Chapter 210. Is the Duel Disk Coming?
Cocolia had actually wanted to make a move against Raiden Ryoma for a long time.
There was no other reason—just factional infighting.
Anti-Entropy had by now clearly split into the Cocolia faction and the Welt faction. If you wanted more control, you naturally supported your own people and suppressed those on the opposing side. Cocolia wasn't the only one doing this; Welt had done plenty of it too.
Of course, Welt himself had no interest in that sort of thing. Rather than wrack his brain over politics, he'd much rather sketch a few pages of Homu manga and work on a giant-robot game. But there was no helping it—he was a faction leader.
With so many people following him, he couldn't just walk away for the sake of peace and quiet and watch Tesla and the others get squeezed by Cocolia.
As a key figure under Welt's banner, Raiden Ryoma had naturally long been singled out by Cocolia as a target for elimination.
A few years back, when she went to the Far East to seek cooperation with the Moon Capital Group, one aim was to expand her influence there; the other was to set her sights on Ryoma's ME Corp, sharpening her knives and fixing him in her sights.
Toppling Raiden Ryoma wouldn't have been hard for her. As the head of a large corporation, he naturally couldn't avoid a few "you scratch my back, I scratch yours" unspoken rules; but the fact that they were customary didn't make them legal.
On ordinary days, with "grandpa senators" covering for them, the relevant departments had no way to deal with people like him. But if another force pushed from behind? With Cocolia and the local powerhouse Moon Capital Group exerting pressure, taking down Raiden Ryoma would be child's play.
However, what came next made Cocolia temporarily change her mind and kept Ryoma from being jailed for financial fraud.
Just as she was preparing to act, Ryoma's only daughter, Raiden Mei, joined her kid's Gensokyo Company.
From the kids' point of view, it was just inviting a friend to their company—friends being friends. In Cocolia's eyes, it wasn't that simple.
Xander Masato and the others' Gensokyo Company could be counted as belonging to Cocolia's faction from the start—and the kind that absolutely could not be turned. The staunchest of staunch supporters.
And Raiden Ryoma, fully aware of that, sent his only daughter to her kid's company.
That's right—Ryoma hadn't opposed Mei's decision; as far as Cocolia was concerned, that was no different from personally delivering her.
What was this? A pledge of allegiance!
If this were ancient times, it would've been the equivalent of sending your heir to serve as a hostage prince. With sincerity like that, Cocolia naturally abandoned the idea of pushing Ryoma off a cliff. Considering that Mei got along well with several of her kids and was even living with them, she had no desire to play the villain.
Subsequent developments also pleased Cocolia. Within the conglomerate, Ryoma's stance grew more and more ambiguous. In factional scuffles, he stayed out of it whenever he could; if he couldn't avoid it, he delayed as long as possible. He might help Welt's side a bit more, but mostly he helped neither, becoming the only neutral high executive in the group.
She couldn't make him her own, but for the kids' sake Cocolia could turn a blind eye.
However…
What Bronya had just said was worth chewing over.
And who was Dr. Mobius?
One of the leading scientists at Shencheng Technology—absolutely among Shencheng's upper management. Cocolia having too much on her plate to track every outside partnership was normal. But a partnership involving a Shencheng Technology executive? That wasn't something she should be ignorant of.
Her kids wouldn't lie to her. Which left the obvious conclusion.
In the Far East, the only Anti-Entropy force she couldn't get her hands into was ME Corp.
In her blind spot, Welt and Raiden Ryoma had secretly reached a deal with Shencheng Technology behind her back, intent on doing something—something intriguing enough to warrant Dr. Mobius personally coming to the Far East.
She didn't care why Raiden Ryoma had suddenly changed his attitude. That didn't matter. The moment he did this, he'd already put himself on Cocolia's enemy list.
Of course, none of this had anything to do with Xander Masato and the others. They were the ones who'd provided the lead, yet they were sleeping soundly without a care in the world.
