In one corner of the room, the blue data streams that had been cascading like a waterfall in the eyes of the Ex-Machina girl, Schwi, had slowed noticeably, settling into a low-power standby, as if she'd entered a deep sleep.
Her petite body was curled in a wide chair, like a delicate doll.
Across the room, the human girl Couronne had already slumped into a plush sofa, hugging a pillow as her breathing deepened into steady sleep.
There was even a silly little smile at the corner of her mouth.
Jibril and Azril slept in an exhausted embrace.
And Kanna, the dragon from another world, was curled up on the soft, fur-covered rug, fast asleep.
Her small body rose and fell with each breath.
Silver-white hair spilled across the blanket, and a tiny smear of cream clung to the corner of her lips from the snacks earlier.
Her satisfied, peaceful sleeping face was pure and innocent, as if all the world's troubles had nothing to do with her.
Of them, the one carrying the heaviest worries was Michiru.
Chapter 957: Michiru was done for...
Michiru pressed her dry lips together.
The heat in her cheeks still hadn't faded.
Everything she'd just seen and heard was far too overwhelming for a girl from a relatively ordinary modern world.
Her heart pounded like it had a little motor inside it.
Blood kept rushing to her head, leaving her dizzy and at a loss.
It felt like the air was saturated with an ambiguous, dangerous pheromone that made her restless.
She felt she had to get outright nowaway from this place where the mood was growing more delicate and more disorienting by the second.
If she stayed, she felt like she'd suffocate.
Her heart thudded like she'd been caught doing something wrong.
She rose as lightly as she could, carefully skirted around the sleeping Couronne and Kanna, and slipped out on tiptoe like a startled fawn.
Through the wide living room, out into the open courtyard.
Cool, refreshing night wind swept across her face, lifting the hair on her forehead, though it couldn't blow away the stubborn heat and blush burning in her cheeks.
She looked up at Disboard's unusually clear night sky and its two bright moons.
Moonlight poured down like water, gently bathing her flushed face and eyes that flickered with confusion.
"This is way too much"
Michiru murmured under her breath.
Her mind, out of her control, kept replaying everything from moments ago:
Rei Ao's easy, natural closeness with the other girls.
The way he looked at herdeep, as if he could see through everything, tinged with a kind of playfulness and anticipation.
That openness and directness, that almost overbearing tenderness, completely exceeded anything she'd known or imagined.
"H-how can he be so natural about it, like it's the most normal thing in the world"
And yet, the more you fear something, the more likely it is to happen.
Murphy's Law chose this exact moment to show its mischievous side.
A warm, dry, unusually strong hand came to rest lightly on her bare, slightly cool shoulder.
"Yah!"
Michiru jerked violently, turning like a startled cat.
She met Rei Ao's eyes at onceeyes glinting with a deep, playful light under the twin moons.
When had he come out here?
He'd made no sound at all.
"Michiru."
Rei Ao's voice held a lazy note and the faint, contented smile of someone who'd just been enjoying some leisure.
To Michiru, though, it sounded full of danger.
"Why'd you suddenly sneak out here alone? Was the atmosphere inside making you uncomfortable?"
"Uh I-I just felt"
Michiru's nerves were in tatters.
Her gaze skittered, unable to meet his eyes.
Her voice was barely more than a mosquito's buzz, almost dissolving into the night breeze.
"It was a bit too much for me. I thought I'd get some air and calm down"
Rei Ao chuckled softly at that.
The sound was low and magnetic, and it made her heart skip.
He didn't give her any more time to spin excuses or hide.
His arm tightened, and with a gentle yet irresistibly firm strength, he drew her slightly stiff body into his arms as if it were the easiest thing in the world.
"Ah!"
Michiru managed only a short, breathy cry.
Before she could mount any real resistance, a shadow fell over her.
His strikingly handsome face filled her vision
and then a kiss, impossible to refuse, found her.
"!!!"
Her initial resistance was like a pebble tossed into a vast lake:
it barely raised a ripple before dissolving against that deep, overwhelming pull.
The kiss began with a testing sort of assertiveness, then melted into a dizzying tenderness, a strange, intoxicating magic that seemed to drain the strength from her limbs and hush every last thought.
Her arms went slack of their own accord.
At some point the hands that had been pushing at his chest had fisted into his shirt instead.
