Nightti, 12:40 AM. 15,000 ters above Tengu City, inside the Fraxinus airship.
In the large conference room, Kotori, along with the Ratatoskr staff and Shido, were all watching a video playing on the main screen with serious faces.
On the screen was a ruined city that looked like it had been scooped out into a bowl shape, filled with scattered debris. But what didn't match at all were the magical, gothic fairytale-style buildings scattered around. Plus, there were AST mbers who had been turned into cute cartoon animals like bunnies and pandas.
Wearing a large hat and an orange and balck robe, her Astral Dress looked like a witch from a fairy tale. She had glossy long green hair, a slender waist, and a full chest that would make even magazine models jealous. She looked like a super beauty combining all the ideal traits of won in the world.
This was the Spirit who appeared this ti—Witch, Natsumi.
[Since you saw it, I definitely won't let you off! Rember this, I'm going to... completely ruin your life!]
In the video, Natsumi looked furious. After making a fierce threat to Shido, she hopped on a broomstick, floated into the air, and flew off into the clouds at incredible speed.
Watching this, Kotori frowned deeply, biting her Chupa Chups.
"This is really strange. Her affection level was looking good just a mont before, but right at the end, it suddenly dropped to the absolute bottom."
From the very beginning, Natsumi didn't reject Shido at all. Unlike past experiences, she was actually quite friendly towards him. However, right after the AST attacked—when a missile that got turned into a carrot created a smoke screen that blocked Kotori and the others' view—Natsumi's attitude toward Shido did a complete 180.
Since they didn't know anything about Natsumi's motives or abilities, and she even left a threat to harm Shido right before running away, Kotori called this eting to clear things up.
"Looking at her ability, it seems to be changing the shape of objects... There might be other hidden powers, but since she didn't just kill Shin directly... and instead said she would ruin his life... she probably doesn't have direct attack powers. And even if she does, there must be huge restrictions on them..."
Reine said slowly.
"That makes sense. Otherwise, Shido would have probably been killed and resurrected on the spot." Kotori nodded gently, agreeing with Reine's thoughts. She scratched her head in frustration. "So, the real problem is figuring out why her affection dropped so suddenly."
During the whole encounter, the only part Kotori and her crew didn't see was when the smoke screen went up. Since Natsumi's affection dropped exactly at that mont, the problem definitely happened right there.
However, they had been thinking and debating about that blank period of less than five seconds right up until now.
"Could it be, Shido-kun... you were secretly tempted by my suggestion to kneel down and lick her thighs? And taking advantage of the mont when no one could see... Ah~ I'm so jealous."
Kannazuki, the handso but weird man, suddenly said as if a lightbulb had gone off. He crossed his arms and did a disgusting little wiggle.
Kotori calmly grabbed two lollipops and poked the stems right into the eyes of Kannazuki, who was in an ecstatic state. She snapped her fingers, and two muscular n suddenly appeared. With practiced ease, they dragged Kannazuki, who was lying on the floor making sounds that were sowhere between screams of pain and moans of pleasure, out of the room.
"Just to be safe, Shido, you didn't do anything weird, right?"
Kotori shot a dangerous look at Shido.
"No, no! Absolutely not! I couldn't see anything through the smoke either."
Shido quickly shook his head to deny it.
"Hmph... I'll trust you this one ti."
Of course, Kotori didn't think Shido could pull any tricks in just a few seconds. If anything, Kotori knew better than anyone just how hopelessly passive and useless her brother was when it ca to girls.
With the troublemaker Kannazuki gone, the group went back to discussing Natsumi's sudden change in attitude. But because they knew so little about this Spirit, they just couldn't co up with a guess that made sense.
"Hah... it's so late. Are you guys planning on talking all night?"
Just as everyone was throwing out their guesses, the sensor on the conference room door triggered, and the doors slid open automatically. Wearing simple pajamas and holding a water pitcher, Yutsuki walked in, yawning.
"Yutsuki, why aren't you asleep yet?"
Shido asked, looking surprised.
"Well... I woke up suddenly and was going to go to your house to find sothing to eat, but I saw that your and Kotori's shoes were gone. I figured you guys were probably having a eting on the airship."
Yutsuki shook the heavy water pitcher in her hand and asked everyone.
"Since it's hard to teleport food over, I just made so tea to wake us up. Want so?"
"Always so thoughtful."
Seeing the pitcher in Yutsuki's hand, clearly prepared for a large group, Shido couldn't help but smile.
"Kotori, take a little break."
Sighing softly, Kotori's expression relaxed a bit. She rubbed her eyes and said, "Yeah, talking this late, I am feeling a bit tired. Let's rest for a bit."
