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And so Sayaka spent the entire afternoon swamped with work.
After handing Kanon over to Natsuki, she took La Folia straight to their pre-booked hotel. Once there, she immediately began her remote report to the Lion King Organization about the rescue mission's results.
After all, the Lion King Organization's headquarters was in Kyoto, while Itogami Island sat next to Tokyo—over three hundred kilometers away even from the nearest point.
If she'd traveled back to headquarters for an in-person report, the round trip alone would take more than two days.
Plus she had to squeeze in time to reschedule all the meetings that had been hastily canceled when the royal yacht was attacked.
In short, not a moment to spare.
Meanwhile, in stark contrast, at the apartment on Itogami Island's east side—
Only when the sunlight streaming through the balcony into the living room had completely shifted westward did Bokue finally release Nagisa from her youth center.
"Ngh... mmph...!"
In the living room's open kitchen, as Bokue lifted Nagisa from the counter by the sink, the girl made muffled, inarticulate sounds in her throat.
This was already the seventeenth delivery today.
And during that time, the number of times Nagisa had peaked was... forget it, she'd lost count.
For Nagisa, she'd only been able to keep track at the very beginning. Once the fatal rhythm kicked in, her entire brain went completely blank.
After that, she simply gave up thinking altogether.
Finally, Bokue carried the now somewhat consciousness-blurred Nagisa to the sofa.
Also on the sofa was a certain Sword Shaman who'd finished her "special training" just half an hour ago and was slowly recovering her strength.
Since humans and True Ancestors had fundamentally different constitutions, Yukina hadn't endured nearly the same firepower as Nagisa—not even a sixth of it.
But even so, for her this had been "the fullest episode" yet.
Normally, Bokue-senpai was intense but at least considerate of her different constitution compared to Nagisa, always leaving some margin.
But today's Bokue-senpai was completely different—treating her and Nagisa equally, going full throttle until she verbally cried uncle.
Even then, it had nearly opened entirely new doors for Yukina Himeragi.
She could only assume he'd been pent up from two days on that island.
"Uh... mm... what's wrong, are we done?"
In just a few seconds—from when Bokue left the open kitchen to sitting on the sofa—Nagisa, who'd previously looked capable only of making peace signs, had already recovered. Clear awareness returned to her eyes.
She even had excess energy to wrap her arms around Bokue's neck and look toward the sunset-drenched balcony to the south.
"Ah~ It's already evening? That was fast."
"Yeah, it's evening."
Bokue wrapped one arm around Nagisa's waist while reaching for Yukina beside them.
"Bokue-senpai... I..."
Yukina jumped slightly, thinking they were continuing.
She wasn't Nagisa—she didn't have that invincible endurance.
For her, out of energy meant out of energy, full meant full, and if pushed beyond that... well, that meant a hospital visit.
But Bokue just lifted her up and placed her on his lap.
"It's all Big Brother's fault for being too rough with Yukina-chan today. Now she's scared."
The truck that had just finished unloading was still parked in the youth center. Nagisa licked her finger with a smile.
"Too bad Yukina-chan's a Lion King Organization Sword Shaman. If she could become a vampire, she could enjoy Big Brother's love as much as I do."
"I... I don't want that..."
Hearing about "enjoying love to the fullest," Yukina's already flushed cheeks turned even redder as she looked away, not quite honestly.
After all, just helping Nagisa handle less than a sixth of the firepower had already left her brain blank and reason evaporated. If she became a vampire with near-infinite recovery... she couldn't guarantee her mind wouldn't be remodeled into something strange.
"Well, just saying~"
Nagisa tilted her head with narrowed eyes and a smile.
"Mainly because Big Brother's time is getting pretty stretched now, isn't it?"
"Eh?"
Yukina froze at that.
What a strange way to put it—what did she mean "Bokue-senpai's time is running out"?
It sounded like he had a terminal illness.
"But it can't be helped. After all, Asagi is Big Brother's official girlfriend~"
Nagisa winked and made scissors with her fingers in the classic "Ciallo" pose.
"Oh right, Yukina-chan doesn't know yet. This morning Asagi called Big Brother and they agreed to go on a date tonight. But Yukina-chan was returning the speedboat keys with Sayaka at the time."
"A date... huh."
Yukina nodded unconsciously, not particularly surprised.
She and Nagisa had known about Asagi Aiba for a while.
"Mm~ Though technically Asagi is Big Brother's official girlfriend, times like this still make me a bit unhappy."
Nagisa propped her chin thoughtfully, then a lightbulb suddenly appeared above her head.
"Oh right, speaking of which, there's something I haven't properly asked Big Brother about yet."
"What?"
Bokue looked puzzled.
"About Miss Sayaka~"
Nagisa wiggled her finger seriously.
"This morning at the harbor, when I asked, Big Brother's answer wasn't very confident. Looking back, it feels like there's more to the story."
"No... I really can't think of anything."
Bokue had black lines on his forehead.
At the time, Nagisa had asked if he'd done anything "inappropriate." Thinking carefully, sleeping in the same bed last night probably counted.
But that was Sayaka's initiative.
"Though I'm not entirely sure..."
Remembering this, Bokue couldn't help recalling that small puddle of cloudy white liquid on the bedroom floor this morning.
"Ooh ooh! See, Big Brother's getting uncertain again!"
Detecting something off in his tone, Nagisa's voice instantly became excited.
"As long as there's uncertainty, we must investigate thoroughly! I have an idea—we could use the same method as when Yukina-chan was corrupted by Big Brother—"
While the apartment buzzed with loud plotting about completely corrupting a certain War Dancer, an airline passenger plane flew over Itogami Island, gliding toward the floating island that served as the airport.
Inside the cabin, a sweet female voice came through the speakers.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please note that this flight is about to arrive at its destination—Itogami Island International Airport. Please remain seated with your seatbelts fastened. I repeat, ladies and gentlemen..."
"Haah~ Finally here."
Listening to the repeated announcement overhead, a chestnut-haired girl who'd been napping in her seat opened bleary eyes, covering her mouth as she yawned. She then looked out the window at Itogami Island below, as if talking to herself.
"Long time no see. I heard you've been busy with something on Itogami Island lately, Bokue..."
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