Madam, believe me, how can I be a minotaur?

Section 126

Saying that, he also promised, "But don't worry, I won't tell Eriko about this. I'll stay here this afternoon to take good care of her—so you should go and rest."

When it comes to work, Yamada Yuta never procrastinates.

After receiving Asano Makoto's assurance, he didn't waste words on endless thanks, but nodded directly and said, "Okay, then I'll trouble you, Asano-kun. I'll treat you to dinner sometime."

After speaking, without waiting for Asano Makoto to nod in response, he went straight back to his room to sleep, not even bothering to take a shower.

Watching him close the door, Asano Makoto couldn't help but exhale.

Yamada Yuta's decision was naturally a great benefit to him.

But whether it was because he felt guilty, or because he remembered his past self who had died from overwork after working consecutive all-nighters for a week at a black-hearted company,

Asano Makoto suddenly had the idea of helping Yamada Yuta.

Should I start a company and then recruit him with a high salary, give him a time-consuming but not-so-strenuous position, and get him a single employee dormitory so he can live near the company?

That way, he gets the benefits, and it's more convenient for me...

Asano Makoto's idea was serious.

Anyway, his goal of taking Miyajima Eriko away won't change, so he might as well compensate Yamada Yuta in other ways.

After all, Yamada Yuta is a decent person in all aspects and is very sincere to his friends.

If it weren't for the system mission, it would be nice to have him as a close friend.

Thinking of this, Asano Makoto shook his head again, putting the idea aside for the time being.

It's too early to talk about these things now, and he still has other work to do.

After all, Yamada Yuta has already entrusted him with it, so he naturally can't let him down and must take good "care" of the "sick" Miyajima Eriko.

Thinking of this, Asano Makoto returned to Miyajima Eriko's bedroom, gently opened the door, and walked in.

Looking at her still facing away from the door, wrapped tightly in the blanket, Asano Makoto suddenly felt playful.

After opening the door, he didn't make a sound, but tiptoed to the bedside and gently placed his hand on Miyajima Eriko... probably on her waist.

Originally, he just wanted to play a joke, approaching silently and then startling Eriko, who was pretending to be asleep, with a sudden touch.

But to his surprise, the moment he put his hand on her, Miyajima Eriko's body suddenly trembled, and then she sat up abruptly, slapping his hand away.

He was immediately stunned.

And Miyajima Eriko, after seeing that the person who had just touched her was Asano Makoto, couldn't help but be taken aback.

But she quickly reacted, subconsciously showing an anxious expression and explaining, "Ah! Asano-kun, don't misunderstand, I thought the person who touched me just now was—"

Although she only said half of the sentence, she suddenly stopped.

But Asano Makoto still understood what the sentence meant—Miyajima Eriko mistook him for Yamada Yuta and rejected his touch.

In other words, the person Miyajima Eriko really wanted to reject and subconsciously resisted wasn't him, but Yamada Yuta.

Chapter 172: Don't Come Back Tonight (3k)

After guessing Miyajima Eriko's thoughts, Asano Makoto couldn't help but feel a burst of joy and satisfaction in his heart.

But he didn't mention it, instead pretending to be embarrassed and saying, "Um, Eriko, I'm sorry, I just wanted to see if you were really asleep, I didn't mean to touch you."

"No, that's not it, Asano-kun! I'm not saying I don't want you to touch me, I just... I just..."

Miyajima Eriko tried to explain in a panic, but couldn't say it in the end.

Because she didn't know why she had done that just now.

Or rather, she actually understood everything, but didn't dare to believe the truth.

In the end, she had to change the subject and ask, "Where's Yuta? Why didn't Asano-kun go back?"

Asano Makoto was stunned for a moment, then answered truthfully, "He went to rest, saying he has to work overtime tonight and won't be back, so he asked me to take care of you while you're 'sick' this afternoon."

He didn't mention the layoffs.

In any case, he had promised Yamada Yuta not to tell Miyajima Eriko, so he naturally wouldn't say it.

"I see..."

Hearing this, Miyajima Eriko felt conflicted.

But she wasn't thinking about Yamada Yuta's affairs, she was thinking about whether or not to let Asano Makoto go back.

Although she really wanted to continue being with Asano Makoto and didn't want him to go back.

But she doesn't have any problems now, she was just pretending to be asleep, she wasn't really sick.

And now she's at her own home, and Yuta has already returned.

So she's afraid that if she continues to stay with Asano Makoto, she won't be able to control herself, and she'll make some mistakes again.

After all, they had agreed to go back to being friends after returning.

And that kind of thing obviously exceeded the boundaries of friendship.

