As Kiana placed some of my bags that she helped carry down, she let out a breath. She wiped a sweat from her brow. "What the heck... I can't go crash at your place anymore?" Kiana said in a depressed manner.
"You can, but just know that nothing works inside anymore."
"Can't you get a bunch of guys to come fix your house fast?"
"The entire neighbourhood is down. Everyone is hiring."
"That sucks... no hotels?"
"The hotels are full too."
"Wow..."
"Yup."
Mei's house was definitely a no go even though she was the one who caused the problem. How could I go to beg Ryoma for a place to stay?
So in the end, Kiana was my only choice.
"At least we can have a sleepover now?" Kiana said as she bounced back from her brief depression. "We've only ever had one at Mei's place!"
"You're the only one who can take a house getting totaled as a good thing, Kiana.: I deadpanned.
"Hey! It's called making the best of a terrible situation!" Kiana laughed out as she fiddled with the handle of the door to a spare room.
It was quite surprising that she had one honestly. I was planning to just crash out on her couch for a while.
When she opened it up however, a cloud of smoke came out, causing Kiana to cough. Infinity protected me from the monstrosity that emerged from the room and I was given a full view of the insides.
Wow...
It was... something alright.
There were a bunch of clothes, definitely Kiana's, hanging around the place. Some on the bed which didn't have any sheets on while others on the chair for the desk.
The ground felt a bit weird, like it hadn't been swept or mopped in a while.
As Kiana recovered from her cough, she cleared her throat. She looked at the state of the room for a moment, before she awkwardly looked away, "Ta da?"
I will say that my expression didn't look very good.
But I quickly erased it. I was staying at Kiana's place at the moment anyways. It wouldn't sit right with me if I judged her after she was willing to give me a place to stay.
"Meh. I've seen worse. I'll clean it up."
"H-hey! I'll help out!" She moved her hands behind her back. "You're... a guest?"
A look of shock appeared on my face. "What? Who are you and what have you done with my friend?"
Kiana's face darkened. "You better sleep with one eye open tonight."
"Hmph. Threats shall not stop me!"
------------------------------------------
Somehow, I managed to gaslight Kiana into actually working hard into cleaning up the room with me. It wasn't my intention, but it is what it is.
For Shamash, I made sure that Kiana was not allowed access to the bags that held that.
All I needed to do to stop her was say that it was my private stash.
Her imagination did the rest of the work for me.
After cleaning up and properly settling in, I handed the letter over. Kiana's reaction was not really what I expected though.
"Yo. Your dad gave me a letter to send you."
Kiana's body seemed to be boneless as she lied on her bean bag like she was a paramecium. As she watched some weird Homu cartoon on her TV, she just glanced at me and gave an "Mm"
"Aren't you surprised?" I asked.
"Stinky dad always gets someone to send stuff to me randomly. Guess he felt that he wanted to tell me something again..." Kiana sulked a little.
"Oh... in that case, wanna sing some karaoke?" I said, trying to change the mood.
Kiana squinted her eyes. "Are you planning on taking me to some sort of seedy place?" She wrapped her arms around herself. "Then you're going to put something in my drink, and do weird stuff to me while I'm knocked out!" She wriggled away. "No! I'm not such an easy woman, Gojo Satoru!"
"I bought a mini karaoke machine."
"Oh. Cool. Let's do that then."
"Do you have any neighbours other than Bronya?"
"Nope."
"We'll just keep her awake at night then?"
"... why do you always phrase your words so weirdly?"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Late in the night, when Kiana had already gone to bed, I sneaked out of Kiana's house, ensuring that not too much noise was made before I left.
I did not need to give her any more material to make jokes about me with.
I had already decided that I needed to find Cocolia as soon as possible. Thus, I needed to contact the only person who has information on her.
Bronya Zaychik.
"Hello Bronya~" I said as she looked at me from the door. "Do you have any information about those filthy Honkai terrorists?"
I knew that she wouldn't give me the information straight up. However, it was reasonable to want to meet the people behind her right?
Wink wink
Bronya, who was wearing a set of Homu pajamas looked at me with a deadpan. "Did Subject Gojo wake the Bronya up at 1am just to ask this?" There was a hint of irritation in her voice.
"Yes. You weren't sleeping anyways." I said smugly.
"The Bronya's liking of song Skyfall has decreased by several points after hearing Subject Gojo and Subject Kiana screaming."
"That's called a duet."
"Singing usually does not sound terrible."
"Then you've been enlightened today."
Bronya bristled for a moment before retaining her composure.
"What does Subject Gojo want?" She cut straight to the point.
I rubbed my chin. "I wanna meet the people behind you."
"Rejected." Bronya immediately said.
"Your rejection has been rejected." I leaned against the door. "Why won't you allow us to meet? How are we supposed to build trust if the only person from your organisation we've seen is you?"
That sent Bronya into silence as she took a moment to ponder my words. It was only after a few seconds that she said, "The Bronya is in a high position. To meet with a person of higher position requires extensive background checks along with years of trust."
I raised an eyebrow. "Are we allowed to at least have a video call then?"
"Denied."
Well that sucked. But it wasn't unexpected.
In that case, I may need to bring out my secret technique.
"I'm starting to think that you're hiding things..." I muttered. "Excuses, excuses, excuses."
When I said that, if Bronya was half-heartedly talking to me before, I had her full attention now.
This was a calculated risk on my part. But I felt that I was pretty good at math.
"Subject Gojo is being unreasonable." Bronya accused back, her eyes turning slightly colder.
"Uh huh."
"The Bronya is merely stating standard protocols for all organisations."
"Yea..."
"Does Subject Gojo need to act so stubborn about this?"
"If I didn't, would I still be me?"
Bronya sent me a hard stare before a short sigh exited her lips. "Perhaps.. the Bronya can request a meetup with someone of ..."
"Really? Great!" My face immediately brightened up. "You're so kind, Bronya."
Bronya's face turned a bit duller for a moment when she heard that. A hint of melancholy appeared on her face which quickly disappeared. "The Bronya... is merely doing what is required of her..."
Is that... guilt?
She was telling the truth so I didn't need to worry that she was acting. Yet, would someone like her feel guilt at her actions?
If... she was one of those Soldier King returns from another country types, then it would make sense...
Usually, this happens after finding some sort of warmth again after being on the battlefield for many years. But who could do this to her?
Perhaps... that Seele I've heard about from Ryoma? Or maybe it's one of the others? After the person's death, she became numb and just listened to orders in spite of her own conscience?
...
Nah.
How could that be possible?
This is an anime world already. I don't think that they would mishmash other stuff.
"Anyways," I spoke cheerfully. "Wanna play a game now?"
Bronya could barely keep up with how quickly I changed the subject as she tilted her head to the side. "Probability of Subject Gojo being schizo is 80%"
"You stole my slang!"
"The Bronya felt brain power decreasing when saying that. Is that why Subject Gojo is like this?"
"So is that a no?"
"... Come in."
(A/N: How is the chapter? Please give powerstones and comment!!)