"Let's end the training here for today."
Yutsuki stood up from the floor, reached out, and pulled the sitting Shido up. She patted the dust off his clothes and said.
"Eh? We're done already?"
Shido asked in surprise. While being freed from the grueling training wasn't a bad thing, honestly, according to Shido's own feeling, he'd need another two or three months of training to reach the standard Yutsuki described.
"Well, having motivation is good, but biting off more than you can chew isn't."
Yutsuki smiled softly and shook her head gently.
"Training in this computer world doesn't affect your physical body in reality, Shido. So you just need to rember the feeling of the training and real combat. Also, if you stay in this world for too long, it might affect the 'you' in the real world."
"Affect the in reality?"
Shido asked, confused.
"Shido, what kind of situation are we in back in the real world right now?"
Hearing Yutsuki's question, Shido thought for a mont and answered.
"Uh? Everyone turned into kids because of Natsumi, and I was going crazy trying to take care of them."
"Doesn't it feel a bit subtly unreal?"
"Mhm... yeah."
Shido nodded, unable to deny it. Even though only a few minutes had passed in the real world, to Shido, it felt like almost a week had gone by. Thinking about it now, even though the Natsumi situation was still worrying, he wasn't as panicked about it as he was back then.
"Seven days is enough to train your control over Spirit power and also give you ti to relieve the tension. Any more than that is no good. It's easy to forget minor details from the real world, which makes you feel out of place."
In this computer world, where ti moved a thousand tis faster than reality, adding dozens of tis more training hours wouldn't matter. But if they did that, Shido's personality would probably change quite a bit when he returned to reality.
"You'll co back to this virtual world for training in the future, but the ti you spend here can't exceed your ti in the real world. Otherwise, your perception of virtual and reality will blur. If you end up becoming an otaku addicted to online gas, Shido, I'll have to take responsibility."
"Who would get addicted to this Spartan training?"
Shido said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
(But putting aside becoming an otaku... what did Yutsuki an by taking responsibility...)
Although he knew Yutsuki didn't an anything deep by it, Shido's imagination ran wild. In the end, the image that popped into his head was Yutsuki in a white wedding dress, holding a bouquet of flowers, smiling happily in a chapel as wedding bells chid.
"Shido?"
Seeing Shido staring blankly into space, Yutsuki felt a bit worried and waved her hand in front of his face a few tis. Had he been thrown to the floor so many tis these past few days that it made him stupid?
"Ah? Cough, cough, nothing!"
Snapping out of his wild fantasies, he saw Yutsuki's confused look. Realizing what he had just imagined, Shido's cheeks turned bright red. He looked away, coughed dryly twice, and changed the subject.
"Speaking of which, you really know a lot about this stuff, Yutsuki. Are you working hard because you want to make a virtual reality ga in the future?"
"Well, I just borrowed the experience of so great predecessors. I don't have the ti to dive into that right now."
Yutsuki shrugged lightly and replied. Then she looked up and called out to the empty gymnasium.
"Maria, Marina. Training is over—"
Yutsuki's voice echoed in the large room. Before Shido could hear Maria's response, a brilliant curtain of light, like an aurora, rose from the edges of the gym, enclosing the entire space.
"What's happening?!"
The overly bright light made Shido close his eyes. Just as he was wondering what was going on, a breeze carrying the scent of earth—sothing impossible inside a gym—brushed past his nose.
He opened his eyes in confusion, and then they widened to their limit.
Suddenly transported from the gym to the outdoors, the drastic change made Shido rub his eyes in disbelief.
"Pfft—Shido, you look just like Alice wandering into Wonderland. Misaka Misaka covers her mouth and snickers while making a fitting comparison."
"Yutsuki?"
Shido lowered his head towards the source of the voice and found that Yutsuki had returned to her child form from the real world. Unlike her usual cool, handso image as an older girl, child Yutsuki radiated energy, especially with the small ahoge (cowlick) standing up on her head.
"Yes! Misaka Misaka answers with a voice full of energy."
"I told you, your last na isn't Misaka. And why did you turn back into a kid?"
Shido asked while speechlessly criticizing Yutsuki's weird way of talking.
"Well~ That older form was just an adjustnt to make training with you easier, Shido. Now that training is over, naturally, I changed back."
Yutsuki waved her hand and explained in her normal tone.
"Training is over? But why do I feel like we haven't returned to the real world yet?"
Looking at the green, tree-lined lakefront before him, no matter how he looked at it, he didn't think the Fraxinus airship would have scenery like this.
"Well. What do you think of this place, Shido? Just so you know, I set it to the best weather and the best season the computer world has to offer right now."
Yutsuki didn't answer Shido's question. Instead, she asked him about the scenery with a curious face.
Shido scratched his head, not quite understanding what Yutsuki was trying to get at. But he honestly shared his thoughts anyway.
"Mhm, I think this is a really nice place."
The cool breeze blew across the grass, sending delicate ripples across the surface of the lake. A few fluffy white clouds drifted slowly across the clear blue sky. Honestly, Shido found it hard to imagine that this place was a computer world made of data.
