Perhaps because she was thinking about having a game console to help her survive the boredom of school, Yimi slept exceptionally well.
Every morning, Auntie woke her up, she changed her own clothes, and then she did some kneading. That had become Yimi's routine in this world. Today, though, she had nothing to knead.
"What's with that look? Got a problem with me?" Tatsumaki, wearing pajamas and getting ready to brush her teeth, had undergone a complete change in aura. Even her art style seemed rougher.
She should buy another bed. When she woke up this morning, the little brat's feet had been planted right in her face.
Yimi rubbed her eyes. "Where's Auntie?"
"Auntie? Don't tell me that's what you call Fubuki. Can you brush your own teeth?"
Yimi did not answer. She looked around instead. "Game console."
"What?"
"My game console is gone."
She frantically searched everywhere. She went through her storage space, then crawled under Tatsumaki's bed. Her brand-new toy had vanished just like that!
"I can't find it!"
"Obviously. This is my home. You're going to live here from now on. No, you were supposed to live here from the beginning. Fubuki agreed too."
Unlike Fubuki, whose eyes wandered whenever she lied, Tatsumaki did not even blush while deceiving a child.
Yimi puffed out her cheeks, tried to make a huffing sound, then realized it was much harder in human form than in cat form.
Tatsumaki raised an eyebrow, looking smug.
Fubuki had said the other day that she was not suited to raising children, yet after Fubuki took this little country girl in for only a while, the kid had already developed a gaming addiction.
But Yimi's expression quickly eased. "Then I don't have to, go to school?"
It was not like she would never see Fubuki again. The green-haired dumbass version of Madoka and Auntie were still sisters.
Tatsumaki reached over and pressed a hand on her head. "Keep dreaming."
School was the best possible way to get rid of a child for the day. Of course, Tatsumaki would observe the brat for a few days first to make sure she was safe before sending her there. She was still a hero, after all.
The phone rang. Tatsumaki glanced at the caller ID, walked into the bathroom, shut the door, and answered.
"Hello?"
"You did it, didn't you?!" Fubuki demanded through clenched teeth.
Tatsumaki twirled a strand of her overly long curled hair around one finger. "Did what? You actually have my contact information, Fubuki? You blocked me after running away from home."
"Because you never changed your number, did you? You know exactly what I'm talking about!"
"What would I know?"
Tatsumaki played dumb. "I've been troubled lately too. The brat I'm raising mysteriously ran away from home. Come to think of it, Fubuki said some strange things that day. You wouldn't happen to have taken her home with you, would you?"
Hearing that completely unconcerned tone, Fubuki calmed down considerably. "If you cared a little more about your daughter, maybe she wouldn't run away from home."
"Hah?"
"I've carefully tasted the food you called disgusting more than once. Maybe the process really doesn't look very thoughtful, but this child genuinely cooks delicious food. When she was willing to cook for you before, there was probably a daughter's love for her mother in it too."
Fubuki hung up on her own initiative without even giving Tatsumaki a chance to deny anything.
How dare her little sister talk to her big sister like that! What "a daughter's love for her mother"? Hadn't Fubuki carried the kid off on the very same day Tatsumaki picked her up?
Tatsumaki turned toward the mirror and brushed her teeth.
While she was taking Fubuki's call, Yimi had not been idle outside.
Ever since Yimi came to stay with her, Fubuki had gotten up earlier every morning to buy breakfast. Tatsumaki obviously was not that attentive, so Yimi had to prepare her own food again.
She had gotten too comfortable at Fubuki's place and had not stocked any extra ingredients. Now she could not even make a meal.
Yimi changed back into a cat and jumped out the window.
When she jumped back in, two struggling terrified rats were clenched in her mouth.
* * *
"What's that smell?" Tatsumaki came out after brushing her teeth and saw Yimi standing on a little stool doing something in the kitchen.
Psychokinesis and the SAO Adaptive Power were difficult to maintain at the same time, so Yimi could not fly while using that world's effects to cook.
"You're cooking again? It's not like I wouldn't take you out for breakfast." Fubuki made her sound so stingy.
"It's done. I made, your share too."
"Really?"
Tatsumaki used psychokinesis to lift the lid, then dispersed the white steam rising from the pot. Expressionless, she stared at the two large rats lying inside.
So it was this again.
Tatsumaki's fist clenched.
Then she remembered what her sister had just said: maybe the process did not look very thoughtful, but the food was definitely delicious.
Suppressing her disgust, she cautiously tasted the tiniest bit.
"Blech!"
Fubuki had pica!
* * *
"What do you mean, a dinosaur came back to life? Every single day with this nonsense. Stay home by yourself. Watch as much TV as you want, but don't go out."
Tatsumaki changed into clothes different from her usual outfit to hide the several obvious handprints on her butt.