Reine grabbed so paper cups and handed out the tea Yutsuki had made to everyone.
"Here, Shido, your tea."
"Thanks, Yutsuki."
Taking the hot tea from Yutsuki, Shido took a sip and a relaxed look ca over his face.
"So, what went wrong with conquering the Spirit this ti?"
"Uh, could you tell, Yutsuki?"
"Of course. Ever since you got ho, you've had this look like sothing is bothering you. And considering there was a spacequake today, it'd be hard not to know."
Yutsuki said with an eye roll.
Uh, even though he was a bit distracted when he got ho because of the Natsumi thing, he didn't think it was that obvious. Shido scratched his head, blaming it on the girl's sharp observation skills.
"Well, it's just like Yutsuki said."
Since Yutsuki had already figured it out, Shido saw no reason to hide it. He explained everything that happened when he t Natsumi from beginning to end.
"Being able to hit the sore spot of a Spirit like Witch, who had barely any hostility, with such pinpoint accuracy... in a way, that's a talent, Shido."
"Haha..."
Shido smiled bitterly and scratched his head at Yutsuki's sarcastic comnt.
"Geez." Yutsuki sighed helplessly, turned to Kotori, and asked, "Kotori, can you play the video of conquering Natsumi from the beginning?"
"I can, but Yutsuki-nee..."
Kotori sounded a bit confused. It was true that having Yutsuki's sharp observation and deduction skills would be a huge help to Kotori. But Yutsuki had said before that she didn't plan on helping Shido conquer Spirits.
"That Spirit nad Natsumi declared she was going to harm Shido, right? Then this isn't a eting about conquering a Spirit, it's a eting on how to deal with an enemy's attack. I don't want anything happening to soone important to ."
Yutsuki shrugged and said calmly.
"I understand." Kotori looked at Yutsuki and smiled helplessly. "Reine, play the video again."
"Understood."
Reine nodded and set the video back to the beginning.
Yutsuki stopped talking. Her amber eyes stared intently at the screen, as if she were trying to capture every millisecond of footage into her brain.
The people in the room were affected by her intense focus and all quieted down.
"Phew..."
After a long ti, Yutsuki slowly let out a breath.
"Well, did you figure out what happened, Yutsuki-nee?"
Kotori asked, feeling a bit nervous.
"Well, I can't say for sure it's correct, but I do have a guess."
Yutsuki nodded slowly.
"First, when the smoke screen went up, why did Natsumi's affection drop so suddenly, to the point where she wanted to kill Shido? The problem probably isn't on Shido's side, but sothing happened on Natsumi's side."
"A problem on Natsumi's side?"
"Well, how should I explain it..."
Natsumi's attitude in the video reminded Yutsuki of Kurumi from not too long ago. Back when she stumbled upon Kurumi playing with a cat, Kurumi got so flustered she almost shot Yutsuki dead.
"Let's make an analogy. Let's say one day Shido leaves the house. His little sister Kotori-chan, to make sure her big brother is developing healthily both physically and ntally, sneaks into his room to search for evidence. Seeing the empty bed, she hesitates for a second, then lies down on it. Slling Shido's scent, she mumbles, 'I love Onii-chan the most, I want to be his bride'..."
"Wh-wh-wh-what are you saying, Yutsuki-nee! Wh-wh-who would do sothing so weird in idiot Shido's room!"
Suddenly, Kotori stood up looking completely panicked, her cheeks bright red, and she even started stuttering.
The corners of Yutsuki's mouth twitched. She was just throwing out a random example, but looking at Kotori's reaction... it seems like they'd have to talk about whether that actually happened or not later.
"Well... it's just a 'what if'. If Shido suddenly rembered he forgot sothing, ca back to his room, and caught Kotori red-handed, what would you do, Kotori?"
"Annihilation!"
Kotori answered firmly and without a second's hesitation.
Hearing this, Shido felt a chill go down his spine.
"Don't worry. That's just Kotori's first reaction because she's panicking right now. She wouldn't actually go that far. At most, she'd just erase your mory."
Yutsuki patted Shido on the shoulder to comfort him.
"That doesn't make feel better at all."
Shido said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
"See, even Kotori, who's family, would lose control of her emotions in a situation like that. So it's not weird at all that Natsumi, who just t Shido, would have her affection for him drop instantly."
Taking a deep breath to calm down, Kotori vaguely understood what Yutsuki was getting at.
"Are you saying Shido saw... or Natsumi thought Shido saw a secret she didn't want anyone to know?"
"Bingo!"
Snapping her fingers, Yutsuki nodded.
