I woke up drained once more. Sleeping on my arm next to me was Dawn. She had buried her head over my chest and was snoring off lightly.
I still had days before I had to go for my 'punishment,' but the habit of waking up early wasn't so easy to rid of. That said, it seemed Dawn was truly not an angel but a succubus. When our hot bath for muscle relaxation had turned into a long-lasting muscle workout was something I still wasn't sure of.
Leaving the clean-up to me all the time was also a bother, but whatever.
Feeling slightly miffed, I wanted to get up and make some breakfast in the kitchen attached to my room. Unfortunately, Dawn was still sound asleep, and moving my arm would wake her up.
"Zzzzzz…."
Another person was sound asleep. That was the fairy Titania.
With nothing else to do, I turned over to my side and looked down at Dawn. Even though I couldn't see her face, her faint breath, the flutter of her eyelashes, the heat of her cheeks, all of them carried over well to me.
I had nothing to do in this position.
With no other option, I just went ahead and started counting the hair on her head. Pulling one strand at a time and placing it over on the front to not count the same again. I would count, place it ahead, count, and place the next.
Once the locks got sizable enough to start spilling and became unmanageable, I tied them into a small knot and knocked them above her head before switching up the top ones. I made about ten such batches of five thousand each by the time Dawn's eyelashes fluttered open.
"Umm…" she mumbled.
Dawn pushed her arm forward and yanked my head backward as she slowly got up.
"Morningaahm…" she said. She rolled over to one side, then back to this, and then to the other again. With my arm finally free, I jumped up, dragging the sheets with me.
"Hey! It's cold."
"Wear clothes to sleep then."
"Put them on next time."
I glared at her, and Dawn stuck her tongue out.
"What, gonna refuse your savior?"
Next time was already booked, well of course, but she was really pushing this savior shtick too far. Dawn seemed to be in need of behavioral correction.
"You better stop using that excuse."
"Or what?" Dawn teased.
"I'll punish you."
"Oh? What a brazen brat. And how will you do so?"
I flaunted my fingers in the air.
Dawn gulped.
I turned over and pounced on her at once. My fingers crawled up her sides and right as I reached her armpits, I started tickling her with all my might.
"Aah! Hey! Stop it hahahahaha! Ah, stop!!!"
"Hm hm? Will you use that excuse again?"
"Yes."
I tickled her harder.
"Gahahaaha, ok ok! I won't I won't! Mercy, mercy."
"No way."
From her armpits to her sides, neck to her feet, I tickled every ticklish spot and only stopped when she couldn't move anymore.
Enemy knocked out.
Stretching my hands, I got off the bed and moved toward the closet. I put on some clothes and tossed some over to Dawn as well.
"I'll make something real quick. Any requests?"
"Want me to cook?"
"No, it's fine."
In front of my five-star level cooking all of them cooked as if a rat was in their hair. I pulled out some meat and jams along with bread, honey, and some cheese for a hearty and balanced breakfast. Dawn brushed and tidied up the room while I whipped up the food.
Before I set them out on the table, I took a peek outside the window on the side of our bed. It was still too early.
Dawn pulled a chair and sat at the table in the room while waiting. I carried over the plates and spoke up.
"I'll invite our neighbor too."
"Neighbor?" Dawn asked. "What do you mean? Aren't there only three people on this island?"
"Nope. We got a neighbor now."
"W-when…?"
"Yesterday night."
Yesterday night seemed to have pricked into Dawn as her tied-up hair slowly started to rise.
"A-ah… all that noise…"
"Hah," I scoffed. "So you realize you're loud?"
"Bastard! Why didn't you tell me!? How am I supposed to face that person now?"
"Relax," I said. "I always put up a sound-blocking spell."
Dawn blinked.
"You do?"
"Every single time. Why would I let anyone hear you like that?"
"Tsk. Scared me for no reason…" Though her words were thorny, her look was bashful. I held in a chuckle and moved over to the window at the back of the bed. After moving away the drapes, the building on the other side came into view.
I pushed the glass pane open, the room over the other side just a hand's reach away.
"Noa!" I called. "Noooaaa!! Nonononono aaaaaa!"
The window on the other side opened with a bang. Noa, in just a white jumper with her hair sticking out all around, appeared on the other side.
"WHAT?"
Oh, aggressive.
"Did I wake you up?"
"Rat bastard!"
I held in a laugh and shook my head.
"Whatever, come have some food."
"Hm?" She tilted her head to the side.
"Breakfast, I cooked for you too so rush over before it gets cold."
"F-for me? Breakfast?"
"Who else? Get a move on, chop chop bitch."
Noa nodded meekly and dashed off, the sleeves of her top were too long for her hands.
I walked over to the table and sat down. After some time, Noa came over too. She was about to go to the door but I just pulled her over the gap instead.
"Ah, hello," she said, now also wearing black shorts.
"Nice to meet you!" Dawn said with a smile. "I'm Dawn, and I am twenty-two, feel free to call me big sis, kay?"
Woah, lying about her age right off the bat.
I was about to laugh but Dawn kicked my shin from under the table.
"A-are you his sister?" Noa asked. She was blushing furiously. "I am sorry for coming over so tardily."
Dawn reeled back at the excessive reaction too. Then, she suddenly started laughing while Noa twirled her hair.
"Hahaha… hahaha! Dusk, you little runt…"
"Hm?"
"HAHAHA! I am not his sister or anything, don't worry. How to say it, we're more like partners?"
"Partners?" Noa asked back.
"Yeah, in bed."
Oh? What's this? Were these two going to fight over me now? If that's how it was going to go out, then I wanted to keep a tournament and watch with Lethe.
As if.
The both of them laughed while glaring at each other.
"Quit scuffling like cats, the food will go cold."
"Sure, rat."
"Thanks for the food, fucking bastard."
I bit into the bread laden with jam and nodded.
I knew it since the beginning. Food was the best with company.
"Hm! Good! It's even better than those sandwiches in hell!"
"It really is good, you've outdone yourself, Dusk."
"There's a lot more, so eat up."
"Then me too!"
A strange sound interrupted all three of us. We turned to the window and saw a man with red hair trying to crawl inside. On his back was an old man completely out of it.
"Haste… haste…"
"Young master! Food, please!"
"Who again?"
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