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Chapter 346: Yada! Kanna Kamui!
"Did you just mention Rei Ao-kun?!"
Yuigahama Yui rushed forward in a single step, stopping in front of Isshiki Iroha.
"Hey!"
Her abrupt reaction frightened Isshiki quite a bit.
Yukino was also startled, but quickly came to her senses and reached out to pull Yui back a few steps.
Worried, she asked, "Yui, you've been distracted and spacing out for a while now. Is something wrong?"
She had been observing carefully.
Ever since Yui came back from looking for her phone, her energy had vanished. Even while picking up tennis balls, she would space out from time to time, not taking any action unless prompted. Add to that her sudden outburst of emotion just now, and all these signs pointed to something being off with her.
Yui ignored Yukino and, lips pressed tight in a grim line, focused her gaze on Isshiki Iroha again:
"I didn't catch what you said just now. Could you repeat it?"
"Um o-okay."
Even Isshiki Irohanicknamed "Gogogo," with a bit of a "little devil" personalitycautiously shrank back under Yui's obviously unusual vibe. She repeated:
"I want to pursue Rei Ao-senpai, so I was hoping the Service Club could help me create an opportunity for contact and a chance to confess."
Essentially, she was asking them to set her up.
But that wasn't what Yui fixated on.
"You want to confess to Rei Ao-kun?"
She couldn't understand how everything had changed after she left and came backwhether it was Yumiko, or this first-year suddenly announcing she wanted to confess to Rei Ao for who-knows-what reason.
Isshiki nodded, affecting a look of deep sentiment: "Yes. I admire Rei Ao-senpai a lot and want him to know how I feel."
""
Yuigahama Yui stood there in a daze, a new image forming in her mind:
Rei Ao, with Yumiko on one side and Isshiki on the other, cuddling up to both of them.
While shewas outside the door.
Rei Ao gave her a faint smile and said, "Sorry, Yui, you picked the worst time to show up."
Boom!
That imagined line struck her heart with brute force. Her fists clenched reflexively.
Something like that That sort of thing was impossible!
"Yada!"
Blurting out a statement that puzzled the other two, Yui turned and ran off.
"This"
Isshiki Iroha looked to Yukino in confusion, hoping she could explain what on earth had just happened.
""
Yukino gazed intently at Yui's retreating figure. In the end, she didn't explain. She only offered:
"Your request is reasonable. The Service Club will accept it. We'll discuss the details later."
With that, she picked up her racquet and water bottle and left the tennis court as well.
"They're both so strange," Isshiki murmured.
But as long as they were willing to help, they were good senpai in her book!
Dragon World
"Just a bit more, and the barrier between the two worlds will be fully reinforced."
Lucoa felt some anticipation for the "vacation" she'd get after completing the barrier reinforcement.
She planned to head over to the human world for a visit.
She was quite curious about this human named Rei Ao.
"Huh?"
Suddenly, she glanced in one direction. She sensed that, at a spot in the barrier she hadn't reinforced yet, a life form had slipped through.
In the distance
"You have been banished!"
A white dragon, exiled by her tribe, was flying sorrowfully.
Her name was Kanna Kamui.
She'd been banished for playing pranks, and she had no idea where to go now.
"Tohru"
Kanna murmured the name of her friend. She'd come here, following Tohru's scent, trying to find her. Tohru's scent had disappeared somewhere around this areabut Kanna hadn't actually seen Tohru anywhere.
She circled around in the sky, flapping her dragon wings, when she suddenly collided with a weak spot in the void. In one headlong crash, she tumbled right through.
Before long, Lucoa arrived at that same spot.
"Oh, it's her."
She was quite familiar with Kanna. And she could still catch Tohru's scent there. It looked like Tohru had also passed through here into the human world.
Sunlight flickered.
Lucoa did not bring Kanna back. She merely reinforced that spot in the barrier before departing.
Inside a corridor with mechanical structures,
a pink-haired girl was running.
Her loosely tied twin-tails swung back and forth at her shoulders.
Her expressionless face gave no clue to her emotions.
"Beep, beep, beep! Warning! Warning! An intruder has appeared in Sector B!"
Flashing red lights filled the corridor as a robotic announcement blared repeatedly.
The intruder was none other than herInori.
According to calculations and the layout provided by Tsugumi and the others, she had hacked the surveillance in the weakest area, slipped perfectly past the patrol in that section, and successfully infiltrated this GHQ base. Using the detailed map, she took the quickest route to her target
With inside-outside coordination, Inori finally acquired her mission objective: the "Void Genome."