A moment later, the kiss ended.
Michiru was completely limp in Rei Ao's warm, solid embrace.
Her gaze was hazy, unfocused.
Her long lashes trembled like butterfly wings, as if misted with a dewy sheen.
Her cheeks were as red and hot as ripe apples.
She felt boneless, kept from sliding to the ground only by the strength of his arms.
Rei Ao looked down at the girl who had all but melted in his hold, a small, satisfied smile playing on his lips.
His voice dropped lower, rich with temptationlike a devil's whisper at her ear:
"If it feels like a lot, that's okay."
"Let me teach you myselfslowlyhow to get used to everything here, to get used to me. We've got all the time in the world"
"Mmph!"
With a shy, breathless little soundmore like an unintentional invitationMichiru was scooped up around the waist, light as a feather.
Rei Ao turned and walked back toward a warmer room inside the residence with steady strides.
Michiru buried her burning face deep against his chest, breathing in his scentfresh, and dangerous.
Her mind went blank, leaving only one last, clear yet vague thought, like an alarm that never quite went off, flickering by just before she gave in completely:
'I'm done for. This time I really might not get away. This bad guy's going to devour me whole'
Moonlight spilled gently over their receding figures, adding a sultry hue to a Disboard night that was never going to be quiet.
~~~
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Chapter 958: Hiromi's Trouble
Dawn's first light filtered through the window of a modest apartment in Tokyo, washing the room in a soft, warm gold.
The Kato home was as quiet as ever.
Only the faintest sounds disturbed the hush.
Megumi Kato, with her signature cool demeanor and barely-there presence, was quietly fixing a simple breakfast in the kitchen.
The toaster chimed, and the scent of cereal spread through the air.
"Sigh"
But a long, troubled sigh drifted faintly from the bathroom, cracking the morning calm.
"Siiigh!"
Another, even longer.
It practically radiated visible frustration.
Megumi set down her glass of milk and padded lightly to the bathroom door.
It was ajar.
She saw her older sister, Hiromi Kato, standing before the sink mirror.
Hiromi was wearing only her underwear, outlining the graceful curves of a mature woman.
But she clearly had no attention to spare for her figure right now.
She was staring at her reflection, brows knit, face clouded with gloom.
There were even faint dark circles under her eyesshe hadn't slept well.
"Big sis?"
Megumi spoke softly, her voice calm and even.
"Sighing first thing in the morningdid something get to you?"
"!!!"
Hiromi startled at her sister's voice.
Pulled out of her self-reproach, she turned and saw Megumi's almost expressionless facethe kind that somehow puts people at ease.
She gave a bitter smile, full of resignation and fatigue.
"Oh, Megumi"
Hiromi raked a hand through her messy hair.
"It's nothing major, just annoying."
"Annoying enough to stand in front of a mirror and sigh for ten whole minutes?"
Megumi tilted her head, her tone flat but on target.
""
Hiromi choked on that.
Knowing she couldn't fool her perceptive sister, she gave up and started to complain.
"Fine, fine, I'll tell you."
"It's about work there's this male coworker who's been acting weird latelyconstantly fussing over me."
"Bringing breakfast, asking me to lunch, insisting we leave work together he's obviously trying to pursue me!"
"Isn't that kind of a good thing? Means you're attractive, sis."
Megumi offered an objective assessment.
"Good how?!"
Hiromi's voice rose, distaste written all over her face.
"I've already turned him downseriously and clearly!"
"I told him we're not a match, and I don't feel that way about him."
"But he's like gum stuck to a shoeI can't shake him. He keeps pestering me, spouting stuff like 'sincerity can split stone' it's driving me crazy!"
She grew more agitated as she spoke.
She grabbed her toothbrush and scrubbed hard, like she could brush away all that pent-up resentment.
"The worst part is, when I was at my wit's end, I lied and said I already have a boyfriendand we're close to getting engagedto make him back off."
"And guess what?"
"He didn't believe a word of it. He said, 'Hiromi-san, don't try to fool me. I've watched you for a long timeyou're definitely single!'"
"Aaagh! How can a man be so full of himself!"
Megumi listened quietly, her clear eyes giving away little.
But it was obvious she understood her sister's situation.
Getting harassed at work even after a firm rejection is a real headache
especially with the type who doesn't listen and thinks too highly of himself.
