Songs in the Void: A Multiversal Score Chapter 243 243: Just Like Family

Hub World, Earth, Japan, Tokyo.

"You know, every ti I see Lici, things always go the sa way." Tatsuo said casually. "The very first thing she does is start taking asurents."

Currently, Tatsuo, Jas, and Alfonzo were riding the elevator down from the penthouse towards the apartnt buildings lobby. anwhile, the won left behind were taking turns having their asurents taken by Elicia. And while they waited their turns, they helped prepare ingredients in the kitchen.

As for those who already had clothes made by Elicia, naly Violet, Aletia, Shea, Tio, and Scáthach, they simply chatted with the other people in the apartnt.

The only exception was Zelretch, who was the only man left in the apartnt. Though, he found chatting with the Devils and Sumire quite enjoyable, as eting and talking to such phantasmal beings, though not impossible, was rather uncommon in his world.

"Yeah, she's always been that way." Alfonzo replied with a shrug. "But that's her passion."

"True." Jas added with a smile. "I an, you can't get mad at the girl for doing what she loves, right?"

"I think the people in your house would have sothing to say about that." Tatsuo said while staring at Jas pointedly.

Hearing that, Alfonzo looked at Jas inquisitively. And that was no surprise, seeing as he had never visited Jas' world before. But Tatsuo, having spent about a week there in the past, knew that Jas and his mother enjoyed nothing more than ssing with everyone around them.

*Ding!*

Yet, before Tatsuo could expound on his statent, the bell signaling that the elevator had arrived at the lobby brought their conversation to a temporary halt. On top of that, when the door opened and the trio of young n saw who was waiting for it, Jas and Alfonzo were pleasantly surprised.

"OH, it's Soramoto-Kun." A fuchsia-haired young woman, Yusa Emi, said when she recognized Tatsuo among the group of three in the elevator. "It's unusual to see you around this ti."

"Yeah, I usually see you in the mornings, Yusa-San." Tatsuo replied with a smile. "You're usually late for work, though."

"Hey! You don't have to ntion that!" Emi exclaid, her face slightly flushed in embarrassnt.

With that, Tatsuo took the opportunity to lead Jas and Alfonzo out of the elevator.

"Anyway, I guess you're just getting ho from work, right?" Tatsuo asked, completely ignoring Emi's embarrassnt.

"That's right." Emi replied with a nod, but not before shooting a reprimanding glare at Tatsuo. She then turned to Jas and Alfonzo. Her gaze on Jas being particularly sharp. "By the way, mind introducing to your friends?"

"Oh, right." Tatsuo replied with a nod of understanding. "These are my cousins on my dad's side, Jas and Alfonzo."

In response to Tatsuo's introduction, Jas and Alfonzo nodded their heads. The three then exchanged handshakes. However, when Emi shook hands with Jas, she held it for a bit longer than what would be considered polite.

"Uh… Miss Yusa… Is sothing wrong?" Jas asked, feigned confusion written all over his face. "I an, I know I'm pretty good looking. But this is kind of inappropriate, isn't it?"

Realizing what she had just done, Emi's face reddened again. She then quickly released Jas' hand.

"Well, we'll get going, Yusa-San." Tatsuo said, a barely perceptible smile on his face. "We've got a lot of guests in our place right now. We're going to pick up a little more food. So, I'll see you later."

"Oh… Okay…" Emi replied, sounding slightly absent-minded. "See you later, Soramoto-Kun."

With that, Tatsuo, Jas, and Alfonzo, after offering simple farewells, made their way out of the lobby. anwhile, Emi watched them leave, her gaze focused on Jas' back.

"Weird." Emi muttered to herself. "When I looked at him, I was sure he was a demon. But when I touched him and examined his energy, it felt so different. Just what is that guy? Well, I'll just have to find out later."

At the sa ti, Tatsuo, Jas, and Alfonzo had just left the apartnt. And when they did…

"Shit! That chick actually made nervous." Jas laughed loudly. "Damn… She actually probed with her holy energy. I an, it's not like she would have been able to hurt with it, though."

"Seriously?" Alfonzo asked with an eyebrow raised. "But it didn't look like it bothered you at all. I an, Holy Power is supposed to be a Devil's weakness, right?"

"Yeah." Jas replied while shaking his head in slight confusion. "Honestly, I don't get why it didn't even register at all, though. I an, I was expecting it to at least tingle a little."

"Maybe it's because it doesn't co from the sa source as the Holy Power in your world." Tatsuo said, offering a suggestion.

"Hmm… I guess that makes sense." Jas said while raising his right hand to cup his chin. "Maybe I'll have Master look into it. She might be able to figure out the reason."

"Speaking of Master Scáthach, do you think she'd be willing to spar with later?" Tatsuo asked curiously.

Imdiately, Jas snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Tatsuo's question. Instead, he looked at Tatsuo like he was so kind of pervert.

"What? Why are you looking at like that?" Tatsuo asked, sounding more than just a little uncomfortable under Jas' gaze.

