94 Talk in the shower (2)

"I said just before as well, but you shouldn't feel discouraged Toby. It all begins from here on out. Toby and Vaa-kun possess the same kind of Sacred Gear as myself, ones that are a bit special. If while here you learn to use it properly it should be possible to surprise Vaa-kun."

Jason sighed when he saw that Lavinia had comforted Tobio again. She was born to be an older sister who comforts her younger brother.

"As someone endowed with the same independent avatar type, may I give you one piece of advice. You need to achieve unification with the Scared Gear beside you, which can also be seen as an offshoot of yourself."

"Unification…"

"Linking and ordering, it is naturally obvious that these are ways of manipulating the Sacred Gear from above. However, the true way to manipulate the Sacred Gear that is your other self, that is to sympathize with it, resonate with it, not just in body, you must become one from the heart and soul. In the depths of the Sacred Gear, it is said that if and only if you can reach it, then you will be approaching the genuine truth of it."

"...The depths of...the Sacred Gear..."

Jason, who was listening to the conversation Lavinia and Tobio were having felt that Lavinia's words resonated within him.

Although Jason was not a Sacred Gear user, he knew there was something, or rather someone, inside him. That person... Jason had already seen her more than once and had even had a little conversation with her. Since the accident with Nekohime, memories Jason didn't recognize had been appearing in his mind.

All those memories had something in common, a snake. In one of the dreams Jason had managed to hear the name of the snake, she was called Vala by the boy of the dream.

The end of the dream was something Jason could never remember once he woke up, but it was not uncommon for him to wake up in tears from his face.

"Accept me... Accept yourself..."

Those words echoed in Jason's mind every time he had a dream related to the snake.

"I have been speaking self-importantly, but to tell you the truth, I also still cannot skillfully control my own puppet. In order to truly be proficient with the Sacred Gear, if I investigate the truth by aiming to integrate with it…I will come to understand the puppet. I should be the one controlling the puppet, that princess, but the truth is that princess is not some kind of marionette. That is how it feels at least, and it is quite frightening. Even though I have learned magic, my fear towards the power that has been lodged within me since I was born has not diminished in the slightest."

Different from her usual tone, in the words Lavinia was currently speaking, Jason couldn't help but feel as though they also carried some sort of grief while bearing dread within them as well.

"I want you to be careful as well, Toby. With the independent avatar types, even if you should investigate the power sleeping within it, the moment you approach the truth, there is a possibility of being consumed by that power. Your other self is a part of yourself, another version of yourself. If you show an opening at any point, that other version of yourself can change places with you." Lavinia cautioned him in that manner.

At Lavinia's words, it wasn't just Tobio's body that shook. Jason's body was shaking even more than Tobio's.

He…could swap places with me?

And then, having heard the word 'magic' by chance, Tobio suddenly thought back to the old woman, the witch he had encountered at the 'Utsusemi Agency' hideout. At that time, Lavinia had glared at the opposing witch with cold eyes.

Tobio proceeded to ask about that.

"Lavinia-san, that witch that you saw at the 'Utsusemi Agency' hideout, is there some relation between you?"

"That was an adversary."

"I came here for the sake of stopping that witch…of stopping them."

" Augusta of the purple flame, isn't it?" Jason intervened.

"Yes" Lavinia replied.

It happened at that moment.

"Are you there, Tobio? I've brought you a bottle for rehydration but…. Is anyone there?"

A voice came from outside! It was Sae's voice!! How could her timing be so bad! Being in this sort of situation, Tobio's thoughts ground to a complete halt. He thought of how good it would be if he could hide in the shadows like Jin.

Jason opened his eyes with surprise. If Sae saw Jason sitting so close to Lavinia, it would create an interesting scene to watch... To whom we are going to lie, it would be the typical misunderstanding of any average anime.

At the very least, to get through this situation, he needed to go outside to receive the bottle. His upper body was presently nude but…for Sae, with whom he'd been together with since childhood, they had a relationship where she'd seen his upper body numerous times. There shouldn't be a problem if it's just to this extent.

Then, he would have Lavinia remain here, and at the same time, he would hurriedly go up to receive the bottle. It wouldn´t be a problem with Jason inside the shower as well.

"Is that Shaae? If it is about Toby, he is in here, okay?"

Of all things, that Lavinia had replied to Sae who was outside from in here! Moreover, she informed her that Tobio was in here! As usual, Lavinia had called Sae "Shaae".

After that reply, a short silent period came, and then the door gently opened.

Sae timidly observed the state of affairs inside.

"Tobio with…Lavinia-san?"

Sae had opened the door in such a way that she couldn't see Jason, so the misunderstanding was greater than it should have been.

The image that appeared before Sae's eyes was that of Tobio, whose upper body was naked, a girl who was naked short of a towel hanging from her neck, and in addition to them, there was a black dog accompanying.

Faced with these extreme circumstances, as Sae gazed at both Tobio and Lavinia in turn, her mouth absently hanging open, she fell completely silent.

Tobio, hurriedly coming up with an excuse, began to speak.

"U-Umm, this is…Sae, this isn't what it looks like!"

Sae, putting on a forced smile, held out the drink bottle to Tobio. However, Sae then noticed the partially drunken bottle that had been placed on the bench next to Tobio.

"This is a bottle for rehydrating…or it would be, except it seems you've already been drinking one. Well then, I'll hold onto this spare one. See you later."

As she had said, Sae tried to leave that place, but forgetting to open the door, she ended up crashing right into it.

"Ouch! …I-I'm alright."

While the tip of her nose was stinging, with a forced smile, Sae hurriedly opened the door with an "Eheheh," and left.

"It's a good thing this scene happened to you, Tobio. I wouldn't stand for something, so cliché to happen to me." Jason sighed... relieved?

Tobio, having reached his wit's end over this situation, sat down, having nothing to say about the circumstances other than, "Ahh, now I've done it...."

As for Lavinia,

"?"

She just stood there like that with a question mark floating above her head.

"Idiot, now you're going to be known as a relationship-breaker." Jason flicked her forehead.

"Auch, that hurts!" Lavinia pouted cutely.

Jason stroked Lavinia's head, and she blushed because of Jason's sudden gesture of affection.

"Eto... Jason?" Lavinia called him.

"Yes?"

"Tomorrow Tobio and the rest have the day off, and we're going to go to a town in Japan, would you like to join us?" Lavinia asked.

Jason couldn't refuse the invitation seeing the hope hidden in Lavinia's blue eyes.

"Of course, who would refuse a date with a beautiful blonde girl?" Jason teased her.

Lavinia blushed, and a happy smile appeared on her face.

"Good!" She rose happily.

Lavinia took off the towel that covered her body and proceeded to change her clothes. Stunned Jason opened his mouth to say something but decided to shut up.

(The best things are enjoyed in silence) Jason thought of his mind.

Jason slept that night in Slash Dog's apartment. There were rooms leftover inside the apartment, probably for future members.

At midnight, Jason felt something going into his bed. Someone grabbed his arm tightly and lay on his bed.

Slightly opening one eye to see who was the person who had lay in his bed.

Jason smiled slightly and went back to sleep.