— — — — — —
The next day
Haruno Yukinoshita lay awake all night, tossing and turning in her little sister Yukino's apartnt. She couldn't sleep a wink, caught up in a tangle of emotions so delicate she couldn't even na them.
At first, Yukino only felt an odd heaviness in her head and wondered why. But when she noticed her big sister restless beside her, she awkwardly voiced a rare concern.
"I'm fine now. Probably just not used to sleeping in this bed. Give so ti, and I'll adjust."
Haruno forced a smile and then, half-joking, leaned toward her sister.
"…So, Yukino-chan, for the sake of our poor health, why don't we just move in together starting today?"
"Don't be ridiculous."
Yukino rolled her eyes, already regretting she'd bothered worrying about her. She slipped on her shoes at the entrance and headed out to school.
The mont her lil sister left, Haruno didn't waste a second. She called the driver and told him to take her straight ho.
The car pulled up in front of the family estate.
"Mother… that man from yesterday. Has he already left?"
The mont Haruno stepped inside and saw her mother in the living room, she froze. The woman's radiant smile was a far cry from the cold, strict figure etched into her childhood mories.
For just a second, Haruno's heart skipped. She forced her lips into a twitch of a smile.
"He's gone," Yukiko answered with a nod. "Why? Did you need him for sothing?"
"Um… it's about the Demonic Heaven Codex. I wanted to ask him a few questions."
Haruno rattled off the excuse she'd prepared on the way. "You know, Mother, my Codex and Yukino's Longevity Chant seem… strangely connected. I thought he might know sothing about that."
"That's because both of your techniques originally co from the sa source," Yukiko explained smoothly. "They just developed in different directions under different philosophies."
"I see…" Haruno nodded, pretending she understood.
"Also—your mind is in disarray."
Just as Haruno thought she'd gotten away with her little act and was about to slip out to pester Shizuka Hiratsuka for more details, Yukiko added lazily, "I'll overlook it this ti. But if you want to lie to in the future, at least try not to make it so obvious."
"…." Haruno had no words.
---
Elsewhere.
After a night of unrelenting passion—extended again and again by bending ti itself, stretching a single second into hours—the entire Yukinoshita estate had beco their battlefield.
Everywhere you looked, there were signs of their frenzy: spilled fluids, broken furniture. Yukiko seed like she had been training her whole life for this.
By morning, Veyron had finally settled what Yukiko had been "missing out on" for the past two decades. Now, he found himself wandering toward his next destination.
It was a grand manor, perched on high ground overlooking Tokyo Bay. From the deck, one could watch the sun rise over the sea in perfect clarity.
There, seated alone, was a woman of striking elegance—yet her face was gaunt, exhausted, almost lifeless. In her hand she clutched a bottle of wine inlaid with golden filigree, the sort of vintage that cost a fortune. She drank it like water, mouthful after mouthful.
"My lady, why is it that every ti I see you, your face is clouded with sorrow?"
Veyron appeared and greeted her casually.
"…It's you?"
The sudden voice startled her. She turned, half-drunk eyes blinking blearily. When she finally recognized his face, her already unsteady body collapsed against him. She clung to him tightly, as if terrified he might vanish if she let go.
"Yes… it's you. It really is you!"
"Of course it's ."
Veyron smiled faintly. "So, what kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into this ti? Co on, tell ."
"Give it back!"
"…What?"
"Give that back to !"
Her voice cracked, trembling on the edge of tears. "I was wrong—I really was. I never should've taken that card from you back then. Punish however you want, but please… please don't take that away from …"
"…You do realize you haven't actually said what 'that' even is, right?"
"I don't know."
Confused, the woman lifted her head, eyes swimming. "I don't rember. I only know… it's important. So, so important to ."
Veyron fell silent.
Just a few days ago, when he ca by to visit Saeko Busujima and the others their little strengthening packages, this woman hadn't seed nearly this far gone. If she had, he would've stepped in imdiately.
Her na was Maya Sakurajima.
More than twenty years ago, when Veyron was running bond missions in World-5—before it was absorbed into World-∞—she'd ended up with unlimited money as a gift from Veyron.
And Maya didn't have a na in the show (Bunny Girl Senpai); people just called her "Mai Sakurajima's mom."
And the "that" she was crying over now? Naturally, it was none other than Mai herself, who had been "erased" from the world's perception thanks to Puberty Syndro (Adolescence Syndro).
Even though Mai hadn't faced the original series' middle school scandal that nearly drove her to quit, she still beca a star. With a famous-child debut, her mother's financial backing, and an endless spotlight, Mai Sakurajima was a success.
Until her third year of high school, when Puberty Syndro struck—and the world forgot she existed.
The difference this ti was that Maya Sakurajima hadn't completely forgotten. She still had a hazy mory of sothing—soone—precious.
"I want it."
Now, after all this ti, when fate threw them together again, Maya had pinned all her blurred mories and regrets squarely on Veyron.
…Well, wasn't that just perfect.
"Hm?"
Still exasperated, Veyron suddenly realized that the woman clinging to him had begun to squirm restlessly in his arms.
Ah. He knew this scene.
Yesterday, at the Yukinoshita house—when Yukiko's twenty-year void was stirred awake by the clash of fate—she'd reacted the sa way.
'Should I just use the Soul Light this ti?'
A nanosecond later, he dismissed the idea.
There were three things Veyron valued above all else: fairness, fairness, and… fairness.
If he hadn't used the Soul Light to suppress Yukiko's abnormal state yesterday, then he sure as hell wasn't about to treat Maya any differently today.
As for why he hadn't helped Yukiko with the Soul Light yesterday… well, the answer is simple: what would you do if a beautiful, busty, virgin MILF demanded that?
There's only one correct answer here; anything else makes you GAE.
.
.
.
Reviews
All reviews (0)