Serafall froze, visibly taken aback by my words.
For a single, hopeful heartbeat, she reached out and let her fingers hover over mine — then, with a sudden snap of resolve, she slapped my hand away.
"For now, I'll give you one chance," she said curtly.
Then she pushed herself to her feet and hurried toward the front door.
Before she left, she paused, turned, and fixed me with an expression sharp enough to cut.
"Listen," she said, voice low and deadly serious, "if you make my So-tan shed even a single tear… I will have you dead!"
With that final threat hanging in the air, she stormed out of the house.
I stood there, heart hammering — part relieved that she'd accepted a chance, part terrified that I'd just been put on deadline by a walking storm.
Either way, there was no backing down now.
I let out a long sigh, already dreading the headache of dealing with her in the future.
Just as I was trying to collect myself, the entrance door creaked open again.
Serafall calmly waltzed back inside, as if she hadn't just crushed my laptop, threatened my life, and stormed out a moment ago.
She stopped in front of Sona and handed her a neatly folded set of documents.
"Oh! By the way, I almost forgot—here's the contract. Now you've officially got your broadcasting rights back!" she said with a bright, singsong tone.
Then, with a playful grin, she leaned in closer.
"Now give your big sis a kiss, So-tan~"
Sona's entire face went scarlet, the embarrassment hitting her like a tidal wave.
"Urgh, I can't take this anymore! Big sis, you idiot!"
With that, the usually calm and composed student council president turned on her heel and bolted, eyes shimmering with frustrated tears.
"Wait! Little Sona! Where are you going without your sister?!"
Serafall wailed, immediately sprinting after her.
"Don't follow me!"
Sona shot back, her voice shaking with both anger and mortification.
"Nooooo! I won't let you! Don't leave me, So-taaaaan!"
Serafall cried, chasing after her like a lovesick child.
"I told you to stop calling me that!"
Sona snapped, still crimson with embarrassment.
"But—no So-tan, no life!!"
Serafall declared with deadly seriousness.
And with that, the two sisters disappeared out the door, their voices echoing until they were finally out of sight… leaving the rest of us in stunned, awkward silence.
"…Well, I guess that means I don't have to compensate for her anymore, right?"
I muttered, half-serious, half-hopeful.
Everyone else just rolled their eyes at me in unison.
Figures.
A few hours later, the house had finally calmed down… at least, relatively speaking.
Everyone had drifted back to their usual business, though somehow Rias, Akeno, Tsubaki, Asia, and Koneko were still hanging around.
And let's not forget the fifteen maids.
Fifteen. Maids.
At this point, my house wasn't a home anymore — it was starting to feel more like some sort of noble estate, or maybe the lobby of a luxury hotel.
Every time I moved, someone was either brewing tea, dusting furniture that didn't even need dusting, or standing politely in the corner waiting for instructions.
Honestly, it was suffocating.
But I'll think about that later.
Today… today was a great day.
I had been planning this purchase for a while now.
My balance had finally stacked high enough, and the moment felt right.
With a flick of thought, I pulled open my system window.
Rows of glowing text appeared in front of me, chaotically sorted like some black market in digital space.
There it was.
[Telepathy TM]Cost: ¥45,000,000
My lips curled into a grin.
Expensive, yes, but worth every single yen.
Apparently, with this, you can let any Pokémon talk telepathically to you.
Imagine a weak level 1 Magikarp talking in your mind.
Helpful? No.
Worth it? Yes.
Anyway, with this, it can talk telepathically to anyone, regardless of who they are.
I tapped the buy option without hesitation, and a satisfying chime echoed as the transaction processed.
The crystalline disc materialized in my hand for a brief moment, faintly glowing with stored knowledge.
Without wasting time, I tossed it casually into my shadow.
Like a pebble sinking into a bottomless lake, it vanished into the darkness without a sound.
That shadow wasn't empty, after all.
Giratina lurked there — my partner, my terrifying guardian — and now, thanks to me, it would gain the ability to communicate through telepathy.
A chill ran down my spine, equal parts excitement and dread.
If Giratina could already terrify others just by existing… how overwhelming would it be once it could actually speak directly into their minds?
...
Somehow now I don't want others to talk to her at all...
Am I actually a Yandere?
Anyway, then I waited.
I waited some more.
And kept waiting.
Minutes crawled by like they had personal vendettas against me.
I opened the system window again.
No error message.
Just the same faint glow of the shadow pool where the TM had disappeared.
Thirty minutes passed.
Then forty.
Then—fuck—an hour.
My patience had evaporated somewhere between "processing" and "still nothing."
Was the TM a scam?
Had I just wasted ¥45,000,000 on a glorified paperweight?
"Hey, Giratina—can you use telepathy now?"
I asked, half-expecting silence and half-expecting a lawsuit for fraudulent purchases.
For a heartbeat, nothing answered.
The house hummed around me—maids doing chores, faint conversation from the living room, the distant clink of dishes—until a soft, girlish voice slipped into my head like a sliver of cold air.
Yes, I can now, master.
Then... nothing.
Silence swallowed the connection again like a curtain dropping.
She'd only spoken once.
One short sentence.
One polite confirmation, and that was it.
Classic Giratina: terrifying in presence, monosyllabic in conversation.
I let out a long, exasperated breath and pinched the bridge of my nose.
Introvert level—legendary.
"Well—thanks?"
I muttered into the quiet, equal parts relieved and annoyed.
At least the TM hadn't been a total scam.
Now the question was how long it would take Giratina to get comfortable enough to actually use telepathy like a normal companion instead of a spooky notification.
I sighed.
I'd dropped ¥45,000,000 on something that actually worked… and the Pokémon I bought it for barely said one sentence.
Still—this changes things.
Telepathy wasn't just a neat little convenience; it was the difference between shouting across the house and whispering into someone's mind.
With Giratina able to read and reply, organizing battles, relaying warnings, or coordinating in a pinch would get a whole lot easier.
Maybe my life would actually become simpler.
Maybe.
I gave the shadow a fond smile.
Giratina had been with me through worse nonsense than a busted TM—so the polite one-liner was hardly a betrayal.
She's been helpful, reliable, terrifying when necessary, and ultimately mine.
So yeah—let sleeping dragons lie.
I'll leave her be for now.
Don't prod the introvert.
After all, introverts don't want many conversations.
Source? Me.
A former introvert.
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