She was clutching a transparent container with a violet, DNA-like spiral inside, swirling about.
The Void Genome was a genetic code discovered by analyzing the "Apocalypse Virus."
Those who received it would develop the "King's Mark" on their bodies. Only three samples of this peak genetic technology existed in total; Inori had taken one of themexactly what Gai had been hoping to obtain.
The gene-based drug created from the Void Genome could grant a person the "Power of Kings"the ability to read and manifest the genetic information of another's body as a "void."
The theft of such a crucial item naturally triggered an alarm.
"There's the intruder! Catch her, dead or alive! Recover that top-priority object she stole!"
GHQ soldiers quickly closed in on her, aiming their black gun barrels straight at Inori.
"Open fire!"
Rat-a-tat-tat!
Gunfire whizzed past Yuzuriha Inori, but her agile body allowed her to dodge the bullets. To the average onlooker, she seemed almost superhuman.
Inori tossed a smoke grenade to obscure their line of sight, then slipped away via the escape route she had planned from the start, fleeing the GHQ base.
But GHQ clearly had no intention of letting her get away, sending more troops to chase her down. Even after leaving the GHQ base by about 2.7 kilometers, she couldn't shake them off. Inori wasn't actually superhuman, and there were limits to the human bodyespecially under such dense gunfire.
"Ugh!!!"
She let out a pained gasp as a stray bullet struck her left shoulder.
"Nngh!"
The sudden pain nearly made Inori stumble. She glanced ahead: a cliff, with the ocean below.
"Splash!!!"
Without hesitation, Inori jumped into the water.
The soldiers rushed to the edge of the cliff and looked down. All they could see was a bit of blood dispersing in the wavesno sign of Inori at all.
"Damn it! Deploy the underwater search team immediately!"
The squad leader shouted in anger. Soon, several armored troops dived into the water to look for any trace of her.
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Chapter 347: Tenshi!
After School
"Yui"
Out of habit, Yumiko called out to Yui just like she always did when class was over.
Even though her legs wobbled with exhaustion the moment she arrivedthanks to Rei Ao. Something about "liberating yourself" In the end, she overdid it and ended up thoroughly worn out.
But right after she said Yui's name, she regretted it. What had just happened was beyond embarrassing, and given Yui's personality, she was certain Yui would avoid her.
Unexpectedly, however, Yui didn't dodge her. Instead, she actually came right over, linking arms with Yumiko the same way she always did, as though nothing had happened.
"Yumiko, let's head home together."
""
Yumiko felt uneasy. Was Yui pretending it never happened? Yui wasn't bringing it up; Yumiko wasn't bringing it up. The two of them started on their way home together under a strangely tense atmosphere.
But when they reached the point where they usually went their separate ways, Yui suddenly stopped. The smile on her face vanished.
Yumiko's heart lurchedshe had a feeling a storm was coming.
"Yumiko, I I heard everything back in the Service Club."
That one line from Yui went straight to the point. Yumiko could even feel Yui trembling slightly. But now that it was out in the open, what did Yui want her to say?
All Yumiko could manage was, "Oh."
""
"Hey, Yumiko, can you tell me what itfeels like? You knowto feel that good?"
"Hey!"
Yumiko's face immediately went bright red. That feeling She only knew she'd lost her senses, eyes rolling back and tongue lolling, but how on earth was she supposed to explain it in words?
"YYui, are you okay?"
Yui's behavior was scaring Yumiko. Any fleeting satisfaction Yumiko had felt earlier was gone now.
"Haha, I'm fine, Yumiko."
Once again, the face that appeared to be drowning in turmoil formed a smilebut it disappeared again in the next second. They locked eyes, Yui staring sharply at Yumiko. Yumiko refused to blink, staring right back.
Then Yui finally spoke again, wearing a dead-serious expression, the first time Yumiko had ever seen her like this.
"Yumiko, I I'm not going to give up!"
"Huh?"
It came out of nowhere, and Yumiko was bewildered. Yui didn't seem interested in explaining further. She just turned and headed off down a different street.
""
Yumiko watched Yui's retreating figure. She sensed something was really wrong. It gave her a heavy, foreboding feeling.
At Rei Ao's Home
The moment school ended, the four lolis flocked to his housefor Emilia's sake.
