Tale of Discovery

Chapter 257: Thoughts ; Surprise

"So, Mana," I say after a short period of complete silence, "What do you plan to do now? I'm curious regarding where you're staying right now."

Hearing my words, Mana keeps her composure as she responds, "Currently, I'm staying in a dorm with my colleagues at work."

"You're working?" Kotori suddenly says as a glint shimmers through her red eyes, "What kind of work is it?"

Not expecting the sudden query, a troubled look appears on Mana's face as she casts a glance at me. A glance that's meant to be a plea for assistance.

The problem is how am I going to proceed from here on out. Do I reveal Kotori's identity or interrogate Mana secretively?

Looking over at Kotori, I see that she has a confident expression on her face as she looks back at me.

Before I can come to a proper decision, Kotori shifts her sight over to Mana and asks, "Are you an agent working for DEM Industries?"

Following Kotori's inquiry, Mana's expression changes to that of shock and confusion before returning to normal after a few seconds as she adopts a serious look and says, "Yes. Do you mind telling me who you are?"

Her question seems to be directed at both of us as she casts a glance at Kotori then me.

Kotori opens her mouth to respond to her, however, she stops as Mana's expression contorts. The reason for that is unclear as nothing has changed and I didn't hear anything in particular despite my senses being enhanced.

Anyway, Mana shakes her head before taking in a deep breath and saying, "I must leave now."

Kotori seems to know that it would be detrimental to press for a reason as she nods her head and says, "Alright."

---

"Shido, what are you doing?" Tohka's voice reaches my ears while I am using Clairvoyance to search the city for Kurumi.

"Nothing, as you can see," I respond.

That's how it would look to others, after all. To them, I am simply sitting on the sofa and staring into space despite it being much more than just that.

Sitting on a sofa opposite the one I am sitting on are Kotori and Yoshino. The latter is watching a soap opera currently being aired while the former is glaring at me.

Regarding Kotori glaring at me - She has been doing so for the whole day. Now, it's almost time for dinner, but she has yet to utter a single word to me.

From what I can reason from her actions, she wants me to 'explain myself' to her, in particular, what I did back in the park. Surely, she must be having a hard time comprehending the fact that I killed a man so nonchalantly.

It seems like I will have to completely abandon my objective of blending in as Shido Itsuka now that things have reached this point. That could be useful in a sense, as I can take more firm actions in this Platform which could potentially help me locate Dominion.

As for how I will be doing that, it would be through any leads I find, such as Kurumi.

Earlier today, her reaction to the abnormality with the teleportation gateway indicated that she was familiar with Dominion. This makes it all the more important for me to find her.

"That's true, but..." Tohka says with a pout on her face.

"But what?" I ask as I retrieve my sight.

"I'm hungry," she immediately responds.

Hah~ This glutton. Well, I can't say much this time as it is about time I began cooking.

Shaking my head, I get up from the sofa and head over to the kitchen, and begin preparing the ingredients telekinetically while thinking of what I should do now.

First and foremost, I need to set the matter with allies and enemies aside. For that, I would need to speak to Kotori and discuss some troublesome matters with her. If I were to consider our current situation, the best time to do so would be late at night.

While I am at it, I will punish her for insults she has hurled at me up until now and clean her mouth up a little.

Once that is dealt with, I will be focusing on finding Kurumi and having a word with her regarding Dominion and her objectives. Despite having yet to see her in action, according to AI, Kurumi is plenty powerful for a Binary Factor.

I wonder who or what has 'produced' her. This matter is rather intriguing in a lot of ways.

Setting that aside, there is the matter with Mana. She is supposedly my sister, but just so happens to be a part of the AST for reasons that I have yet to know of.

If the humans in this world treat me as an enemy that needs to be struck down, there is a very high probability that we will clash sometime in the near future.

Letting out a sigh, I focus on cooking.

---

Lying on my bed, I gaze at the ceiling while patting Yoshino's back who is lying within my arms.

Earlier, Yoshino had asked me if she can sleep with me again. Tohka, who was near us, heard her and got extremely worked up, demanding that she be granted the permission instead.

Following that, a discussion followed until we reached a conclusion - Taking turns.

Yoshino and Tohka both seemed to be happy with that, so we went with it. As such, I have Yoshino, who is dressed in her white rabbit pajamas, sleeping within my arms.

Inspecting her face, a feel a pleasant sensation in my chest as I find myself subconsciously moving closer to kiss the tip of her nose.

Despite being asleep, Yoshino reacts to this action by beaming a smile, causing me to be unable to hold myself back from pecking her small lips.

After a short while, I carefully separate her from myself and proceed to get off the bed before using my senses to check on the other two residents of the house.

As expected, Tohka is asleep in her room in a posture that's rather unbecoming of a lady. Leaving her aside, I focus on Kotori's room, only to find her wide awake while sitting on a wooden chair with a laptop in front of her.

A grin forms on my lips as I quietly exit my room and make my way over to hers before using Permeation to directly pass through her door.

Kotori doesn't seem to notice my presence as she remains focused on the laptop, which upon checking, I see that there is a map of an island being displayed.

Shaking my head slightly, I then begin to approach her while making sure to not make any sound before leaning forth and whispering into her ear, "Surprise."

As a response to this, Kotori's body jolts up from the seat before she loses her footing and falls to the ground.

Seeing this, I begin chuckling, to which Kotori raises her head and glares at me before saying, "What are you doing, you idiot brother!? Why are you here!?"

Shrugging my shoulders, I move the wooden chair aside before approaching her and extending my arm out. However, Kotori doesn't take my hand but proceeds to get up from the ground on her own while rubbing her butt.

"Idiot," she mutters as she reaches her arm out to the laptop and closes it.

"It seems like I was right," I say, causing Kotori to look me in the eyes, "You require some punishment."

"Huh?" she responds in a firm tone, "What are- ah!"

Not letting her finish her words, I step forth, grab her arm, drag her toward her bed, and throw her onto it.

"Hey!" she yells with a slightly angered look on her face.

"Don't think of it much," I say while drawing up my sleeves, "We are going to be having a short chat, that's all. Also, I will be punishing you for all your misbehavior..."

Not giving her a chance to respond, I get on the bed and position my knee right in between her thighs while using my arms to hold her down by the shoulders.

Then, I lower my head and forcefully kiss the shocked Kotori's lips for a solid ten seconds before breaking the kiss and raising my head to inspect her face.

Expectedly, she has a furious look on her face while her cheeks are flushed in red.

"Now then," I say while moving my head closer again, "Let's get started."