"Ugh, anyway, I feel so gross I can’t stand it," Ruby complained from the back seat, tugging at her clothes. "Manager, I’m going to change real quick, okay?"
"In here?"
Before I, the one actually driving the car, had any chance to stop her, Ruby’s warm, freshly worn crop top and hot pants went flying over the seats and landed right on the dashboard, spread out as though they’d been deliberately put on display.
And then came the follow-up attack.
"Phew! That’s much better~"
Her red bra and panties flew through the air next, landing softly right beside the driver’s seat.
No, wait.
That meant that right now, in the back seat...
"Oh, right. You absolutely can’t look back, okay?" Ruby reminded me in a deliberately sweet voice. "If you do, you’ll get a full view of my precious naked body, Manager~ But if you really want to see, I suppose I could make an exception~"
"...Manager?" Audrey called from beside me, her voice carrying a faint note of suspicion.
"Ah, I-I’m not looking!" I blurted out, keeping my eyes glued to the road. "I said I’m not looking...!"
"Hmm..." Ruby hummed thoughtfully behind me. "Are you really not going to look? I’m starting to put my clothes on now, you know?"
Why did the rustling from the back seat as she searched for her clothes, combined with the little grunts she made while squeezing herself back into them, sound so strangely suggestive?
With Ruby’s auditory assault steadily testing the limits of my reason and Audrey’s suspicious gaze burning into the side of my face, I gritted my teeth and floored the accelerator.
Getting to the inn as quickly as possible was the only way I was going to survive.
◆ ◆ ◆
"The inn is more spacious than I expected," Ruby remarked, looking around the apartment with obvious interest.
"Even if it’s a penal division or whatever, it’s still a place where two S-rank Hunters are going to be living," I explained.
The Association had provided us with an apartment somewhere in Stratford.
It wasn’t exactly luxurious. There were no marble floors or anything particularly extravagant, but it had a spacious open living room with the kitchen and four rooms arranged around it. There were even two bathrooms, so it was more than enough space for three people.
"Pick whichever rooms you want and start unpacking," I said, setting my things down. "I’ll just take whichever room is left."
"Wait, Manager," Ruby said, turning toward me with a curious smile. "You’re living here with us too?"
"Yeah. That’s one of the conditions for bringing you two back into society," I replied. "So even if you don’t like it..."
"Fufufu~" Ruby giggled, her eyes already sparkling with delight.
"...Please hate it at least a little. I’m begging you."
Ruby seemed positively thrilled by the idea of living together, most likely because she saw it as a new opportunity to torment me.
Just like at the hotel, was she really treating me like some kind of inanimate object?
Ruby said Audrey considers herself a cleaner who disposes of anything that goes against her aesthetics.
Just as I seemed to be nothing more than a toy for that hedonist to amuse herself with, perhaps Audrey saw me as nothing more than another object she might have to clean up someday.
...Whatever.
As long as they didn’t cause trouble and handled the Gates properly, that was all that mattered.
"Then I’ll take this one~" Ruby announced, pointing toward one of the rooms before darting inside.
Audrey quietly gathered her luggage and chose the room farthest from Ruby’s, diagonally across the apartment.
Which meant the room between the two of them would naturally become mine.
"...This is all because of Ruby," I muttered, staring at my future room.
Trying to shake off the strange feeling, I first put away the groceries we’d bought at the department store.
Things that needed to be refrigerated went into the fridge. Frozen goods went into the freezer. Sauces, canned goods, and everything else were sorted and placed near the sink.
To think I’d have to do all this even though there were two women in the house.
Wait.
If I do too much of this from the first day, am I going to end up taking over all the housework?
A chill ran down my spine.
I quickly reassured myself that Audrey would probably help out at least somewhat.
Finally, with my own luggage in hand, I was about to enter my room.
"Really... I should’ve expected this."
Ruby’s luggage was still sitting carelessly by the entrance.
Of course.
I’d have to carry it to her room too, wouldn’t I?
Feeling as though I’d already reached some strange state of enlightenment, I picked up the bags containing Ruby’s clothes, cosmetics, and everything else she’d bought.
"Ruby, I’ll leave all the stuff you bought outside your door, okay?" I called.
"Since you’ve already brought them this far, can’t you just bring them inside?" she replied from behind the door, sounding completely shameless.
"...Shouldn’t you at least thank me for bringing them this far?"
"Hey, when did I ever get to see your..."
"Are you seriously going to deny it after we even had that nice little eye-contact session?"
"That wasn’t an eye-contact session!" I protested, my voice rising. "I was driving! I only saw you through the rearview mirror because I had to!"
...
Oh, crap.
There was a brief silence.
Then Ruby’s voice came from behind the door.
"Well then, Manager, the door’s open~"
"...Sigh."
I should have just put the bags inside and walked away.
Why had I even started arguing with Ruby?
Swallowing the retort that was already on the tip of my tongue, I opened the door and stepped inside.
Only to immediately regret it.
"Manager~" Ruby called sweetly from the bed. "I think I pulled a muscle in my leg. How about giving me a little massage? Hmm?"
Apparently, she’d already gotten tired of wearing clothes again.
Ruby had thrown everything onto the floor and slipped snugly beneath the blanket, grinning at me like she was waiting for exactly this moment.
Only her bare legs were visible beneath the blanket, shifting restlessly as though deliberately drawing attention to themselves.
"Massage yourself," I said flatly, setting down the bags. "You’re stronger than I am anyway."
"But a massage from someone else feels completely different, doesn’t it?" Ruby asked, propping herself up slightly with a playful smile. "And if you work hard for me now, there might be another reward waiting for you later~"
"I don’t need a reward," I replied, already turning toward the door. "Find someone else."
"Ah, Manager!" Ruby protested, reaching toward me as I left.
I quickly dropped her bags onto the floor, stepped outside, and slammed the door shut behind me.
"...I should’ve done that from the beginning."
From inside the room, Ruby’s voice immediately followed.
"How boring! You just ran away. You’re such a tightwad!"