"No matter how important this secret is to Natsumi, it's definitely not sothing she'd want Shido, a guy she just t, to find out about."
"I see... It's like a high school girl having her skirt blown up by the wind and a stranger seeing her panties. I get it, I totally get it! The look she gives you, treating you like a pervert while holding her skirt down—it's completely irresistible!"
Out of nowhere, Kannazuki, looking a bit beaten up, had returned to the conference room and nodded, speaking as if he completely understood.
"...Kannazuki, thank you for coming back just to give such a vulgar yet easy-to-understand example. As a reward, please go back to the labor camp to continue your treatnt."
As she spoke, the two muscular philosophical n from earlier grabbed Kannazuki by the shoulders from behind. Even a pervert like Kannazuki turned pale instantly.
"Anyway... let's move on to the next question. What is this secret?"
Watching Kannazuki being dragged away like a mop, Yutsuki cleared her throat and continued. "Since it's a secret that makes her want to kill Shido for exposing it, it probably isn't a small problem like accidentally putting her clothes on backward. Shido, did anything happen to Natsumi inside that smoke?"
Shido shook his head, looking lost. In the smoke, his vision was completely blocked, and he didn't rember anything special happening.
"I just sneezed."
"You let your guard down just to sneeze? Is that supposed to be a cute, clumsy trait..."
After throwing out a few unimportant remarks, Yutsuki shook her head helplessly.
"Besides the part where the smoke appeared, there was another line Natsumi said earlier that I'm really curious about."
Yutsuki asked Reine to rewind the video a bit and play it again.
[As expected... the 'right now'... is very pretty.]
This was what Natsumi muttered to herself right after Shido complinted her beauty, while her affection level was going up.
"Is there sothing wrong with that line?"
Kotori asked curiously.
If you looked at the mood at the ti, most people would just think Natsumi was feeling good about herself and being a bit narcissistic.
But when you isolate that one sentence, it feels a bit off.
"Why 'right now'? Phrasing it like that sounds as if she wasn't this pretty before. There's a chance Natsumi just said it casually. But considering she kept asking Shido if she was pretty throughout the whole thing, and thinking about Natsumi's ability... could we assu this?"
Taking a sip of tea to clear her throat, Yutsuki shared her thoughts.
"Natsumi wasn't happy with how she looked originally. So, she used her power to disguise herself as she looks now, and in that smoke, her disguise accidentally ca undone. Since Shido was the closest to her at the ti, she suspects he saw it."
"That's right... if that's the case, then that line makes total sense."
Reine had a look of sudden realization, and forwarded the video to right when the smoke cleared.
[Stop playing dumb! Just now, you saw my...]
"If we follow Yutsuki's logic, what Natsumi is referring to here should be her true appearance."
Hearing Reine's words, Kotori fell into deep thought.
Natsumi might have altered her appearance.
Natsumi's original look might not be pretty.
Natsumi thinks Shido saw her ugly side.
So, please die!
"I see... that really does make sense."
Kotori nodded. Even though there wasn't solid proof, it was the best guess to explain the current situation.
"But would just having her true face seen create this much hostility?"
Kawagoe, "Bad Marriage", raised his hand and asked, looking confused.
"You can't say that, Kawagoe! Beauty is a woman's second life! If soone sees you without makeup, it's not sothing that can be forgiven so easily."
Minowa, "Deep Love", imdiately argued back.
"It's because you think like that that you always get divorced so quickly."
"Pfft—!"
Shido felt like he saw a sword pierce right through Kawagoe's chest! That must have hit a sore spot, because Kawagoe fell to his knees, looking like he had lost the will to live.
"Well... although I also think ruining Shido's life over this is a bit extre, on the flip side, it shows that Natsumi really, really cares about her true appearance."
Yutsuki shook her head, speechless, and continued.
"Either that, or the real appearance underneath that sexy beauty disguise is truly unpresentable... Or maybe, this seemingly aggressive, older-sister type... is surprisingly insecure with an inferiority complex."
Looks like we're going to be busy again. Yutsuki couldn't help but let out a long sigh.
"So, next up. I'd like to ask the next question."
"What question?"
Shido tilted his head in confusion and asked.
"Listen to , you..."
Yutsuki looked at Shido, who had absolutely no sense of tension, and said with a helpless look.
"How exactly is Natsumi planning to ruin your life? Better yet, Shido, who already has rumors flying all over the school—what are you going to do if those rumors turn into reality?"
"..."
Imagining the situation Yutsuki described for a mont, Shido's back was instantly covered in cold sweat.
"That is indeed a very important question."
Shido said in a very serious tone.
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