Chapter 189: Manual Union Counts as Union Too
The 90-point romance skill: Union of Kindred Spirits.
[After a successful union, unlock the corresponding Legendary Duelist.]
Simple description. Profound effect.
Because the description was so vague and strange, even though the skill had been unlocked two days ago, Amano hadn't had the nerve to actually bring it up with Finesse. Soul invasion and becoming a Background Spirit was already the outer limit of what he had been able to accept. "Uniting" with a girl just felt like a step too far.
But people grow.
After the growth of last night, Amano suddenly found that union sounded like something he could work with.
"Skill?" Finesse lay against his chest, her rosy face full of genuine confusion. "You don't mean the same soul invasion skill as before?"
"No. A newly unlocked union skill. I'm not entirely sure what it does, so I figured we should just try it."
He opened the system and tapped to activate.
"Union of Kindred Spirits!!"
Absolutely nothing happened.
System, what happened to the promised union?
Finesse blinked her large eyes in confusion twice, then seemed to reach some internal conclusion. A teasing smile spread across her face and she licked her lips.
"I didn't know you could be this bold, Rei. If all you want is union, you don't need any skill for that. I can handle it perfectly well on my own."
"Wait, Finesse, that is a complete misunderstanding... ah!"
He never got the chance to explain further.
Manual union counts as union too. From the moment they woke up until early afternoon, Finesse finally allowed Amano to leave.
Amano had always considered himself reasonably fit. High-intensity physical labor in District 32 had built him a natural six-pack without ever setting foot in a gym. After encountering the young miss, however, he had come to realize that certain aspects of his endurance still had room to grow.
The two of them parted ways after leaving the villa, each with tasks to handle. Apparently fully satisfied at last, Finesse was letting him out of her sight for the first time in two days.
The young miss went to arrange the remaining furniture for the villa. It was somewhat difficult to explain, after all, why the entire building contained exactly one double bed, and it happened to be in Amano's room.
Amano headed back to the dormitory to pack, and to let Shio and Kikawayu know that a move was in their near future.
On the way back, he opened VSN, which he had closed for an entire day. A flood of messages hit him all at once.
The largest volume came from Kikawayu and Shio, both asking where he had been. He had stayed out all night, after all. Finesse being absent from the dorm regularly was normal and went unquestioned, since she often returned to the Wein estate on family business and simply stayed there overnight. But Amano had only the dorm. Even though he often came back late, an overnight absence was a first, and naturally Kikawayu and Shio were going to notice.
The other notable thread was from Nanki'in Sakuya.
Yesterday afternoon: "Rei, even though school is canceled, our tutoring session tonight still continues, right? The monthly exam is next week."
Then last night: "Why aren't you replying? Did something come up? Is tonight's session canceled?"
Then this morning and around noon: "Are you still coming tonight?" followed by "Did I do something to upset you, Rei? Please don't ignore me."
He winced. He had been so thoroughly preoccupied last night that he had completely forgotten he was supposed to tutor Sakuya every evening this week.
He was being paid for this. He had also already accepted both Ghost Ogre and Snow Rabbit cards from Yukki, which meant he had a genuine obligation to follow through. He quickly sent Sakuya a message using urgent unexpected business as his excuse for last night, and promised firmly that he would come tonight without fail.
Two seconds later, she sent back an "OK~" emoji.
That instant reply made him feel more than a little guilty.
He had to try his best to get his class rep into the top ten for the monthly exam.
Unexpectedly, there was also a message from Kaiba Chiaki, sent this morning:
"Are you free today, Amano Rei? There is something I would like to ask you."
Kaiba Corporation's president wanted to ask him something. That was unusual. What could it possibly be that only he would know and that her entire intelligence network had failed to turn up?
"Rei, where were you last night?"
"Brother, where did you go last night?"
Exactly as expected, the moment he got back to the dormitory, Kikawayu and Shio hit him simultaneously from both sides.
He had his cover story ready. He mentioned Finesse's new villa, then naturally explained that he had been there helping get things organized, got too tired, and just stayed the night.
"A villa? Amazing! I've never lived in a villa!"
Shio was the easiest one to manage. The moment she heard there was a villa to move into, every suspicion about her brother staying out all night evaporated completely.
"Really? Just organizing the villa?" Kikawayu was not so easily deflected.
Obviously, since Amano had not told Kikawayu he was not coming back, she would have followed their usual pattern and waited up for him all night. Thinking about this, he felt a genuine weight of guilt settle in.
There was no real reason to hide things with Finesse from Kikawayu in the first place. Getting a girlfriend was normally the kind of news you bragged to your closest friend about.
