Shocked by the power to cross between worlds, Ch'en believed in the Apocalypse Chat Group a little more.
Which meant that whatever Exusiai had said just became a lot more credible.
Thinking of that, she immediately sent Tatsuki a private message.
Ch'en: "Can you see this?"
Tatsuki had just returned to the classroom and was getting ready for another boring round of listening to lectures. Before he could zone out properly, he saw Ch'en's message pop up.
Tatsuki: "I see it. What's up?"
Ch'en: "You… I heard from Exusiai that you once came to our world."
Exusiai said that? Tatsuki could basically guess what Ch'en wanted to ask, but he still replied patiently.
Tatsuki: "Yeah. I went to help Exusiai deal with a bit of trouble."
Ch'en: "Was it the mobile city Chernobog?"
Tatsuki: "Yup."
Ch'en: "Then… did you meet the leader of Reunion?"
Tatsuki: "Tsk, Ch'en, what's with this cautious tone of yours?"
Tatsuki: "I've met Reunion's leader—Talulah, a silver-haired Draco woman. She's the one you want to ask about, right?"
Ch'en: "!!!"
Talulah! That was Tal! Ch'en's eyes flew wide as she stared, unwilling to miss a single word.
A silver-haired Draco woman, and her name was Talulah—that was almost enough to confirm it was Tal.
Ch'en: "Yes! I wanted to ask where she is now. Could you tell me?"
Tatsuki: "Sure. She's with me right now. At this point, you could say she's basically my property."
Ch'en: "…"
Her elation turned to ice in an instant. Ch'en stared at Tatsuki's words in disbelief.
Tal was in another world now—and she was Tatsuki's property?
"Property"… that word made her think of how certain nobles treated things they called theirs.
It was not a pleasant term.
She still wanted to know exactly what Tatsuki meant by "property," and whether it was what she was imagining.
Ch'en: "Tatsuki, could you explain what you mean by property? Talulah is my older sister. I want to understand the situation clearly."
Tatsuki: "Pretty much what you're thinking. It's definitely not a compliment, let's put it that way."
Ch'en: "…"
Why did it end up like this… Ch'en could already picture the way those nobles treated their "possessions," now overlaid on how Tatsuki might be treating Tal.
Her fists clenched tight without her realizing.
"Hey piece of shit, you… you okay?"
Swire was seriously wondering if the stupid dragon had come down with something.
First she'd looked like she was having a heart attack, then got all excited saying she'd found Tal, then suddenly got confused and asked how long she'd been gone, then stared off into space again.
Now she was suddenly radiating barely contained rage.
From Swire's point of view, Ch'en was changing faces faster than a stage performer—one expression per second.
And sure enough, in the very next second, Ch'en's nameless fury vanished again, replaced by an awkward look.
Because Tatsuki had sent another message.
Tatsuki: "The rough situation is that Talulah did a lot of wrong in Chernobog, founded Reunion, and killed a lot of people."
Tatsuki: "Her body was being controlled by some immortal, but that doesn't erase her crimes. She was originally supposed to be locked up, but I traded a few conditions and redeemed her."
Tatsuki: "Talulah is my property, yeah, but you can relax about her daily life. She's pretty free."
Tatsuki: "And things on my side are way more comfortable than they were in yours. Her Oripathy's cured too. That's about it."
Tatsuki: "Anything else you want to know, just get it all out in one go."
"…" Ch'en reread it carefully, and only then realized that this was quite different from what she'd imagined.
It seemed she really had misunderstood Tatsuki.
Ch'en: "I'm sorry! I jumped to conclusions about you just now!"
Ch'en: "Thank you for taking care of Tal. I… I still want to ask—can she ever come back?"
Tatsuki: "You want to see her?"
Ch'en: "Yeah… Tal is my sister. I've been thinking about her all these years."
Tatsuki: "Long-lost sisters reunited after years apart… Got it."
Tatsuki: "For you two to meet, I'd have to cross over to your world. When that happens, I'll need you to approve the access on your end. Of course, if you're busy I can just find Exusiai instead."
Ch'en: "I'm not busy!"
If it was about Little Tal, she would make time.
Tatsuki: "Don't get ahead of yourself. Whether we go or not, I still have to ask Talulah if she even wants to see you. If she doesn't, there's nothing I can do."
Ch'en: "…"
Right… would Tal even want to see me? She bit her lip.
For the first time, she found herself unsure.
Swire watched Ch'en sink into misery again, torn between hope and fear, and finally couldn't stand it anymore.
She leaned forward, grabbed Ch'en by the collar, and glared into her eyes like a ticked-off tiger.
"Stupid Dragon, what is your deal? You've been acting weird since just now!"
Right then…
Hoshiguma pushed open the office door, holding two takeout boxes.
"Lunch time, Leader Ch'en—uh, Chief Swire, you're here too? And you two are…?"
Chief Swire was what Hoshiguma called her when they were being chummy.
Swire's real name was Beatrix Swire. Surname Swire, given name Beatrix—the young lady of the Swire family.
"Swire" was just her codename for outside use. Almost nobody in the Guard Department knew the true identity of Senior Superintendent Swire.
Seeing Swire looking like she was about to eat Ch'en alive, Hoshiguma hurried to mediate.
"Don't be hasty! Leader Ch'en, Chief Swire, talk it out!"
"Hmph!" Swire snorted and let go of Ch'en's collar. "You'd better explain yourself properly to me later!"
Only then did Ch'en realize how out of character she'd been acting.
She could see the worry in Swire's eyes, and a warm little spark lit in her chest.
But anything involving the Apocalypse Chat Group was off limits, so she could only dodge and deflect and act like a walking riddle.
…
In the student council room.
Taking advantage of Kaguya's absence, Chika had snuggled right up against him again.
She just had to have him give her a massage.
Tatsuki had long since figured out Chika's hidden M tendencies. Chika was sitting on his lap. He deliberately pressed harder, rougher with his massage.
Which only made Chika melt, eyes half-closed in bliss.
He definitely wasn't doing all this for free—full-body massage was the only correct way, and he charged proper "fees" for those.
"Tatsuki-kun, want some grapes?"
"Oh? You brought grapes to the student council room? Not calling Kaguya over to share?"
"Nope, these are specially for Tatsuki-kun~"
"All right then. Let's hope they're sweeter than Shine Muscat."
Tatsuki leaned down and took a bite of the grapes Chika had prepared just for him.
"How is it?" Chika's hazy eyes were full of anticipation.
Tatsuki looked up and gave a thumbs-up. "Sweet as it gets."
Shine Muscat? In front of grapes his girlfriend had specially prepared for him, that was nothing.
Chika's special trait was irresistibly alluring to him.
He'd already sampled that soft little "dumpling" several times, and every time Chika still managed to hook him all over again.
Normally the tip of that "dumpling" was just a faint little hollow.
The moment you stirred her feelings—that hollow would swell and rise.
....
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