4. The Witch's Blue Leaves
"You have quite the sense for this."
"It surprisingly suits me."
"Even so, restoration work like this takes quite a bit of time..."
Afternoon. I took Aoba to the shrine to introduce them properly. She needed to know what I was doing and what kind of training I was undergoing.
"I never imagined our family martial art hid a secret like this..."
"Nor did I."
"It seems my eyes..."
Aoba had a rough idea of my abilities by now, and Hanasaki knew them almost as well as I did, so they both nodded. It was based on my original knowledge from the game, but they trusted the power of my eyes—which caused headaches and bloody tears but had no other real limits.
And though it had only been a short time studying and experimenting, I'd managed to roughly devise a way to channel spiritual energy in harmony with swordsmanship. It was more recreation than restoration, but probably close enough.
And one more thing.
"Aoba, you're not completely devoid of talent, right?"
"Yeah."
"Is that so?"
"It's very faint, but she has some intuition. It must have strengthened during the process of Mr. Tsukino extracting that curse."
Good. Hanasaki would know how to cultivate the power of someone with underdeveloped spiritual abilities. Right now, while I was helping Ichinose, our weak points were either my family or the Manatsu household. With only one body to go around, I couldn't protect my family while aiding Ichinose—and Aoba's mother was hospitalized far away, impossible to cover.
So the most practical solution was to empower Aoba, whose ancestors had been spiritualists, to defend herself.
I explained my intentions along those lines, and Hanasaki let out a small sigh before agreeing. From her perspective, gaining another spiritualist ally couldn't hurt.
But contrary to my thinking, Hanasaki looked a bit uncomfortable. And even as they discussed spiritual energy matters, Aoba and Hanasaki kept a subtle distance from each other.
After a brief exchange, Aoba bounced back to me with her usual springy steps.
"Hehe. Bro, let's go together."
"Didn't you agree to talk spiritual energy later?"
"Nah. I'm just a beginner anyway, so it'd be better if you taught me, Bro."
Uh. Um. That wasn't the plan. I glanced at Hanasaki, but uncharacteristically, she averted her eyes to the shrine grounds.
I wasn't sure, but this felt like some kind of pissing contest. Hanging back to talk to Hanasaki now didn't seem wise, so I left the shrine with my arms linked around Aoba and patted her head.
"Don't be like that."
"But Hanasaki's got a thing for you, Bro."
"That's part of it. Be mature about it, like you were with Senpai Ichinose last time."
"But Senpai didn't have any interest right then."
"True, but still—please?"
By the time we'd descended to the mountainside where the shrine sat, Aoba hugged me tightly from behind. She'd been quiet for a bit, but maybe meeting another girl who showed me favor set her off—her hands on my upper body started groping my chest and stomach in a pervy way. They even slyly drifted lower toward my navel.
I pried her hands off, pulled her around to my front, and hugged her face-to-face. With her ear pressed to my heart, she finally calmed, her tension easing.
She didn't even need to tiptoe—why was she so fixated on the physical stuff?
"Bro... I'm still kinda anxious."
"Why?"
"You're a good guy, so everyone you help is gonna like you. And you'll do your best to help them all."
"Well..."
"That's why it's great—and why I'm anxious."
Aoba hugged me from the front again, then stood on tiptoe, closed her eyes, and kissed me. Not as deep and intense as in the hospital last time, but lighter since our lips parted easily—and I got the meaning.
What if we'd met in my previous life's normal world and dated like ordinary people? Who knows. It was impossible anyway.
"...Let's head back for now."
"Actually, outdoors is fine with me."
"That's not what I meant."
Aoba giggled, suggested practicing spiritual energy starting tomorrow, and dashed home ahead. Left behind, I turned at the honk from a car.
"You two are spilling rice everywhere."
"You went inside earlier—why'd you come back out?"
"Had something to consult you about."
So she'd seen the kiss with Aoba too? That was genuinely embarrassing.
Reading my face, Ichinose spoke half-defensive, half-teasing.
"I only saw from the hug at the end. Didn't know the Manatsu girl was that forward."
"No, it's... yeah."
"...Don't tell me there was more before I arrived?"
"Let it go."
Ichinose was a proper young lady right now, with strong ideas about chastity. In the original story, she was the heroine who took the longest to reach that first intimate scene. She probably thought high schoolers only went as far as holding hands. Though later in the game... cough. Western open culture or whatever.
Visibly flustered, her face flushed, she fanned herself with her hand.
"You know Sendo and Retishia have been meeting up a lot lately, right?"
"Yeah."
"Hanasaki and I disagree on that issue. Let's talk about it including Retishia."
"Why do I need to be involved?"
"We talked about it when we first met. You said you have something like a soul."
"Yeah."
"I need someone who can properly discern it."
Ah. It was bound to come up eventually with Ichinose, but facing Retishia's issue head-on already felt exhausting. A soul dwelling in a mechanical body—something mad scientists chasing immortality via body swaps or artificial life would kill for. It tied into overcoming her vampire constitution too.
"Is Sendo there?"
"No. They sneak around at night."
"I see."
How did the Retishia route go? It highlighted her non-human nature, her relationship progressing as Sendo accepted her as human, and battles against forces targeting her. Since Sendo saw her as human and they got physical like humans, they might be nearly done by now. The guy was pure love obsessed but aggressive in bed.
"...Though it bothers me when she comes back with her clothes disheveled sometimes."
This robot bitch really started already? Seeing my dumbfounded look, Ichinose cleared her throat and changed the subject.
"Anyway. I think of Retishia as human enough, and I'm grateful Sendo does too, but..."
"So what do you want from me in this?"
"It's hard to explain fully now, but for one thing..."
Her face carried that unique unease and sense of taboo—of a human trespassing into forbidden territory.
"Can you make Retishia a real human?"
I couldn't answer easily. A real human—not something similar or breedable with humans, but truly human. My eyes could stare down gods, my ears hear their tales clearly, but my spiritual power was mid-tier among spiritualists at best. Even with recent lucky breaks boosting my rapid growth, elevating her to true humanity would be...
"If possible, sooner... but it's impossible, right?"
"It could take my whole life."
"If Retishia becomes fully human, at least the attacks under pretexts like tech leaks would stop."
"Instead, I'd be hunted for making her human."
"...Sorry."
She knew that much. Retishia had been her companion for years; I was just a recent acquaintance. Naturally, my priority was lower.
So.
"Give me a reason to trust you, Senpai Ichinose."
"Y-Yes? What?"
In the car, she pressed against the door, barricading with arms and legs to maximize distance. What did she think I meant?
"Urk. Well, lips might be okay..."
"Not that."
"Eh."
"Don't vampires have contracts or something? Like a geas."
"Ah."
Her face beet red, she didn't speak again until we reached the mansion. What to do with this virgin.