"Hey! You guys... what are you doing?!"
Rin Tohsaka shouted when she saw Athena hugging Souta. Her tone was clearly disapproving.
"Hmm? Isn't this just the rule for dimension travel?" Athena looked at her, confused. "You joined the group before me, didn't you know?"
"I know, but... don't you care at all?"
"My divine wisdom tells me that being bothered by something so trivial is called petty," Athena replied bluntly. "I am a goddess. I don't have that problem."
Rin was left speechless, fuming quietly.
Then Altair walked up and grabbed onto Souta's left arm.
Seeing Rin standing motionless, she asked curiously, "Miss Tohsaka, aren't you coming?"
Rin glanced at Souta.
She really wanted to hug him too. But doing so in front of everyone felt too embarrassing.
And truthfully... she wanted to hug him alone.
"Hmph," she turned her head away. "I can go back on my own."
"Huh?" Altair blinked, then glanced at Souta.
Afraid of seeming like a sleazy playboy, Souta hurried to clarify.
"Ahem, right—any member who has built up enough favor with the group leader can return to their world on their own after receiving the leader's invitation."
"There's a rule like that?" Athena looked a little surprised.
Apparently realizing hugging from the front wasn't all that graceful, she circled behind Souta and wrapped her arms around his neck from behind like a koala.
"So there's such a rule..." Altair glanced at Souta—still in Athena's arms—and frowned slightly.
"Am I... not friendly enough with you?"
"You are. Just not quite at the 'share-every-secret' level."
Freed from the front-hug chokehold, Souta breathed a little easier—though a tiny part of him missed the close contact.
Freshness aside, sometimes a bit of closeness stung sweetly.
"Alright, let's drop the topic. Time to head back."
Souta looked at Rin and smiled. "Come on, Rin."
"I'll go back on my own!"
Rin hesitated, then stayed put.
Ah, tsundere—always self-imploding.
Souta didn't force her. He returned to his world with Athena and Altair.
Once they vanished, Rin stomped her foot and patted her cheeks.
Why are you ?! she scolded herself internally.
She should've walked up and snatched Athena's spot.
If it were just the two of them, she'd have had the guts. But not under everyone's eyes.
"Next time... definitely next time!"
Resolving herself, Rin glanced toward the cabin. Nezuko and the others, lost in reunion joy, hadn't noticed Souta and the rest leaving.
Wanting to avoid questions later, Rin quickly returned to Souta's world.
Because Souta had already gone back, she was transported straight into his apartment.
Blinking into the familiar room, Rin suddenly realized something.
Why does the teleport always land here?
She wondered if Souta, when traveling alone, was also sent to a fixed location—or if it was randomized.
"Rin, I waited ten minutes for you."
Souta set a drink down on the coffee table and glanced over, looking slightly exasperated.
"You're not mad just because I didn't hug you, are you?"
"Don't underestimate me. I wouldn't get mad over something like that! It's not like we haven't hugged before..."
Rin sat on the couch and glanced around. "Where are the others?"
"Gone already," Souta waved his phone. "You think they'd wait ten minutes for you?"
"By the way, Souta," Rin asked curiously, "When you come back alone, do you get teleported here randomly? Or is it fixed?"
"I asked the system before," Souta replied. "We always return to the place where we left our original world."
"Anyway," he shifted the topic, "You've got points now. Have you decided how you want to power up?"
Rin was stumped. She hadn't thought it through.
Unlike Souta, she didn't have wild ideas.
Besides the Second Magic or something like Artoria's dragonic core, she couldn't think of any method to boost her power.
She couldn't exactly ask him to just buff her physical strength with divine power, right?
"I'll go back and think about it. I'll tell you once I've decided."
"Alright. Think it over. If you can't come up with anything—"
Souta's eyes gleamed. "I can help."
"Uh... Why do I feel like your 'help' sounds kinda sketchy?"
Rin suddenly looked wary.
Souta rolled his eyes. "Look at Kurumi. She's steadily growing stronger under my guidance. What's sketchy about that?"
"Fine. If I can't think of anything, I'll ask for your help... Wait, why are you walking over here?"
Rin noticed Souta suddenly stand up and walk toward her.
He was a head taller than her. With him so close, she had to look up slightly—his presence felt just a little overwhelming.
"What am I doing? Fulfilling your earlier wish, of course."
Souta opened his arms and wrapped her in a tight hug.
"W-Wait—" Rin flinched. She thought he was about to do something improper and instinctively started to struggle.
"Relax," Souta gently patted her back. "You seemed hesitant earlier. Since you came all this way, I can't let you leave with regrets."
"Who... Who said I wanted a hug?!"
Rin turned her head away, looking annoyed—like she'd been misunderstood.
Souta ran his fingers through her hair and teased:
"Didn't we already talk things out? If you keep acting , we're never going to move forward."
"Fine, then I'll take the lead."
Souta slowly moved his hands downward, still behind her back—
Rin's face turned beet red.
Her breathing grew quick—completely unprepared, she backed away in a panic.
"Next time! I'm leaving now!"
With that shout, her figure was enveloped in white light—and she vanished.
Souta stood there, holding empty air. He blinked, then sighed.
Guess it was time to use divine power to calm down his "evil fire."
"Looks like Rin's bold when teasing, but totally inexperienced when things get real... she ran."
Souta realized, if she kept running every time things got intimate, their relationship might never progress.
He suddenly regretted inviting her into the friend group.
With the ability to jump worlds at will, she now had a maxed-out escape skill.
"No... there's one situation where she can't run."
A mischievous grin crept onto Souta's face.
If he ambushed her at night at the Tohsaka residence—while she was in her thin nightwear—she wouldn't dare teleport.
After all, if he wasn't in his world, she'd get randomly teleported elsewhere.
If she ran, she risked ending up in public... half-dressed.
She wouldn't take that chance.
Souta chuckled, then paused.
"Wait... am I turning into a perv? Is this... exploiting a loophole?"
Just as he was criticizing himself, his system phone vibrated.