But that was only with ordinary friendships. He and Kikawayu were far too close, practically family-level closeness. You bragged to friends about that kind of thing; you hid it from family, unless it became impossible to hide or the relationship was completely settled and heading somewhere serious.
Beyond that, even though Amano had largely gotten used to his childhood friend being more attractive than most girls, looking at Kikawayu's genuinely beautiful face right now made it even harder to bring up. He had half-convinced himself that he had just been pent up and that was why he kept seeing her that way. But since Kikawayu had not changed back, that explanation no longer held. At this particular moment, Amano was in the clearest headspace of his entire life, and the perception was still there.
"Of course it's true, Yuu. I even specifically picked out a really nice room for you at the villa..."
Without waiting for him to finish, Kikawayu leaned forward and began sniffing him with small intense sniffs.
"Fine. There is genuinely no trace of another woman on you. I'll take your word for it."
Lucky he had showered before leaving. He was not going to make a mistake that obvious.
"But listen here: if you go and find yourself a girlfriend while completely abandoning your best friend, I am going to punish you properly!"
Kikawayu shook her tiny fist at him in a way that carried absolutely no threat whatsoever. In monster card terms, she was running a pure 0 ATK stat.
"Do you need help packing your room? We should be able to move over in a few days. I remember you have quite a bit of luggage, Yuu."
Out of guilt, Amano tried to find something useful to do to make up for leaving her waiting all night.
He was flatly refused.
"Touch my door and I will end you."
Entering her room was apparently a more serious offense than secretly finding a girlfriend.
Out of respect, Amano had never once entered Kikawayu's room in all the time they had lived here. He was not going to pretend he was not curious, but curiosity alone was not enough.
It was no longer a mystery that could hold out against him, though.
"Are you hiding something weird in your room, Yuu?"
"No! There is absolutely nothing!"
Thought Reading activated.
Thought 1: I keep everything hidden during the day. But there is far too much of it. If Rei came in to pack, it would definitely be exposed.
Thought 2: If he insists on looking, I would have to use that one trick. The Great Amnesia Technique. The moment he steps through the door with his guard down, knock him out from behind.
Thought 3: After knocking him out, even if I cannot do certain things, I can at least take his clothes off. My collection count would go up.
Since Thought Reading could only capture thoughts directly related to himself, the skill had its limits. He still could not figure out exactly what Kikawayu was hiding in there. But what she was hiding no longer mattered as much as the separate realization that he was very glad he had not insisted on going in.
Thought 3 was as thoroughly unsuitable as ever, Yuu.
After hearing enough of these, Amano had almost gotten used to it. Based on his analysis of the skill over recent weeks, Thought 3 tended to be the deepest fantasy from the most private part of the thinker's mind, the kind that naturally ran a little wild. Like the fleeting thought when you pass an attractive stranger on the street, or lying in bed at night with a crush on your mind. Most of these thoughts never get acted on, but the skill captures them regardless.
Fantasy was fantasy. As long as Kikawayu was not actually acting on any of this, he was not going to bring it up.
Besides, he was in no position to judge. He had, after all, been seeing his childhood friend as a beautiful girl this entire time.
After firmly rejecting his offer to help, Kikawayu went back to her room to pack alone. Amano turned and helped Shio with her things instead, which were not many.
The room contained a few manga volumes and some clothes, just like the old house in District 32. Back then Shio had not even had her own room. The two of them had shared one.
"Shio, how have things been at school lately?" He kept his tone casual.
He still had not figured out how to bring up the Shiyue situation with Shio. Whether Shio actually knew the truth about her friend being a dark duelist was something he needed to feel out carefully.
"Really happy, Brother!" Shio smiled with complete sincerity. The expression looked no different from her usual self.
"Even in District 32 I was happy, but being able to go to school is genuinely wonderful. You always meet so many interesting people there."
"Glad to hear it. And about Shiy..." Amano steeled himself.
"Little Shiyue transferred schools." Shio got there first, before he could finish the name.
"Transferred?"
"Yes, a little while ago. She said her dad had work reasons and they had to go back to his hometown in the lower districts. So we haven't seen each other in quite a long time now."
"Haven't seen each other in a long time." Amano let out a quiet exhale of relief.
He had worried that Shiyue's sudden disappearance would hurt Shio. But with a transfer story as the reason, even her absence made complete and natural sense.
Shiyue Yi. He had not expected a dark duelist to prepare her own exit story in advance.
"Do you miss her?" Amano asked one more thing.
Shio stopped packing and was quiet for a long moment before slowly answering.
"I do miss her. After all, we were good friends once. But I believe that wherever she ends up, her life going forward will be wonderful."
As she said this, Shio had her back to Amano sorting through her clothes, so he could not see her expression.
But from the subtle shift in her voice, this farewell was probably not quite as easy as the words made it sound.
