“Reine, you idiot brother! What are you two doing?!”
“No, Kotori, we were just…”
When Kotori received news of Shido’s awakening from the monitoring room, she rushed to the infirmary. However, the moment she opened the hatch, she saw Reine embracing Shido, who was nestled against Reine’s chest.
Only then did Shido realize that the woman before him was not his actual birth mother, but a woman he had met just that day. (At least, that was how it appeared to Shido.)
Even though Shido felt a mother’s warmth emanating from her, as a high school boy in his teens, it was already somewhat inappropriate to act childishly with his own mother, let alone with a woman he had just met that very day. That would be utterly outrageous!
These were merely Shido’s personal thoughts, but Reine’s perspective was rather different.
As Shido attempted to explain his actions, Reine, instead, tightened her embrace. This not only prevented Shido from finishing his excuse but also plunged him completely into Reine’s ample bosom.
A warm, soft sensation instantly enveloped his cheeks, followed by a milky fragrance that swirled through his nostrils, almost melting his entire mind and utterly captivating Shido.
“Kotori, I was merely conducting a routine check-up.”
Reine gazed at Kotori with an utterly placid expression, as if she were simply performing a mundane daily task.
Indeed, if one were to disregard Itsuka Shido, utterly engulfed in that soft, voluminous embrace, then it truly was just a routine matter.
“However, this child… ah, I believe his name is Shitaro, isn’t it?”
“N-no, my name is Itsuka Shido!”
Shido’s voice emanated, muffled, from Reine’s chest.
“Yes, little Shido was just missing his birth mother a bit, so I let him treat me as his mother to comfort him!”
“M-mph-uh!”
Shido wanted to say something, but no sound escaped his lips.
“Oh, so Shido was just playing mother-son roleplay!”
A peculiar glint appeared in Kotori’s eyes as she strode forward, seized Shido, and liberated him from Reine’s embrace.
“Huuuh—”
Finally freed, Shido involuntarily drew a long, deep breath.
“Hmph, were you trying to take advantage of the situation to inhale a few more breaths of Reine’s scent? Truly, you are Shido!”
“No, I was just…”
Shido intended to continue his protest, but Kotori pushed him back once more.
“Since you want to inhale, then inhale your fill. It’s the perfect opportunity to practice your ability to get intimate with girls.”
“What kind of training method is that…?”
Shido lifted his head to retort again, only to be pushed back down.
“It’s perfectly fine, little Shido!”
As if in cooperation with Kotori, Reine naturally crossed her arms over her chest, her forearms lifting her bosom, further accentuating her alluring curves.
“Unacceptable, utterly unacceptable. Blushing and your heart racing from such minimal contact? You’ll never be able to handle what’s to come.”
“In that case, let’s continue your special training with me!”
Reine stated this with profound indifference, as if it were the most ordinary declaration.
“I protest this special training.”
“Protest denied.”
Ignoring Shido’s protests, Kotori continued the special training with him for over an hour before finally concluding.
****
“Welcome to the Fraxinus command center. You have the distinct honor of being the first non-Ratatoskr employee to set foot here.”
Kotori, clad in a military-style uniform, sat poised in her chair, a lollipop in her mouth, her legs crossed, and the sole of her black shoe pointed directly at Shido.
“What in the world is going on here?”
Shido braced himself, surveying the surroundings that resembled a scene from a science fiction film. He muttered a helpless complaint, yet having endured so much recently, he felt a certain degree of numbness.
“You should be profoundly grateful! The Commander herself is personally explaining things to you!”
Standing beside Kotori was a handsome blond man who didn’t appear Japanese, speaking to Shido in a lecturing tone.
“I didn’t give you permission to speak!”
Kotori elbowed the handsome blond man in the abdomen, causing him to collapse with an expression that was impossible to discern whether it was pain or pleasure.
“Thank you for the meal.”
Although the handsome blond man thanked Kotori with all his might, she didn’t even glance at him, instead looking down at Shido with an air of superiority.
“While I doubt you could possibly forget this, considering your pitiful memory, comparable to that of a fish, I am compelled to ask you one thing: do you still remember your own name?”
“I remember, of course, I remember. I’m Itsuka Shido!”
“Hmm, very good then. Do you remember who I am?”
“I remember, you’re my sister Kotori!”
Shido had originally intended to say just that, but the words he had prepared transformed as they reached his lips…
“Kotori! Kotori! My wife!”
‘Huh, what am I saying?!’
“Reine, quickly prepare the manifestation device! Let’s see if his brain is broken!”
“Understood, I’m preparing it now!”
Reine, at some unknown moment, produced a device Shido had never seen before. However, upon seeing the machinery bristling with data cables and an utterly incomprehensible screen, Shido knew it couldn’t be anything good.
“W-wait… wait, I remember now! You’re my sister Kotori!”
“What an idiotic brother!” Kotori sighed, then waved her hand, signaling Reine to put away the device.
“It seems your brain isn’t broken after all! Well, if you were so easily ‘broken’ by Reine’s chest, I imagine you would have long since perished in the embrace of a succubus.”
“Uh, does that succubus refer to Ji Qianye?”
“Yes, of course!” Kotori swung her crossed leg, her black over-the-knee socks, tightly encasing her slender thighs, gleaming with a polished sheen.
“Didn’t she already tell you she’s actually a Spirit? ‘Succubus’ is simply her codename, used to refer to her.”
“Spirit… what exactly is that?”
Shido had heard the term “Spirit” numerous times from both Ji Qianye and Kotori, yet to this point, he still didn’t understand what a Spirit truly was.
He only knew that Ji Qianye, unlike others, possessed some kind of mysterious power.
Shido was, in fact, one of the victims of this power, though, then again, it was difficult to say who truly got the better end of the deal.
However, what left the most indelible impression on Shido was not their intimate encounter, but Ji Qianye’s final farewell.
“It’s nothing, Shido. It’s just that time is up!”
“Can she not remain in this world for long?”
“And that is precisely the problem we, Ratatoskr, need to solve!” Kotori pulled the lollipop from her mouth and pointed it at Shido, the candy still glistening with a maiden’s saliva.
“What I’m about to tell you is of utmost importance, so you’d do well to listen intently.”