"This is a great place for a picnic."
"Right, right! You really get it, Shido!"
Hearing Shido's answer, Yutsuki nodded in agreent, a smile appearing on her face.
"?"
Under Shido's confused gaze, Yutsuki showed a mysterious smile. Her delicate little hand grabbed Shido's, leading him towards a well-lit grassy area in the distance.
"Shido, Yutsuki, over here, over here."
"Too slow! You two!"
Shido saw two girls wearing black and white nun outfit respectively—Arusu Marina and Arusu Maria—sitting on a picnic blanket laid out at the edge of the woods, waving at them.
"Yutsuki, what's this?"
"Since we rarely co to the virtual world, if we just trained the whole ti and didn't spend ti with them, you'd be failing your duties as the Harem King, Shido."
Yutsuki replied in a matter of fact tone.
"Stop giving weird titles like that on your own!"
"Yeah, yeah~"
Seeing Yutsuki showing zero remorse, Shido didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
However, Shido completely agreed with Yutsuki's idea. After all, it was rare for them to return to the computer world, but he and Yutsuki had been so busy training lately that they hadn't talked to the Arusu sisters at all.
"Shido, sit over here."
"Mhm, thanks."
Shido walked over to Maria and sat down heavily on the soft grass. Unlike the hard wooden floors he'd been experiencing the past few days, it was so comfortable Shido almost lay down completely. Yutsuki relaxed completely, sprawling out on the blanket and looking entirely lazy.
"Ah~ I'm getting hungry after working out. Maria, is there anything to eat?"
"Yes, just a mont."
Maria smiled and brought out a basket. When she opened the lid, it was filled with sandwiches, salad, and mashed potatoes.
"We have bacon, beef, and chicken sandwiches. There's plenty of mashed potatoes and salad too, so just pick what you like. Shido, what do you want?"
"Mhm, I'll take a bacon sandwich."
Shido picked out a bacon sandwich. He was hungrier than he thought, so he devoured the sandwich in a few bites.
"How does it taste?"
Watching Shido swallow the sandwich, Maria asked, a bit nervous.
"Mhm, it's really good."
Shido nodded. Even though it was just a simple sandwich, the ingredients were prepared very carefully, and the condints were added perfectly. You could tell the maker put a lot of thought into it.
"That's great."
Hearing Shido's praise, a relieved smile appeared on Maria's face.
"Did you make this, Maria?"
Yutsuki asked curiously.
"Yes. But big sister helped too, of course."
"Oh... I see."
"Wh-What is it?"
Hearing the topic shift to her, Marina turned her head away in embarrassnt.
"No, no~ I was just thinking. The girl who turned this computer world upside down, and then, after losing, got so mad she threw a tantrum like a kid and tried to self destruct... can now learn to cook and make food like a normal girl. I couldn't help but feel a bit sentintal, that's all."
Yutsuki shrugged. Imagining Marina wearing an apron in the kitchen, helping Maria cook... honestly, Yutsuki couldn't help but chuckle.
"Shut up! I don't want to be lectured by you, especially since you're in the body of a toddler loli right now."
Marina instantly bristled.
"Well~ I'm just a kid speaking my mind."
Saying that, Yutsuki took small bites of her sandwich like a squirrel, acting completely innocent. Then she tilted her little head and gave Marina a bright smile.
"It's really delicious! Big Sister Marina!"
Bam—! Marina leaned back as if she'd been hit by a massive impact.
"Damn it—That's foul play!"
"Here, Big Sister Marina, you should eat too. Ah—"
"Why do I have to be fed?"
Marina yelled, her face bright red.
"Eh~ But I want to feed Big Sister Marina."
Even though Marina knew Yutsuki was acting cute on purpose, she had to admit that those few "Big Sister Marina" had made her feel pretty good. After a mont of silence, Marina finally blushed, didn't say a word, and ate the food Yutsuki offered her.
"Hehe~"
"What's wrong? Why that weird smile."
"Nothing, I just thought Marina was very cute."
"Sh-Shut up!"
(Marina is totally getting played at Yutsuki's pace.)
(Big sister is completely wrapped around Yutsuki's finger.)
Watching the scene before them, Maria and Shido exchanged a glance and thought the exact sa thing.
"Marina..."
"What is it? Itsuka Shido."
"Uh... nothing."
Although he really wanted to remind Marina that she was being fed by a girl who looked no older than ten, acting like a spoiled child... after hesitating for a mont, Shido felt that as long as Marina was okay with it, he didn't need to point it out.
"Maria, could you pass the mashed potatoes?"
"Okay."
Maria nodded, picked up so mashed potatoes with her chopsticks, and held them out to Shido's mouth.
"Here~ Shido, ah—"
"Don't you start copying Yutsuki too."
Shido said, a black line dropping down his forehead.
"Well, it's rare that we get to see each other. I want to act spoiled with the person I like just like big sister did... Is that not okay?"
"...Fine."
Seeing Maria looking so pitiful, how should he put it... Shido gave Yutsuki a subtle look and then ate the food Maria offered.
User Comments
0 comments from readers