NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 18: Chapter 18: She Must Like Me
"Little Ai, can we do that tonight?"
"Lin-chan, are you coming to sleep over? Hmm..."
She hesitated. There's definitely something fishy going on!
Even if it was just for a few seconds, Ilin successfully caught the momentary change in Aisha's expression and the trembling of her ahoge due to guilt.
Normally, if Aisha, who lived alone, heard that Ilin was coming to stay the night, she would immediately agree, nodding vigorously, her ahoge swaying, and a smile spreading across her face.
So, the problem must be in the dorm, right?
"Sure, come over, Lin-chan. It's been a while since we last slept together. I'm really looking forward to it."
Although Aisha eventually nodded in agreement, the meaning behind it was different for Ilin.
The truth hidden in the darkness—Detective Lin was about to uncover it!
—Or so Ilin thought it would unfold.
At the very least, she expected to find some clues in Aisha's dorm that would explain her change in behavior.
But the reality was completely opposite to her expectations.
Even after conducting a thorough search of Aisha's dorm, Ilin found nothing out of the ordinary compared to before.
"Lin-chan, it's your turn to roll the dice. Stop crawling around everywhere!"
On the surface, Ilin and Aisha were playing a magical board game called Royal Monopoly.
In reality, with half her body already under Aisha's bed, it was obvious to anyone that Ilin's mind wasn't on the game at all.
"Don't mind me, Little Ai. This posture is my newly discovered superstition."
Casually rolling the dice from under the bed, Ilin rolled a perfect 6.
You Ling: "How many 6s is that now?"
Even You Ling had to admit that the red-haired girl's luck was more terrifying than his own.
She might be better suited for gambling than Duel Monsters.
However, despite using the game to buy time, Ilin's plan to uncover the truth ultimately failed.
There were no flaws, not even in the dorm, which was supposed to be the only blind spot.
This made Ilin start to doubt herself—was she overthinking things and going crazy?
...The turning point came when Ilin had almost given up and was preparing to take a bath and rest.
"What? Lin-chan, you, you want to bathe together? Th-that's not appropriate!"
"Why not? We've always done it before."
Of course, it's because things are different now.
Aisha wanted to say that but didn't know how to explain.
What seemed like a room for two now had an extra person.
Even though Aisha had gradually become less bothered by You Ling seeing her during baths recently, she couldn't let her childhood friend be seen too.
(You Ling: "I really didn't mean to see this...")
"How strange. We're both girls, so why be shy?"
As she said this, Ilin had already started taking off her shirt, revealing her smooth, snow-white skin with not a trace of fat on her stomach.
"No, Lin-chan, we can't!"
To avoid synchronizing her vision with You Ling inside the Millennium Puzzle, Aisha covered her eyes like a shy girl who had seen something she shouldn't have.
"Such a blow! Is my body really that unpleasant to look at?"
Unwilling to give up, Ilin pounced on Aisha, trying to pry her hands away from her eyes.
"Look at me, you otaku!"
"No, Lin-chan, really, we can't..."
Aisha held out until the end, refusing to open her eyes and firmly rejecting Ilin's bathing invitation.
It had to be said, this was the strangest Aisha had acted all night.
But no matter how much Ilin racked her brain in the bathtub, she couldn't figure out the reason for Aisha's odd behavior.
From childhood until now, the two of them had always bathed together without any issues. It was completely normal.
After much thought, the only reason Ilin could come up with was:
"Could it be... Little Ai has feelings for me?"
A completely wrong answer.
But the more Ilin thought about it, the more it made sense.
"Maybe Little Ai doesn't see me as just a friend, but as a romantic interest. That's why she's so shy! What should I do? What should I do?"
When it came to her childhood friend, Aisha Yuna Carlos, with her doll-like, adorable appearance, Ilin would be lying if she said she didn't like her.
But Ilin's feelings were more on the闺蜜 (best friend) side.
She liked hugging Aisha, squeezing her soft, tender cheeks, and holding her cool, smooth hands.
"If that's really the case, how should I respond to Little Ai's feelings?"
The problem was too complex, and Ilin's brain eventually overloaded, causing her to slowly sink into the bathwater.
Only after nearly passing out did she stumble out of the dorm bathroom, dazed and unsteady.
"Ah! Lin-chan, why aren't you wearing any clothes?!"
Aisha immediately activated her "eyes-closed mode." Unfortunately, for a brief moment, the snowy-white scenery still flooded into You Ling's mind.
You Ling: "I swear it was an accident. No one would doubt that this time, right?"
Collapsing onto Aisha's bed, dizzy and disoriented, Ilin weakly raised a thumb to Aisha.
"I'm fine, just need to rest for a bit. You go ahead and bathe, Little Ai."
"Make sure to put on clothes later," Aisha reminded before leaving. "You can wear my pajamas from the closet. And remember, you have to wear them! No being a pervert!"
"This girl must really like me."
Even after nearly passing out, Ilin still hadn't realized where she was wrong.
Lying quietly on the bed, gradually recovering from her dizziness, Ilin tilted her head and noticed Aisha's deck on the bedside table.
Aisha's deck of weak monster cards—Ilin had dueled against it countless times since they were kids. She knew it inside and out.
Of course, that was before the duel with Kevin.
A sudden curiosity prompted Ilin, still naked, to pick up Aisha's deck and flip through the cards.
"So that's how it is."
As she flipped through the deck, Ilin's expression gradually shifted from confusion to realization.
"Little Ai has really gotten stronger, so much so that it's surprising... So, what was I even worrying about? I'm such an idiot."
Everyone grows and changes. Even her closest friend, Aisha Carlos, was no exception.
"If I keep overthinking things, I might accidentally get surpassed by Little Ai. I can't let that happen. After all, according to our childhood promise, I'm supposed to be the hero who protects Little Ai."
If she couldn't protect Aisha at the academy, Ilin had originally planned to drop out of Fusion Academy with her.
After all, Ilin had three older brothers, and the Austin family didn't lack for Duelists.
But now that Aisha had successfully avoided the expulsion crisis, Ilin couldn't afford to keep overthinking and slacking off.
After putting down Aisha's deck, even though she hadn't found the correct answer, Ilin seemed to have found the one that convinced her the most.
And then, as if fate wanted to prove this answer, the practical duel test this Friday would be between Aisha Yuna Carlos and Ilin Austin.
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