How had this brat managed it? She smacked Tatsumaki on the butt and somehow made herself hurt too. Was it a new use of psychokinesis? Tatsumaki had not sensed any psychokinesis, and she had clearly already sealed it. This really was a dangerous brat.
"Be careful on the way." Yimi reflexively repeated what Fubuki had taught her, then covered her own mouth.
The green-haired dumbass version of Madoka was a bad person. She threw away food she did not like and even spanked a kitty's butt.
"...The monsters are the ones who need to be careful, brat!" Tatsumaki started to turn away, only for Yimi to grab her clothes.
"What now?"
"You patted my head."
Yimi remembered Tatsumaki pressing a hand on her head before answering the phone. "You have to give, spending money."
"What a pain."
"Auntie gives me some."
"Tch." Tatsumaki pulled two bills from her wallet, put one back, and stuffed the other into Yimi's hand.
Giving a child too much money would definitely spoil her. More importantly, Tatsumaki simply did not want to give much.
Yimi watched Tatsumaki fly away.
Naturally, she had no intention of obediently staying home. Clutching the money Tatsumaki had given her, Yimi ran outside.
She had not properly explored this city yet, but her EX-rank Luck made it effortless to find exactly where she wanted to go.
Yimi pressed against the glass outside a store and stared fixedly at the familiar game console in the display case and the price written beneath it.
Then she lowered her head and counted the money in her hand.
So this game console cost that much.
Yimi's ears drooped.
"Your whole outfit probably costs enough to buy several game consoles, doesn't it?" Child Emperor happened to pass by and could not resist making a comment when he saw her.
The strange child with cat ears and a cat tail had caught his attention, so he could not help saying something. Strange people were not exactly rare in this world, but perhaps only a researcher with an intellect as high as his would bother thinking seriously about what all these phenomena meant.
Odd people occasionally appeared among heroes too. He had always wondered where their so-called powers came from. Someone like Superalloy Blackluster had merely kept increasing the loads in his workouts until, before anyone knew it, he had trained himself into a monstrous body. The principle made no sense at all.
If Child Emperor could build a device that measured combat power in one second, he could minimize casualties among lower-ranked heroes caused by faulty intelligence.
Yimi looked down at her clothes. "Auntie bought these, for me."
"Auntie? Does she have cat ears too?"
Child Emperor took out a notebook. "Then do the two of you have any special abilities? Even being a little stronger than an ordinary person would count."
"Child Emperor!" Yimi recognized him after flipping through the directory yesterday.
She recognized him? Well, of course. He had never made any effort to hide his identity. Among children his own age, he was extremely popular.
Child Emperor wondered whether he should give his fan a lollipop.
"Let's, fight." Instead, he got an entirely unexpected greeting. His profile had said that he possessed top-tier analytical and command ability.
"?"
True, there were always children who resented the "other family's genius kid." He had assumed girls, at least, would like him a little more.
But none of that mattered. He was not Amai Mask, a hero who needed to gather fans everywhere.
"Sure. Actually, that's exactly what I want. If you can beat me, how about I give you a game console?" Naturally, the part about her winning was just talk. How could one of his inventions possibly lose to some random little girl?
Child Emperor started rummaging through his backpack.
To develop a device for measuring combat power, he had specifically built a damage-taking analysis machine. At the moment, though, it could not analyze attacks other than physical impacts.
If he observed the source of some abnormal power up close, he might gain a clue. He had originally planned to find other heroes to test it. He had never expected things to develop like this, but there was no such thing as too many samples, so he might as well test it ahead of schedule.
"You do know I'm an S-Class hero, right? Even if you're only a child, I assume you must have some special ability if you dare say something like—oof!"
Before he even finished speaking, Yimi punched him in the face with her tiny fist.
Child Emperor sat on the ground clutching his face. "What was that for?! I didn't say start yet!"
"So weak." Yimi stared at Child Emperor with disgust, deciding this kid could not possibly be the strongest.
Didn't agreeing mean they had started?
This was the first time Child Emperor had ever seen someone look at him that way.
"That's only because you hit me without warning. Normally, shouldn't we choose a suitable place first?"
"Game console." Yimi held out her hand.
"That just now obviously doesn't count!"
He was trying to welch!
Yimi pointed at him. "Small fry. Small-Fry Child Emperor."
"..." For the first time in his life, the genius Child Emperor suffered an insult like this.
His face heated up. "Fine. You were the one who made me mad first. I'll use this Brat-whipping Machine to show you just how terrifying someone else's genius kid can be."
Ten minutes later...
"Small-Fry Child Emperor. Welching small fry." The System was not teaching her any more words, so Yimi could only repeat the few she already knew.
Child Emperor lowered his head and stared in silence at the pile of scrap metal that psychokinesis had torn apart.