Tessa's gray eyes and Kaname's brown eyes spoke silently to each other.
Originally, only one of them had planned to act, but Kaname had woken up too.
That made things easier. If they moved together, at least she would feel a little more "at ease."
It was the difference between doing something bad alone and doing something bad with another person.
If you were alone, you had to bear all the pressure yourself. If there were two of you, then the pressure could be shared.
And if they were going to carry out the terms of the bet...
Under normal circumstances, if you had to ask someone for that kind of thing while they were fully awake, the odds of success were extremely low.
But if you struck while the other person was asleep and caught him off guard, the chances were much higher.
So the two of them had already taken out the thing capable of producing that substance.
Just looking at it made their breathing nearly stop.
Now all that remained was to wake him up, tell him they were here to collect on the bet, that they wanted that substance from him.
Then, whether he agreed or not, they would not wait for his answer. They would act first.
In that kind of situation, the odds of success were high.
He probably would not resist.
And this method had been suggested by the very woman who had beaten them.
Granted, using that woman's method was infuriating.
But how was she supposed to know whether they had really followed through with it?
...
Something felt strange, and Kain slowly opened his eyes.
Then, as his gaze drifted downward, he froze.
What was this?
A dream?
It really did feel like one. His consciousness was hazy, soft around the edges, exactly like the sensation of dreaming.
How long had it been since he had last dreamed?
Maybe he was only dreaming now because the A-Driver had exhausted him too deeply.
And if this was a dream, then it had opened with quite a beautiful one.
Then the two girls said something to him that felt exactly like the sort of line that only existed in dreams.
In reality, there was no way things would ever escalate this hard.
More importantly, they had already started acting on it.
No, not just acting on it.
They were clearly trying to repeat the sort of thing Saeko had done before.
...
Time moved ahead to nearly the thirteenth day since a certain someone had arrived in this world.
At the moment, time was pressing close.
The place was Jindai Municipal High School.
"See you tomorrow, Kaname."
"Yeah, see you tomorrow, Kyoko."
Kaname waved goodbye to her friend Kyoko Tokiwa.
She had been sent back here early that morning, and her day had more or less returned to normal.
But the moment Kyoko disappeared from sight, Kaname quickened her pace on the way home.
She moved at nearly twice her usual speed and made it back in half the usual time, soon spotting the place where she lived.
The area nearby was somewhat noisy too, as if some kind of construction was suddenly underway.
In less than three minutes, she reached her front door. Before she could even take out her key and slide it into the lock, a commotion came from inside.
"Mr. Kain, y-you can't go in there. It's really dirty in there. No, stop, don't push your way in!"
The voice was frantic and deeply embarrassed, and Kaname's face changed instantly.
Were they seriously doing something indecent in her house?
Under normal circumstances, if not for what she and Tessa had done that ridiculous midnight, then maybe she would not have thought this way.
But she and Tessa really had done something incredibly stupid under the influence of alcohol while trying to fulfill the forfeit.
They had actually managed to get what they were after.
Then Kain had "woken up" and finally stopped things before they went any further.
It was not because he was putting on some gentlemanly act.
It was because the alarm had gone off, and both of them had heard it.
A North American warship had passed nearby, and TDD-1 had needed to move immediately.
By the time the sub had reached safe stealth depth, both girls had sobered up a lot.
Enough to want to drill through the hull and bury themselves in the sea from sheer humiliation.
And what made it worse was that Kain was absolutely detestable. He had clearly woken up long before that and just kept quietly enjoying the situation.
That was exactly why Kaname now found the scene inside so suspicious.
Bang!
She did not need the key anymore.
She just kicked the door open.
"What shameless thing are you two doing in my house...?!"
Her roar, loud enough to tear her throat raw, abruptly jammed to a stop.
She stared blankly at Tessa, who was desperately trying to use her tiny body to block Kain from forcing his way into the kitchen.
And there was black smoke coming from inside.
So that was it?
W-What was this supposed to be?!
Then suddenly...
Boom!
"Wah! It exploded!"
In the blink of an eye, Kaname was left twitching at the sight of a kitchen that looked like it had just survived a battlefield.
So that was the truth.
Tessa had tried to make pastries, and it looked like she had nearly blown the whole kitchen apart.
As for why she had not wanted Kain going in, the answer was obvious. The kitchen was a complete disaster, and she was far too embarrassed to let him see it.
Seriously. The way Tessa had acted at the door had made Kaname think something much worse was happening.
"Tessa, stop blowing up my kitchen!"
The moment Kaname understood a little of what Tessa had been trying to do, she barked out the order.
This idiot captain simply had no talent for this sort of thing, so she needed to stop experimenting.
And the reason Tessa had been trying to make pastries, specifically a cake, was because she had asked about his birthday and, by sheer coincidence, it was today.
Tessa had insisted on making it herself, even though Kaname had said they should wait until she got home and make it together.
Instead, Tessa had secretly tried doing it on her own. The kitchen had started smoking, Kain had noticed, rushed back, and then Tessa had tried to keep him from seeing what a catastrophe she had made inside.
"Ugh..."
"But this time, I'll let you help. You're on support only, and you follow my instructions. No improvising."
"Okay!"
An hour later, a certain someone stared silently at the cake set in front of him.
"Kaname, I have a bad feeling about this..."
"Shut up. It just looks bad, that's all. Taste it. It'll definitely be sweet."
"Sweet?"
Kain looked at the cake in front of him. Sweet was inevitable. Just how much sugar and cream had gone into this thing?
"Mgh. That's way too sweet."
Kaname tasted a bite herself and nearly recoiled. It was so sugary it felt like a fast track to diabetes.
So why was Tessa still here?
And why was there construction going on nearby?
That was because Kaname had made her choice.
She had decided to join Tessa's side.
But that did not mean she had to stay aboard TDD-1 all the time. Mithril would secretly establish a hidden facility near her home, which would also serve as a lab for her A-Driver research.
In everyday life, she could still continue attending school and maintain the appearance of being an ordinary student.
And it was only after making that choice that she had finally learned who Kain really was.
Then time caught up to five minutes before departure.
"At last. Now it actually looks decent."
"This was exhausting."
The two girls looked at the genuinely presentable cake in front of them and smiled with clear relief.
It seemed they had made it in time.
So then...
"Say cheese." x2
They were taking a commemorative photo.
Proof that he had once come to this world.
Then, in the next instant...
"Tessa, w-what are you doing? Let go of me, I... ahhhh!"
Kaname had just been about to retaliate with the same kind of sneak attack Tessa had pulled, but the moment she tried to turn his head toward her side, he vanished, leaving her grabbing at empty air.
And so she saw Tessa wearing an absolutely smug grin, then sticking out her pink tongue in a blatant, taunting lick, as if to imply that what she had stolen was not just an ordinary kiss.
Aaaah! She was furious!!!
That little thief of a cat!
...
"Coordinates locked. Hyperspatial quantum engine entering..."
"Jump preparation complete."
After finishing the last bite of cake, Kain confirmed the next stop and initiated the jump.
In the next instant, everything became transparent. His consciousness seemed to stretch time out infinitely, as if he had brushed against the countless phenomena of the universe in a single moment.
Then, just as suddenly and without warning, everything returned to normal.
Jump successful.
He had arrived at the location of the next quantum beacon.
That beacon had been deployed long ago. He had not placed it himself. It had originally been set there to test this ship.
Unfortunately, the Iron Men rebellion had broken out before the testing could begin.
And then the sight before him shook him to the core.
Had he jumped straight into their home turf?
"WAAAGH!!!"
The roar crashed over him like a tidal wave.
(End of Chapter)
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