A thumping sound rang from the lectern.
"This is the method I taught you—doesn't it beat any Adam and Eve nonsense?"
Rei Ao asked, speaking to Ouma Mana, who was seated on the lectern before him, biting her lip.
"… …"
Ouma Mana never expected things would come to this.
The key point was that her link to the Apocalypse Virus had now been severed.
She had no ability to fight back against Rei Ao's "discipline" and was at his mercy.
Even worse, this body – originally meant to be her vessel – was responding eagerly, something she couldn't deny.
That was a result of base physical instinct, forcibly awakened by Rei Ao's imposing "size."
Ouma Mana stared at Rei Ao with a complicated expression. Then her eyes turned dull and vacant. When she regained her gaze again, it was as if she'd turned into someone else.
"Inori?"
Rei Ao saw the reason for the change. Inori had returned.
"Mm… it's me," answered Inori, face flushed.
Not long ago, when she drifted off to sleep, she felt her body sinking into an endless darkness.
Yet she could still see, hear, and sense everything, as though her body had been half-possessed by something else. She'd had to watch helplessly as that "other" used her body to do those things – culminating in the ongoing, somewhat lurid scene.
Seeing her confusion, Rei Ao ceased his actions and asked a question he should have asked earlier:
"Inori, now can you finally tell me what you meant by 'help me'? Otherwise, I can't finish this trade."
"… …"
Inori stared at him blankly.
Originally, she only wanted to deliver the Void Genome back. But now that she'd been healed and the Void Genome had been handed over to Rei Ao by the entity calling itself Ouma Mana, her plan had changed.
A single question lingered in her mind. Her lips parted slightly.
She asked, "Rei Ao-kun, please tell me…what am I, exactly?"
A cloned human? A non-human life form?
From the start, Inori had felt out of place among humans. Lacking typical human emotions, she doubted she was even human. She'd lived in constant confusion about herself.
Ouma Mana…
When she appeared, Inori felt that her existence had always been meant for that person, vaguely or not.
Seeing the yearning in her eyes, Rei Ao propped up her body to explain:
"Ouma Mana, the first woman to come in contact with the Apocalypse Virus and be chosen as Eve."
"… …"
Deep in that dark realm, the battered Ouma Mana retreated once more into the depths of that soul and consciousness. She heard Rei Ao speak her identity, reacting with an indiscernible look, listening silently.
"After Lost Christmas, Ouma Mana was in a suspended near-death state. And you, Inori, were created in her image, meant to be the vessel for her return."
"… …"
Inori lowered her moist eyes. Knowing her true identity convinced her she wasn't human – she was a tool. Being used seemed like a tool's fate.
However, Rei Ao immediately added: "That's how you came into existence, but do you want to know how I see you?"
"How…you see me?"
That expressionless face of Inori wavered for a moment. She gave a faint nod. "Please tell me."
"In my eyes, you're not a tool, nor Mana's vessel.
You're just you—Inori. A living, breathing person, a woman I'm holding in my arms."
Rei Ao didn't speak affectionately; he was simply stating a fact. Sometimes, decisions made by "the small head" didn't require the "big head's" thinking.
For instance, at that moment, his body resumed a gentle motion, and at Inori's stunned look, he kissed her. She felt a heart-throbbing sensation like never before, a warm current as sweet as spring water rushing from her chest through her entire being. Instinctively, she found herself, for the first time, throwing her arms around Rei Ao's neck to kiss him back.
[Ding! Trade Complete!]
"…?"
A flicker of surprise crossed Rei Ao's eyes. He hadn't really done anything special – just done his usual flirting, so why had the previously inactive trade suddenly concluded?
But with Inori in his arms, becoming more proactive, he didn't bother to think more about it. In the end, might as well keep going.
"… …"
Elsewhere in the darkness, Ouma Mana bit her lip, eyes full of an unspoken bitterness. After all, she was the one who'd started all of this, so why was it that Rei Ao ended up satisfied with her vessel?
"This is…unbelievable!"
Ouma Mana gritted her teeth; the jealousy in her words was about to overflow. Yet, without the Apocalypse Virus's power, she couldn't force the body to do her bidding. She and Inori held equal claim to it. She could only watch as Inori "stole away" the Adam she'd set her eyes on!
"I'm the real Eve!!!"
…
In the chat group, seeing how skillfully Rei Ao courted and teased, many who'd had somewhat similar experiences showed complicated expressions.
In the main chat group:
Misaka Mikoto: "He…he's always this good at tricking girls with flowery words?"
Yotsuya Miko: "Um, it's not exactly flowery words. Everything he says is from the heart."
Misaka Mikoto: "?? You can't tell me he's not purely lusting after Inori's body. And in just one or two lines, he turned such an ignorant girl so proactive…that's too crazy!"
Meanwhile, in a bathroom, Mikoto was furiously washing herself, suppressing the surging heat in her body. Rei Ao's maneuvering had made her cheeks crimson. She cringed yet was curious enough to keep watching, with the thought: It's another world anyway, so maybe it's okay to watch…
Frieren: "It looks like the 'succubus factor' in our chat group keeps going up."
Frieren: "Come to think of it, I had my first special feeling when Rei Ao showed me that magic of letting flowers bloom across entire mountains."
Shiba Miyuki: "Vast hillsides of unknown blossoms? That sounds so romantic."
Frieren: "I don't know about romance, but it was truly beautiful."
Busujima Saeko: "As for me, Rei Ao-kun was never bothered by the bloodthirsty impulses I hid deep down, and even guided me in how to harness them."
Bibi Dong: "Rei Ao saved me and gave me a new life."
~~~
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