The next morning, Kiana got up bright and early. After washing up, she sat on the sofa expectantly, her eyes drifting toward the staircase every so often.
Before long, footsteps sounded; Xander came downstairs stifling a yawn.
Kiana instantly stood up in delight and hurried over without thinking—only to see Bronya behind Xander, watching her with a half-smile. Kiana froze mid-step.
Any thought of throwing herself into his arms vanished. With an awkward grin, Kiana said, "M-morning, Bronya. Morning, Xander…"
"Good morning, Kiana."
As she spoke, Bronya stepped forward to take Xander's arm. The sight made Kiana's eye twitch. She wanted to protest but didn't dare, so she could only cast Xander a wounded glance and then sulk back to the sofa alone.
The scene left Xander a bit helpless. He looked at Bronya; Bronya looked back, then frowned with a soft "hmph," her little hand pinching his waist. He grinned through the pain.
Kiana felt guilty; Xander felt even guiltier. Letting Bronya pinch him a few times—consider it venting her anger.
Seeing that Xander didn't resist at all, Bronya quickly lost interest. She pouted, then pushed him toward the sofa. "Go coax your little sweetheart. I'll check on Seele in the kitchen."
Xander blinked at that. He reached out to catch Bronya as she was stepping past him; when she turned back in puzzlement, he leaned down and kissed her.
Sweet like cherries. Just a taste, and he let go. Bronya's face instantly pinked as she reached out and gave him a push.
"I don't need your placating."
With a look that was half-chide, half-pout, she turned and headed for the kitchen.
Still, he could clearly tell Bronya was in a much better mood.
She had no real reason to go to the kitchen—she just didn't want to scare Kiana.
Watching Bronya's back, he felt a twinge of guilt. But at a time like this, woolgathering was pointless. Since that was the case, he wouldn't dither. He raised his head and strode toward Kiana.
"Xander~"
Curled up on the sofa like a wronged little wife, Kiana lit up when he came over. On the surface, though, she kept up that pitiful expression. Some things girls just know by instinct.
"Mm. Good morning~"
Sitting down beside her, Xander pulled her into his arms without ceremony, his hand naturally circling her waist to savor that singular softness again.
Held like that, Kiana—never much of a brooder to begin with—couldn't keep up the act. She happily nuzzled into him, burrowing like a little animal.
After breathing in his scent against his chest for a long moment, she climbed up his body, pursed her lips, and asked for a kiss.
When it came to clinging, she might even outdo Elysia.
Xander leaned into the clinginess with her, enjoying the sweetness of a girl in love.
Unfortunately, breakfast time arrived before long, and Kiana, full of regret, had to let go.
Sitting at the table, yawning the whole way, Kiana finally noticed the fatigue in Xander's eyes and asked anxiously, "Xander, did you not rest well last night?"
"Huh? …Mm, a bit."
On that topic, he felt a little awkward.
He'd rested all afternoon and evening yesterday—getting "squeezed dry" by Veliona and Bronya once more shouldn't have been a big deal. The trouble was, after they were done squeezing, he mentioned Kiana's situation.
And then, well, Veliona and Bronya, riled up, had no intention of pitying him. They didn't stop until the wee hours, leaving him feeling light-headed when he walked this morning.
Before Kiana could say anything, a bowl landed on the table in front of her with a thump. She looked up into Bronya's sharp gaze and instantly shrank her neck.
With a smile that didn't reach her eyes, Bronya said, "If you're that worried about him, how about letting him stay with you tonight?"
"Eh??!!"
Her face flushed scarlet in an instant. Kiana twisted her hands together, stammering, "T-that, um, th-that's too soon. Way too soon…"
"Better not—"
Xander hadn't finished before he noticed Bronya's calm look in his direction. He raised his eyes to the ceiling and silently apologized to Kiana in his heart.
"Bronya, don't bully Kiana~"
Seele's voice chimed in. Bronya sighed and gave her a look. "All you ever do is shield him."
