Outside The Hollow
Hoshimi Aya exited The Hollow under Rin's direction. As soon as she was out, she saw Zhe waving at her.
Behind Zhe, Belle and the others were busy with something in the car, making the vehicle sway left and right.
Seeing this, Hoshimi Aya smiled slightly and walked toward Zhe. It felt so good to have someone waiting for her.
As she got closer, Hoshimi Aya finally heard what Belle and the others were busy with.
"Belle, Boss! I told you we should have used a rope to tie them down."
"This is too hard to hold down!"
Billy was trying to pin down a certain white-haired person inside the car.
"Shut up!"
"Just hold them down first, Anby, aim accurately."
Belle was also holding down another white-haired person.
Finally, under Anby's precise strike, the vehicle quieted down and stopped shaking.
"Phew~ Finally done."
Billy wiped the non-existent sweat from his forehead.
Then, Cat found another rope and tied up the two white-haired people inside the car.
"...What happened here?"
Hoshimi Aya looked at the two people tied up tightly in the car and fell silent.
She could understand why Twiggy was tied up, but why was Girl A also tied up and brought out?
Had Girl A already come out at this time?
"It's a bit complicated. Let's talk about it when we get back."
"It's not safe to talk here," Belle said to the two who hadn't gotten into the car yet, as she entered it.
Zhe and Hoshimi Aya nodded and got into the car. Zhe took the driver's seat.
...
Sixth Street, Video Store, Garage.
Belle and the others recounted running into Twiggy and the matter of Twiggy producing clones to sell organs.
Speaking of clones, everyone's gaze suddenly turned toward Hoshimi Aya.
"Uh, why are you all looking at me?"
"I am definitely not a clone, I can confirm that!"
Hoshimi Aya reacted and said seriously.
She could be very sure of this point now.
Although she looked very similar to Hoshimi Miyabi, she absolutely did not belong to the category of clones.
"Aya, no one suspects your identity."
"If you were a clone, the Hoshimi Family would have spread the word long ago," Zhe mused. While similarity in appearance was rare, it certainly wasn't impossible.
"Forget it, I'll take them back anyway."
"Anby, I'm leaving the matter of persuading them to you."
"I haven't slept well these past few days because of them. I feel like I've aged a dozen years. I need to catch up on sleep when we get back," Belle said, looking at Anby while taking out a mirror to examine her eyelids.
Anby nodded upon hearing this, carrying one white-haired person in each hand. Both white-haired individuals were enjoying deep sleep.
Soon, the Cunning Hares group left.
Rin and the others returned to the secret room. After entering it,
Rin and Zhe discussed when to arrange a meeting with the Hoshimi Family head and the others to ease the relationship.
They ultimately decided to arrange the meeting for the next day.
...
Hoshimi Family.
Living Room.
Soichiro was reading the newspaper, preparing to tell Hoshimi Miyabi about his previous conversation with Zhe once she returned.
Hoshimi Miyabi soon returned to the residence.
However, Hoshimi Miyabi seemed unhappy. Seeing her father casually reading the newspaper only made her mood worse.
"Father, didn't you promise me before?"
"Did you really go look for her?!"
Hoshimi Miyabi questioned Soichiro. Her father had clearly promised her that he would definitely find Aya's mother.
"Miyabi, I will certainly fulfill what I promised."
"However, Miyabi, Aya's mother is already deceased."
"So it's not my fault for not finding her these past few days."
Afterward, Soichiro told Hoshimi Miyabi about his conversation with Zhe and the news that they planned to arrange a meeting.
"Really?"
Hoshimi Miyabi asked in disbelief.
She could hardly believe the reversal happened so quickly.
"Of course it's true."
"Miyabi, if nothing unexpected happens, we should have news in the next few days," Soichiro said with a smile, feeling that much of the gloom from the past few days had dissipated.
Suddenly, Hoshimi Miyabi's phone rang.
"Ryu? What's wrong?"
Hoshimi Miyabi answered the phone and asked.
"Section Chief, where have you been all afternoon today?"
