Ch.129Chapter 129

The professor had left for a lecture, and I ended up staying in the research lab with Ouro. I already had permission from the Academy, so I could go anywhere—the library, following the professor, wherever—but Ouro couldn’t do the same.

Though she had the same face as me, her very existence hadn’t yet been granted permission for free movement.

The Academy was focused on students’ studies, but it was also a massive library or research institute where professors could conduct their research with ease. With numerous archives and materials available, it seemed to naturally ignite research enthusiasm.

Because of this, Ouro’s status as a research subject needed to be thoroughly reviewed—whether she was sufficient as research material as an item of the Academy, and whether she posed any harm to students.

The former wasn’t much of a concern since she was essentially the same as me, and honestly, the latter would obviously pass quickly since Ouro was actually safer than I was.

Though it had been a month since Ouro emerged, this was her first time at the Academy, so the review process would take some time.

For these reasons, Ouro still couldn’t follow the professor to lectures. She could only come as far as the professor’s research lab in the Research Building, and would have to wait for permission for anything beyond that, which was disappointing.

Well, it wasn’t my fault, and I wasn’t alone in the research lab, so there was no need to feel bad about it. I had a friend to chat with now.

“My friends are coming over soon.”

“Friends?”

“Yeah. Sera, Aria, and Karen are coming.”

“…I remember them.”

Ouro seemed to search her memory upon hearing those names, then immediately recalled them. Her eyes widened at the memory. I quickly understood why.

She must have met them at some point during the week she was conscious and following the professor around like I did.

That made sense. We’d even filmed that eating video before, so of course she would have met them. Since she’d already met them, there was no need to drag out the explanation, which was convenient.

“Then let’s chat and have fun when they get here.”

“Okay.”

Ouro agreed readily. Unlike before, she wasn’t being aloof, which made it really easy to talk to her. I thought it would have been nice if she’d been like this before, but I couldn’t have known what was in her mind back then, so it couldn’t be helped.

Putting those thoughts aside, I picked up my phone and tapped away with both thumbs. As I was about to post something in the group chat, I remembered something, switched to camera mode, and turned slightly.

“Ouro, look over here.”

“Hm?”

“If I take a picture like this and show it to the others, they’ll be really surprised.”

I switched to selfie mode and adjusted the angle so both Ouro, sitting across from me, and I could fit in the frame. Ouro tilted her head and asked:

“Wouldn’t it be more surprising if you didn’t show them at all?”

“…Oh, you think so?”

Ouro’s point certainly made sense. There’s definitely a difference between just mentioning something in chat and showing it in a photo.

So would it be better not to show them at all? Maybe it would be more surprising if I revealed it with a “ta-da!” when they came to the research lab.

“Then let’s just take one picture.”

Since surprising them would be fun, I decided not to post the photo and just take one for now. Trying to photograph Ouro sitting across from me made it seem like I was too big in the frame and she was too small, so I took a quick shot and moved to a different position for the next one.

“What? Didn’t you already take it?”

As I squeezed in next to Ouro, she leaned in the direction I was pushing. She didn’t seem particularly uncomfortable, so I held up the camera and pointed at the screen.

“I’m taking a different one now. Look here, can you see your face?”

A face identical to mine. But our eye colors were different. Mine were gold, and Ouro’s were red. That alone was enough to tell us apart.

The differences in our expressions made it easy to distinguish us too.

Her somewhat indifferent expression, yet with some indescribable emotion behind it, was captured on the phone screen. I stretched my short arm as far as I could, leaned my face into the frame, and raised my fingers.

“V-sign.”

Ouro made a face like she didn’t understand what this meant. To be honest, I didn’t really know either, but I couldn’t think of any other pose for photos, and I thought it would be nice to look back at pictures where we were smiling, so it seemed fine.

Ouro didn’t strike any particular pose. Her expression said she didn’t mind being photographed, but she wasn’t going to make an effort either. But that wasn’t going to stop me, so I hugged Ouro tightly and pressed the button.

With the click of the shutter, the photo was saved.

I stared at my phone. Looking at the photo I’d just taken in the gallery, I held it out to Ouro.

“What is it?”

“The picture we just took. Take a look.”

