Bathroom.
Hayasaka Ai splashed cold water on her face, hoping to fully clear her head. Then she opened her eyes and looked straight ahead.
"…"
The translucent screen before her eyes had not disappeared.
All right.
She had confird that her eyesight was normal and this was not an illusion.
"It seems I really have encountered sothing utterly bizarre."
One could call it…a supernatural event?
She accepted this reality.
Recalling the knowledge that had just surfaced in her mind about the so-called "chat group," Hayasaka Ai began studying it. Each piece of it upended her worldview, leaving her sowhat dazed.
What most seized her attention was the na of the group's owner: Rei Ao, along with several nas in the "This World" sub-group. So of these nas she recognized—people from the academy about whom she had heard or had gathered intelligence.
"Are they really the sa people?"
In fact, Hayasaka Ai had already suspected so hidden connections. At this mont, all the clues she had gleaned from stalking Rei Ao for days suddenly made sense and ford a complete chain.
"I…seem to have stumbled upon an incredible secret."
Hayasaka Ai's eyelids twitched. A foreboding sense crept in—knowing secrets often ca with a price. And sure enough, the next second, a ssage appeared in the group:
Rei Ao: "@Hayasaka Ai, @Yatogami Tohka, newly joined mbers—if you're available, why not say hello to everyone?"
anwhile, back at Rei Ao's place, he was just rousing from Mabel's lazy, koala-like hold.
He noticed the chat group's prompt right away:
[Ding! Hayasaka Ai has joined the trading chat group!]
[Ding! Yatogami Tohka has joined the trading chat group!]
Two new mbers at once!
Rei Ao brightened. He started to move his body just a little—
"Mmm… tastes so good… want more…"
Next to him, Mabel's murmuring was full of half-asleep, half-awake incoherence.
"…"
Rei Ao's forehead twitched. This girl was too strange. When he was about to "educate" her, she resisted with all her might, wailing as if being killed. But once the "education" began, she turned strangely cooperative.
"You little glutton."
He tossed out a brief complaint, pushing her drooping head away. Sitting upright on the bed, he turned his attention to the chat group.
He first read the new mbers' info:
[Na]: Hayasaka Ai
[Level]: 0
[Ability]: None
Yes, an old acquaintance. Next:
[Na]: Yatogami Tohka
[Level]: 33
[Ability]: "Adonai lek Ensufall," "Angel: ," "Demon King: (Unawakened)"
This revelation intrigued Rei Ao—so the newcor was a Spirit from Date A Live.
Confirming the two's identities, Rei Ao posted in the group:
Rei Ao: "@everyone, if you're awake, co welco our new mbers."
Aihara Enju: "Here, Rei Ao-oniichan!"
Rei Ao: "I ant to welco the newcors, not ."
Izawa Shizue: "Welco to both new mbers."
Hiiragi Shinoa: "Been a while since new folks joined."
Busujima Saeko: "I wonder if this newcor is also on guard, like many were at first."
Aka: "Ti will fix that, eventually."
Sui: "Yes, indeed."
Rei Ao: "@Hayasaka Ai, @Yatogami Tohka, if you're here, say hello?"
Hayasaka Ai: "..."
Hayasaka Ai: "@Rei Ao. You're Rei Ao, a third-year, Class 3 student at Shuchiin Academy?"
Sakurajima Mai: "Huh??"
Kasuga Hijiri: "What's going on? Why does she know so much about Rei Ao's identity right away?"
Rei Ao: "That's ."
Rei Ao: "Hayasaka Ai, never thought we'd finally talk this way."
"…!!!"
Hayasaka Ai grew tense.
Hayasaka Ai: "You know ?"
Rei Ao: "Of course. Recently, a certain "little tail" has been following around at school, secretly observing how I interact with Mai and the others. Wasn't that you, Hayasaka Ai?"
"???"
Hayasaka Ai froze. He had known all along?
Frieren: "Hmm, that phrase… sounds suspicious."
Yotsuya Miko: "Ugh, it's like a creepy stalker vibe…scary."
Bibi Dong: "@Hayasaka Ai, you had best clarify your intentions at once. If you're threatening Rei Ao, I can crush your bones to dust!"
Tohru: "Humph, no need—my dragonfire can reduce her to nothing in an instant."
Erica: "Though they're speaking in rather fantastical terms… I can attest they're serious…"
Hayasaka Ai: "..."
She felt a chill, as though truly being targeted by sothing terrifying.
Hayasaka Ai: "I…I have no hidden agenda."
Stella: "A lie. If you had no purpose, why stalk Rei Ao?"
Hayasaka Ai: "I swear I'm being honest. I only got curious after I glimpsed him showing superhuman abilities, so I wanted to verify if he was truly beyond normal humans."
gumi Kato: "Yes, that matches the notes I read."
Mai Sakurajima: "Kato? You know her too?"
gumi Kato: "I don't actually know her personally, but I've noticed her. Each day she takes notes while watching Rei Ao, and everything in her notes lines up with what she claims."
Hayasaka Ai: "?"
Hayasaka Ai: "How do you know all that?"
She did recall that from start to finish, she had never sensed anyone else's presence. So how had gumi Kato seen her records?
gumi Kato: "I decreased my sense of presence behind you the entire ti. I literally stood behind you, reading your notes. You never noticed ."
Hayasaka Ai: "…!"
All at once, realization dawned. So gumi had been behind her like an invisible observer. That ant any ti she was sneaking around, soone else was sneaking behind her.
She thought of that possibility and felt goosebumps. Subconsciously, she whirled around to look behind her… only to see emptiness.
But she couldn't shake the illusion that an invisible figure was indeed standing right there, quietly staring at her.
~~~
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