She opened the door and hugged her; Chiouri caressed her and her gaze searched for me.

…Don't worry, I know what you've come for. How little you trust me. You can't read minds though.

With my flat hand I pointed to my forehead, scolded and made a confident smile. From her position and the difference in height it seemed like a mockery. Trying to relieve her, I resumed my step towards the room.

“Chi?” Nugu asked, looking up sweetly.

“Have you heard… strange rumors?”

“No. What are you talking about?”

“It's no big… deal.”

“I was making tea for Mugon and Tira. Do you want to join?” she invited her, tilting her head and hair in pure innocence with her energetic tail.

⸎

Lying in bed, I fiddled with the phone's functionalities.

The first application was two intertwined red and white curved lines: it was a chat; I only had the goddess in contact. Her avatar was her sticking out her tongue and covering her eyes; I didn't want to think about what she reminded me of, it generated bad vibes.

In her profile status she had written: “Annoying the new guy, hahaha.”

…I hope I can delete she.

The second was a blue book with a red reading point: it was a seeker of universes and gods; When you selected any, a list of existing ones appeared: it was a kind of yellow pages. Also two more options that said “Ranking” and “Favorites”.

I looked for Nugu and four appeared: Nugu, Nugun, Nuguyami and Nuguko; all with their respective avatar on the left side. Three options appeared when you pressed their name: “Contact”, “Send friend request” and “Information”; I sent her a petition in an attempt to get her to accept me.

Her avatar was the treasured hedgehog sitting in the open window, showing the landscape next to some cloud; the resolution was incredible, there were no pixels and the loading time was non-existent. I looked at his file:

«Name: Nugu.

Race: Catwoman.

Goddess: Stuffed animals with powers.

Universe: Stuffed animals with powers.

Popularity: 36✩»

…Popularity?

When you clicked on the underlined text, an explanation appeared:

«Marking the star serves to raise it in the ranking. In the favorites section you will find the ones you have marked”

I adapted right away, I didn't imagine the gods using these things. I pressed the name of the universe, it showed more information:

«Universe: Stuffed animals with powers.

Owner: Nugu.

Domain: Private.

Residents: 4.

Popularity: 342✩

Tags: Powers, stuffed animals, without metabolism.»

…Residents four? Could they be former residents? They're traveling? She lied to me? I should ask her later…

Unfortunately, the names of the residents were not revealed.

I noticed a pain in my chest, as if something didn't fit.

There was something that made me curious: my profile. I looked for him and only I showed up.

…Is my name that ridiculous? I think A was right…

«Name: Koly.

Race: Simple human.

Goddess: Lolicon.

Universe: Stuffed animals with powers.

Popularity: 1✩»

When I read race, I avoided looking at what was written.

“It must be a joke. I hope it can be changed” I thought out loud.

…Someone put me in favorites, could it be from the goddess?

The third was an empty red rhombus, inside a larger golden one; it was a store with a variety of junk programs: tools, books, novels, paid games…; the system was similar to the world I lived in. The symbol of money was represented by a blue minimalist soul.

The fourth was a treasure chest with a soul-shaped lock: it was a bank where my current money appeared, it marked that I had 500 souls; If you went back to the previous app, the games ranged from 5 to 40 souls.

The fifth was a camera photographing a blue flower: as expected, it was the camera. You could add filters and put on night vision which worked great.

The sixth, a multicolored planet on a canvas: a kind of search engine or intelligence that responded or drew whatever you asked of it.

And finally, a gear of the basic settings, even to change the color of the mobile cover, you could also customize the TIS with complex options.

I inquired about someone in particular, I looked for their name, but I didn't dare enter their profile.

I didn't understand my feelings, it was confusing, I felt anger and sadness, something didn't add up. The fact of living disconcerted me, I put my hand firmly on my chest trying to change something, but as always, nothing happened. I wanted to rest, I was helpless, I wanted a change and at the same time nothing.

…Why am I in this situation if I hate everyone?…

Something consumed me, I didn't want to open it and remember the humans.

Without warning, someone touched my back; I calmed down and maintained my composure.

I was so focused that I didn't notice his presence, I didn't even remember hearing the door.

“Mugon? What's going on? How long have you been here?” I asked, turning the screen against the bed.

…Have you seen me? Does she think I hate her? Do I hate her? She is human…

Everyone I met was the same, did being a goddess make her different?

I went from lying down to sitting up.

Mugon tried to speak with difficulty, she put her hands on her neck as if it hurt.

I was surprised to see it, remembering something diffuse and ephemeral.

“Alright! Calm down…” I stopped her hands as if I were going to lose her.

…Lose her?? Why would I care?

