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But more than anything, I just felt relieved that my relationship with Sufi hadn’t been ruined.

“We’ll always be together from now on, okay?”
“Yup.”
“When you’re all better and we get to Alveria, let’s do lots of fun things together.”
“Yup.”
“Let’s look for cute clothes and dress up together!”
“Nope.”

With a pouty *muu~* sound, Sufi’s cheeks puffed up.

She knows I’m not into skirts and frilly stuff…

■■■

“Well, I get what you’re saying, nya. If it’s been like that since we met, then there’s nothing for us to say.”
“Yeah.”
“Grrr…”

As Sufi hugged me tightly from behind and nibbled on my ear, Noche stared at us with an exasperated look.

“Honestly, I’m a little relieved, nya. I thought something weird might’ve gotten inside you, or that something had transformed into you, nya.”

In this world, there’s magic and monsters like that creature from before. There are strange tools too, so Noche had apparently thought some unknown being had suddenly taken over me.

In other words, she’d just been worried.

“Noche, you’re so kind.”
“Nyah!?”
“Yeah, Noche is really kind, isn’t she?”

When Filia smiled and nodded at that innocent comment, Noche’s cheeks turned red and she turned away sharply.

“You’re blushing~”
“Shut up, nya!”

At that perfect cue, Sufi—who had stopped biting my ear and was fixing my fur—jumped in to tease Noche even more. Soon enough, Noche snapped, and the two of them started chasing each other around.

…We’re on the fourth floor, right? I hope no one complains from downstairs. Well, since we can’t interact with the outside world, maybe they won’t hear us anyway.

Just as I was feeling relieved, a sudden urge to pee hit me. I staggered down from the sofa and headed toward the wall with the light switches.

Thanks to the rest I’d gotten, I could at least move around again.

“Alice, where are you going?”
“Pee.”

Apparently, while I’d been asleep, Sufi had only given me water by hand, and when I needed to go, she carried me outside and helped me use the toilet. I don’t remember any of it.

This room has basic utilities, though I don’t know how it works—and apparently, it doesn’t even cost anything. Now that I can move again, I should explain all that to them too.

I stretch up on my toes and flip the light switch. With a *click*, the lights come on. It’s been so long—it’s almost blinding.

“Fugya!?”
“So bright!?”
“Ah, sorry.”

I apologize to the two shielding their eyes, then open the living room door and step into the hallway. The bathroom is immediately to the right.

I stretch to grab the doorknob, open it, and switch on the light inside—then freeze.

“……”

Wait a second. How do girls even use a sitting style toilet? There’s no seat cover, just a pretty new-looking washlet in front of me.

In our world, toilets are primitive—basically, you squat over a covered hole. There’s no way Sufi and the others know how to use something like this.

No, calm down. It can’t be that different. Standing is… not an option. So that means…

I lower the toilet seat, climb up, and sit facing the door.

Then, uh—right. I reach for my tattered, frayed shorts-like underwear and pull them down to my knees. After a few tense seconds, the built-up pressure releases with a rush.

Ahh, feels kind of relaxing.

“Alice, are you okay?”

Just as I let out a sigh of relief, Sufi suddenly opens the door and peeks in. My tail shoots straight up.

Jeez, does she have no sense of hesitation!?

“So this is the toilet?”
“Y-Yeah. I’ll teach you how to use it later. Just don’t open the door all of a sudden.”

Even between sisters, some privacy should still exist.

“But sometimes you can’t move after using the toilet, right?”
“…I’m sorry.”

I tried to protest, but she had a point. There were times before when I’d exhausted myself and couldn’t make it back home from the outhouse.

Still, at least *knock* next time, please.

■■■

After washing my hands and settling down, I told Sufi to only open the door if I didn’t respond after she knocked. Then I gave everyone a tour of the apartment—it was time to really start living here.

It’s probably the first time they’ve seen a Japanese-style apartment, so I needed to explain things properly.

Though honestly, I’ve only entered a few houses before myself—mostly for testing purposes while checking the effects of Unknowns.

“This thing on the wall is the switch—it turns on the ceiling lights. That over there’s the toilet…”

Starting from the entrance, I showed them how to use the hallway light switches and the toilet. …Now that it’s bright, I can see the floor’s completely caked in mud. Well, everyone’s been wearing shoes inside—it figures.

We’ll need to clean before checking out the rooms.

“For now, take your shoes off over there.”
“Okay~”
“Got it, nya.”
“O-Okay.”

I demonstrate by taking off my worn-out shoes at the entrance, and while the others mimic me, I head to the laundry room. I search around to see if anything’s left and—luckily—find bottles of shampoo refills, bath salts, and towels stored under the sink.

Looks like these count as included supplies.

“Use these to wipe your feet first… then we’ll clean the floor.”
“…It’s really muddy, after all.”
“Don’t boss me around, nya. I’m the leader here.”

Ignoring Sufi’s complaint as she looked at her muddy feet, I handed her a towel and gave Noche a few damp ones to take.

“Take care of the living room, please, Leader.”
“Fine, nya. Filia, come with me.”
“Eh!? O-Okay.”

As Noche dragged Filia off to the living room, I asked Sufi to handle the hallway.

“What about you, Alice?”
“I’ll prepare something good.”

I looked toward the bathroom. When I opened the frosted glass door, a lavish and spacious marble bath greeted me. Apparently, it had been one of the building’s key selling points when this apartment was built. It’s kind of sad that it ended up as a stigmatized property after all those disappearances.

I started pouring water into the bathtub, testing each soap and shampoo on my skin as I went.

I’d been waiting for this—for a real bath—ever since my memories came back. My tail wagged with excitement despite myself.

“…Wow.”

Then, catching my reflection in the mirror, I froze. A scruffy, filthy, matted stray dog stared back at me. I waited in stunned silence as the bath slowly filled with water.