Smells like a woman

“Where did you go?”

Yang Yuan returned home with the gift he had bought for Su Xiaoyou.

As soon as he pushed open the door, he saw Su Xiaoyou standing in the entryway with her arms crossed, her face expressionless.

“Xiaoyou? Why are you home…”

“I got off work early today.”

Su Xiaoyou’s tone was very cold. She took a step forward, her dark eyes locked tightly on Yang Yuan.

“Didn’t I tell you to rest well at home and not go anywhere?”

Su Xiaoyou’s questioning tone brought an immense pressure to Yang Yuan.

Yang Yuan didn’t want to reveal the gift just yet, wanting to keep it a surprise.

He had no choice but to make up an excuse: “I just felt a little stuffy and wanted to go out for some fresh air.”

Su Xiaoyou clearly didn’t believe him. She didn’t press further, but instead did something that Yang Yuan didn’t expect.

The girl walked up to Yang Yuan, buried her face in the crook of his neck, and took a deep, forceful sniff.

A moment later, Su Xiaoyou raised her head. Her already unpleasant complexion had now become even more sullen.

“Out for fresh air?” Su Xiaoyou said faintly, her voice suppressing a dangerous emotion.

“Then… why does A’Yuan smell like a woman?”

“Is your nose that sensitive?” Yang Yuan was shocked.

He also tried smelling his own body, but apart from the fresh scent of his body wash, he couldn’t smell anything else at all.

“Don’t change the subject.”

“Hurry up and tell me why.”

The aura emanating from Su Xiaoyou at this moment was too strong. Yang Yuan could clearly feel that she was gradually transforming back into that pathological mode.

Helplessly, he had to give up on the surprise and took out the gift bag he had been hiding behind his back.

Seeing what Yang Yuan had taken out, Su Xiaoyou subconsciously asked.

“Is this… a magical girl?”

What met Su Xiaoyou’s eyes was a beautifully packaged [Magical Girl ★ Kokoruru] limited edition figure model.

The familiar merchandise made Su Xiaoyou realize something, and she instantly understood where the woman’s scent on Yang Yuan had come from.

This was a gift that Yang Yuan often gave her.

Ever since many years ago, when Yang Yuan first gave her candy wrapped in magical girl packaging, he had mistakenly thought that Su Xiaoyou genuinely liked this stuff.

In reality, Su Xiaoyou had no interest in these two-dimensional items. The only reason she liked them was purely because the gifts were from Yang Yuan.

“I went to buy merchandise. In that kind of store, of course there would be girls around,” Yang Yuan explained.

“It’s normal to pick up a bit of someone else’s scent, right?”

Yang Yuan subconsciously omitted his close contact with [Saintess] Li Yu’an.

But he felt that he had just been helpful, so not mentioning it shouldn’t be a big deal.

After hearing Yang Yuan’s explanation, the characteristic pathological look on Su Xiaoyou’s face gradually faded.

But she was still a little unhappy. She walked over to Yang Yuan, took his injured arm, and complained in a small voice.

“Even if you were buying a gift for me, you… you can’t go out alone. Your arm is still injured.”

Su Xiaoyou was worried about his wound, but even more worried that Yang Yuan would be pestered by ill-intentioned women.

“It’s just a small injury. Look, it doesn’t even hurt now.”

Yang Yuan subconsciously wanted to prove that he was fine, so Su Xiaoyou wouldn’t worry anymore.

He moved his left arm a couple of times and was surprised to find that the wound, which should have still been faintly aching, was now completely painless.

In his shock, Yang Yuan quickly unwrapped the bandage from his arm.

The skin under the bandage was smooth as new. The once somewhat hideous wound from a few days ago had now completely healed, without even a scar left behind.

“A’Yuan, your wound healed so quickly?” Su Xiaoyou was also amazed when she saw it.

“Maybe… the medical technology nowadays is too advanced?”

Yang Yuan said this, but in his mind, he thought of another possibility.

Perhaps the rapid healing of his wound was related to the [Saintess] he had met at the merchandise store.

But Su Xiaoyou didn’t care about the reason for the rapid healing. In her heart, as long as Yang Yuan’s wound was healed, nothing else mattered.

“Hmph… since the wound is healed, I’ll reluctantly forgive you this time.”

“If you break your promise with me again next time, I’m really going to get angry…”

Yang Yuan knew that he was indeed in the wrong, so he had to start patiently comforting her.

