Quantum mechanics was really hard.
Shiraha had wanted to sleep late into the night, but then he thought, since his Nee-chan could touch him anyway, he might as well adopt Kiana's cramming spirit.
Though unlike Kiana, who'd fall asleep and get carried back to her room, Shiraha had it a bit better, he had a beautiful fairy by his side.
"Sigh.... quantum mechanics."
One look at quantum mechanics and Einstein realized that Shiraha wasn't as naturally gifted as she was. But when it came to Honkai energy, Shiraha was far more useful than her, his Honkai talent was something else.
Still, Shiraha was willing to learn. Quantum mechanics was a skill that could be useful or not, useful in that it opened up new possibilities.
And then there was the Sea of Quanta.
In two years, Bianka would go there, but that place was special. Shiraha wouldn't go unless he absolutely had to.
The Sea of Quanta had its own narrow spaces and stable worlds, completely different from the main world, some even had two world wars and no Honkai energy at all.
"And in this Tree-Sea universe, without Honkai energy and without access to the most fundamental Imaginary energy, even the highest achievements are just dust in the mortal world."
After all, this was a universe with the supernatural. Shiraha leaned by the classroom window; he'd occasionally follow the two doctors to labs or lectures, sitting in on a class.
Most of the time, it was like looking at fog and seeing flowers through it, but that hazy feeling when it came to knowledge did stir up a competitive spirit.
By the way, those grad students and PhD candidates seemed pretty miserable even during break. The lecturer on the podium spoke eloquently, and the students scribbled furiously, no one was zoning out.
Elysia, taking advantage of being invisible, slept soundly in that "solemn" lecture hall, breathing evenly, a faint smile on her lips.
In the hallway,
Mei stood alone, arms crossed, expressionless.
"Hey.... you came today?"
Kiana arrived late, a little surprised. She discreetly tucked a game cartridge into her pocket.
Sigh.... she'd just found a super intense two-player game, and was hoping to play a few rounds with Shiraha after he finished discussing his notes with the doctor.
Maybe even drag Dr. Tesla into it.
Mei's face was tight. "The tour's over."
But she would never feel joy again.
The young lady with the most friends had been the first to be left out.
"Congrats, I guess." Kiana looked a little regretful. "So when are we leaving?"
Mei rubbed her hands together, ready to give Kiana a good shock when she came close.
"The others have already left."
Mei kept her face blank. When Kiana came over, she suddenly grabbed her wrist.
Hiss!
It was hot! And tingly. Kiana jumped back instinctively, her wrist was red.
"You!?" Kiana looked shocked, her sky-blue eyes wide. "Since when can you control temperature?"
Mei could only create a weak current by rubbing her hands together, wasn't that it?
Mei's expression froze, then she turned away with a huff, her hands unconsciously moving behind her back.
She'd rubbed too hard, her own hands were burning, not from electricity, just from friction heat.
Mei tried to act aloof, standing by the classroom door without answering, but Kiana couldn't stay still.
"What about Fu Hua? Yuna? Bronya?"
She should've been angry and ignored Kiana, but she had a question.
"Why did you and Shiraha run off?"
Kiana pursed her lips, answering matter-of-factly. "We don't have friends, what were we supposed to do there?"
Tour a university? Yeah right.
Kiana knew her dad hadn't even gone to college!
Mei argued, "I could've brought you along!"
Kiana laughed. "First figure out how to keep your friends together when you're not around."
Mei, the young lady with zero leadership skills.
Just then, the bell rang. Kiana quickly pulled Mei aside.
Mei was still deep in thought, she didn't quite get what Kiana meant. Mei had always lived in her own world and hadn't faced many hardships.
Shiraha walked out holding his notebook. He was about to complain to Kiana, but when he spotted the slightly taller young lady, his face immediately lit up with a smile.
"Mei-nee, you're finally here."
Mei huffed. "From now on, I won't take you out to play either."
Really? Elysia, lounging lazily, felt a little pleased, her smile showing faint dimples.
"Sorry." Shiraha looked helpless. "I really don't like group dorms, I don't like sharing a room with others."
