Tale of Discovery - Chapter 284

“This, in turn, has affected her manners and way of speaking. I mean, you have noticed it, right? She speaks like a woman from centuries ago would.”

“We haven’t heard her say all that much,” Kotori responds, “But if you say that, then you must either know her very well or at least have spoken to her for a duration long enough for you to make note of that.”

“That’s true,” I reply, unfazed, “The truth is, she had appeared about twenty minutes ago. During that time, I took it upon myself to ask her a few questions to satiate my curiosity like any normal individual would.”

“Oh?” Natsumi interjects, “Did you manage to find anything out?”

It’s only been a day, yet here she is acting like she understands everything going on and why it’s absurd.

Oh well.

“Yes,” I say, “How else do you think I remained with her for so long? So, to put it simply, her memories have gotten fuzzy, but she remembers a few things such as… her powers.”

The moment the last two words leave my mouth, Kotori squints her eyes while Natsumi places her palm against her lips with raised brows.

As for the rest, Origami keenly stares at Jeanne, probably trying to figure out if she is a spirit or not. Yoshino seems to have lost interest for some reason as she has returned to watching the TV.

The one that has the oddest reaction is Tohka who seems to be contemplating something with a puzzled look on her face.

“Powers?” Kotori asks, “What kind of powers?”

“Ones foreign to this world, in other words, similar to mine.”

Turning my head to face Jeanne, I cast a glance at the ring on her finger and nod my head once.

Understanding my intentions, she proceeds to pull her banner out of the ring, surprising the girls present by quite a margin. Even Yoshino who was staring at the TV with overwhelming focus shifts her sight over to the majestic white banner with stars shimmering in her eyes.

“Her power…” Natsumi mutters.

“That banner,” I respond, “It’s what she uses to utilize her powers properly. From what I know, she has amazing defensive capabilities, hence why I thought it would be a good idea for her to protect those not coming with me to the school trip tomorrow.”

“Wait, what do you mean by school trip?” Natsumi suddenly asks.

“Oh, I haven’t made that clear yet, huh? Well, it’s exactly what it sounds like. We will be traveling to some island for a school trip that was abruptly decided today.

“During that time, you will be staying over at somewhere safe with Jeanne protecting you.

“As you already possess powers of your own, it’s safe to assume that you will be able to protect yourselves.”

Or, so I say, but I doubt I would be able to prevent myself from checking on them frequently while on the trip. Should I witness anything abnormal, I won’t be holding anything back…

“A school trip, I see,” Natsumi mutters thoughtfully.

At this moment, Kotori lets out a sigh of what seems to be defeat before she lays back against the sofa and says, “In the end, you’re not planning to give us a proper explanation, are you?”

“Whatever could you mean?” I say in a casual tone.

“Ugh, forget it. I feel like I will begin to lose myself if I try to figure out any of the things you do and related to you. Seriously, what happened to you, brother…”

Toward the latter half of her sayings, Kotori’s voice marginally got lower before reaching a point so low that the others shouldn’t be able to hear.

Hah~ It’s only to be expected that she would think like this. Just a short while ago, ‘I’ was drastically different from the way ‘I’ am now. As she’s ‘my’ little sister who has been living with ‘me’ for years, she would obviously take note of the changes that occurred.

If anything, I feel like the murder I committed back in the park was the last straw that broke any misconception she had of me still being the same guy I was. Fortunately, I had done it after she had gotten more used to the new persona, or else things would’ve been much more problematic.

She might not act like it, but I bet that it’s bothering her quite a bit. Her pacifistic brother suddenly committing murder without batting an eye…

Nevertheless, she doesn’t seem to have any intentions of changing our relationship, so all is well, I suppose?

—

“Tohka,” I call out to the girl sitting on the bed with a contemplative expression on her face, but she doesn’t seem to hear me, or even notice my presence for that matter.

I’ve never seen her act like this. She usually just spends her time either eating, finding food to ear, or simply enjoy herself.

Seeing her so deep in thought is refreshing, yet worrisome at the same time. What exactly could be eating away at her attention?

Deciding that asking her would be the best method, I soundlessly shut my room’s door before walking over to the bed and sitting beside Tohka, who is currently dressed in purple pajamas.

“Tohka,” I say once more, this time with my mouth close to her left ear.

Expectedly, Tohka’s body jerks as she snaps her head to look over at me with widened eyes.

Chuckling at her reaction, I proceed to swiftly take both of her hands into mine before peering into her eyes and saying in a soothing tone, “Is something bothering you?”

“Uhm…” she utters with her eyes darting around, seemingly not knowing how to respond to my query.

“Everything is going to be fine as long as you’re honest with me. So, take a deep breath and tell me what’s wrong, alright?”

It takes her a moment, but Tohka ultimately nods her head once before doing as I instructed her to.

Upon having taken a deep breath, she focuses her sight on me and says, “Recently, I have been feeling a strange feeling here. Almost like a stinging pain.”

Following her words, she presses her palm against her chest.

Hold on… I already have an idea of what she might be speaking of, but it would be better for me to make sure first.

“Tell me, does that usually happen when I am around or you’re thinking of me?”

Startled, Tohka’s eyes shoot wide open as she says, “How did you know?”

A grin forms on my lips as I say, “As I thought…”

Having deliberately trailed my words off to catch her curiosity, I observe with interest she tries her best to hold back from asking me what’s wrong.

“Don’t worry, it’s nothing harmful,” I state while squeezing her hands, “At most, it means that I have not been giving you the attention you deserved.”

With that said, I move my body closer, so that our arms and hips are touching before leaning forth for a kiss.

Already used to this by now, Tohka offers absolutely no resistance as she simply tries to reciprocate the kiss to the best of her abilities.

Shortly, the relatively tame kiss turns to a rather passionate one as I find myself pushing Tohka’s body down on the bed and inserting my tongue into her warm mouth.

Our hands and lips interlocked; I feel a warm sensation spread within me as I feel the affection that Tohka holds for me through her response.

Various images flash through my mind regarding the innocent girl as I continue to twirl my tongue around hers.

A few moments later, a notion appears within my head, causing me to halt the kiss and raise my body from hers.

I cast a glance at the deeply flushed Tohka before turning my head in the direction of the door.

That’s right. I won’t be repeating the same mistake I did earlier. After I had sent Origami off, I returned home and called Natsumi and Yoshino over to my room.

With both girls complying, the three of us got to my room, in which silence ensued for a while.

Later, I simply told them to try their best to forget what they saw, as it would be troublesome otherwise. The two nodded their heads before they exited the room without uttering a word.

Alas, there wasn’t much that I could do. The ‘damage’ had already been done, so I might as well leave it as such to see how it would develop.

If anything, I feel like Natsumi will try to take advantage of what she witnessed, to commit some naughty deeds. At that time, I will be having a fun time ‘punishing’ her and getting her to open up to me more…

Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I stare at the door for a few seconds before using telekinesis to move my closet over to it.

And so, with the door blocked properly, I shift my focus back to Tohka, who has turned her head to the side, most likely as a way to avoid making eye contact with me.

“Don’t worry,” I say, “I will try my best to make it so that you won’t ever feel that stinging pain again. As long as you’re both honest with me, that’s not going to be much a problem.”

“Mn,” Tohka hums while tightening her grasp of my hands.

“Good girl,” I say in a teasing tone before leaning forth to kiss her lips once more.