He had just finished helping Shio pack when a commotion erupted from downstairs in the dormitory building. It sounded like a large group of students had gathered outside Room 501, talking loudly.
Amano and Shio went out to check, and found a familiar face in the middle of the crowd.
"Kaiba?" Amano was genuinely surprised.
Kaiba Chiaki had appeared in person in the Academy City dormitory district.
The commotion made sense. This was the Fusion Academy dormitory building. As Fusion Academy's undisputed top student, Kaiba Chiaki was essentially an idol to much of its student body.
Amano then remembered that Chiaki had sent him a VSN message earlier asking if he was free, and he had replied that he was.
Not even an hour later and the president herself was at his door. Impressive efficiency.
"Amano Rei, I have something I need to ask you."
Without ceremony, Kaiba Chiaki stepped into the room the moment he opened the door, closed it firmly behind her, and cut off the noise from the gathered students outside.
"Senior Kaiba?"
He was still genuinely curious what she could possibly need to ask him about. Something he would know that Kaiba Corporation's entire intelligence network could not determine?
"How much do you know about Chiha?"
"Whoa!"
The question had barely finished forming when a crash came from upstairs. The sound of Kikawayu dropping her luggage.
"What happened to Kaiba Chiha?"
The reason Chiaki had come to Amano specifically was that she remembered him mentioning something about Chiha during the Chronicle session the previous week, which she had brushed aside at the time.
"Chiha is no longer in the mid-level district," Chiaki said. "So had you seen her recently?"
"Seen her..."
He had. Amano honestly explained what had happened that night: Kaiba Chiha being controlled by the Puppeteer and pulled into a Dark Game. Even knowing that this world's Kaiba Chiaki, like the original Kaiba Seto, did not believe Dark Games existed.
"After the duel ended, Kaiba Chiha just... vanished in a flash."
He was only relaying secondhand information, of course. It had been Kikawayu who actually fought that Dark Game, and he himself had not even seen the duel.
Chiaki rubbed her chin and frowned in thought. "You are certain she vanished in a flash?"
Amano vaguely recalled asking the exact same question at the time.
So apparently the "vanished in a flash" detail was the important part.
"For the specifics of the Dark Game, you would really need to ask Yuu directly." Amano tried to bring in the person who had actually been there.
Another crash from upstairs. Kikawayu dropping luggage again.
What had gotten into her today? Someone who did not know better would think she had a guilty conscience about something.
"As for Dark Games and those sorts of superstitious matters, I will pass."
President, perhaps a little less absolute faith in science would serve you well here.
Chiaki continued: "I have already used the data network to determine Chiha's current location."
Science was genuinely impressive.
But if you already knew where she was, why come to confirm things with him?
"I just need a small favor from you, Amano Rei."
"What kind of favor, Senior Kaiba?"
"The location the data network identified is not in the mid-level district. It is in the lower districts. District 32."
"District 32?"
That was a familiar district number. The same district where he had won ten consecutive poker tournaments.
What was Kaiba Chiha doing in his old neighborhood?
"Because of the near-catastrophe the Wicked God caused to the mid-level district a few days ago, transit checkpoint controls are currently very strict. Right now, anyone from the mid-level district who wants to travel to the lower districts has to wait at least a week for Eva mainframe review."
Since Eva mainframe review was involved, even someone with Kaiba Corporation's resources could not bypass the process.
"But you are different, Amano Rei. You were originally a lower district resident, so traveling back does not fall under transit checkpoint restrictions. I want to ask you to go to District 32 and bring Chiha back."
"You want me to go to District 32..." Amano hesitated for just a moment.
"Compensation is completely negotiable. Even if you cannot bring Chiha back, just confirming that she is currently safe is enough, and I will agree to whatever you ask for."
In this moment, Kaiba Chiaki looked, briefly, like the older sister who had once doted on her younger sibling. A side of her he had not seen in a while.
The hesitation was not because he did not want to go. If anything, the opposite. He had not been back in a long time, and he genuinely wanted to see District 32 again.
The pause was purely because the round trip would take at least three days, and he had promised to tutor Sakuya every evening this week. He already felt guilty toward his class rep, and bailing on her now would make it worse. If Nanki'in Sakuya failed to break into the top ten on the monthly exam and lost her class representative position because of this, Amano would genuinely feel like a criminal.
He would need to use the backup option. He had hoped to avoid it.
Looking at the situation now, for the monthly exam, he was going to have to enter Background Spirit state and take the test in place of Sakuya himself.
"All right, Senior Kaiba. I'll do it."
He agreed to bring back Kaiba Chiha, and not only for whatever reward Chiaki had promised. He was also genuinely curious about what this little gremlin was getting up to in his most familiar home territory.
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