"Like? Himeko, why are you suddenly asking about that?"
"Never mind why, just answer my question first."
Seeing Himeko suddenly turn serious, Kiana felt a bit confused. She answered tentatively, "Like how Bronya likes gaming, and Mei likes cooking?"
"Not that kind." Himeko pressed her forehead. "Those are hobbies at best. The 'like' I'm talking about is romantic liking, feelings-wise."
"Feelings-wise..." Kiana repeated the phrase, looking utterly lost, clearly not quite getting it.
"Stop playing dumb with me." Seeing the girl act like this, Himeko initially assumed she was just being evasive. After all, it was obvious to anyone with eyes that Kiana and Ren's relationship was way more than just friends. Even if they suddenly announced they were getting married, Himeko wouldn't bat an eye.
Given that, Himeko absolutely refused to believe Kiana didn't like Ren.
But the expression on Kiana's face didn't seem fake. After a moment's silence, Himeko walked right up to Kiana, placed her hands on her shoulders, guided her to sit on the bed, pulled up a nearby chair for herself, and laid her cards on the table. "Tell me seriously, do you like Ren?"
After asking, she stared intently into the girl's eyes, watching for any change in those blue depths.
As expected, when Ren's name was mentioned, a flash of nervousness crossed Kiana's eyes. But just as Himeko thought the girl would get shy, what lay hidden beneath was actually a profound blankness.
"Like... Ren?" The moment those words entered her mind, Kiana felt her heartbeat suddenly quicken. But what followed was just... emptiness.
Do I like Ren?
What does... 'like' mean?
It was such a simple, direct question, yet it seemed to hit a complete blind spot in Kiana's knowledge. She stared blankly ahead, her brain momentarily short-circuiting.
Clearly, before Himeko asked, she had never once considered it.
Seeing her reaction, Himeko's heart skipped a beat.
Even though she'd never been in a relationship herself, Himeko knew that if you asked someone head-over-heels in love if they liked their partner, the answer would be immediate. Kiana's reaction, however, was more like someone completely unaware such a concept even applied to them.
Oh, crap. This kid really doesn't know she's dating him.
Her heart sank. Himeko probed cautiously, keeping her tone even, "Have you... never thought about your relationship with Ren?"
"No." Shaking her head slightly, Kiana bit her lip and asked hesitantly, "Should... should I like Ren?"
Isn't that something you should ask yourself?!
Himeko desperately wanted to retort, but seeing the girl's utter confusion, she swallowed the words back down. She knew Kiana's upbringing had severely lacked proper emotional guidance; she might genuinely not understand her own feelings.
This is bad. I thought Ren was the complicated one, but it turns out this kid is the bigger problem. Feeling deeply annoyed, Himeko mentally cursed herself for not noticing sooner.
It wasn't entirely her fault, though. Her first real insight into Ren came from that recording. With that preconception, she'd subconsciously just assumed they were dating.
Luckily, there was still time to fix things.
Himeko quickly got up, went to the door, peeked towards Ren's bedroom to make sure he hadn't noticed anything, then firmly locked the door.
"Himeko, what are you doing?"
"I think you need some... private psychological counseling."
"Ah? Oh." Though confused, Kiana nodded obediently and let Himeko sit beside her on the bed.
"While Ren isn't around, Kiana, tell your teacher honestly, how do you really feel about Ren? Do you like him, or do you just see him as a friend?"
Feelings couldn't be forced, after all. If things weren't right, bringing it up sooner was better for both of them.
"I..." Kiana looked down, unsure how to answer.
The main issue was that she'd been with Ren for so long, she'd completely gotten used to him handling everything. She didn't have to worry about forgetting things or managing daily life; she could just focus on doing her own thing.
It wasn't entirely her fault. Ren was just too good at managing things – he'd make plans subtly without ever making her feel suffocated. He never interfered with her choices but always managed to prepare everything in advance based on her personality.
That level of tacit understanding usually took decades of marriage to cultivate.
But it was precisely this seamless, taken-for-granted dynamic that had blurred many boundaries for Kiana. Actions that others saw as incredibly intimate felt completely normal to her. Subtly, gradually, she hadn't even realized her feelings were changing.
"I don't know if it counts as 'like,' but... if I could only see him as a regular friend, I think I'd feel... sad," she said softly.
For some reason, just thinking about only being ordinary friends with Ren made the restless feeling inside her suddenly intensify.
"Hm? Meaning he's special to you, right?"
"Anyway... if he left, I think I'd feel really uncomfortable."
Having asked this much, Himeko roughly understood the situation. Her biggest worry hadn't materialized: the two definitely liked each other; they just hadn't realized their own feelings yet.
"So, when you were shopping with him this afternoon, were you happy?"
"Mhm." Kiana nodded. Although they ran into Mei later, she had genuinely enjoyed shopping with Ren before that.
"Do you usually care a lot about what he thinks? Do you actively try to be close to him?"
"I... guess so?" Kiana wasn't entirely sure, mainly because they were always together, so she hadn't felt a strong contrast.
"Since you care about him deep down, you're happy spending time together, and you're willing to be close to him, that at least means you have positive feelings for him. Kiana, haven't you noticed you're always unconsciously bringing him up?"
"Am I?"
Of course, she was. It's easy to see when you're on the outside looking in. Ever since they returned to ARC City, they almost exclusively talked about each other. Himeko, her teacher, often felt like the third wheel.
"Based purely on these signs, you undoubtedly like Ren. But that's just the theoretical explanation. How you really feel... that's up to you."
Himeko didn't jump to conclusions. One was the Herrscher of Dominance, the other the Herrscher of the Void – both had serious emotional deficiencies. It was hard to say for sure what was really going on.
"I... like Ren?" Even though the answer seemed obvious, Kiana felt no real sense of understanding. She still didn't grasp what 'like' truly meant.
However, even she didn't notice that as she voiced the words "I like Ren," the feeling of unease and restlessness inside her was quietly fading away.