I was laying on my bed while texting someone on my mobile. From the corner of my eyes, I could see a very curious Lilith moving the mouse of my PC to see what it does. The interest in her eyes was that of a kid when they learn new things. But her reaction after experimenting with the mouse clearly showed that she didn’t get what she was expecting.

“What does this thing even do?” She examined the mouse by lifting it up and turning it around. She flinched for a moment as the red sensor light got into her eyes.

“This has a weird shape and what’s with the colour changing every few seconds?” She tilted her head and looked at me. It was one of that multi-coloured LED mouse so it used to change colours frequently.

“Umm… don’t mind it. It’s just a device which… uhh… I won’t bother explaining to you.” I said as I turned off my mobile and put it beside my pillow.

“Ehh? Why?” She wasn’t happy about me rejecting her curiosity and looked at me with frowned eyes.

“Because it’ll be a pain in the ass.” I said, and again picked up my phone as it vibrated from the text I just received. Looking at the text I got, a slight smile appeared on my face.

Noticing my smile while texting someone, she asked, “You’re talking with your friend? What was his name, again?”

“I’m talking to a girl.” I said this really casually, but if this was the past me and the person in front of me wasn’t Lilith, then the other person would’ve reacted a lot differently considering my isolation from girls or any other person, regardless of their gender.

“Ahh, the Vessel?” She asked.

“Yeah” I nodded.

“So, like how close have you been with her?”

“If you’re asking that from a romantic perspective then not so much. But as a friend, my progression has been pretty steady.”

“You’re still friends with her?”

“Yeah.”

“With Saki-san, you actually progressed a lot more than this.” She said, while sitting on my computer chair and stretching her legs.

“Well, with her, it was a different scenario. I’ve a hunch that she already liked me or something. So it was easy to approach her.”

“Well… I don’t know if I can agree with that.”

“And why is that?” I was simultaneously texting with Yasurouka and talking with Lilith.

“Just a hunch.” She winked at me.

Sometimes I think that she can do a lot more than what she shows on the surface. She can use magic to trace the vessels, so there is always a possibility that she hides their information from me on purpose.

But why?

Any details regarding this contract were still a mystery to me. Lilith was keeping me in the dark intentionally. I could tell that much.

What if I really have to carry on this contract for the rest of my life? I know Lilith assured me that there won’t be anything like this, but what’s the weight of her words when I don’t even know if she is lying or not? I can’t keep living a life where death would knock at my door any second.

“Don’t think so much about this.” Lilith said, noticing me lost in thoughts. It’s sometimes difficult to hide my inner thoughts, and she ends up reading them.

“I know. It just came across my mind.” I looked at her.

“Sakamaki-kun, I may be many things but being a liar is not one of them.” She said in a bitter tone while staring into my eyes. Judging from her voice, I had a small feeling that she was reminiscing about something.

There was an awkward silence building up between us. I have actually been quite honest with her about my opinions, so I said, “I know, but I just find everybody hard to trust.”

“I can see where you are coming from.” She chucked. This is something only a person who was betrayed in their past would say. Even though there was a smile on her face, I know she is trying to hide something from me. Well, I don’t care about it as long as it isn’t affecting me.

“Don’t worry, I told you on the first day we met that I’m a devil of my words.” I noticed the change in her tone and looked at her smiling face. It seems like she was back to her usual composure. I decided not to continue this topic because there were still underlying differences between us which neither of us were comfortable to talk about.

“Anyway, as of now, I know little about her. So it’s impossible to get close to her.” I said in order to change the topic and relieve the tension between us.

“Well, I know you can do it so I’m not worried.” She chucked.

“You’re worried about the first one?”

“Well, of course I was.” As she said that, I looked at her with narrow eyes. I was just teasing her though, because it was my first target so her worrying about it was logical.

“Ah… yes… exactly what you’re thinking of.” She said and from her voice it seemed like she read my mind.

“There you go, again peeking inside my mind.” I sighed.

“I can’t control it… no actually I can control it but reading your thoughts is intriguing.” She giggled.

“So you…”

Knowing what I was about to say, she replied, “Yes, I do it on purpose.” Looking at the smirk on her face, I could tell that she really enjoyed teasing me.

“Anyways, I’m going to take a nap.” I said and crashed my head into the pillow.

“If you even try to touch that mouse once more, no more fried chicken for you.” Knowing her for two months now, I know she will try to play around with it once I’m not looking at her anymore.

“Hey! That’s not fair.” She complained, but I ignored her whining and dozed off to sleep. It was a weekend anyways so I’ll waste the entire day by sleeping and then regret later for not being productive, as usual.