Chapter 881: NO．4：Shinjo Akane Is a Hard-to-Understand Roommate

NO. 4: Shinjo Akane is a hard-to-understand roommate

"The monster designs in 'SSSS. GRIDMAN'... well, they say people like Maruyama and Goto-sensei were involved in the design, but for me, everything was genuinely designed by me!!"

"Undoubtedly, even today's creations are like this—consistently absurd, truly embodying the essence of the word 'monster'."

"That little snake isn't here to interrogate me, is it?"

"Do you think you're guilty?"

"Uh..."

"I forgave the things you plotted with Suzuko."

"Then I'm innocent!"

——Memory file, 10.3.18:42

The screen froze on a certain pink-haired JK, who, upon hearing Ohma's sigh with guilt, suddenly leapt up in joy.

Ohma looked at the girl dragging her slippers listlessly before him, and felt, for a moment, as if separated by an eternity.

Indeed, a time difference of over ten days isn't short, but the reason for this gap isn't due to any major event—it's simply because Miss Shinjo hasn't woken up yet.

——On Saturday mornings, you can't expect a high school student to wake up early and talk to you clearly.

Even now, it's not exactly early.

At 10:20 AM, for some rushed families, this time is already enough to head to the kitchen and prepare something.

"Good morning~ Little Snake~"

"You said that three hours ago, Miss Shinjo."

"Three hours ago... uh, was it Witch-chan?"

"Yes," Ohma slightly nodded, guiding her to recall, "You had breakfast then."

When Speed, Tea Seat, and Bourbon weren't around, Omer chose to have the Witch Beast pull Tea out of bed to avoid the many inconveniences of being alone with someone of the opposite sex.

Just from the astonishing words of the previous Belsta Beast, one can see the Witch Beast has recently been in contact with some subtle human works.

What does this mean?

It means this Digimon, which previously lacked any gender awareness, although still seemingly lacking it now, will, during its playful mature phase, consciously engage in mischief.

Trying to look at the partner's jokes.

Like deliberately pushing a disheveled Akane to Ohma in the early morning, even holding her with unclean hands and feet to present her accumulated fruit... Ohma thinks sexual harassment laws should also apply to Digimon.

And when the other party winks and leers, he also thinks anti-sexual harassment laws should be enforced similarly.

And that Akane, who has maintained an almost inexplicable low blood pressure state, nearly finished breakfast by instinct, then went back to sleep, only now finally dragging herself downstairs by willpower.

Still appearing as if she just escaped the poison of a hypnosis app, dazed and confused.

"Mm... what did I eat for breakfast again?"

"Rice porridge, pickled vegetables, tea eggs, grilled fish, fried tempura, miso soup—the breakfast format you were thinking of yesterday."

"Mm..."

"So when it came time to eat, you just couldn't remember?"

"Uh... I think, I'm remembering..." Miss Shinjo's warm-up phase gradually completed.

"And furthermore, she was taken advantage of by a mentally unhealthy Witch Beast—I suggest you directly sue her for sexual harassment."

"Ah... doesn't matter."

"I can't tell you two have mutual affection—truly disrespectful."

"Not at all—just thinking about it, I know it's definitely to tease Little Snake!"

"Turns out it's a secretly formed bullying alliance, where the bullied Miss Shinjo doesn't hesitate to give welfare to her roommate just to maintain that fragile friendship."

"I'm going to punch Little Snake—this uppercut kind."

"I'm truly sorry for overstepping." Ohma bowed his head in apology, very straightforwardly.

"Pfft..."

Seeing him like this, Akane couldn't help but laugh: "I used to wonder... what expression and movement Little Snake would make when saying this in reality..."

"When I actually saw Little Snake, I thought I wouldn't see her again."

"Well, not quite that bad."

"But, but Little Snake usually seems like someone who never makes mistakes~" The girl pouted, blaming the youth for his disgrace on foolish online friends, "I still feel today a bit of what I felt when chatting online back then!"

"I think it's because back then, I still thought Kaelif was a gentleman."

When assuming online friends are all same-sex, topics become more unrestrained, even various strange brother emojis come to hand—this is what Ohma observed from Beze's group chat behavior.

"Little Snake is just too distant from women!"

"I think that's proper respect."

"Over-respecting friends is itself a form of disrespect!"

"Indeed, but I think this can't be applied to sexual harassment cases."

"Annoying! The little snake is really nitpicky!"

"...... Alright, then let's not talk about this," Ohma, who didn't understand why this counted as nitpicking, only felt the atmosphere might head toward an argument, so he decisively changed the subject: "Got time? Later today, and this afternoon."

"Huh? Are we going to the monster zoo or something again?"

The topic shift was very successful; the girl's eyes gleamed with light.

"Unfortunately, it's a gathering, and a meeting at Apo Monster Limited."

"Uh... Little Snake you," the girl's eyes, which had just sparkled, instantly turned to tears, "You're not trying to check my recent expenses, are you?"

"I wouldn't even go so far as to monitor my roommate's spending," Ohma said somewhat speechlessly, "This time is still about investigating that strange monster, for which I specifically collaborated with Abru's director, and also invited Gilbalis, Jesstice, Beze, and Suzuko."

"Sounds like a real messy combo," Shinjo said somewhat speechlessly, "How come even your classmate came."

"He can say Godzilla, he can say Ultraman, and later even proposed referencing the crystal monster Girars for reference—his understanding of the tokusatsu version of Ultraman is probably deeper than mine."

"Little Snake, has this already been confirmed? Is this related to Gurrit?"

"There's also a possibility it's related to Ultraman Ace," Aomo shrugged, "after all, several key pieces of intelligence point directly to the data domain."

"But if there are any clues from your world, I hope you can receive the news as soon as possible."

"..."

Seeing the other party silent for a moment without giving an answer, Aomo sighed: "If you're busy, we can also talk remotely."

Although from Terra Heart's passive response, this matter is likely not as severe as the damage caused by Rebrondo last time, so Aomo and Jie Si Ti Si's investigation is also proceeding slowly.

But judging from the situation at Abru Company, Aomo is worried this might be an abnormal condition spreading to all monsters.

To Terra Heart, whether there are many or few monsters in this world, or even if they disappear, it doesn't matter, but to him it's not like that.

Likewise, I'm sure it's absolutely not a small matter for Xie either, though this is still just speculation, and he hasn't said it to her yet.

Should I also put this speculation upfront for better effect?

"Little Snake!"

"?"

He was still habitually thinking about how to improve his interpersonal interactions when he suddenly heard such a loud sentence, causing him to involuntarily lower his head and look at the girl in front of him.

"What time is 'later'?"

"We agreed to meet at 11:20; if you're going by motorcycle, you have half an hour to prepare, of course if you have other things to do you can also push it to 11:00," although Aomo isn't very fond of this punctual arrival behavior, he's more used to preparing at least half an hour in advance, "I can also teleport you there."

"Then I'll go back to wash up again and put on some makeup!"

"No need……so formal……"

Before he finished speaking, he saw her patter-patter running upstairs; Aomo tilted his head in confusion, watching her back as she climbed the stairs, truly worried she might trip if she ran too fast.