After finishing his meal, Furuya Rei took the initiative to say goodbye to Hasegawa Yu, "Xiao Yu, I've taken care of everything in the villa."

This refers to hidden cameras, eavesdropping devices, and local area networks.

"The entire operating procedure for the villa's security system is on this piece of paper." He handed the orange-haired young man a handwritten note. "Xiaoyou, feel free to contact me if you have any questions."

However, Noah's Ark should take over the security system, so he doesn't have to worry too much about Xiaoyou not being able to use it.

Hasegawa Yu made an OK gesture.

After saying that, Fūya Rei walked around anxiously to make sure that nothing was missed. He wrote down the orange-haired young man's new contact information before leaving the villa.

Putting the note away, Hasegawa Yu shook his head and cheered silently: Swimming pool~

He is coming~

[Xiaoyou, are you planning to go find Kudo Shinichi and the others? ]

After the mermaids swam dozens of laps happily in the pool, Noah's Ark asked.

Hasegawa Yuu lay at the bottom of the swimming pool with her tail stretched out, her long orange hair, which she only had after she transformed back into a mermaid, spread out beneath her body like some kind of flowing silk.

He looked quietly at the calm surface of the swimming pool above: Well, where are Kudo Shinichi and the others, does Noah know?

Teitan High School is on winter break. The Kudo family, the Mori family, and Suzuki Sonoko and her boyfriend have all gone to the United States and are not expected to return to Japan until after the New Year.

Hasegawa Yu blinked: I see.

There are only twenty days left until the New Year. Xiaoyou might as well wait until after the New Year and then go find Kudo Shinichi. Noah's Ark doesn't want the mermaid to be too troubled.

What about Hiroki? Hasegawa Yu's first thought was about the ten-year-old human child: Doesn't Noah want to spend the New Year with Hiroki?

Due to the Black Organization, Hiroki Sawada cannot come to Japan.

The mermaid with orange hair and orange tail gestured: If I go to the United States, I will also go to find Shuichi Akai.

If his perception in the third round's memory was correct, this person should also be a red-side character from Honkai Impact 3rd.

The online world has no limits for me. I can always return to Hiroki.

Noah's Ark disagreed with the mermaid's second half: "Akai Shuichi is a mercenary, his whereabouts are elusive, and there's not much we can do about him in just twenty days... I don't want Xiaoyou to spend the New Year alone either."

As a visitor from another world, Hasegawa Yu has no relatives or friends in this world, and Noah's Ark doesn't want the mermaid to stay alone in the villa.

This seems a bit difficult, Hasegawa Yu thought.

If you don't mind, why don't we celebrate the New Year together? The orange-haired mermaid raised her hand: "I want to join the Sawada family's New Year's dinner table!"

Humans basically spend the New Year with their families... I don't know if adding a strange fish to the mix will work.

【I'll ask Hiroki.】

It was daytime in the United States, which has a time difference of more than ten hours with Japan, and the artificial intelligence received a reply shortly.

[Hiroki has no objection.] Noah's Ark's words were filled with a hint of joy. [Hiroki's parents were also looking forward to Xiaoyou's arrival.]

Problem solved! Hasegawa Yuu made a "yeah" gesture.

Three days later.

Hasegawa Yu, who has spent the past few days happily in the piano room and swimming pool, has finally recovered from his voice.

"You-chan is going to America to celebrate the New Year with Noah's Ark."

Kenji Hagiwara, who teaches disguises and voice manipulation every day, paused as he sorted out his tools. "I understand. Yuu-chan, remember to be safe... When do we leave?"

Damn, he was a step too slow. He also wanted to invite You-chan to celebrate the New Year with him.

Kenji Hagiwara's movements completely stopped, his gaze drifting away, his violet eyes fixed vaguely in a certain direction, entering a state that he often appeared in the past few days - empty space.

Commonly known as daze.

Is Yu-chan really a mermaid?

Although...but...

This is a mermaid!

Mermaid!

"A flight ticket for ten days from now, Brother Yanji?" Hasegawa Yu waved his hand in front of the man's eyes. "Are you feeling unwell? You've been distracted several times today."

"I am fine."

Hagiwara Kenji glanced at the young man and spoke slowly, "I was thinking about a Korean drama I've been watching recently. It ended but I never had the time to finish it, so I can't stop thinking about it."

"What drama?" Hasegawa Yu was curious.

Is Yan Er also watching TV dramas? He's truly a friend of women!

"The Legend of the Blue Sea."

Kenji Hagiwara announced the title of the play while secretly observing the young man's reaction. "It tells the story of a mermaid who was captured by humans a hundred years ago and then secretly released back into the sea. A hundred years later, she came to live in a modern city."

"Oh!" Hasegawa Yu's eyes lit up, "I know this drama, I didn't expect it to exist in this world."

