[CRUNCH—!!!]
An extremely harsh, explosive sound, as if something had been forcibly bitten off, suddenly burst from Shido's headset, making his eardrums ache!
"Waaah!" Shido let out a cry of panic, startled by the massive noise and roar in his headset, and he sprang up from the earlier suggestive atmosphere and his stiffened state.
He looked at Chinatsu, who was still holding his arm with an "innocent" and "expectant" expression, while simultaneously registering Kotori's furious roar in his ear, a sound that threatened to blow off the ceiling.
Immense shame, confusion, and fear instantly overwhelmed him.
"I-I-I-I'm so sorry! Classmate Hōōin! I-I-I suddenly remembered the soup stewing at home is about to burn! Goodbye!"
He shouted incoherently, pulling his arm out of Chinatsu's embrace almost forcefully yet without being impolite (though it looked more like he was struggling free from a ravenous beast).
Then, without looking back, he fled the scene at a hundred-meter dash speed, his retreating figure radiating panic and distress.
Chinatsu stood still, watching Shido's near-frantic escape.
The innocent, spoiled expression on her face instantly vanished the moment she turned, replaced by a triumphant smile of a successful plan.
(Hmph, trying to scheme against a mischief-maker? Naturally evil Kotori kid, you're still too green.
But... the way Shido ran away... was quite amusing.)
She turned around happily, humming an off-key tune, and leisurely walked into the apartment building.
Meanwhile, aboard the Fraxinus, only the sound of a certain Commander furiously stomping her feet and biting through a new lollipop echoed throughout the bridge... Location: Fraxinus, a few minutes ago.
The strategists aboard the Fraxinus were watching the live broadcast below.
The Fraxinus screen was broadcasting the moment Chinatsu, with watery eyes and a soft voice, said, "My Older Brother often mentions you... praising you as being good at all housework, a good man."
On the Fraxinus bridge, tens of thousands of meters in the sky, the cold sound of data analysis rang out simultaneously.
"...Target statement detected," Murasame Reine's flat voice broke the focused atmosphere of the bridge as she observed the data scrolling across the screen.
"There is a significant logical conflict with the known behavior pattern of 'Koushi Hōoin' in the database.
Probability assessment: 2.1%.
Preliminary speculation is... Calculated Flattery."
"Hmph!" Hearing this, Kotori, sitting in the central command seat, subconsciously snorted while sucking her lollipop, and the corner of her mouth seemed to curl up almost imperceptibly.
"She has some taste, knowing that this Idiot Older Brother only has this much..." Before she finished speaking, she suddenly realized her slip, immediately straightened her face, and slammed the armrest.
"...Wait! Who asked her to praise this idiot! The point is that she is lying!"
When the next scene arrived—Chinatsu leaning slightly closer and using a tone mixed with dependence and adoration to say, "You're completely different from those boys who just stare at me... I feel very warm"—the entire Fraxinus bridge instantly erupted!
"Kyaaaa—!!" The female crew members were the first to let out excited screams.
"A straight pitch! It's a straight pitch attack! The 'You're different from other men' series!!"
"Itsuka Shido! Hang in there! This is the critical moment for affinity to soar!" The male crew members, feeling as if they were there, clenched their fists and cheered him on, as if watching a thrilling ball game.
And Vice Commander Kyohei Kannazuki, who pulled out a handkerchief from God knows where, vigorously wiped away non-existent tears, his voice choked and full of passion:
"It's here! This is... the Ultimate Good Card! It's the final evolution of 'You are a good person'! 'You are a warm good person'! Combined with this defenseless close stance and the close-range visual impact of the absolute territory... What destructive power! How pure! This is no longer a conquest; this is the holy light purifying hearts! Commander-Sama, do you see it?! This is..."
"Bang!" His poetic aria was once again precisely interrupted by a data pad backhanded by Kotori, and he promptly crashed to the floor again.
The clamor on the bridge and the "warm offensive" on the ground formed an absurd yet synchronized echo, like the commentary booth for a grand live broadcast.
When Chinatsu finally hugged Shido's arm and said, "Can I treat you as an Older Brother too? I'm sure I'll be better behaved than Sister Kotori... Older Brother Shido~"—
A nuclear-level silence enveloped the bridge.
Everyone stared at the screen as if petrified, then cautiously and simultaneously looked toward the central command seat.
The lollipop in Kotori's mouth made a teeth-grinding "crunch, crunch" sound.
Her face visibly changed color from white to red, and then to a furious, ashen blue.
Veins popped out on her forehead, and the black aura behind her almost solidified.
(Better... better behaved than me?!)
(This... this shameless Spirit!!! How dare she try to one-up me?! And hug my Older Brother's arm?!)
"CRUNCH—!!!!" With an incomparably crisp explosive sound, that poor lollipop was completely bitten through!
She suddenly snatched the microphone, completely ignoring channel and volume control, and roared with all her might:
"Aaaaaaaaah—!!! Shido—!!! You Baka!!! idiot!!! Blockhead!!!"
"She is tricking you! Can't you see it?! She is provoking me! Provoking Ratatoskr!"
"Push her away! Immediately! Right now! Then retreat! This is an order! Execute it immediately—!!!"
This roar, sounding like it came from hell and mixed with static noise, fiercely slammed into Shido's eardrums.
Thus, the entire Fraxinus crew witnessed via the large screen how Itsuka Shido, terrified out of his wits by this double stimulus (the soft, fragrant warmth in his arms + the demonic sound pouring into his brain), cried out in panic.
The entire process of him desperately breaking free like a startled rabbit, and then fleeing in terror at the fastest speed of his life.
Silence fell over the bridge once more.
Only Kotori's heavy panting and the faint sound of her chewing the broken candy were clearly audible.
A few seconds later, Kannazuki was the first to break the silence.
He had somehow tidied his appearance again and wore a sacred expression:
"What a decisive retreat! Between ultimate temptation and ultimate terror, Itsuka Shido chose to obey the Commander's orders! This is the power of love! Commander-Sama~!"
"You—shut—your—mouth—!!!" A new data pad once again accurately struck his face.
Reine calmly looked at Chinatsu's small, triumphant smile on the screen and adjusted her glasses:
"...Target behavior pattern analysis update: Extremely aggressive, and skilled in psychological tactics.
She possesses excellent provocation techniques against Itsuka Shido and... the Commander.
Threat level assessment needs to be upgraded."
"Phoenix-in Chinatsu...!" Kotori ground out the name, the command baton in her hand cracking audibly.
This "escort mission," which was live-streamed by the Fraxinus, ended with the complete defeat of the conquest side and the Commander's explosion of fury.