“Sit down, I don't mind you writing. I was going to send you a friend request, we can write to each other whenever you want… And I wanted to talk to you privately…”

«?» She wrote confused in the notebook.

“The goddess told you that I was that boy you were in love with, right?” I asked bluntly.

She started nervously and embarrassed.

«Yes, but…» I interrupted her before she finished.

“Sorry, I'm not him; I want you to know that I don't remember you.”

…What am I saying?… Not remembering her means that I am different from the one she knew. I want you to be aware…

“I'm sure she was joking. She has tried to bother me again and again; she even told Nugu that I reincarnated alongside you.” I gave her a bitter smile.

…I don't remember anything, I would disappoint her… But…

“Besides, there are many people like me…”

…If what I said was true, I wouldn't have gone through that… I hate everyone.

Mugon, who was confused until now, smiled.

“You shouldn't get so close to me…”

…You have no reason to be in love with me.

Something inside me was shattered, like I was losing my sense of emotions.

Interrupting me, she squeezed my cheeks, limiting my speech. With serenity and affection she rebuked her, her eyes were full of warmth.

“Mugon?” I was surprised, because it was I who was crying. “Eh?”

She let me go and wrote; I limited myself to observing her.

«If you are not him, why do you suffer?»

“No one was capable of fulfilling my dream and I don't remember anything about you…”

She shook his head:

«It doesn't matter, we can start, there is no rush»

“Why? Just because I saved you?…”

She scolded and laughed:

«You say you are not him, but you speak in the first person★ Do you know what my dream is?»

I sighed to regain my spirits:

“Be a singer?” I responded having seen her past.

She denied, embarrassed, so she took a while to respond:

«Be with you forever.» She smiled.

…That?…

I avoided she gaze, I was more embarrassed than her.

“Why should I believe you? You could have invented it now…”

Glancing at her out of the corner of my eye, she shook his head warmly.

“I can confirm that for you! As if she were to recite it, there hasn't been a single day where she didn't think about you, it stressed me out to hear her thoughts!” Tira testified, emerging from a shadow.

Mugon used his hand to silence her and with the other she nervously denied me.

Tira, with skill, moved her tails at will, immobilized her and entangled her torso with her arms with great ease, then placed her against the ground. Her tail seemed elastic, being able to lengthen it.

As if it had been normal for me to come out of the shadows, I continued without being surprised:

“If that's true, it's too perfect, it's so convenient that it seems false…”

Mugon was happy as well as embarrassed.

“Everyone creates their future: just as it is convenient for you, it is also convenient for her. She is, daily, obsessed with wanting to see you. If she told you what she does thinking about you, you wouldn't believe it~”

…!? You mean…!?

She nodded her head and Mugon cried from shame lying on the ground.

“No, I won't let you hide. That's not true, he doesn't have to reject you,” she explained his thoughts; Tira lifted Mugon off the ground, positioning her in front of me and freed her.

“Don't worry. I should get to know you more and check if you can really fulfill it; I will not rule out the possibility that you could be my partner.”

…But I also don't rule out that I can't fulfill it. Let's check if what I feel is hate.

«I promise I will try hard!★», she taught with courage, still embarrassed.

…I won't deny that at least she's cute, despite being human.

“He says he doesn't deny that you're incredibly cute,” Tira snitched with a smug smile; Mugon was about to faint.

…I don't like having my mind read.

“By the way, why do you have a sticker under your eye?”

«At a festival, Nugu told me it looked good on me, so I started wearing it. You do not like? Do you want me to take it off?”

“I think it suits you well. You shouldn't stop using something because I say so. If you were my partner, I would love you no matter what you wear.” She grabbed her chest and fell to the ground like a child who was moving to release her emotion. “Are you ok!?” I crouched down worried.

“I already told you that she is obsessed, be more careful, she has to get used to it.”

I returned to my place after checking that she was okay.

…I haven't even done anything! And I said if she were my partner, she is not yet!

“Yet,” Tira reiterated, covering his mouth with the tips of his fingers and smiling maliciously.

“And what are you doing here? What happened to Nugu and Chiouri?”

“I ran away, I said I was going to the bathroom and I came sneakily to spy on you~” she answered without shame.

Mugon wrote on the ground:

«I wanted you to be with us, so I came to surprise you and entered quietly. I'm sorry…”

“No problem.”

…So much so that I didn't even hear you enter.

“That's his power~” she clarified my thoughts.

Mugon nodded and showed it to me:

«Say something after it's your turn★». She knelt down, covered her mouth with her hand and held mine, avoiding looking at me, blushing, at her face.

…It just can't be…

I tried to say his name, but I didn't make a sound.

“Silences anything you touch, you can open a squeaky door without it making a sound~”

I was surprised, not by its power, but by the activation: covering her mouth was so that they wouldn't hit her. But like before she tried to speak; Can she but she has a trauma? I thought.