"Which episode did you see, Yan Er? In it, the heroine and the merman she met watched the tragedy with plastic bags hanging from their faces, and then exchanged the pearls formed from their tears for money. This scene was really tragic and funny, hahahaha."

The mermaids in the drama are idiots. How come a race that has lived for so many years doesn’t know how to run a shop in the human world?

The mermaids of their race have their own base shop on the beach.

At least the mermaids won’t be left without food, and they can still study in the human world.

"Indeed." Hagiwara Kenji felt complicated as he looked at the young man who smiled so naturally and without any acting skills.

Is it that just like people in a certain profession won't watch dramas related to their profession, mermaids watch dramas with mermaid themes as comedies?

Otherwise, how could he not be wary of being tempted!

"The mermaid in the play cries like pearls, and even after living for a hundred years, she's still as beautiful as she was yesterday. A kiss can make humans lose their memories, yet she falls in love with them. What a magical and lonely setting."

Kenji Hagiwara couldn't help but think of the purpose of the organization's research on those drugs, to reverse time and achieve immortality.

And Yu-chan has both of these.

I can't imagine if this secret is known to the organization...

"Ah, but aren't vampires and elves also immortal?"

Sitting across from the semi-long-haired man, Hasegawa Yu held his chin with one hand, treating it as a discussion of the plot without a hint of nervousness. "Besides, not all mermaids can achieve immortality, cry tears that turn into pearls, or kiss to cause amnesia. It all depends on the scriptwriter's design."

The mermaids of their race don’t have these skills!

Having lived in the human world for over a decade, the orange-haired mermaid was quite accustomed to hearing humans discuss such matters. She spoke expertly, "There are truly many versions of the legend about mermaids."

At first, Hasegawa Yu, who had just come to the human world, was extremely nervous when he heard these discussions and learned that humans had given him the nickname "Voice of the Siren", fearing that something had been revealed about him.

Later he learned that fantasy races such as mermaids, vampires, and elves are very popular among humans, and there are endless movies, TV series, and legends about related themes.

So Hasegawa Yu was relieved.

The reassuring result is that he even published a series of fantasy race modeling photo magazines, in which he dressed up as mermaids, vampires, werewolves, elves and so on.

But the elf-themed and mermaid-themed magazines are equally popular.

Thinking back on this incident, Hasegawa Yu couldn't help but puffing up his cheeks. He, a mermaid, almost lost to himself dressed as an elf!

Although they both have long hair, the mermaid look is not overwhelmingly preferred!

Don't understand human aesthetics.

"Too."

It seems that Yu-chan's lifespan is the same as that of humans? Hagiwara Kenji speculated.

"There are so many mermaid versions, which one do you like, Yu-chan?" he asked carefully without leaving any trace.

"I don't have a favorite." Hasegawa Yu thought seriously, "If I had to name one... The Daughter of the Sea."

"It's a fairy tale." Hagiwara Kenji suddenly realized.

I almost forgot that there's magic in Yu-chan's world... It seems reasonable that Yu-chan's race is more fairy-tale-like?

"But the story ends with the mermaid turning into foam," Hagiwara Kenji commented, half-seriously, "which proves that mermaids are overly romantically obsessed."

Hasegawa Yuu slammed the table in response, "That's clearly pure love!"

The mermaid princesses are not love-brained, and his sister is certainly not!

When he thought about Sister Sara who had turned evil for a stinky human and even her originally dazzling orange hair turned black, Hasegawa Yusuke became more and more angry.

"It's the fault of those hateful, philandering humans who don't even dare to take the slightest responsibility. The mermaid gave her all!"

Seeing the semi-long-haired human's violet eyes slightly widen as if startled, the orange-haired mermaid cleared her throat and quickly sat up straight.

"I mean, if mermaids don't get human love, they'll turn into foam or something. I don't really, really, really like it."

For their race, mermaids will only turn into foam if they take the initiative to reveal their identity to humans. This is reasonable!

"Brother Yan'er, can you understand?"

Hagiwara Kenji became more cautious, "Yes?"

After hesitating for a few seconds, he tried to defend humans, "I don't think all humans are hateful, fickle, and unwilling to take responsibility, hahahaha."

For some reason, these laughs seemed very uncertain.

Which bastard human lied to Yu-chan about the mermaid he knew? He was so angry that he even used adjectives he never used normally.

Kenji Hagiwara gritted his teeth secretly, and he felt guilty for no reason even though he had done nothing!

"I understand that individual behavior cannot represent the entire group."

Hasegawa Yuu turned back into a good boy, his orange-gold eyes full of trust, "There are still many good people in this world, like our predecessors."

Hearing this, Kenji Hagiwara hesitated to speak.

"Yuu-chan, for..."

