Chapter 848 A Slight Miscalculation

Aika didn't know what to do, nor did she have any idea that the place where she'd found solace might've been a tiger's den.

Sensing her increasing discomfort, Benihime chuckled and stopped hiding her aura.

As soon as she let go, something invisible instantly hit Aika's face and she immediately paled. It was as if a blast of poisonous air went past her, "W-what are you?"

"What's with that question? Obviously, I'm a normal woman living in a normal place.", answered Benihime after sipping her tea, "Do you see me as some sort of monster?"

But instead of answering her question, Aika stood up in a hurry, "Thank you for having me. I'm going home." Without waiting for her reply, Aika just bowed down and walked towards the door. She thought that Benihime would be stopping her when she suddenly spoke behind her. But it turns out, Benihime was just clarifying something, "For the record, this is only the second time we've met."

Aika didn't reply and just continued her steps. Her brisk gait didn't stop until she reached the front gates of her house. While hearing the dishes being washed and the television running, Aika looked around and tried to sense her surroundings, afraid that Benihime might've followed her home. A few minutes later, she couldn't find anything strange and finally made her entrance, "I'm home."

"Aika? I thought you were staying over with your friends?" Her mother came out to greet her but saw that she was making a strange expression and became worried, "Is something wrong?"

Aika immediately smiled but she didn't know she couldn't make it properly, "I-I'm fine. I'm just tired, so I'll sleep early tonight." Aika continued walking and went past her mother and immediately went up the stairs.

Haruto came out of the living room and saw his wife staring at the stairs with an extremely concerned expression, "What happened?"

"...I don't know. This is the first time I've seen her make a face like that."

Haruto followed her line of sight and sighed. Ever since Aika came back, Honoka became much more paranoid. That in itself was normal, however, Haruto hated himself for not being able to ease her worries, '...Let's just watch for a few more days... Maybe something could change.'

And that change came abruptly and unexpectedly as Aika refused to leave her room from that day on.

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.

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The moment that Aika had left Benihime's place, Benihime immediately heard Kisuke's cold voice in her head, [What was that for?]

But Benihime just took it in stride and replied, [As expected, you're watching.]

[...It's obvious that my seal would react the moment she made contact with someone like you.]

[So you didn't exclude me from that alarm even though you did for the students of that Academy.]

[...I specifically activated it when you decided to operate separately.]

[My~ I'm honored for the distinction.]

[Stop changing the topic. What was that for?]

[For nothing, really. In the first place, I never revealed anything to her. Whether she got something from me relaxing for a bit, it'll be up to her. On top of that, you know that our contact is just a coincidence and if there's someone at fault here, it would be you for being overly protective and sealing everything, making her own attributes and power work against her.]

[...]

[A slight miscalculation, I see. That's what you get for always calculating everything even when you know that intelligent beings are illogical at their core.]

[...]

[And don't worry about it. I won't be initiating any contact with her from here on, and I doubt she will either. However, I won't refuse a visit from her.]

At that point, Benihime felt Kisuke's presence disappear from her mind and sighed, '...You've been making a lot of mistakes ever since coming to this world, but I guess that's where growth starts.' Benihime smiled while thinking about the unknown future they are heading towards, 'Well, it's a lot less boring this time.'

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On the other side, Kisuke stayed laying down, 'As expected, I couldn't understand a girl going through puberty... Is Aika even going through one? In any case, I have to prepare my cheeks for an inevitable punch in the face.'

'But I should've known that this was bound to happen knowing Benihime's personality.' In the end, a smile surfaced on Kisuke's face, wondering how they'll meet again.

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AN (09/03/22):

And that's it for today's batch. The next one should be around Sept. 6-7 if nothing else comes up.

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