"No, I think I get it." Alfonzo said while looking at Tatsuo skeptically, too.

"Get what?" Tatsuo asked, annoyed at being left out of the loop.

*Clap!*

Before answering, Jas clapped a hand on Tatsuo's shoulder while looking at him with concern.

"Seriously… Why are you looking at like that?" Tatsuo asked while shaking off Jas' hand and taking a step away.

"Tatsuo, answer honestly." Jas said, sounding more serious than Tatsuo had ever heard. "Have you been corrupted by Tio's preferences? Because that's the only reason I could think of that would explain why you would ever ask Master to spar with you. Hell, I'm a lot stronger than she is now, but I never ask her to spar without a damn good reason."

Tatsuo, who had been leading the other two towards the best grocery store in the area, stopped his steps when he heard Jas' question. He then spun on his heels and shoved Jas away with an angry glare.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Tatsuo asked with a tone filled with both anger and embarrassnt. "Why the hell would you ever think that? Ugh… I've got goosebumps just thinking about being like that masochistic dragon. That's so gross."

anwhile, back at the apartnt…

*Thud!*

*Pant!* *Pant!* *Pant!*

"Um… Is Klarus-San okay?" Sakura, who was helping in the kitchen along with Sumire, Kasumi, Violet, and Grayfia, asked after seeing Tio fall to her knees, start hugging herself, and panting like an animal in heat.

"Don't worry about her." Sumire replied nonchalantly. "This happens from ti to ti. There's really nothing anyone can do about it."

"Sumire-Sama is right." Kasumi said gently. "It's just the way Tio-San shows her affection for Tatsuo-Kun."

"I… See…" Sakura replied with a put off expression.

"You shouldn't look at Tio-San that way, Sakura-Chan." Violet said with an awkward smile. "In so ways, it's actually Tatsuo-Kun's fault she acts like this."

Hearing that, all the eyes in the kitchen turned to look at Violet, curious to hear the story.

"Oh, we've asked Tio-Chan how she ended up that way, but we never really get an answer that we can understand." Sumire said, clearly enthusiastic about the story. "And when we ask Tatsu-Chan about it, he just covers his face and starts to lant regretfully. So, I'm really curious to know what actually happened when those two t."

With that, Violet began telling the story of when she, Tatsuo, Jas, Aletia, and Shea t Tio in the Arifureta Universe, completely ignoring Tio's current state.

"Tatsuo-Sama, I can feel it…" Tio muttered to herself while still kneeling on the floor of the kitchen. "I can feel your disgust for . Mmm~! I don't' know what I've done to disgust you, but please, co back and punish this disobedient slave. My ass is ready and waiting for you."

Back on the streets of Sasazuka, Tatsuo was once again leading Jas and Alfonzo towards the grocery store. anwhile, Jas and Alfonzo were laughing at a picture Alfonzo took with his lPhone, an iPhone replica Alfonzo recreated in his world, while Tatsuo pouted at the teasing he had to endure.

"Don't you two have anything better to do than tease a younger guy?" Tatsuo grumbled indignantly.

"But isn't that what older cousins do?" Alfonzo asked with a smirk. "I an, that's how you introduced us earlier, isn't it?"

"That's right." Jas said with a nod and a big smile spread across his face. "And to be honest, I'm really liking this whole having a cousin thing. I don't' have any of those, you know. My dad was the only Devil of his lineage before I was born, and my mom was an orphan… and an assassin who was trained in stealth by Master… Damn… My family is weird."

"I don't' have any younger cousins, either." Alfonzo replied with a shrug. "I never t the mbers of my dad's family. And like , my mom was an orphan, too. So, you just opened the flood gates when you told Emi we were cousins."

Tatsuo did not say anything in response. Instead, he only shook his head and continued walking. Unfortunately for him, neither Jas nor Alfonzo had any intention of letting things end there.

"Oh, you gotta send that picture, Alfonzo." Jas said, not even trying to keep his voice down. "I'm sure Kokoa, Kunou, and Maria would love to see it."

"Of course." Alfonzo said in a matter of fact tone. "In fact, I was planning to let everyone back at the apartnt see it, too. I'm sure they're all gonna think it's fucking hilarious."

"I hate both of you." Tatsuo muttered without looking back, causing the two to laugh even harder.

While Jas and Alfonzo continued to tease Tatsuo, they eventually walked past the MgRonald's Tatsuo frequented. Taking a look inside, Tatsuo noticed that neither Sadao nor Chiho seed to be at work today. So, he simply shrugged his shoulders and continued to walk.

"Hey, is that where Maou works?" Jas asked as the trio walked past the MgRonald's.

"Yeah." Tatsuo replied. "But I can't sense him in there. He's probably shopping for a suit or sothing with Chi-Chan and Ashiya-San… Or maybe just Chi-Chan."

"Oh, where do you think they went shopping?" Alfonzo asked curiously. "I bet we could probably get a pretty incriminating picture of Ashiya stalking them on their little date."

