As soon as Ais smmed the door, she instantly turo me, her eyes gleaming as she stared at the box I held. I couldn't help but find her behavior amusing; it seemed so out of character for her.

  She really loves my book.

  "You're not kidding, are you?" she asked.

  I heard her question and used the key to unlock the box. Ais's eyes sparkled even more when the book's cover became visible. She desperately tried to snatch the box from my hands, but I pulled away.

  "First, you have to thank me," I teased. But Ais took it seriously and began thanki was funny how she acted like a little puppy.

  She kept her hands outstretched and tio stare fiercely at the box.

  I slowly pced the box in her hands, and Ais looked at it more closely. She was so excited she couldn't say a word; she was pletely frozen.

  "Are you okay? Are you that happy?"

  "Of course! I'm the first person to have the sed volume, right?"

  "Yes."

  "Yes! I don't know how to thank you. I'm so happy. It's so beautiful. Who made this art? Don't tell me you drew this."

  "No, it wasn't me. An artist did the cover."

  "I was scared for a sed, thinking you had a talent for that too. But it's beautiful, amazing. Seriously, the artist mao capture the characters so well. That's exactly how I imagihem. They're perfect together; I wonder if everything will work out."

  Ais was talking about Emilia and Subaru. It's plicated to talk about that, so it's best not to extend the versatiive her spoilers.

  "I think it's better not to discuss that."

  "I don't want spoilers." Ais took the book out of the box and flipped through a few pages. "I want to read it all right now, but I must trol myself."

  "Do you have anything pnned for today?" At my question, Ais pulled her eyes away from the book and looked at me. Her cheeks turned red, and she replied.

  "I'm going to the duoday. And you..."

  "Do you wao go with you?"

  "No, I wouldn't ask you that! I just wao know if you saw..." Her face grew redder and redder. Her excitement was turning into embarrassment as she remembered what had happened earlier.

  "Are you talking about your breasts?"

  "You saw... I'm sure you saw..." she said, turning away. "But I don't care. It's fine."

  "You don't o worry. It is beautiful," I told Ais.

  She remained silent. After the awkward silence, Ais turoward me, hugging the book. "Thank you so much for this. I'm gd you e to get the first copy."

  "You're a big fan, and we're friends. Isn't that reason enough?"

  "...Yes, friends."

  "Aren't we friends?"

  "That's not what I meant." Ais cleared her throat. "Thanks again, Luan. We should go out to eat together sometime. I'll repay you for remembering me."

  "I'll look forward to that."

  Once again, awkward silence filled the room. Ais seemed quite nervous, so I decided to say goodbye. I could have pushed things further, but I chose to hold back.

  But it worked. Ais seems to be getting closer and closer, and she seems to like me more and more.

  Who would have thought Re: Zero would help me with this?

  'She hasn't been won over yet. Don't rush it. She's just paying more attention to me now. I've made her notice that I care about her, and that's enough.'

  Ais made a point of walkio the exit of the Loki Familia house.

  There, we ran into Bete, who seemed immensely annoyed by how close we were. But we didn't pay him much attention, and we parted ways with smiles on our faces. I couldn't help but notice that Ais was blushing the eime.

  My [Charming Aura] skill leveled up at just the right moment.

  ####

  *Ais's POV*

  When Luan finally left, I returo my room and took the book I had stored in the box. I looked at it again, and the art touched my heart. Ihis artwork was created with passion and care.

  "It's so beautiful."

  I slowly opehe first page to start reading, but my mind was overwhelmed by what had happened earlier. Luan had seen me in an embarrassing situation, making me flustered.

  I hought I would feel like this, but it's incredibly embarrassing.

  "And what was that?"

  My heart raced when I received his gift. I had never felt anything like that before. Maybe I was too happy, or I was too excited to read the sed book.

  "But I never imagined he would give me such a precious gift. What Tiona said..."

  Tiona told me a long time ago that Luan said I am beautiful.

  "Did he give me this book because he thinks I'm beautiful? I don't know how to feel about that..." But it makes me incredibly happy. It's o know that he thinks I'm so beautiful that he gave me one of his most precious things.

  Ugh... That's when I realized I couldn't read.

  Even though the words entered my mind, they quickly became scrambled because of my rag heart and the sound of Luan's voi my head, distrag me.

  I rolled around in bed, hugging the book and thinking about him.

  "What the hell is happening to me?"

  ParodyGirl