Hiromi finished washing up and patted her face with a towel.
Looking at her worry-worn reflection, she sighed, "Megumi do you think I should just change jobs? If I can't beat it, I can at least avoid it, right?"
Megumi didn't answer right away. After a brief silence, she suddenly tilted her head and asked a question that seemed unrelated.
"Before that, I have one question. Right now is there someone you like?"
"Uh!"
Hiromi froze.
Color rose to her cheeks in two quick patches, and her gaze went shifty.
Someone she likes?
The answer that surfaced in her mind was not any eligible single man.
It was Megumi's enigmatic, powerful, and magnetic boyfriendRei Ao.
A few encountershis calm, unruffled manner, the deep look that sometimes flickered in his eyes, and the subtle changes in Megumi whenever she mentioned himwere like a stone dropped into still water, sending ripples across Hiromi's heart.
But how could she ever say that out loud?
He was her little sister's boyfriend.
She shook her head quickly, trying to banish that "forbidden" thought.
"Ssomeone I like? With work so busy right now, I don't really have time to think about that"
Even so, Megumi's eyesso clear they seemed to see through everythingrested quietly on her.
That calm, unreadable gaze made Hiromi feel like all her little secrets were laid bare.
Like she'd already been found out.
Her heartbeat sped up, and her cheeks flushed even redder.
Just as Hiromi felt she could no longer endure the silent scrutiny,
Megumi looked away and said in her characteristically plain tone, "Since you told him you have a boyfriend and are engaged, and he still won't believe it"
"Then why not go with itand make the fake look real?"
"Eh? Make it look real?"
Hiromi stared at her sister in confusion, not quite catching her meaning.
Megumi continued, "Find someone to pretend to be your boyfriend."
"Have him pick you up after work, or even show up at your office, to make it clear you're 'spoken for.'"
"Guys who cling like that usually think you're easy to push aroundor that being single makes you an easy target."
"If they see a 'real boyfriend,' especially one who doesn't look easy to mess with, they'll probably back off."
"Huh? A fake boyfriend?"
Hiromi's eyes lit up; it did sound workable.
Find a man with a strong presence to intimidate that creep
it seemed far more effective than talking herself hoarse.
But she quickly frowned again.
"But who would I ask?"
"I don't really have any close male friends."
"And suddenly asking someone to pretend to be my boyfriend isn't that too weird? What if it causes unnecessary misunderstandings?"
She ran through everyone she knew in her head, only to realize they were either not close enough to ask, or didn't have the presence to carry it off.
Chapter 959: Solution of Hiromi's Trouble
While Hiromi Kato was stewing over it,
Megumi Kato glanced out the window and, in an offhand tone like she was discussing what to have for lunch, said:
"I think Rei Ao would be perfect."
"Eh?!!"
At that name, Hiromi jumped like a cat with its tail stepped on.
Her eyes went round, and the blush that had just faded surged back even hotter.
"R-Rei Ao?!"
"Megumi, youyou're kidding, right? He's your your boyfriend!"
Have her sister's boyfriend pretend to be her own?
How was that even acceptable!
Just imagining the scene made Hiromi's cheeks feel hot enough to fry an egg.
Yet deep down, a sliver of anticipation she didn't dare admit to even herself stirred.
Megumi turned to her flustered sister.
Her expression didn't change.
"It's just pretending. The goal is to fix your problem."
"Rei Ao's presence, bearing, and ability should be more than enough to make that coworker back off."
"And he's free most of the time anyway."
"B-but"
Hiromi's heart pounded.
Her head told her it was improper, but another voice in her chest was urging her to accept.
A chance to spend even a short "couple" moment with someone like Rei Aoeven if it was just an act
"Sis."
Megumi cut off her wavering.
"Are you sure you want to pass up a once-and-for-all solution?"
"Or is it that you don't actually want to refuse?"
Her tone was calm, yet oddly persuasive.
Hiromi was struck speechless by that last, pointed line.
Her cheeks flushed so red they could drip.
While she wrestled with herself, a different conversation quietly began on another level.
Deep in her consciousness, a group-chat windowlimited to members of this worldfloated into view.
Its very existence was a microcosm of the tangled web connecting them to Rei Ao.
After much hesitation, thinking of that annoying coworker, of her sister's suggestion, and of that unspoken flutter in her heart,