The man with semi-long hair folded his hands to cover half of his face. His expression was serious, and he mumbled the obvious words, "...to achieve a certain goal, men will do whatever it takes."

If he wasn't aware that they were from different worlds and were destined to be separated in the future, he wouldn't believe that Xiao Jiangu would give up the opportunity to live together!

Hagiwara Kenji lowered his eyes, his dark eyelashes blocking the dark light flowing in his eyes, "So, sometimes you really can't trust your seniors too much~"

He said cheerfully, "Whenever I'm stared at intently by Yu-chan's eyes, I can't help but wish she could look at me like this forever."

"So I'm just going to keep looking at Yan'er-nii like this?"

Hasegawa Yu blinked, her beautiful eyes suddenly curved into a crescent shape, and her lips raised a bright arc, "As long as Brother Kenji wants."

Kenji Hagiwara's heart skipped a beat and he stared blankly at the orange-haired young man in front of him.

"What Yanji-nii said seems to be similar to what the fans said."

In less than three seconds, Hasegawa Yuu's expression turned into confusion. "But I'm just looking at people normally. Isn't this something that can be done easily?"

Hagihara Kenji: "..."

Hagiwara Kenji facepalmed, "Yuu-chan, sometimes it's okay to not talk."

"?"

"Kenji-chan is saying that Yuu-chan is really being unfair."

"hold head high?"

Hagiwara Kenji calmed down and said, "It's nothing, Yuu-chan is indeed a professional idol (who strictly prohibits dating)."

Hasegawa Yu understood this and said, "Hehe~"

"Oh right." The man with half-long hair remembered something, "Can you tell Xiao Zhenping the address of the villa? He might come to see You-chan in the next few days."

"Oh." Hasegawa Yuu frowned slightly, "Okay."

What did Mr. Matsuda want him to do?

[Matsuda Jinpei, current collapse value 45%. ]

On the same night that Kenji Hagiwara said this, Noah's Ark reported new fluctuations in the Honkai Value.

"Then Matsuda-senpai will recover his memory." Hasegawa Yu snorted, "Even if he recovers his memory, I will still hate him for the time being."

This time, he's going to be a cool fish in front of his seniors! He definitely won't be so easy to talk to!

【There's something wrong with Kenji Hagiwara. 】

Ignoring Matsuda Jinpei, Noah's Ark gestured to the mermaid to recall what happened during the day. "Xiaoyou, don't you think something is a little strange?"

Let’s not talk about the mermaid-themed TV series we talked about earlier, what do those last few sentences mean!

At that time, Noah's Ark almost thought that Kenji Hagiwara's collapse value had risen again.

Looking closely, 10% is the lowest among everyone currently.

"Where?" Hasegawa Yu was confused.

"It's okay, it was just my imagination." Noah's Ark sighed.

Well, it’s not entirely a bad thing for the mermaid to continue to maintain this extraordinary insensitivity.

Anyway, the ones who suffered heart attacks were those humans with impure intentions, haha.

"That's good."

Hasegawa Yu, who was already lying in bed while chatting, buried himself in the quilt and closed his eyes, "Good night Noah, good night Mr. Ikko."

Good night, Xiaoyou.

When he woke up the next day, Hasegawa Yu received new progress on the Honkai Value.

[Last night, after several hours of violent fluctuations, Jinpei Matsuda's Honkai value stopped at 18%.]

"Oh." Hasegawa Yu remembered the decision he made before going to bed. He wanted to be a cool fish in front of his senior whom he temporarily disliked!

The aloof fish forgot about this decision after its morning swim.

I didn't remember it until the doorbell rang at the villa door in the afternoon when I was about to go to the piano room.

After confirming that there was no danger outside, Hasegawa Yu opened the door.

There was no one outside the door.

“?!”

Hasegawa Yu quickly grabbed the door, half of his body hiding behind it, muttering softly, "Is it an invisible guest? ... You are not welcome here, bye."

No ghosts allowed during the day!

There was a faint sound of gears running from below. The orange-haired young man looked in the direction of the sound and found that it was a ten-centimeter robot that was no more than the size of a palm.

The robot's appearance is very similar to Wall-E in "Wall-E", with the same tracked legs, metal arms, and big watery eyes shaped like telescopes. Hasegawa Yu suspects that it was modeled after Wall-E.

Seeing this, Noah's Ark sneered in his heart, thinking that humans are so cunning.

He is enough as the “smart robot” at home!

"Wow!" Hasegawa Yu immediately threw his fear into the corner, squatted down, and put his hands on his knees, "Wow!!"

"Can I touch you?" He was eager to touch her. "You're so cool."

"Whatever you want." The ten-centimeter Wall-E made the stereotyped electronic sound unique to robots.

Noah's Ark sneered again, and the sound was not natural at all.

