miss Loris?"
"What do I think of Loris…?" Shinji paused, surprised by the question.
"She's Boros's younger sister. Nothing much to say, really. When we first t, we even fought each other."
That was his answer.
If not for her connection to Boros, he probably wouldn't have had any dealings with her at all.
"Oh, I see…" Lily nodded slightly.
So, in Shinji's eyes, Miss Loris was just a friend's sister?
She couldn't help but feel a wave of relief. At least he didn't have that kind of feeling toward her. At the sa ti, she slowly began to realize her own emotions. As she thought, she too… liked Shinji.
"Um…"
She spoke again, her voice soft. "If… I an if! If a girl who's still in middle school… l-liked you, what would you think?"
"Of course, that wouldn't be okay," Shinji replied without the slightest hesitation.
"Eh? Not okay?" Lily hadn't expected him to reject the idea so firmly.
The decisiveness of it left her no ti to feel sad, as her first reaction was pure shock.
"Isn't it obvious? A middle schooler is way too young. At the very least, sothing like that should wait until adulthood." Shinji spoke matter-of-factly.
If he were also a middle schooler, then at most it would just count as young romance, sothing quite common in Japan. But since he was already an adult, he naturally wouldn't have those kinds of thoughts about a girl that age.
"Uh…" Lily froze. But thinking it over, it did make sense.
"By the way, who exactly is this girl you're talking about? I don't really interact with any middle schoolers." Shinji asked curiously.
The only ti he could think of was that one visit to the bubble tea shop with Lily, where they had run into so middle school girls…
"Oh, that… it's just… just a friend of mine." Lily scrambled to cover for herself.
The classic "I have a friend" excuse.
"I see. Then could you pass a ssage along for ? If she still feels that way after becoming an adult, then I'd definitely give it serious thought." Shinji said with a light smile.
"I… I see…" Lily let out a small breath of relief, though her feelings were tangled.
She had hidden behind the excuse out of shyness, but now that Shinji had genuinely taken it as about her "friend," the realization left her conflicted.
"But… this is about your friend, right? Then why do you look so embarrassed?" Shinji asked in puzzlent.
"You…!" Lily's face flushed with indignation. "Are you teasing on purpose?"
She honestly couldn't tell if he had seen through her or not.
"No, not at all. I was just confused." Shinji shook his head lightly.
"Ugh…" Lily sighed. "Anyway, thank you. I feel like I can focus and study properly now."
After talking with him, her earlier anxiety had quietly faded away.
"Good." Shinji nodded.
From then on, Lily resud studying, though her mind couldn't help drifting back to Shinji and Loris. She might have a chance, but with Shinji's view of middle school girls… it seed unlikely she could get ahead of Miss Loris.
Even so… she wouldn't give up. After all, romance wasn't only about being in an official relationship.
Just studying together with Shinji in the sa room already felt extraordinary.
…
Ti flew by.
Before she knew it, it was already 9 p.m.
For Lily, that was late enough; if she didn't head ho soon, her parents would surely worry.
Shinji noticed the ti as well and spoke up: "Let's stop here for today. It's dangerous if it gets too late. I'll walk you ho."
This world wasn't exactly peaceful, since monsters and wanted criminals were more likely to appear at night. For a B-Class hero like Lily, it was still risky.
"Alright, then I'll trouble you for that." Lily bowed politely in thanks.
In the living room, when Loris saw Lily with her schoolbag and Shinji changing clothes, she asked, "You two are heading out?"
"Lily's going ho. Her place is pretty far, and with monsters lurking around at night, I figured I should walk her back." Shinji explained.
"I could escort her as well. Protecting her wouldn't be a problem." Loris offered.
"That's true, but…" Shinji was about to say that he had already promised Lily, so it wouldn't be right to suddenly change,
But before he could finish, Lily cut in.
"No…" Clutching the hem of Shinji's shirt, her face tinged red, Lily spoke with a hint of stubbornness. "I want Shinji to be the one who takes ho…"
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