…I would hug her to make her feel better, but it would be disrespectful. Last time I almost collapsed… Why would that happen? Now I feel better than the other times.

“Listen, listen, Mugon! He says he wants to hug you for the rest of his life, it's comforting to do it with you. That's cool, right? You've made it,” she exaggerated maliciously.

“I didn't say all that!”

…Stop reading my mind. It is unfair! I also want to know what Mugon think.

“I must be close to read them. Think that you can do it as many times as you want and that she loves you~”

She returned to Tira trying to silence her and, again, she was disabled.

…I appreciate that she loves me so much, but she is human…

“You should go back to Nugu, she will worry.”

Mugon shook his head.

“She wants you to come with us.”

This situation didn't require me to move much, so I agreed.

“Although I won't make conversation.”

…I'll spend it resting.

Mugon was happy as if she had achieved an achievement.

I went to the door and when I opened it, Nugu almost fell in as if she had gossiped. Before she did, I held her by her belly, preventing her from eating the ground.

“Were you spying?” I asked; Nugu smiled awkwardly and I helped her to her feet. “And Chiouri?”

“Chi already left.”

⸎

In the living room, Nugu and Tira were sitting on the opposite side of the table and Mugon was next to me.

“This year you will also accompany me to the puppet festival?” Nugu suggested.

I was lying with my arms crossed and eyes closed on the table without interfering in the conversation.

«Yes, I hope this time we can see the theater of the crowned bear who lost his soul★»

“Of course~”

When both answered, there was silence.

Under the table, Tira grabbed Mugon's chair with her tails and pulled it closer to me. Nugu raised her fists in encouragement and moved her tail as if she were trying to capture her prey; Tira, in an act of trust, nodded to her; Mugon was nervous, but she gained courage.

She put his face above mine to see me and poked my cheek to get my attention; I looked at her out of the corner of my eye, she touched me with so much affection that it was even comfortable.

«You will come too, right?★». She smiled at me.

She was so cute that I smiled back.

“No.” She was stunned by my immediate negative response. “I don't find the fun in going out. I would rather stay here hugging you all day than go out without motivation.”

She looked disconsolately at her friends, it seemed that she was the one who would change her mind. They were shocked and nervous when they saw her friend's reaction: her plans were going to hell.

“So without motivation…~” Tira muttered; she stood up and whispered in my ear: “What if I offer you nude photos of Mugon?”

I stood up as if I had heard something surprising.

“Really!? Did you think I would say that? Besides, she would only accept them if she offered them to me. And don't do them without her permission,” I responded, returning to my resting position.

Tira looked sadly at Mugon:

“Don't worry, we have time to dissuade him~”

…Not that it was easy. For this she should be my partner, then I would think about it. And she is human…

“I can't stay silent!! Human, human, human over and over again!! What problem do you have with it being?! Don't compare Mugon it to the rest!!” Tira reproached angrily.

Before I could argue about the hateful humans I knew, Nugu, with both hands, struck and stood up from the table, stopping the fight.

“Mugon, Tira…, you should go back.”

…Are you kicking them out? It's still close to noon.

I guessed as I looked outside.

“Yes, we have things to do. Mugon, you haven't forgotten, have you?” Tira remembered.

His partner nodded motivated; Nugu accompanied them to the entrance to say goodbye:

“S-See you another day.” She smiled as if she were acting in some theater.

“Yes, thanks; I really love you, Nugu★». She bent down and hugged her long hair lovingly.

Observing the strange behavior of the trio, I approached Nugu from behind, who waved goodbye and with a strange smile when both had already left.

In an act of interrogation, I put my right hand on her right shoulder, and she tensed her tail pending my presence.

“K-K-Koly. W-What's wrong?”

“Eh. No, nothing. I asked me if you were hiding something from me.”

“H-Hide? I-I don't know what you're talking about.” She kept her rare smile.

I crouched down to his height and put my face next to his across his left shoulder.

“Maybe I should torture you.”

“Torture!?”

“Suffer the anger… of tickling!” I quickly tickled her abdomen without mercy.

“No!! Hahahaha-haha! Stop-Haha!”

“Will you confess?”

She turned towards me about to fall to the ground.

“Hahaha-No-haha-I know-hahaha-nothing-hahaha.”

I felt that she was important to me, her smile made me happy, I was attached to her. I stopped and hugged her, both of us lying on the ground; she was on top of me like a little cat.

“You really are the best, Nugu…”

“Eh?” Heated and confused, she didn't understand anything.

“I just hope… that you're not a lie either…” I confessed in pain.

Lying on top of me, she held my shirt tightly.