Chapter 78: A Sleepless Night

After Rose’s last words, I stared at her for several seconds without saying anything.

I was still annoyed that she had called me a pervert. But I had to admit that when she offered to show me her true form, curiosity had overtaken my anger.

Rose must have noticed because the corners of her lips curved again.

"You weren’t listening this closely a moment ago."

"Because a moment ago, all you were doing was making fun of me."

"How do you know I’m not doing that now?"

She laughed softly when I frowned. Then she pushed her beer bottle a little farther across the coffee table and sat up on the couch.

When I noticed the first change among her hair, I forgot what I had been about to say.

Dark horns began appearing on either side of her head. They rose through her black hair, curving slightly backward toward their tips. It wasn’t hard to recognize them as larger versions of the little horns I had seen in the photo.

When Rose turned toward me, I noticed that her eyes had changed too.

The black had given way to a deep red. The color became more noticeable when the living room light caught her eyes, making every expression on her face a little more striking as she looked at me.

The tips of her ears had become slightly pointed. Her short black hair, facial features, and the familiar smile on her lips remained the same.

Then something moved behind her.

A thin black tail curled over the couch cushion and moved to her side. Its pointed tip swayed once in the air before settling beside her leg.

My eyes moved from her tail to her horns, then back to her eyes.

She was still Rose.

But being used to how she had looked a moment ago didn’t mean I could take these changes in stride. Seeing horns in a photo was different from seeing them on someone sitting right beside me.

"How do I look?" Rose asked.

I opened my mouth to answer, but I couldn’t remember any of the sarcastic remarks I had prepared.

"You’re beautiful."

The words came out so naturally that even I was surprised afterward.

Rose’s smile paused for a moment.

"You already said that."

"You’re beautiful like this too."

This time, I knew what I was saying. Still, I didn’t try to take it back.

Her horns looked natural on her. As I looked into her red eyes, curiosity replaced my initial surprise. Whenever our eyes met, I thought I should look away, but I was always slow to do it.

Rose turned her head slightly to the side.

The tip of her tail shifted on the cushion.

"Don’t stare at me like that."

I blinked at the change in her voice.

Her cheeks were red.

The girl who had left me speechless with a single sentence only minutes ago was now studying the edge of the coffee table instead of looking at me.

"Didn’t you show me so I could look?"

"Looking and looking like that aren’t the same thing."

"How am I looking at you?"

Rose gave me a brief glance. She seemed about to answer, but then pressed her lips together.

The red slowly faded from her eyes. Within a few seconds, her horns and tail had disappeared from view too, leaving the Rose I had seen in the elevator sitting in front of me again.

But the blush on her cheeks remained.

"That’s enough," she said.

Just then, the doorbell rang.

Rose turned toward the sound a little too quickly.

"The pizzas are here. I’ll get them."

She stood and headed toward the entrance before I had a chance to say anything. A few seconds later, I heard the door open, followed by a brief conversation with a man.

I sat a little straighter and brought a hand to my face.

So she could get embarrassed too.

After all her earlier teasing, that discovery made me feel a little better.

Rose returned with two pizza boxes. By the time she had placed them on the coffee table and brought plates and napkins from the kitchen, her expression had mostly returned to normal.

As she opened the boxes, the smell of warm dough and cheese spread through the room.

Although I had just claimed to be full, my eyes drifted toward the pizzas.

Rose noticed.

"You didn’t like pizza, right?"

I picked up the plate she placed in front of me.

"I changed my mind."

The corners of her lips curved slightly, but this time, she didn’t push the subject. She took a slice for herself and sat beside me.

There still wasn’t much space between us.

This time, I didn’t retreat toward the armrest.

We ate the first few bites in silence. Her other form was still on my mind, but I didn’t ask anything, worried that bringing it up again might make her uncomfortable.

She was the one who started asking questions.

"Why do you live alone?"

I lowered my slice onto my plate.

Rose swallowed her food before continuing.

"You don’t seem like one of those teenagers who move out the moment they turn eighteen because they want their freedom."

"How can you tell?"

"You were practically apologizing to yourself on my doorstep before asking if you could stay. It’s a little hard to imagine you giving a grand speech about freedom and packing your bags."

I looked at my plate before answering.

I wasn’t sure how much I wanted to say about my family. Still, I didn’t want to dodge her question with another excuse.