He'd explained this so many times, it rolled off the tongue.
Mei was about to put on a serious face. "You should've told me—"
But just then, Einstein walked out. Mei, always well-behaved in front of elders, quickly softened. "Good afternoon, Doctor."
Einstein glanced at Mei and patted her shoulder.
Indeed, with that perfect imaginary friend constantly evolving in his fantasies, the aloof young lady was a bit redundant.
One unattainable flower in the mirror was enough, and so far, Shiraha's imaginary friend didn't seem like a "first love" type.
She needed to be more lively.
Still, Anti-Entropy believed in free love.
Mei leaned in, a little reproachful. "Shiraha, we're siblings. We're on the same side. Even if you snuck out, you should've called me."
To that, Shiraha had a very simple reason.
"I can't go into the girls' dorm, and I don't have a phone."
Mei: ….
"Perfect timing, Mei." Einstein cut in.
She'd originally planned to hold one hand in each of hers, but with Mei here, she could only hold her books.
"We have a special guest today, Mei, you should meet her too. She's probably the strongest female warrior in the world."
Einstein had no idea why Theresa had come, or how she'd pinpointed this campus.
Typical Theresa, wise despite appearances. She really wasn't as dumb as she looked.
But since she was here, she couldn't exactly refuse, though after today, she, Tesla, and Welt might have to relocate.
"The strongest?" Kiana's eyes lit up. "How does she compare to Dad?"
From an omniscient perspective, it might be hard to say, but in Einstein's eyes, as someone who'd witnessed the Second Eruption, the answer was simple.
"Siegfried is still stronger."
Siegfried's performance during the Second Eruption had given everyone a clear idea of what "strongest" meant.
Theresa, not quite there.
Shiraha lagged behind, gently holding his Nee-chan's hand without speaking, but she knew what he wanted to say.
They'd already discussed this. If Theresa came, Elysia would have to leave, at least 200 kilometers away. She couldn't come back on her own; Shiraha would have to find her.
Even if he had to run away from home.
They'd planned this long ago, but when it came time to execute, Elysia felt an inexplicable emptiness.
She sighed softly, bent down, and pressed her cheek against his from behind, her long hair brushing his neck. Her voice was tight.
"Do your best, even if something goes wrong, don't blame yourself. No one can guarantee they're always right. No one can guarantee their plans never fail."
This was the time for farewell words, but Elysia didn't say them. Shiraha was quiet for a moment, then turned to nuzzle her cheek.
"I only have you, Nee-chan."
It sounded strange coming from him, usually, she should be the one saying, "I only have you, Little Shiraha."
But he said it anyway, naturally, confidently.
Elysia laughed softly. "Mm, so Little Shiraha has to come find his Nee-chan, no matter what."
Rin seemed to sense something. She poked her head out of the backpack and stood on Shiraha's shoulder.
Shiraha gently lifted her down, stroking her fur, the little pink fox was impossibly soft. His touch made Rin, who'd been about to get serious, let out an involuntary kyuu.
"Shiraha?"
Kiana called from ahead.
Shiraha quickly looked up and caught up. "Coming, coming, hey, isn't the delinquent senpai's family visiting too?"
At the mention of the delinquent senpai's family, Mei immediately thought of Rin-nee, but Rin-nee was a fake, a world-class hacker who couldn't even fix a computer.
She leaned in. "Bronya?"
No one really knew Natasha's family situation.
Einstein paused. "Another distant relative?"
Natasha was suspicious, her medical records wouldn't hold up to scrutiny.
In the Honkai world, there were naturally born mutants, people with Honkai beast genes in their bodies, sometimes even physical mutations.
But Natasha wasn't one of them. Natasha was definitely suspicious, possibly connected to that so-called Previous Era, but Einstein didn't care.
As long as she wasn't with Schicksal.
Schicksal and Anti-Entropy currently dominated almost the entire world.
"It's Sakura." Shiraha answered, his voice clear. "I've met Sakura before, pink hair, pale purple eyes, very pretty and gentle, and a great cook."