Seele stuck out her tongue, embarrassed, and as she passed Xander, she gave him a little twist as if to "punish" him—though the soft, playful gesture was more coaxing than scolding.
On the other side, Mei, carrying breakfast, watched the whole scene in a daze.
Wait—had she slept for a whole year?
How had everything at home changed overnight into something she couldn't parse?
The little farce soon ended. Everyone took their seats at the table one after another. Once they were all seated, Seele glanced at an empty chair and asked, puzzled, "Has Sirin not gotten up yet?"
At that, Kiana seemed to remember something. "Sirin isn't feeling well. I'll bring her breakfast upstairs right away!"
"Not feeling well?"
Seele frowned, looking at Kiana with concern. "I heard you two arguing yesterday. Is everything really okay?"
"N-no problem!! She's just fatigued and doesn't want to go out. She used to be like this at home sometimes too. Don't worry, everyone!!"
"Is that so? That's good, then."
With Seele not pressing further, Kiana let out a sigh of relief.
Thinking of Sirin made her fret—Sirin wasn't "fatigued" at all. She just felt she'd embarrassed herself too badly yesterday and didn't dare come downstairs to face Xander. And the cause of it all, to some extent, was Kiana herself.
Aside from that little interlude, the rest of the day was business as usual.
Eat. Commute. Work.
The only difference from usual was how often Kiana just "happened to pass by" the office.
Fresh off a successful confession and in the first flush of love, Kiana didn't want to be apart from Xander for even a minute. Any time she had a gap, she headed straight for his office. Sometimes she could "pass by" seven or eight times in an hour, walking in to chat with Xander and bringing up some random topic just to talk.
At first it was fine, but visits that frequent seriously impacted his progress. Every time he'd just gotten into a working groove, Kiana would run in to cling and chat. He would never blame her, but he did feel a bit helpless.
Things went on like this until lunchtime. Kiana didn't even wait for Mei; she showed up right on the dot.
Looking at the bright, expectant sparkle in her eyes, Xander felt too softhearted to refuse. But thinking of the nearly nonexistent progress he'd made, he braced himself and said, "Um, Kiana, during work hours… maybe you could drop by a little less often…"
"Eh?"
Kiana stared blankly, not quite processing what Xander meant.
Seeing this, Bronya said with relish, "He means you've been affecting his work by coming so many times. He wants you to come less."
"I-is that so?! I'm— I'm sorry!!"
She'd realized it herself, but… she just couldn't help it.
Under her breath, she muttered, "It didn't feel like that many times…"
"Right, right. Only twenty-odd times this morning—not much at all."
Bronya's smile was ice-cold. Kiana's visits didn't just interrupt Xander, after all.
"Mm…"
Face red, Kiana fell silent.
"Ahem. Just visit less during work hours, that's all. As the overall lead, it wouldn't be great if progress got bottlenecked because of me."
Xander cleared his throat and spoke gently.
"But I can't help it. We finally got together, and I hardly see you all day…"
Her voice turned a little sour. "It's not like me, Xander—you're the one with all the experience. This is my first time, and you're still saying I'm coming too often…"
"Pfft~"
Watching Xander suffer, Bronya couldn't hold back a laugh.
"True. Certain people are very experienced~"
"Brother is a big playboy!" Seele couldn't resist chiming in.
"An embarrassed husband is actually kind of cute like this."
Kaguya didn't particularly mind. Xander's squirming, ill-at-ease expression right now was more interesting to her.
Only Mei, sitting by herself, looked on in confusion.
What was going on? Why did it feel like she was the only one not allowed in on the mood?
And when had Kiana and Xander gotten tangled up together?
Completely baffled, Mei could only eat in silence.
Time flowed calmly by. Four months later, as Xander was bent over his desk, he suddenly heard Seele's delighted voice.
"Brother, the sample Duel Disk just arrived! Do you want to go try it?"
Adjusting my schedule—taking a day off
I've got some stuff going on these days and will be on the night shift. I'm adjusting my rhythm today and honestly can't keep my eyes open, so I'm taking the day off…
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