"Because my family is a bunch of scumbags."

Rose’s chewing slowed.

She probably hadn’t expected such a direct answer.

"Did they reject you because of your appearance?"

"Partly."

The real issue was that I didn’t have a Nexus.

To the Evernight family, my appearance was just another flaw added to the list of things they disliked about me. It wasn’t hard to imagine how much that same face would have mattered to them if I had been born with a powerful Nexus.

But I didn’t want to spend the evening explaining why my family considered me worthless. Admitting I didn’t have a Nexus would also lead to other questions I didn’t want to answer.

So I took another bite of pizza.

After studying my face for a while, Rose frowned slightly.

"I don’t understand how they could dislike someone so cute and beautiful."

"Oii, I’m not cute."

"Yeah, yeah."

She picked up her beer and took a sip. It was clear from her expression that she had no intention of taking me seriously.

I glared at her, but there was no sign that she wanted to continue questioning me about my family. She had understood that I didn’t want to say more.

"So what do you do at home all day?" she asked. "University hasn’t started yet."

"I play games and sometimes do other things."

"What kind of games?"

"FPS games, but I’ve been playing more RPGs lately..."

As we continued eating, answering her questions became easier. She asked whether I could cook for myself, how I handled the housework, and whether I spent all day at my computer.

When I told her I had trained that morning, she raised her eyebrows.

"So saying you were tired wasn’t entirely an excuse."

"Entirely?"

Rose ignored my reply and took another slice from the box.

After a while, the conversation turned to her high school years.

The corners of her lips lifted again as she spoke.

"Then they sat down for breakfast without taking off the ribbon. Mom didn’t say anything for a while. In the end, when I started laughing, she couldn’t hold it in either."

I looked at Rose’s face.

There was still sadness in her eyes when she spoke about her family, but this time, she didn’t seem to want to stop. She smiled as she talked, trying to share the little details she remembered with me.

And I listened.

After a while, we closed the empty pizza boxes and pushed them to the edge of the coffee table. As Rose settled more comfortably into the couch, I asked the question still on my mind.

"So, what’s your Nexus?"

Her fingers paused on the beer bottle for a moment.

Then she looked at me and smiled.

"Do you want to learn everything about me tonight?"

"You asked me plenty of questions."

"You can wonder about it for a while."

She placed her bottle on the coffee table and pointed at my plate.

"You ate plenty for someone who said he didn’t like pizza."

She was clearly avoiding my question on purpose.

I didn’t press her. After hiding the real issue with my own family, it wouldn’t have been fair to expect her to tell me all her secrets.

We continued talking for a while.

As time passed, Rose’s voice slowed. The pauses between her sentences grew longer. She rested her head against the back of the couch a few times before sitting up again, trying not to show how sleepy she was getting.

When she opened her mouth to answer one of my questions, she yawned.

"You’re getting sleepy," I said.

"A little."

I was about to remind her that she had questioned me for wanting to sleep earlier, but just then, Rose shifted to the side.

Before I understood what she was doing, she rested her head on my lap.

My body tensed for a moment.

"Rose?"

"I’ll stay like this for a bit."

She pulled her legs onto the couch and curled up slightly. Her short black hair spread across my pants as she turned her face to find a comfortable position.

I stared at her for several seconds, unsure where to put my hands.

I thought about asking her to lift her head, but her eyes were already closed. Her lips parted slightly as though she was about to say something, then she changed her mind.

In the quiet room, her breathing gradually became steady.

After a minute, it was clear she had no intention of getting up.

I let out a relieved breath and leaned back against the couch. I had spent the whole evening trying to prepare for whatever she would say next. Now she was sleeping with her head on my lap, completely unaware.

I reached for the blanket beside us and draped it over her.

Then I slowly brought my hand to her head. After moving a strand away from her face, I gently ran my fingers through her black hair.

Rose didn’t wake. She only settled her head more comfortably on my lap.

I watched her sleeping face for a few seconds. Then I rested my head against the back of the couch and continued stroking her hair.

I guess I won’t be getting any sleep tonight.

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A/N: Hiii, humanoids!

I’ve decided to change this novel’s title... I’ve noticed that the word "femboy" in the title hasn’t been very well received, and it’s been hurting the novel.

Anyway, if you have a title in mind that you think would suit this novel, feel free to share it in the comments! ^_^