He didn't know much more. Oh, Sakura was also the "Second Omnipotent One" in combat.
Shiraha? He was the administrative Omnipotent One.
Shiraha paused, then added, "She looks exactly like Rin-nee."
At the mention of Rin-nee, everyone understood, the strange miko at the Raiden household, the self-proclaimed world's greatest hacker who couldn't even fix a computer.
Rin clenched her little paws.
Rin and Sakura didn't actually look that similar, but Yae Sakura and Sakura did, almost identical.
"Will she come today?"
Einstein suddenly asked.
There had been too many strange things lately. Though they seemed unrelated, not connecting them would take some serious denial.
Shiraha paused. "Not sure, probably in the next few days. Bronya mentioned a while ago that Sakura would come."
He thought for a moment, then held up the little fox. "I think this fox belongs to Sakura."
Einstein was silent. Honestly, she was just glad Shiraha had been raised under their watch. Even if he had ulterior motives now, someone else must've led him astray.
After all, Shiraha had never even hidden his imaginary friend.
Mei's eyes went wide. "Bronya was only gone for a day, she's been with us the whole time since!"
So on that day when Shiraha, Kiana, and Bronya had all left, she really had been left out.
Shiraha could only blink, he had no idea what Mei was talking about.
Mei was hurt, but she didn't say it. The proud young lady would never show weakness.
Back home, Mei decided to reassess the situation, she still didn't understand why she'd suddenly been left out.
She'd analyze, find the problem, and, never mind. First, she'd see what this "strongest female warrior" looked like.
The house was lively. Mei had seen that warrior before.
Theresa was curled up on the couch, her eyes wary, but why was Kiana here too, right next to what was supposedly a Herrscher fox?
Shiraha glanced at her, thought for a moment, then waved enthusiastically. "Long time no see, ghost-fearing nun sister."
Kiana looked at her, this was the world's strongest female warrior?
She looked… so small. And vaguely familiar.
Theresa forced herself to be serious, ignoring the ghost comment. "Where's Siegfried? Didn't he come?"
Now wasn't the time for jokes or catching up, but the whole house didn't seem very alert at all.
Didn't they know the power of the Herrscher of Corruption?
Well, Theresa didn't really know either, but it was still a Herrscher!
Einstein narrowed her eyes. "What does Siegfried have to do with this?"
Theresa was about to snap back, but Fu Hua was still undercover. She couldn't expose her.
But without Fu Hua, how was she supposed to explain the Herrscher?
Theresa fell into thought.
Shiraha said nothing as he headed upstairs, glancing back at her, this nun had come running with nothing but the Oath of Judah?
It was only 2010, Theresa! You've fallen off way too fast!
"Why does that nun look so clueless?"
Kiana muttered.
This was a top contender for the world's strongest?
Really?
Shiraha agreed. "Yeah, not as impressive as Uncle Siegfried."
Mei didn't respond, she was walking ahead.
Maybe by coincidence, or maybe planned, just then, there was another knock at the door.
Einstein sighed and opened it, revealing a girl with donkey ears, no, fox ears, tall and cool-looking.
She paused for a moment, then called upstairs, "Shiraha, someone's here for you."
She didn't think much of it. Given Shiraha's social circle at the Raiden household, it wasn't strange that he knew people who could visit the Americas.
And why couldn't Shiraha have lots of friends?
The only thing that had surprised Einstein so far was that Shiraha didn't like group dorms.
Theresa was still silent. Shiraha, holding the fox, ran down the stairs with a grin. "Long time no see, Sakura-nee!"
He threw himself into Sakura's arms, some parts felt a bit hard. Probably Soulium, he thought.
He made a quick mental note: though World Serpent talked a good game, they were still guarding against him.
His mind raced, but he naturally stood on tiptoe.
With his Nee-chan away, and before he grew up but while he still could, he'd build some affection.
Sakura was probably a bit out of touch with the times, but since she was connected to Rin, he had to care. Sigh.... I really wish I could grow up faster, then I could recruit allies through painting dreams instead of just building affection.