Ouro looked at the photo I’d taken, then raised her hand. She seemed to fiddle with something on the screen before nodding.

“It’s not bad.”

“Just say it’s good.”

I pouted. Ouro gave me a look that seemed to say to let it go, so I decided to drop it. There was no need to force emotions from her.

After taking the photo, there wasn’t much else to do. I sat there blankly, wondering if we should just wait until the professor finished her lecture. Ouro didn’t seem to find sitting quietly particularly boring, so she just sat there.

“Ouro, aren’t you bored? We have to wait for the professor.”

When I stared at her, Ouro couldn’t bear my gaze and turned toward me. She looked at me once, then scanned the surroundings. I moved my head along with her gaze, then she continued.

“Everything is new right now. …The place where the professor works, where she sleeps. Just being in that space is enough.”

“Hmm, I see. Then what will you do when this becomes normal too? Won’t you get bored? Don’t you want to wait for the professor?”

When I glanced at her and casually asked, Ouro calmly replied:

“You said friends are coming anyway.”

Waiting and staying still were what Ouro did best. Once I realized that, I understood this question was meaningless.

She seemed to be simply enjoying the moment because friends were coming and the professor would return. It was surprisingly different from how she acted around the professor, always unable to get close enough to her.

Was it like a cat with catnip? The professor being the catnip and Ouro the cat. She lived fine without it, but when it was nearby, she’d purr and rub against it—that seemed like an apt comparison.

“…Why are you looking at me like that?”

“No reason.”

I shrugged.

We exchanged a few trivial conversations. Soon it was lunchtime, and the professor, having finished her morning first-year lecture, opened the door and came in. At the sound of the door opening, Ouro’s ears perked up and she jumped to her feet.

“Professor!”

“Oh my. Ouro, did you wait well?”

“Yes.”

Before the professor could even step into the research lab, Ouro rushed over and hugged her.

“Welcome back, Professor. Hi, Karen.”

Karen was standing behind the professor. She waved from behind the professor, so I waved back.

“Wow, is this Ouro?”

“Yes. She’s a separate personality from Ourr, but somehow she got her own body.”

The professor explained this while gently lifting Ouro. Seeing someone over 140cm tall constantly hugging the professor made me pout involuntarily. The professor would say it was fine, but there wasn’t room for two people in her arms, so it was disappointing for me.

“Come in.”

“Ah, yes. Excuse me.”

The professor entered carrying Ouro. With the professor’s permission, Karen bowed her head slightly and approached me.

“It’s been a while, Ourr. Have you been well?”

“Yeah. Have you been well too, Karen?”

“I’ve been good. The older girls took good care of me, so I even had fun.”

“Right. I saw that. I was jealous.”

I’d seen all the photos being posted in the group chat before, and I was envious. I’d gone to an amusement park too, but I didn’t have any good photos to show off.

Even now, I regretted not thinking to take pictures.

“I went to an amusement park too, but I only have sticker photos…”

“Oh? Sticker photos of you would be cute. Want to go take some sticker photos with me sometime?”

“Oh. Sure.”

I nodded repeatedly at Karen’s suggestion.

It was always good to accept interesting proposals like this. As we were chatting briefly, Ouro waved her hand.

“You’re Karen, right? Hello.”

Karen blinked at the voice that seemed to be somewhere between emotionless and friendly. She seemed pleased that Ouro had greeted her and waved back.

“Have you been well, Ouro? Nice to meet you.”

“Yes.”

Ouro nodded too.

It was a liveliness I hadn’t felt during summer vacation. I wasn’t sure if it was because we were the same age or what, but just having one more friend seemed to make things more lively.

Come to think of it, Karen used to seem like the quiet type, but she seemed a bit more outgoing now, as if she’d really enjoyed her summer vacation.

Well, people aren’t the same all the time, and two months is enough time for someone to change.

“Oh right, the older girls are coming too.”

“Ooh. So you decided to call them ‘unni’?”

“Yeah, they said ‘senior’ was too formal.”

Karen smiled wryly and scratched her head.

Should I call them “unni” too? But considering this body’s age, maybe not… or should I go by physical age?

“Hmm.”

I put my small hand on my chin and pondered for a while.