He carried the girl back to the bed, kissing and hugging her.

Being treated so intimately by Yang Yuan, Su Xiaoyou’s attitude soon softened, and she no longer cared about the broken promise.

Just as Su Xiaoyou’s face was flushed and she was getting a little flustered by Yang Yuan.

Yang Yuan suddenly remembered something and asked: “By the way, how come you got off work early today?”

Only then did Su Xiaoyou remember that she had been so busy being angry and jealous that she had completely forgotten to tell Yang Yuan about the important matter.

She quickly scrambled up from the bed, rummaged through her bag, and pulled out a beautifully crafted hardcover invitation, handing it to Yang Yuan.

The cover of the invitation was imprinted with an insignia composed of a sword and a shield, symbolizing the national superpower management agency.

Yang Yuan opened the inner page and saw that it was written in a very formal, written language:

[Invitation to the National Ability User Potential Assessment and Evolution Trial]

Esteemed Ms. Su Xiaoyou:

After a comprehensive assessment by the National Ability User Evaluation Bureau, your registered ability [Void Palm] has been identified as a high-potential special ability, qualifying you for participation in higher-level ability evolution.

You are hereby formally invited to participate in the [National Ability User Potential Assessment and Evolution Trial] to be held tomorrow at nine in the morning in Area A-3 of the Qingtai City Ability User Management Center.

This trial aims to safely and efficiently guide high-potential ability users to break through their own bottlenecks and explore the possibilities of ability evolution.

Please see the appendix for the rules. We look forward to your attendance.

—National Ability User Registration and Control Center · Evaluation Bureau

“Because of this, the center specially approved me to get off work early to go home and prepare,” Su Xiaoyou explained.

“This kind of trial, there shouldn’t be any safety issues, right?”

Su Xiaoyou moved closer, rubbing her cheek against Yang Yuan’s shoulder. The concern from her lover made her a little happy.

“Of course there are no problems. The officially organized events are all very professional, and besides…”

“As long as my ability can successfully evolve, I’ll have enough power to protect A’Yuan.”

“Stop talking about evolving this and that. Who did you learn to be so chuunibyou from?”

Faced with Su Xiaoyou, who was always wanting to become stronger, Yang Yuan sighed helplessly.

“Let’s go to bed early today, get some rest.”

Yang Yuan had intended for Su Xiaoyou to rest early so she would be energetic for the trial tomorrow.

But she was unwilling, puffing out her cheeks and holding onto his hand.

“No way, A’Yuan promised me before that he would play games with me.”

“Now that your wound is healed, it’s time to satisfy me, right?”

Yang Yuan knew that Su Xiaoyou had been taking care of him with all her heart during this time, and coupled with the self-blame from the injury incident, a lot of pressure must have built up in her heart.

Therefore, the girl’s accumulated desires should be helped by him.

“Alright, then how do you want to play?”

Su Xiaoyou’s cheeks reddened slightly. She said in a small, embarrassed voice.

“Before… before, I was always pinned down by you.”

“I saw online that girls should be the ones to take the initiative on top, so… I want to try being on top too.”

Only then did Yang Yuan realize that he was in a female-dominated world, and it was reasonable for girls to want to take the initiative.

But since Su Xiaoyou had been with him since childhood, she hadn’t followed the trend and become a strong woman. Now it seemed she was going to defend female dignity.

“It’s possible, but are you sure you can do it?”

“Huh? You dare to look down on me.”

For the next few hours, Su Xiaoyou went all out, but in the end, due to lack of stamina, she ended up like a small fry, her eyes rolling back, exhausted and falling asleep soundly in Yang Yuan’s arms.

Looking at his “masterpiece,” Yang Yuan nodded in satisfaction, set the alarm for the next morning, and then fell asleep holding Su Xiaoyou.

****

In his sleep, Yang Yuan felt his consciousness being pulled by a force.

The next second, he opened his eyes and found himself in a completely unfamiliar place.

It was like an old movie theater lobby, the air filled with the sweet smell of popcorn.

‘A movie theater… what the hell? Is this a dream?’

He curiously pushed open a slightly ajar door and entered one of the screening rooms.

In the empty screening room, only a long-haired woman wearing a silver mask sat in the front row.

She seemed to have noticed Yang Yuan’s arrival, slowly turned her head, her lips under the mask slightly parted.

“You’re finally here… Yang Yuan.”