"Suit yourself," Seele said, arching an eyebrow as she recalled the tiny bomb likely still ticking away next to Raiden i's heart.
"Don't even think about it!"
Sin Mal couldn't help but snap again.
"Do you really need another lesson?" Seele turned to her, giving her a pointed look.
"You...!"
Sin stamred, find herself completely at a loss for a coback.
"Why doesn't Bronya have to do it!?"
"Because Bronya has already joined St. Freya. She won't be returning to the orphanage," Bronya replied, her gaze calm and steady. It was enough to finally silence Sin.
By the ti evening rolled around, Seele was staring at Sin—who was currently loitering in her room—with a growing headache.
"What a pain."
"Who are you calling a pain!?" Sin, now officially equipped with a miniature explosive in her chest, barked back at Seele with a flare of temper.
"Fine, fine. You're not a pain."
Seele rolled her eyes, which only served to irritate Sin further. With a frustrated growl, the girl lunged forward.
"I'm gonna take you down!!"
Fuming and flailing, Sin looked less like a threat and more like an angry kitten.
Seele didn't even blink. Just as Sin reached her, Seele executed a fluid sidestep and reached out a hand. In one smooth motion, she caught Sin around the waist, hoisting the girl up and leaving her dangling in mid-air.
"Waaaaah! Let go! You total scrub!!"
Sin kicked and thrashed, hurling insults at Seele without pause.
Watching from the side, Bronya's gaze drifted for a mont. The scene felt strangely nostalgic, pulling her back to their days at the orphanage. Had they always fooled around like this?
Though, the Seele she used to know would never have acted quite like this.
"Didn't I just say you weren't a pain~?" Seele gave Sin a little shake, watching her struggle with a smirk that bordered on pure mischief. "Why are you looking for trouble again?"
"You! Does that sound like the tone of soone who thinks I'm not a pain?!"
"Then what tone should I use?" Seele looked at her, feigning genuine confusion before tilting her head and blinking innocently. "Like this?"
"Gaaaaaaah!!!"
Seeing Sin reach her breaking point again, Seele finally set her down, satisfied with her teasing for the day.
Soon enough, Sin fell into a sullen silence—mostly due to the threat of a karate chop from Bronya—though she continued to glare daggers at Seele.
"Alright, alright. I'm beat. Ti for bed."
Seele let out a long yawn and flopped onto the bed with her arms spread wide.
She felt a tiny bit restless knowing she wouldn't be sharing a bed with Bronya tonight. If only life were like a video ga, she thought, where you could just hit a button to skip the useless sleeping hours and transition straight to the next morning.
Just as Seele's eyes drifted shut and her mind began to wander, a sudden knock echoed at the door.
Thump, thump—
"Seele, Bronya, don't go to sleep yet! Word just ca in from Anti-Entropy!"
Theresa's voice drifted in from the hallway, sounding both urgent and uncharacteristically serious.
"Coming, coming," Seele sighed, rolling out of bed and heading for the door.
Behind her, the playful atmosphere vanished as Bronya and Sin both straightened up, their expressions turning grave.
"Looks like I'm heading back! Once I'm out of here... Bronya, Seele, you guys are toast!"
Sin's face was already lighting up with smug triumph.
Bronya responded with a deadpan stare before delivering a swift chop to the top of the girl's head.
The door swung open to reveal Theresa. She was still wearing her adorable Homu pajamas, but her small face was set in a stern expression.
"Seele, Cocolia has reached out to us," Theresa said firmly. "She specifically requested to see you, Bronya, and Sin."
Seele's lip curled into a smirk of pure disdain.
"Cocolia... Hmph. Fine, let's see what she wants."
She glanced back into the room. Sin was already marching toward the door like a conquering general, while Bronya followed silently at her side.
"We're heading to my office right now!"
By the ti they reached the office, Theresa had managed a quick change into her usual nun attire. She tapped a command, and a virtual screen flickered to life, revealing a blonde woman who was already waiting.
Cocolia.
Seele studied the woman on the screen, her gaze sharpening.
"Heh," Seele let out a cold laugh after a few monts. "She really does look exactly like the Cocolia from Belobog. I can practically feel my fist wanting to connect with her face already."
"Seele?"
Cocolia stared back, her sharp eyes scanning Seele with intense focus. For a brief second, a flicker of confusion and stunned silence crossed her face at the comnt.
"Hold it right there. I'm not the Seele you know," Seele said, crossing her arms and eting Cocolia's gaze with clear hostility.
"Is that so? And yet, you look exactly like her."
Cocolia spoke softly, her eyes lingering on Seele's features.
"You've grown up... and you've gotten thinner."
Seele nearly broke character at that. Honestly, Cocolia was undeniably beautiful—elegant, composed, with a stunning figure and a face that was almost unfairly pretty. She was the textbook definition of a sophisticated "older sister" type.
Too bad her head was screwed on so wrong.
Since crossing over into this world, the two people Seele feared most—aside from Otto—was Cocolia. She lived in constant dread that Cocolia might have a ntal breakdown and decide to crash the Selene right into St. Freya High in so sort of "if I go down, we all go down" move.
"Bronya," Cocolia turned her attention to the girl, her voice softening into the tone of a mother greeting a daughter returning from a long journey. "You've grown quite a bit too."
Bronya didn't offer a verbal reply; she simply stared back, her fists tightening at her sides.
Cocolia didn't seem to mind the cold shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Mother..." Sin muttered from the side, her head bowed and her voice barely a whisper. "The mission was a failure."
"It's alright," Cocolia said with a small smile. "I'm just glad you're safe."
If Seele didn't know about the absolutely unhinged things this woman was capable of, she might have actually fallen for the "loving mother" act.
"Principal Theresa."
Cocolia's expression shifted to business. "Let's get down to brass tacks. I want to bring Sin Mal back, as well as Bronya and Seele."
Theresa puffed out her chest, her face contorting into a mask of righteous indignation.
"Hah! You can keep dreaming about that one!"
Nice! That's it, Theresa! Give 'em hell! Seele thought, watching with inward glee.
"Anti-Entropy hasn't even begun to explain or compensate us for this little invasion of our Far East Branch!"
Cocolia's expression didn't flicker. She simply nodded.
"Fair enough. I'll have my staff prepare a detailed report. As for the compensation, na your price."
Theresa blinked, clearly caught off guard by how easily Cocolia had folded.
Seele could see it clearly: Theresa was already being outplayed. She was simply no match for an old fox like Cocolia.
"And another thing!" Theresa cleared her throat, trying to force her high-pitched, sweet voice into a deeper, more "mature" register. "You aren't taking Seele or Bronya. They are now Valkyries of the Far East Branch!"
"Of course."
Cocolia smiled. "I was rely asking. If they wish to stay with you, I won't force the issue."
Seele's brow furrowed slightly at that. There was no way an opportunist like Cocolia would just give up on keeping Bronya as a sleeper agent near i to capture her later.
But when that day cos, Seele thought, I'm not going to let her have her way.
-- --
User Comments
0 comments from readers