"No idea." Tatsuo replied with a shrug. "If I had to guess, they're probably by Shibuya Station. If not there, sowhere in Ginza, Shinjuku, or any of the other upscale parts of the city. Either way, we're not headed that far. So, there's probably no chance we'd see them."

"Well, that sucks." Alfonzo muttered. "Oh well, let's just get the shopping over with. Then, I can see if you're cooking really has improved as much as Lici said it has."

Just at that mont, when Alfonzo ntioned cooking, his aura seed to spike, putting pressure on Tatsuo. However, it was clearly not caused by the flaring of his magic power. Instead, it was more than likely caused by his overwhelming cooking ability. But neither Tatsuo nor Jas intended to dig into the reason.

"Speaking of cooking." Jas said, completely ignoring Alfonzo's Food Wars mont. "You said you ate at Restaurant Yukihira before, right? Can we go there tomorrow for lunch? I'm curious to see just how good Jōichirō's cooking is."

"Oh, I almost forgot about that place." Alfonzo added, his aura not settling in the slightest. "He's supposed to be the best cook in the world, right? I wanna see if my skills asure up."

"Nope." Tatsuo replied without hesitation, causing both Jas and Alfonzo to look at him with confusion. "I tried to go earlier this week. But the place was closed. Which ans, the beginning of the Food Wars canon is about to start, and Soma will be studying at Tōtsuki until sumr break."

"Oh…" Jas and Alfonzo replied simultaneously in downcast tones.

"But there's a place called Nekoya that I think both of you will like." Tatsuo said with a smile. "And from what my mom told , it's pretty special on Saturdays."

Hearing the na, both Jas and Alfonzo made no special reactions, letting Tatsuo know that neither of them had read or seen "Restaurant to Another World." So, if they decided to stay the day after the concert, he knew he would have a pretty fun show to watch.

*Vroom!*

Just as that conversation ended, the trio heard the sound of a motorcycle approaching. Turning their heads, they caught the sight of Harima Kenji, a character they all recognized approaching on his motorcycle. At the sa ti, Kenji also recognized Tatsuo, which made him decide to pull over and greet the guy who beat him in a fight not too long ago.

"Yo, Soramoto-Kun." Kenji said as he used a leg to prop up his motorcycle. "It's been a while."

"Hey, Harima-Senpai, I heard you've been causing trouble at school from my Onee-San." Tatsuo replied with a smile. "She said she had to break up a fight between you and so big bald dude on the last day of school."

Hearing that, Kenji could not help but start shuddering. The mory of how the short, yet curvaceous, girl from the second-year appeared between him and his rival, Tennoji Noboru, as their fists were about to land on each other's faces, catch said fists, spin once, and throw both boys away from each other with little effort flashed through his mind. But what was even worse than that, was the way that she lectured them about not fighting at school in a stern, yet gentle voice.

However, the hardest part of that whole situation to swallow for Kenji was not how easily he and Tennoji were defeated by a girl that was nearly a foot shorter than both of them. Instead, it was the love struck expression on Tennoji's face that he saw while Kasumi walked away after finishing her lecture. Even worse than that was what Tennoji said before they parted ways.

*Clap!*

"Tell your Onee-San to be careful, Soramoto-Kun." Kenji said in a serious tone as he clapped Tatsuo on the shoulder. "That guy is completely into her after she beat him. I think he might have so kinda masochistic preference, or sothing. Actually, I've been thinking that for a while. I an, he always challenges to fights, even though I always kick his ass. He's probably into that kinda stuff."

This ti, it was Tatsuo's, Jas' and Alfonzo's turn to shudder. But at the sa ti, neither Jas nor Alfonzo could help laughing when they heard about Kasumi's admirer. Tatsuo, on the other hand, almost made Kenji wet himself when he lost control for a mont and released his killing intent.

"For his sake, he better not try anything funny with Kasumi-Oneesan." Tatsuo said in a dark tone. "Otherwise, I'll make him wish he'd never been born."

"Uh… yeah…" Kenji replied in a shaky tone. He then continued while speaking faster than usual. "Anyway, I gotta get going. I still got an errand to run for my aunt. Oh, and you should be careful of her, she's a teacher at Yagami. And she's a real devil."

*Vroom!*

With that, Kenji pulled away from the curb and drove off into the distance quickly, clearly afraid of the killing intent he felt from Tatsuo. Though, he had no way of identifying it. anwhile, Jas looked at Tatsuo with a bit of envy.

"What now?" Tatsuo asked in a tired tone.

"You're a lucky son of a bitch." Jas said enviously. "Osakabe-Sensei is one of the hottest teachers in School Rumble. And from what I rember, she teaches first year science… or biology… or sothing. So, you're gonna have her as a teacher, no doubt."

On a side note, Jas completely forgot that the horoom teacher in his first year, Nekono Shizuka, was very attractive, as well. But since School Rumble was one of the manga he drew in his world, he was simply more familiar with the characters that appear in it than most.