"Why oh is she sleeping on the floor?"

  Sayuri had heard some noise ing from Eriri's room and walked over curiously. When she peeked in, she saw her daughter fast asleep on the floor, surrounded by ay drawing board and scattered art supplies.

  Shaking her head with a hint of exasperation, Sayuri whispered, "This girl…" She guessed that Eriri had likely been w te and just colpsed from exhaustion. Without thinking too much about it, she picked her daughter up and pced her fortably on her bed.

  After adjusting Eriri's b, Sayuri g the empty drawing board and sighed softly. "I wonder if she's struggling with inspiration again…"

  As she quietly left Eriri's room, a thought crossed her mind. "e to think of it, it's been a while since I st saw Ryuji…"

  Her cheeks warmed as she remembered their st meeting, and she found herself feeling a bit nervous. She resolved to make pns to see him again soon.

  ---

  Meanwhile…

  Ryuji was lounging at home when he suddenly heard a rapid knock at his door, followed by a familiar voice.

  "Ryuji! Ryuji!"

  Reizing the voice, Ryuji strolled over to open the door, stifling a yawn as he did so. Before he could greet his visitor properly, Kasumigaoka Utaha all but threw herself at him, her face flushed from running.

  "Utaha? What's going on?"

  Just then, a system notification echoed in his mind.

  "ry detected from tact with target: Kasumigaoka Utaha. Goldery avaible. Load entry?"

  Ryuji blinked in surprise. A goldery from Utaha? This was ued. But as intriguing as it was, he pushed the thought aside for now, fog instead on the clearly exhausted girl in front of him.

  "Are you… hurt?" he asked, notig the faint pallor of her skin and the slight trembling of her hands.

  Utaha shook her head with a tired but bright smile. "I'm fine… just a bit worn out."

  By now, Mimiko and Nanako, Ryuji's housemates, had e out of their rooms, rubbing their eyes sleepily.

  "Utaha?" Nanako asked, surprised to see her standing at the door so te at night.

  Utaha gave them a quiod, aowledging their presence, but her attention quickly returo Ryuji.

  "Here, let me heal you first," Ryuji said, activating his RCT to treat whatever minor injuries or exhaustion she might have accumuted.

  While he worked, the two sisters exged curious gnces, pig up oension and the unusual situation. It was clear that something signifit had happened.

  Ohe healing was plete, Utaha let out a sigh of relief, visibly more at ease. The residual pain from her earlier experience had faded, and she felt much better.

  "Thanks, Ryuji," she murmured. Then, with a pyful smile, she added, "Guess why I'm here?"

  Ryuji raised an eyebrow. "Awakened a teique, didn't you?"

  Utaha's smile widened. "Bingo."

  The sisters, Mimiko and Nanako, exged looks of amazement.

  "So, that's why you're hurt?" Nanako asked. "Was it the backsh from using your eique?"

  Utaha nodded. "It's… a bit more powerful than I expected."

  Ryuji's eyes sparkled with curiosity. "Show me."

  Utaha pulled out a tablet from her bag. Under everyone's watchful gaze, she typed a simple senten the s:

  "In five seds, a fme will appear in front of me."

  Five seds ter—

  Whoosh!

  A small fme, about the size of a basketball, flickered to life in mid-air before her. It sted only a moment before vanishing, but the strain was immediate. Utaha's face turned pale, and she coughed, a hint of blood appearing on her lips.

  "Whoa! That's incredible!" Mimiko said, wide-eyed.

  Ryuji quickly pced a hand on Utaha's shoulder, activating his RCT again to ease the strain and heal her.

  "Your teique… it's like a written version of the Cursed Speech teique," Ryuji observed thoughtfully.

  Mimiko and Nanako nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it's simir to the Inumaki family's Cursed Speech teique, but it's activated through writing instead of speaking."

  Utaha, now feeling a bit more stabilized, grinned. "It's pretty amazing, right? I make anything I write e true… within reason, of course."

  Ryuji's expression turned serious. "Just be careful. Teiques like this e with heavy backsh if overused, especially if you try to do something big. You o be cautious until you master the RCT yourself. I won't always be around to heal you."

  Utaha nodded, fully aware of the dangers. But she looked at Ryuji with a spark in her eyes, as if to say, I'll work hard to catch up.

  Ryuji chuckled, seeing her determination. "Well, there's one dowo this, though."

  Utaha tilted her head. "What's that?"

  "You probably won't be able to keep writing light novels."

  Utaha looked surprised, but she quickly realized what he meant. Since her teique activates based on writing, even something innocuous like storytelling could potentially trigger it.

  "Ah… that's true," she said, a bit wistfully. "I guess I'll have to put my light novels on hold."

  But then her expression softened, and she smiled warmly at Ryuji. "That's okay. I've found something more important to me now."

  Ryuji's heart skipped a beat as he looked at her, feeling the siy in her gaze. He didn't say anything, but his eyes softened in response.

  Meanwhile, Mimiko and Nanako were watg with a mixture of amusement and resignation. Utaha seemed to seheir presence again and turned, raising her slightly in a pyful challenge.

  "You two have had Ryuji's attention all this time. Tonight, it's my turn," she said with a teasing smile.

  The sisters rolled their eyes but relented, heading off to other rooms without a word. There were plenty of vat rooms in Ryuji's house, after all.

  With a soft ugh, Utaha slipped her hand into Ryuji's and led him toward his room. "Ryuji, I'm here to stay tonight."

  ---

  In the early hours before dawn, as Utaha finally drifted off to sleep in his arms, Ryuji opehe system s, his curiosity piqued by the new goldery.

  "Goldery: Curse Script"

  The description firmed what he suspected, Utaha's teique allowed her to alter reality through written words, simir to Cursed Speech but activated through text. It owerful, versatile, and came with siderable backsh if overused.

  "Load Entry?"

  Ryuji chose to load it, feeling that even though it overpped with some of his other abilities, it could still prove useful. There was always some value in adding new yers to his power.

  "[Talery system]

  Host: Ryuji Hoshino

  Bloodline: Human

  Loaded entries: Soul Dev [Red], Yin-Yang Eyes [Gold], Presence cealment [Gold],Tranquility [Gold], Reverse Cursed Teique [Gold], Motrag Physique [Gold], Third Dimension, Dreamwalker [Gold], Physical Strengthening [Gold], Cursed Speech [Gold], Shadoution [Gold], Malevolent Shrine [Gold], Bckbird Manipution [Gold], Idle Transfiguration [Gold], Anti-Gravity System [Gold], Horizon of the Captivating Skandha [Gold], Binding Teique [Gold], Curse Script [Gold]Iron Fist [Purple], bat Intuition [Purple].

  Points: 80,120!"

  As he sed through his list of loaded entries, he couldn't help but notice how his powers were steadily expanding.

  ---

  The m…

  In the Service Club room, Ryuji had just sat down when he heard someone calling his name excitedly.

  "Ryuji! Ryuji!"

  He turo see Sawamura Eriri bursting into the room, her face lit up with excitement as she clutched a bnk drawing board.

  The other members of the club looked up curiously as she approached, seemingly oblivious to their attention.

  "Ryuji! I… I've awakened my teique!"

  Ryuji blinked, nodding at first, but then did a double-take. "Wait, what?"

  Just yesterday, Utaha had awakened her teique. And now Eriri, too?