Rogue bunny

Going by the ears, she's some kind of bunny monster. And since she has bunny ears and the furry white stuff I thought a scarf is probably part of her, she's like Jade, isn't she.

<Indeed, when she had the option to evolve into a bunny kin, she adamantly refused in favor of another path evolution. Since then, our transformation technique is unable to completely hide her bunny traits. That is why she should be keeping her ears down so they blend in with her hair!>

Let me guess, she's accidentally activated her hyper focus skill to try and see Valeria. Now, all she thinks about is that.

<Exactly.>

Is there any way to break her hyper focus?

<None of the ways I know of are available to you. You don't have what it takes to beat her, you don't have any mental manipulation or interference skills, and you don't have anything that could override her focus.>

"Excuse me, if you keep that up, Valeria will come to dislike you."

Um, why do I feel worried all of a sudden. Why did Melody have to say something like that! Navi, can you stop Rani if she suddenly attacks Melody?

<No harm will come to your wife, that I can promise you.>

"Valeria will dislike me? No! I'm her friend!"

"Then shouldn't you accept her not letting you in?"

Rani deflates like a ball that's been poked by a sharp needle. Then, just as fast as she has deflated she flares up again and tries to counter Melody.

"But I'm her friend! And we've not seen each other for such a long time!"

Rani is clearly agitated. She's wildly gesticulating and her rabbit ears are flopping crazily. Would now be a good time to tell her about the ears? Yeah, definitely not a good time.

"I'm sure you are excited to see your friend again, but she needs some time alone right now. As her good friend you will surely give her that time, won't you? You want what's best for her."

Melody calmly reasons with the energetic bunny girl. Her voice is very soothing and clearly conveys the infinite kindness that her heart holds. She simply is the best. And for that reason, Rani is left speechless for a few seconds before attempting one last effort to push back.

"But she-"

"She will definitely be very appreciative of you once she's worked through this."

"…Really?"

"Of course, Valeria isn't the type to forget about the things others have done for her."

"Right, she wouldn't!"

A bright smile light up Rani's face as she must be remembering some positive moment she's had with Valeria. My secret weapon has successfully disarmed the rogue bunny girl!

"See, so how about we go and give her some space? Also, is it alright for your ears to be visible?"

"Yes, yes. My ears… fuck, Navi is going to kill me! Is she mad?"

Rani immediately let's her ears drop like two dead objects. They flop onto her fluffy hair and blend in perfectly. She's clearly terrified now that she's noticed her blunder. As her gaze becomes ever so slightly distant, I assume that she has stopped using hyper focus and is now being scolded by Navi.

<That's exactly what is happening.>

After a few moments of awkward silence, Rani snaps out of it and we all head back to the reception area of VR dungeons HQ. Navi seems happy and ushers the two new arrivals to the employee dining hall while Melody and I go home.

When I see a blond lady waiting at our door, I feel like something bad is about to happen. Navi, why are you here in person?

No answer. A wait a bit more as we walk closer and still, silence reigns within my mind. I lock eyes with Navi and she slightly indicates her head towards Melody.

Ah, Melody can tell when Navi is talking to me so long as one of Navi's bodies is physically present. We did promise not to do that communication in front of her too much and I guess Navi takes that a bit more serious than I imagined.

Still, it's unfair when you can read my mind and don't answer!

We reach the door and Navi smiles at the both of us although it feels a bit forced.

"Glad you could take care of Rani's matter. You were a great help, Melody!"

"Navi, what do you want?"

"Guy!"

Melody whirls around at my borderline rude tone. I seem to be making her mad quite often today. However, this time it's important. So far, whenever there was something they knew would upset me, Navi or Darwin would tell me directly.

Since Navi came here in person, whatever this is about, it concerns my family. And since Navi is trying to keep this conversation away from work, it's probably not just about Melody but also about Quinn and Cassidy.

Navi smile grows apologetic and I know my guess was right on the money. Seeing my serious facial expression and turning to also see Navi's apologetic smile, Melody realizes that something is going on.

"No need to be so tense. I am not here with any bad news. I just want to ask the two of you for a tiny little favor."

Navi's facial expression does not correlate with her words. Regardless, she wouldn't lie about there being no bad news. Her definition of a tiny little favor is probably just chosen very liberally.

As Navi reads my thoughts, she cringes a bit at how ease I saw through her facade. Somehow I feel like all her facial expressions are a bit too easily readable. As someone who is seasoned at dealing with law enforcement, the government, and high-level adventurers, that shouldn't be.

You're faking all this, aren't you?

I concentrate hard while thinking that and while a small headache begins to pound in my head, my instructor's assessment skills pulls through. The moment my thought are out, there is a slight twitch in the corner of Navi's left eye lid. If I hadn't been using my skill, I wouldn't have been able to notice the imperceptibly small and quick movement.