Not to mention that Yuta is only two doors away from here, if they really did it, then it should—no, it's very likely that they would be discovered.

So...

Seeing her conflicted expression, Asano Makoto knew that this girl was overthinking things.

He reached out his right hand and gently touched Eriko's head, smiling gently and saying, "Don't worry, don't think too much, I won't do anything, you should get some sleep, after all, yesterday and today have been very tiring."

Once there's one, there's two, and then there's three. Asano Makoto wasn't worried about not having the chance to continue developing the relationship later.

Not to mention that after Yamada Yuta revealed that he wouldn't be back tonight, he already had a complete plan in his head.

[Stage Mission 3: Please have a dual personality fight with another target of conquest in front of any target of conquest, making the target jealous and appeasing them, limited to fifteen days.]

He wants to take advantage of this opportunity when Yamada Yuta won't be back to complete the new stage mission that the system unlocked when he appeased Miyajima Eriko, tonight and tomorrow.

"I..."

On the other hand, after hearing Asano Makoto's words, Miyajima Eriko's cheeks immediately turned red.

In fact, every time she hears these things, even if Asano Makoto doesn't actually mean to tease her, she will still subconsciously think of that day and night of romance, and then can't help but blush and become speechless.

This time was the same.

But it was precisely because of Asano Makoto's words that she temporarily forgot her worries.

She no longer considered whether or not to let Asano Makoto go back, nor did she think about whether or not to go back to being friends with him.

After all, Asano-kun said that he wouldn't do anything, so what's there to worry about.

Thinking of this, Miyajima Eriko couldn't help but feel a little disappointed while feeling relieved.

After all, Asano Makoto's words meant that the trace of expectation hidden in her heart had been shattered.

But because this trace of expectation was hidden too deep, even she herself didn't notice it.

In the end, she nodded and slowly lay down on the bed.

But after lying down, she didn't close her eyes immediately, but turned her head to look at Asano Makoto sitting by the bed, making eye contact with him.

Just like that, as she looked, she didn't know what she was thinking, but her face suddenly turned red again, and then she showed a sweet and cute smile.

Asano Makoto was stunned for a moment, then asked in confusion, "...What's wrong? Why are you smiling like that all of a sudden."

"Nothing, it's nothing."

Miyajima Eriko slowly shook her head, but the smile on her face didn't diminish at all.

"What is it?"

"Hehe."

Seeing Asano Makoto scratching his head in confusion, she couldn't help but laugh again, this time even laughing out loud.

Asano Makoto was even more confused, "Laughing again... what's wrong?"

"I told you, it's nothing."

Miyajima Eriko shook her head again, the smile on her face becoming even brighter.

Realizing that she had no intention of saying it, Asano Makoto's expression became a little helpless.

"You really are..."

He slowly shook his head and sighed, "Oh well, go to sleep quickly, get some rest, don't forget, you still have to help me clean tomorrow."

Speaking of this, Asano Makoto paused, and then a playful expression suddenly appeared on his face.

He looked at Miyajima Eriko and said meaningfully, "Speaking of which, we clearly agreed to help clean twice a week, but now it's almost the end of the third week, but you've only come once at the very beginning."

Hearing this, Miyajima Eriko was directly stunned, and then subconsciously began to recall it in her heart.

Then she was surprised to find that what Asano Makoto said was actually true.

Apart from going to his house at the very beginning, which was when she ran into him collapsing in the entrance, she really hadn't helped him clean at all.

Realizing this, an awkward expression couldn't help but appear on Miyajima Eriko's face.

But then, she began to mutter and defend herself in a low voice, "It's... it's not that I don't want to go, it's just that there are all sorts of reasons..."

That's right.

She didn't know why, but every time it came to housekeeping day, either something went wrong on her side, or something went wrong on Asano Makoto's side, and in any case, the cleaning just couldn't be completed.

Asano Makoto knew this, but he naturally wouldn't bring it up at this time.

He just chuckled lightly, and then said seriously, "So in order to prevent those various reasons from happening again, you have to rest quickly now."

"Wait until tomorrow... no, let's just go clean my place together after you wake up, it won't take much time, otherwise I'm afraid something will go wrong again tomorrow—and the house hasn't been cleaned for too long, it's almost uninhabitable."

After you go, don't come back here tonight.

Asano Makoto didn't say the last sentence, and he couldn't possibly say it.

On the other hand, after hearing his words, Miyajima Eriko thought for a while, and then nodded immediately, taking advantage of the situation.

Asano-kun is right, I really need to get some rest now, after all, I still have to go clean tonight.

Thinking of this, she obediently closed her eyes, preparing to get a good night's sleep and let her body recover as much energy as possible.