They all fixed their gazes on Emilia. Under their fourfold scrutiny, Emilia felt ill at ease. She glanced over at Rei Ao, her eyes asking him silently, What's going on here?
Arms folded, Rei Ao watched calmly from the side.
"It really is an angelic aura," said Vignette, certain that this presenceso different from a demon'shad to be that of an angel.
Raphiel sighed in admiration. "I knew I wasn't mistaken."
"What do you mean, 'angel'?"
Emilia, who had become the subject of their curious remarks, looked thoroughly confused.
That's when Rei Ao spoke. "These four are from Heaven and the Demon Realm. Gabriel and Raphiel are angels from Heaven. Vignette and Satania are demons from the Demon Realm."
"Demons?!"
It was like the word flipped a switch in Emilia's mindher ahoge bounced wildly.
Clang!!!
As an angel whose role was to slay demons, she instinctively drew her holy sword. Its gleaming tip pointed directly at Vignette.
"Huh?!"
Vignette froze. What's going on?
"Sigh" Rei Ao shook his head in exasperation.
"Emilia, calm down. Vignette and the others aren't demons from your world."
"Right."
Only then did Emilia realize how impossible it was for these cute girls to be the demons from her world. She hurriedly sheathed her sword. "S-Sorry, it's just"
"It's alright." Vignette took Emilia's hand gently.
"Emilia, I'm guessing you went through a lot in that other world, so it's understandable. It's not your fault."
""
Emilia stared at Vignette's sweet, gentle smile. A single word came to her mind: "Tenshi!!!"
Ding-dong!
The doorbell rang.
"That must be Fumino and the others. You can go chat in the other room."
"Mm."
Tohru went to answer the door.
"Sorry for the intrusion!"
Kirisu Mafuyu and the other two, already used to visiting Rei Ao's place, came in. Ilia resumed tutoring them as usual, while Mafuyu had nothing to do and sat on the couch, checking her phone.
Suddenly, she tensed up because Rei Ao sat down next to her.
"Whatare you doing?"
Her heart began pounding faster. She'd never forgotten how she "helped" Rei Ao that day with her hand, leaving her unbearably awkward around him.
"Mafuyu-sensei, are you really that afraid of me?"
"Afraid? Of you? Don't be ridiculous!"
Mafuyu tried to act dismissive. "You're just a kid, so why should I be scared?"
She felt that she had to exert her teacherly dignity at this moment.
"A kid?"
Rei Ao's expression turned slightly strange. In a hushed tone only Mafuyu could hear, he asked, "So, Kirisu Mafuyu thinks I'msmall?"
"???"
Mafuyu's cheeks instantly turned red. She didn't have any direct point of comparison, but reading certain books had taught her about Rei Ao's, well, scale.
No, waitwhy am I even thinking about this?!
She snapped out of it. Eyes flashing with anger, she lowered her voice and hissed through gritted teeth, "Rei Ao! Don't say such indecent things to your teacher!"
"Huh?" Rei Ao gave a puzzled grunt. "Sensei, I'm already eighteen. An adult."
"???"
Mafuyu froze. He was talking abouthis age?
"!!!"
Realizing she had completely misunderstood, Mafuyu burned with embarrassment, instinctively ducking her head. "Ugh"
Making such a fool of herself in front of a studentshe felt like she had lost all face, like she could just die!
"Heh."
Covering her face in shame, Mafuyu failed to notice the mischievous look in Rei Ao's eyes. Teasing her was a lot of fun. The way her usual sternness morphed into bashfulness, and the thrill of peeling back that shy side of Kirisu Mafuyuhe found it impossible to resist.
Still, he had to change the subject. Letting the awkwardness linger would do no one any good.
So, he steered the conversation toward Fumino Furuhashi and Rizu Ogata.
"By the way, Mafuyu-sensei, how's Furuhashi-san's and Ogata-san's studying going? Has it been effective?"
""
She pounced on the new topic as if it were a lifeline to pull her out of her swirling thoughts. "Very effective," she said.
Even she was shocked by how much Fumino and Rizu had improved in both the sciences and humanities. It was all thanks to Ilia, though Mafuyu couldn't figure out how that tiny girl managed it.
"I see."
With their conversation back on track, the two of them managed some semblance of normal small talk.
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Chapter 348: Yui's Trade! She's in... Trouble? (Bonus Chapter)
Yuigahama Residence
"Yui, where are you off to?"
Yuigahama's mother asked, puzzled.
They had just finished dinner when Yui slung a bag over her shoulder, ready to head out.