Hasegawa Yu stretched out a finger and gently poked the little Wall-E. He faintly smelled the smell of engine oil, "Wow!!!"

It’s a real robot!

"I'm here to apologize." Little Wall-E's electronic voice hitched a beat. "What happened at the apartment building a few days ago."

"Oh." Hasegawa Yuu barely regained consciousness from the allure of the little robot and puffed up his cheeks. "Did Matsuda-senpai turn into a robot?"

"...No." Little Wall-E was silent for a moment, "It's not convenient for me to see you in person now."

What's so inconvenient about that? Do we have to ask a robot to apologize?

Hasegawa Yu decisively opened his ears and heard breathing sounds other than his own. He immediately stood up and rushed towards the location of the breathing sounds.

Seeing the black curly-haired figure seeming to run away, he shouted, "Stop!"

The same words, different time, and the person being asked to stop finally changed.

Hasegawa Yuu ran forward and leaned over to look at the man, "Matsuda-senpai, you're being insincere."

Wearing sunglasses and a mask, with a scarf wrapped around his neck, Matsuda Jinpei's face was tightly covered. His eyes wandered and he answered irrelevantly, "That robot was an apology gift."

"It supports networking and can be operated by artificial intelligence, or it can be treated as an ordinary peripheral ornament."

Noah's Ark: [? I don't need it!]

He announced that this human was tied with Bourbon as the most hated person!

Hasegawa Yu, who found it difficult to convey messages between one person and one artificial intelligence, stared at his senior with black curly hair without saying a word.

"I'm sorry." Matsuda Jinpei said decisively, "It's wrong for me not to care about my own life and do those dangerous things. Thank you, Xiaoyou, for worrying about me."

"Next time...next time I won't do that again."

[Matsuda Jinpei has his face covered so tightly, there must be something fishy going on.] Noah's Ark pointed out a clue, [Xiaoyou, look at the clothes he's wearing, they're not even as thick as his face.]

"Forgive me, Senior." Hasegawa Yu was a little curious. "Are you cold, Senior? Do you want to come in and sit down?"

Through the mask and scarf, Matsuda Jinpei's voice became muffled, "I'll sit for a while and then I'll leave."

So Hasegawa Yu led his people back to the door of the villa, picked up the little Wall-E on the ground, held it in his palm and brought it in.

"There's heating in the living room. Why don't you take off your mask and scarf, Matsuda-senpai?"

"I like this." Matsuda Jinpei sat down on the sofa.

“???” Hasegawa Yu looked at him, not understanding, but choosing to respect him.

Sensing the young man's gaze, Matsuda Jinpei touched his nose through his mask, ignoring the dull pain at the corner of his mouth. He tried to divert attention by making small talk, "Any drinks? I'll get them myself."

Hearing his words, Hasegawa Yu stood up and then sat back down. Belatedly, he remembered that he had made up his mind to be a cool fish.

But the senior has already apologized, and there is also an apology gift.

Then it's just a formality.

Hasegawa·Aloof Fish·You thought hard and finally managed to say, "Drinks are in a cold world."

"......?" Matsuda Jinpei reacted for a few seconds, silently found the kitchen refrigerator, and took out a bottle of mineral water from it.

"Senior, don't you want to drink?"

Seeing that the black curly-haired senior only placed the mineral water on the coffee table, even Hasegawa Yuu couldn't help but become suspicious, "Should I open it for you?"

Senior is acting weird today.

"No need." Matsuda Jinpei refused without hesitation, "Xiaoyou, do you want to drink? I'll open it for you."

"I have my own water... Senior, are you really not hot?" Hasegawa Yuu asked worriedly, "Your forehead is sweating."

“…Not hot.”

【I see.】

After a few minutes of silence, Noah's Ark said in a tone that said, "There's only one truth." "Matsuda Jinpei was beaten up by Sato Miwako this morning."

Ha, with a bruised face, no wonder he doesn’t dare to show his true face to see the mermaid.

Who beat whom? Why did Officer Sato beat up Senior Matsuda?

Hasegawa Yu opened his eyes wide, trying to see the face of his handsome senior through the thick scarf and mask.

Mermaids who only have "super hearing" but not "super vision" naturally cannot see through things.

After thinking for a moment, he took out the medical kit prepared by the blond senior from under the coffee table and pushed the box towards the black curly-haired senior without saying a word.

Matsuda Jinpei: “…”

This familiar feeling of déjà vu.

It might as well be a comb and a small mirror.

"Senior, I can close my eyes." Hasegawa Yu, who was quite capable of taking action, closed his eyes. "I promise not to look!"

"The wound on the face is extremely important. Don't ignore it."

Matsuda Jinpei took a deep breath, "...hagi applied medicine to me."

Why are these two people so obsessed with other people's faces?

Hasegawa Yu was relieved, "That's good."

“…”