Inside Haru's room, the battle that no one else knew about had already come to an end.
It was a war without a winner. Haru had managed to defeat Lusamine through sheer desperation and relentless effort, but at the cost of every last bit of his strength.
As for Lusamine, after taking the full brunt of Haru's final assault, she too had completely lost the ability to continue fighting.
In the end, Lusamine used Destiny Bond to drag Haru down into the abyss with her. So even though Haru had technically emerged victorious, he ended up in the same state as Lusamine—incapacitated and utterly drained.
And so, the two of them could only lie side by side, recovering their strength in the most primitive of ways.
If they were to fully recover, these two mortal enemies would probably go straight into round two without hesitation.
However... not long after Haru drifted off to sleep, a crisp knock echoed from the door outside.
"?!"
When the knock jolted Haru awake from his slumber, it felt like someone had dumped a bucket of ice water on his head—he shot up from the bed on reflex.
What the hell?! Who would be knocking at this time?
Who could it be, coming to his room now?
Professor Kukui? No way. Even if there were some urgent matter, Kukui would definitely wait until morning to talk to him.
Then... could it be Lillie?
Maybe that insecure girl saw that the light in his room was still on and came over for a "deep life talk"?
Haru had to admit—he was actually starting to panic a little.
No matter who it was, if they found Lusamine in his room, it would be a disaster for him.
Especially if it was Lillie. How the hell was he supposed to explain what had happened between him and Lusamine?
That she'd gotten addicted to his whipplay and came over in the middle of the night to get her fix?
What kind of insane excuse was that?!
Worried that Lusamine might wake up and make noise, Haru didn't dare try waking her. He just quickly bundled her up in the blanket and hid her under the covers.
After thinking for a moment, Haru figured his best bet was to not open the door, and definitely not say a word. He'd just pretend he was already asleep.
If it really was Lillie, that sweet, considerate girl would surely leave on her own after realizing he was asleep.
No big deal—he could get away with this just by playing dead.
...Except, in all his panic, Haru had completely overlooked one critical detail.
Lusamine—she might also wake up from the noise!
"Mm~—"
Lusamine's voice wasn't loud, but in the deafening silence of the early morning, it might as well have been shouted through a megaphone.
Maybe it wouldn't have been audible from Lillie's room—but Lillie was literally right outside the door now. She heard it loud and clear.
"Haru...?"
Lillie froze.
Wait. Why was there a woman's voice coming from Haru's room?
And why did it sound so... suggestive?
Even worse, it sounded familiar.
Don't tell me... there's a woman in Haru's room?
No way. Absolutely not! Everything she'd seen and heard so far pointed to one conclusion—Haru liked her, didn't he?
Besides, Haru was a newcomer to Alola, just arrived from another region. The only women he'd had contact with were her and her mom. When would he have had the time to meet someone else?
Then... what the heck was going on in there?
Lillie was utterly confused.
Meanwhile, in Haru's room, Lusamine's little "slip-up" had completely shattered his plan to fake sleep. If he kept pretending now, he'd only look even more suspicious. And if Lillie started connecting the dots and guessed it was Lusamine in his room, he'd really be screwed.
Left with no other choice, he summoned Mew.
He had Mew turn both Lusamine and the entire blanket (plus the sheets) invisible, then used Hypnosis to put Lusamine back into a deep sleep.
Only then did Haru finally open the door to his room.
As expected, standing outside was the petite blonde girl.
But unlike her usual expressions of admiration, gratitude, or gentle warmth, her gaze this time carried a hint of something... unreadable.
However, the moment she caught sight of the weariness on Haru's face, her expression instinctively softened.
"Haru... are you okay?"
"I saw your light was still on, so I came to check if you were still awake."
It seemed Lillie had mistaken Haru's exhausted state as the result of staying up too late, which made her tone even more gentle.
"Please take care of yourself. Staying up all night really isn't good for you."
Then, her face suddenly changed, as if she'd caught a strange scent in the air.
"Haru, why... does your room smell kind of weird?"
Lillie didn't know exactly what that scent was—but it definitely gave her a bad feeling.
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