"Simple."
Shinji suddenly activated his intangibility, causing Tatsumaki to slip right off his shoulders. But he quickly adjusted his position and caught her in his arms, ensuring she wouldn't wake startled. Although his intangibility could cause anything touching him to phase along, he could choose whether or not to include Tatsumaki.
The attendant froze in astonishnt at the sight.
So this was Mr. Kamui's ability…
After that, Shinji gently laid Tatsumaki down on the futon.
"Thank you, Miss Attendant. Please, go back and enjoy your drinks." Shinji expressed his gratitude.
"You're welco. It was nothing." The attendant smiled.
Shinji then returned to the gathering, leaving Tatsumaki to rest in the won's quarters.
....
Everyone kept drinking until they couldn't anymore, only heading off to sleep one after another. By the ti the last person left, it was already close to midnight.
Those still steady enough helped carry the completely drunk back to their rooms.
The n's and won's quarters were separate, with each person having their own space, though all slept on futons spread on the floor.
Since nearly everyone had drunk heavily, the rooms quickly filled with the sound of steady snoring.
Only a few exceptions remained unaffected: Genos, who as a cyborg couldn't get drunk at all, and Saitama and Boros, whose physical resilience far surpassed ordinary limits.
Even so, they weren't the type to stay up late, so they soon drifted off as well.
.....
The night was silent, save for the occasional snore but then…
Creak!
At that mont, the faint sound of a door slowly opening echoed through the room.
Shinji, whose senses were razor-sharp, woke instantly at the subtle yet strange disturbance.
When he opened his eyes, he saw a small figure glowing faintly green floating toward him.
Anyone else, waking in the dead of night to such a sight, would likely have thought they were seeing a ghost.
Shinji, however, stayed calm. With the Rinnegan, he imdiately recognized the figure. Even without seeing her face, just from the green glow and petite fra, he knew it was Tatsumaki.
"Tatsumaki…?" Shinji spoke softly, keeping his voice low.
But Tatsumaki acted as if she hadn't heard him at all. Without any response, she slipped right under Shinji's covers.
Sleepwalking?
Shinji realized it at once. Tatsumaki lay on her side, face-to-face with him.
Her cheeks were still flushed, proof that the alcohol hadn't worn off yet. No wonder sothing as absurd as sleepwalking had happened.
[Alert! Host is now sharing a bed with Tatsumaki. Reward: 40 points!]
Seriously system?!
"Master… I think sothing just ca in."
From the next futon, Genos whispered drowsily.
In his half-asleep state, he had sensed a life signature approaching. But since he hadn't been fully awake, he couldn't tell exactly who it was. By the ti he opened his eyes, he only saw the door standing ajar.
"It's nothing. Probably just the wind blowing the door open." Shinji replied calmly, then got up slowly and closed the door Tatsumaki had left open.
Shinji returned to his futon and lay down as if nothing had happened.
"..."
But Genos had already sensed an extra life signature on his teacher's bed.
Though he didn't know why his teacher wanted to hide it, after so thought he decided to play along and act like he hadn't noticed anything.
Using his detection system, he confird that all the n's futons were occupied. Only one futon in the won's quarters was empty, while his teacher's bed now had one extra presence.
Could it be… the one who slipped into his teacher's futon was a girl?
Not only sneaking into the n's quarters, but crawling under his teacher's covers…
Which girl would do that? Why?
Genos thought about it. The only won at tonight's banquet had been Tatsumaki and two Association staff mbers.
So… could it be Tornado of Terror?
That seed the most likely, since she was the one most familiar with his teacher.
Though curious, Genos chose not to interfere, in case he disrupted his teacher's good fortune.
"Master, if anyone wakes up, I'll warn you," Genos whispered.
"So it really couldn't escape your detection…" Shinji knew it was only a matter of ti before Genos noticed.
"For the record, she barged in on her own and slipped under my covers without permission. I had nothing to do with it." He quickly stressed his innocence. "And when you said that just now… were you offering to cover for ?"
"Yes, if you need to," Genos answered earnestly. Of course, he knew a man needs privacy for so intimacy.
"I don't need that. It's not like I'd do anything weird."
Shinji sighed. "Anyway, just go back to sleep."
"Understood…"
Genos closed his eyes again, returning to standby mode. In this mode, his sensors would still automatically wake him if any strange life forms approached.
At the sa ti, Boros had also been roused.
But in an instant, by sensing the energy inside the intruder, he knew who it was. He rembered Tatsumaki clearly.
Realizing it was soone from the Hero Association, Boros paid it no further mind.
Even if Tatsumaki had crawled into Shinji's futon, to him it was nothing unusual. To survive in a harsh world, species had to keep reproducing, ensuring new strong bloodlines erged.
The others, however, remained fast asleep.
What no one realized was that Tatsumaki had actually woken up, stirred by the voices of Shinji and Genos.
When she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Shinji's back. Her instinct was to kick him hard, thinking he had taken advantage of her drunken state.
But just as she was about to strike, she heard Shinji declaring his innocence. That imdiately cald her down.
Still, she found it hard to believe she had wandered into the n's quarters, crawled into Shinji's futon, and done it all without any awareness.
While Shinji was considering how to handle the situation, he suddenly felt Tatsumaki move.
Her fingertip poked lightly at his back.
When he turned around, he saw her face burning red with embarrassnt.
"If you dare tell anyone about tonight… I'll kill you."
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