242 Hot Bath ; Intuition
As I remain seated at the table listening to Kotori's annoyed voice as she recounts events of the past few days, AI's voice resounds within my head.
{Father, I am detecting a slight amount of abnormal energy nearby.}
Where?
{From the entity in front of Father.}
Right now, I am seated in a manner that Reine Murasame is the one in front of me.
Assuming that she is the one AI is talking about, I can conclude one thing based on the information I have gathered so far - She is hiding something.
Simply put, AI doesn't inform me about such matters unless it is somehow related to Codes and Unknowns.
"So, is your memory any better now?" Kotori asks once she is done recounting.
"Yes," I straightaway respond, deciding to continue acting as the original Shido Itsuka for now.
"In essence, you want me to go on dates with more of these 'spirits' and seal their powers in due time, right?"
"That's right," she responds.
"There is one thing that I would like to know," I say after nodding my head, "Why do I have the power to seal spirits and why do you know about it?"
Kotori's expression immediately turns solemn as she says, "We don't know why you have that, but we only managed to find out through Ratatoskr."
She's lying.
"I see," I respond nonchalantly.
"So, what now?" I say.
At this moment, a figure walks into the kitchen, startling me a little.
"Tohka?" I say dubiously while inspecting the girl who is now dressed in blue pajamas.
"Hello, Shido!" she responds with a smile covering her lips.
Turning my head to face Kotori, I ask, "Why is she here?"
"Well," Kotori responds, "Even if her powers are sealed, there is a chance that they will return if her mental condition is unstable. Statistically speaking, she is more at ease with you around, so she will live here from now on."
"Is that so," I say while glancing at Tohka who just reached the fridge.
"And where will she be sleeping?" I ask.
"Don't worry. We can easily prepare a room for her in this house."
"If you say so," I respond before getting up from my seat, intending to head to my room.
"Ah, right," Kotori suddenly says, "I had prepared the bath for you."
Oh, the bath. Well, if I am to act like the normal Shido Itsuka, I would need to do that, huh?
"Alright," I respond before heading toward the bath after doing a quick scan of the house.
---
Sitting in the bathtub, I relish the sensation of the hot water against my skin as I use Clairvoyance to check the city out.
Due to the matter with the spake quakes, the city has been enhanced in more ways than one.
When an emergency alarm resounds, the citizens will make their way to nearby bunkers for max safety.
To them, the space quakes are natural phenomena and nothing more than that, however, the truth is quite different from that.
According to Kotori, space quakes occur when a 'spirit' appears.
Coincidentally, the term 'spirit' is seemingly what's used to refer to the Codes in this world.
This reminds me of the term that is used in the Rift, which is quite intriguing.
Why are Codes called in such a manner? What could have instigated someone to call us as such?
Leaving that aside, my responsibilities are sure strange. For some reason, I am now stuck with the fate of picking up girls.
Even if there is a proper reason for it, the notion is still strange…
At this moment, I sense movement on the other side of the frame separating the two sections of the bath.
Before I can check out what's going on, a naked figure absentmindedly enters the section I am in while gazing at a plastic cup of pudding in her hands.
The moment she reaches the tub, Tohka raises her head, only to be shocked as soon as she notices me.
"Shi-shido?!" a high-pitched voice escapes from her lips as she covers her breasts and privates using her arms.
Remaining calm, I gaze into her eyes and say, "What use is there in hiding them when I've seen everything before?"
Upon hearing my words, Tohka's face flushes in a deep red as she motionlessly looks back at me.
"Don't mind it much, Tohka. Come on, get in the tub," I say while patting the tub.
Tohka's mind blanks out as she looks forward with a confused expression on her face. I take advantage of this opportunity to telekinetically push her toward myself.
Breaking out of her stupor, Tohka realizes that she is lying naked within my arms in the tub as her body begins to shake.
"Do you hate taking a bath with me that much?" I say while trying to sound sad and disappointed.
"No!" she instantly responds before turning around to face me, "It's just… this is… embarrassing."
Beaming a smile, I raise my arm to stroke her cheek before saying, "You know, I am enjoying this quite a bit.
"After all, I have such a cute and lovely young lady taking a bath with me."
"C-c-cute? Me?" Tohka stutters as the blush on her face reddens even further.
"Of course," I respond, "Now that I think about it, Kotori knows I'm in the bath. She didn't inform you of it?"
"No," Tohka dazedly responds, "She said I should go take a bath now, so I did."
That girl… She did this on purpose? Right, she did mention something like this during her recount. Currently, Kotori and Reine are working on a 'training program' for Shido Itsuka to get better at handling girls.
"Shido?"
"What is it?"
"Can we do it again?"
"Do what?" I ask, curious about her request.
"A kiss, I mean," she responds with her head lowered.
As a response to her words, I place my hand on her chin before lifting her head and closing the distance between our lips in one go.
Tohka's body flinches before it becomes limp as she leans forward, pressing her soft breasts against my chest.
After a short while, I break the kiss and gaze at Tohka, only to find her lost in a trance with a gleeful expression.
---
"How was the bath?" Kotori's voice reaches my ears as soon as Tohka and I step into the living room.
"Pleasant," I simply say before walking over to a sofa and lying down.
"What?" Kotori says in a somewhat bewildered tone as she glances at Tohka who just took a seat beside her.
"You didn't do anything, right?" she says in a slightly firm tone.
Tohka, who is still flushed red, looks away to avoid Kotori's gaze, while I just dismissively say, "Nothing much."
"Her reaction says otherwise!"
"Whatever," I casually respond.
Who would've thought that she is so easy to annoy?
"I suddenly feel like punching you," Kotori says in an irritated tone.
"Try it," I challengingly respond.
This time, Kotori doesn't say anything as she just lays back against the sofa with a look of deliberation on her face.
Seeing that she is busy thinking of something, I use my senses to see where Reine is, only to find her in the kitchen, preparing coffee.
Getting up from the sofa, I glance at the fidgety Tohka and beam a smile before making my way to the kitchen.
"I thought you would be gone by now," I say once I'm close to the countertop that Reine is preparing her coffee on.
"You seemed like you had something to talk with me about, so I stayed."
Hearing her response, I furrow my brows as I peer into her eyes.
"Who are you?"
"Reine Murasame. Head Analyst of Ratatoskr."
"That's not what I'm asking."
This time, she remains silent as she begins adding sugar cubes to the cup of coffee.
Astonishingly, she doesn't stop even after adding five of them but continues to add more and more.
"Hey," I say in a dubious stone while gawking at the cup of coffee that is now practically filled with sugar.
Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I remember that I am supposed to be acting like Shido Itsuka.
Nevertheless, this woman, Reine, is sharp and intuitive. That can be seen from how she was able to sense my intentions back at the dining table.
Perhaps, it might be pointless to act in front of her, but I will do so anyway. If anything, from the looks of it, she is not planning to inform the rest of my 'abnormal' behavior.
It makes me wonder what such a person would think of my current state. Would she accept the possibility of someone else possessing this body?
Adopting a small smile on my lips, I use telekinesis to prepare a cup of coffee for myself as well.
Reine, who watched the whole process with keen eyes, moves the cup away from her lips and says, "Interesting."
The smile on my lips grows as I hold my cup of coffee and say, "Right?"
