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Overall, both sides communicated fairly smoothly.
As one of the Bureau of Astrology's "Six Blades," Kisaki Kiriha had opened by honestly stating her purpose, attitude, and position from the start.
And Bokue had provided his answer.
Very simple—just two words: Not happening.
Although his original reason for claiming Itogami Island had essentially been to secure himself a place to call home—and coincidentally, Asagi Aiba and Nagisa Akatsuki both lived on the island—fundamentally, he felt no particular sense of responsibility toward the island's citizens.
But if some delusional company tried to forcibly take people from his territory like cargo...
Then sorry, that was something he absolutely wouldn't allow either.
Of course, despite their conflicting positions and objectives, both parties still concluded negotiations peacefully.
After all, as far as Kisaki Kiriha was concerned, she was just doing a job for pay... oh wait, she wasn't even the one getting paid—that was the Bureau of Astrology behind her.
Even less reason to fight to the death, then.
Since Bokue had already made clear he disagreed with the Bureau of Astrology's approach, all Kisaki needed to do next was report his position directly to both the Bureau of Astrology and Kusuki Happiness Enterprises.
And so, time passed swiftly to after dinner.
As the sky above Itogami Island gradually darkened, inside the Aiba family's open-plan apartment, a blonde girl currently lay prone on her bedroom bed, a portable laptop positioned before her as her ten fingers flew rapidly across the keyboard.
Meanwhile, Bokue gently embraced Asagi Aiba's body from above, arms threading under her armpits to wrap around her chest, chin resting lightly on the blonde girl's shoulder.
"How's it going? Can you find anything about that Kusuki Happiness Enterprises?"
"Mm..."
Hearing the young man's voice right beside her ear, Asagi's body trembled slightly. Her fingers fumbled on the keyboard, accidentally typing two wrong characters. She hurriedly hit backspace to delete them, a faint blush rising to her cheeks.
This guy really is something—asking for help but refusing to behave himself...
As a veteran shut-in, Asagi actually had a desktop computer in her room. The only reason she'd chosen to lie on the bed with her laptop instead of sitting at her computer desk with the desktop was specifically to avoid a certain someone using her as a human chair and directly... hmph!
She had so much stuff on that desk. Having to move the monitor, speakers, and everything else, then wipe them all down one by one was incredibly annoying.
But now that she was lying on the bed, it had actually made things easier for this guy, who'd naturally climbed on without a word.
If she weren't still wearing the jeans she'd worn to school today, he'd probably have already... ah, those who know, know.
"...There, found it."
After typing a long string of characters into the search bar, Asagi hit enter. A webpage resembling something from the dark web appeared on screen.
The blonde girl let out a light breath.
"Honestly, Kusuki Happiness Enterprises' homepage isn't hard to find at all. You could literally just search for it directly. After all, on the surface it's just a company specializing in social welfare programs—squeaky clean. But I'm guessing what you actually want to know about, Bokue, is the reason why this company wants to control Leviathan, right?"
"Ah, yeah."
Bokue blinked.
"What, they don't have it written on their homepage?"
"What are you thinking? How could they possibly write something like that on their homepage..."
Asagi instinctively started to retort, but after thinking for a moment, she changed her tune.
"Well, okay, I can't completely say that. Because they actually did write it—just on a different website's homepage."
"What website?"
"Here, I already pulled it up for you. See for yourself~"
"Oh..."
Bokue lifted his head, his gaze passing over his girlfriend's shoulder to land on the laptop screen. What met his eyes was an unfamiliar name.
"True... Ark? What's that?"
Bokue read out the organization name on the webpage one word at a time, then slowly added a mental question mark.
What kind of weird organization is this? Never even heard of it.
"A terrorist criminal organization."
Asagi's response was succinct.
"They're pretty well-known on the dark web. They claim to be some kind of environmental protection group like a demonic beast conservation society, but what they actually do is indistinguishable from terrorism."
"So Kusuki Happiness Enterprises is actually a terrorist organization in disguise?"
"Not entirely—they're just True Ark's sponsor. But essentially, they're all in it together."
"I see..."
Bokue thought for a moment.
"By the way, where exactly is this Kusuki Happiness Enterprises based?"
"What are you planning?"
"Track them down, then just flatten the place with one kick."
"Mm~ Unfortunately, I just checked their official site and it looks like they're actually a local Itogami Island company. So if you want to flatten them with one kick, you'll need to be a bit careful—don't accidentally sink other places along with it."
As Asagi spoke, she switched the webpage back to Kusuki Happiness Enterprises' public-facing site. The background image featured Itogami Island itself.
"Actually, if that's the case, it makes things simpler."
Bokue said.
"Asagi, send me the exact address on my phone—preferably with navigation included. I'll personally pay them a visit tomorrow."
"Got it, you're really good at ordering people around..."
Though complaining verbally, Asagi's hands showed no hesitation. She switched pages and continued operating.
Bokue rested his chin back on his girlfriend's shoulder, breathing in the body fragrance emanating from the girl's neck.
"Well, I'll make it up to you properly afterward."
"You'd better actually mean 'make it up' when you say that."
The blonde girl turned her head slightly to shoot him a sideways glance with pursed lips.
"Besides, I get the feeling it's more like 'eating your cake and having it too.'"
"Then... how about we start with just a little bite right now?"
Bokue's hands shifted downward slightly, showing signs of misbehavior.
However, Asagi immediately stopped him.
"Wait, wait, wait! Hold on! At... at least let me put away my laptop first. This notebook doesn't have waterproofing like screens do where you can just wipe them clean if they get splashed. If it gets water damage and short-circuits, don't blame me for never letting you hear the end of it..."
"Yeah, yeah."
Bokue said this verbally, but his hands still moved to the girl's waist.
His fingertips lightly traced along her belt to the buckle.
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Meanwhile, before the entrance of a certain psychiatric hospital on Itogami Island—
Under pale streetlights, a girl's figure slowly emerged from within.
It was none other than Eguchi Yume, who'd met Bokue at the shopping center entrance earlier that day.
The small girl kept her head lowered, her expression somewhat lost and dejected.
As expected, today's hospital visit had yielded nothing once again.
Whether classmates, her parents, or her teacher—without exception, they all remained unconscious because of her powers.
So... should a bad child like Yume simply not exist...?
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