"Do you remember there was a meeting you absolutely had to attend this afternoon?!"
Ryu's tired voice came through the phone.
"Ryu, I remember I should have requested leave, right?"
Hoshimi Miyabi sounded confused.
"Uh... Section Chief, are you referring to the leave request form on your desk?"
"If I recall correctly, the procedure for requesting leave isn't like that, is it?"
Ryu sounded doubtful.
"I apologize, but I have a necessary reason to take leave these few days."
"These next few days, I might be reuniting with my sister."
"I'll leave things to you these few days," Hoshimi Miyabi said seriously.
"After we reunite, I will bring Aya over for you all to meet."
After Hoshimi Miyabi finished speaking, a sigh came from Ryu on the phone.
"Alright, Section Chief."
"But I can only stall for two more days at most."
"You must come back after two days."
After saying that, Tsukishiro Yanagi hung up the phone. Then, Tsukishiro Yanagi looked at the stack of documents on her desk and sighed heavily again, rubbing her tired eyes behind her glasses.
Today, she had either been running to meetings or approving documents.
She hadn't even had time to buy her favorite red bean buns.
...
Over with Hoshimi Aya.
"Aya, when you were in The Hollow, did you feel anything strange?!"
"For example, control over the sword."
Rin inquired, still quite concerned about Hoshimi Aya's state.
"Sister, we don't know much about the origin of this sword."
"But Hoshimi Miyabi also has an identical one. I imagine there must be some way to control it."
"Let's ask them when we arrange to meet in a few days," Zhe pondered. With the swords being so similar, could there be a connection between them?
"I didn't feel anything particularly unusual, just an intense excitement when cutting things."
"I've felt this way since the first time I went to The Hollow for a mission."
"That feeling of cutting a Etherals gave me an uncontrollable excitement," Hoshimi Aya recalled.
After sending Belle's group away, Zhe and Rin began questioning her about her actions in The Hollow.
"Excitement?!"
Rin was puzzled. Why would cutting a Etherals cause excitement? Unless Aya was a pervert, she wouldn't have such a hobby.
But clearly, that wasn't the case. That left only one possibility: the sword was influencing Aya.
"According to analysis, the glow emanating from Miss Ya's sword becomes slightly stronger after she cuts a Etherals."
"My personal guess is that Miss Ya's sword absorbs the Aether energy within the Etherals when it strikes."
As Fairy spoke, she displayed two comparative images: one taken before the attack, and the other taken after the target was eliminated and she was preparing to sheathe the sword. In the second picture, the red glow around Hoshimi Aya was visibly stronger.
"Aether Energy!!"
Zhe and Rin exclaimed the four words in unison.
"No, that's not right."
"That's not the reason Aya is being affected."
"There must be other reasons. Absorbing Aether energy is likely only one part of it," Rin realized and considered.
It shouldn't be as simple as absorbing Aether energy causing her to lose control. Otherwise, she would have lost control right there in The Hollow.
There must be another factor involved.
"Could the Nine-Tailed Fox also be one of the conditions affecting Aya?!"
Zhe speculated, as Aya had mentioned seeing a giant Nine-Tailed Fox when she lost control.
And not just once; last time, she had even conversed with it.
"There should be other conditions."
"Just these two shouldn't be enough to cause me to lose consciousness," Hoshimi Aya thought. Rin had previously shown her the footage of her attacking Belle and the others when she lost control—this happened after she burned through her bed, which Rin had informed her about.
And at that time, she truly had lost consciousness and remembered nothing. When she woke up, she felt completely groggy.
"Let's note it down for now."
"We'll talk about it in a few days."
"Tomorrow, we still have to go get videotapes."
"Once we finish the store's business, we'll arrange to meet them and ask if there's a way to solve the issue with the sword," Zhe thought. Hoshimi Miyabi must have some secret technique to control that sword so smoothly.
Perhaps it would be useful for Aya too. After all, having something was better than having nothing, wasn't it?
Hoshimi Aya nodded in agreement. Although she hadn't seen it in the game TV, she had seen images of the demonic sword being sealed several times.
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