"You don't know what a Sacred Gear is? He didn't tell you?" Ophis tilted her head in confusion.
Tomoko was just as confused as she was, in fact, even more so than her, "A-Am I supposed to know about it? And what do you mean by he? Are you talking about Onii-chan?"
"I knew it! There's something wrong with Onii-chan! Could it be that he was replaced by one of those Skinwalkers? Is that it?"
To Ophis's amused eyes, she watched as Tomoko rambled and kept muttering words unfamiliar to her.
"So he's your brother." She murmured to herself, digesting the new information she had just received.
Who knew that someone, whose energy is on the same level as hers or even beyond, and not normal, would have a human sister with a Sacred Gear?
Interesting, she murmured under her breath.
Ophis suddenly interrupted her as she walked towards the bed, "Sit with me. I'll tell you about the Sacred Gears."
Tomoko, still afraid and yet also curious about everything that was thrown at her today, felt like she had no choice but to sit with her on the edge of the bed.
———
"You're growing strong. Aren't I a good teacher?" Dodging another strike from Maki, Kenshin couldn't help but grin and praise himself.
He compared the current Maki with the previous Maki a few hours ago and the difference was huge!
Not only is Maki faster than before but her techniques are even more refined. Along with Kenshon teaching her quite a few tricks.
His All-Weapon mastery skill allows him to be a master of all sorts of weapons, be it your nails, a single strand of hair, or even spit can be used as a weapon!
And he's a master of them all!
"Huff Huff. Hmph!" Panting heavily, Maki wiped off the sweat from her face and when she heard Kenshin's words, she felt like agreeing with him but recalling his perverted nature towards her muscles, she decided against.
Seriously, what's wrong with him? Women like me having muscles aren't supposed to be that attractive to men compared to those with a voluptuous and hourglass body, right? She muttered to herself, she stared down at her glistening biceps and her frown ceased.
For some reason, she felt like building her muscles was worth it!
"…aki! Earth to Maki! Are you there?" She suddenly woke up from her deep thoughts at Kenshin's snapping of a finger.
Staring up, she saw his concerned look, "Are you okay? You paced out for almost a minute."
Maki blinked her eyes in surprise, A minute? Seriously, what's happening to me?
"Anyways, as I was saying. I was hoping you'd be free this upcoming Saturday. Maybe we can have lunch outside or something." Kenshin casually smiled.
Is he? A suspicion was formed in her mind. However, after realizing his intention, she fell silent.
Although her impression of Kenshin was that of close friends and even bordering on beyond, she felt like things were being way too fast.
And besides, she can't afford to be complacent. She has a goal to achieve and she must achieve it as soon as possible!
So, she shook her head, much to Kenshin's dismay, "I'm sorry but I have many things to do. Thank you for the lesson."
Turning around, her steps became hurried as she wanted to get back to her room as soon as she could.
She can't help but feel her chest ache after seeing the disappointed look on Kenshin's face.
I'm not…built for things like romance, I'm sorry, Kenshin, she murmured to herself as she kept her head lower, hiding her expression from being seen by others.
———
Seeing the woman of his dreams, or at least one of his dream women—walk away with her head bowed down, Kenshin mentally sighed.
He may have been rejected just now but that doesn't mean he'll give up. This encounter just made him realize something.
He had it way too easy. His advances with Yasaka were accepted due to his unique personality that took her by surprise. The same goes for both Alya and Sawako, it was mainly thanks to his being the fuse that exposed them to the world beyond logic that made them form some sort of attachment towards him.
But with Maki, despite being stronger than her, being shrouded by mystery since he heard most girls like mysterious men, and giving her a chance to fight Cursed Spirits without the need of an external object, he still failed to woo her.
"She's right, I have been way too fast." He sighed and mentally scolded himself.
He would come back tomorrow and apologize to her. Although he feels like he's being a womanizer considering he's also trying to get other women but can you blame him?
He's been in a world filled with nothing but horny people who believe that all the hole is their goal.
There are times when he would just sit by himself in the corner of the room and imagine himself with different kinds of women depending on his ever-changing taste every year.
Sometimes he grows fond of Goth Girls, and next year, it's voluptuous women, then another year it's short-haired girls with glasses.
Maki, of course, with her glasses and muscular body was also part of his dream woman.
Is it My Fault that I want to Have a Taste of Different Kinds of Women?
As Maki has already left and he's alone in the training field with the moonlight accompanying him, he decides to go back home.
Anyways, hopefully Ophis hasn't gone out of his cabinet yet, he forgot to place some runes in his room to avoid accidents.
———
Maki watched Kenshin leave the training field through her windows and when he was gone, she sighed in defeat.
She lay back down on her bed and raised her arms above her head, using her palms as pillows.
She then muttered to herself, "Was I too harsh? Maybe I hurt him and his feelings?"
Maki knew she couldn't deny it anymore. Even though she tries to ignore it as much as she can these past few days but today was the real deal.
Everything that she's been trying to hold back exploded into pieces. Kenshin's words and the intentions behind them became the light that lit her fuse.
She likes him, she grew a crush on Kenshin.
Whether it's his strength, the Naginata he gifted to her, or his teasing personality that tickled everything that makes her a woman—all of those things were part of the reason why she liked him.
What am I going to do? M-Maybe if it's Mai, she knows what to do.
Remembering her little sister who seemed like an expert at anything that didn't involve violence and fists, Maki softly smiled.
Even though the two of them got seperated due to her decision to leave the Zen'in family, Maki would sometimes still think about her from time to time, reminiscing about the time they spent together in that hellish compound.
Sigh, I'm such a failure as a woman…
Muttering the last few words she could muster, darkness overtook her vision and her consciousness slowly slipped away.
———
Kenshin stretched his upper body as he muttered, "Back at last."
Just as he entered through the front door, his expression suddenly soured when he realized that someone was in his room, two familiar presences that shouldn't be together.
"Fucking hell!" Kenshin hissed as he cursed his luck while rushing towards his room.
Arriving there, Kenshin touched the door and took a peek inside. True to what he sensed, Tomoko and Ophis were lying on his bedside side by side with their legs dangling over the edge.
"And then what happened?" He heard Ophis ask in curiosity.
"What else do you think happened? Onii-chan beat the shit out of those thugs! They didn't even last a single second with him! It was like Fwoosh! Boom! And then kaboom!"
As if the fact that Tomoko was casually exchanging stories with the literal Dragon God, the latter reacted.
"Whoa ~"
What do you mean whoa? You're a dragon god and you're impressed with me taking down thugs? Kenshin's upper lip twitched several times, scolding the girl in his mind.
That was it. The end of the story as Kenshin barged in and stood in front of the two with arms crossed.
"You got some explaining to do, you two." He harshly stared at them.
As for Ophis? Fuck the Dragon God! When he's pissed, he's PISSED.
However, Ophis doesn't seem to mind this as she just waved her hand at him and uttered a single word, "Hello."
It was only Tomoko who was shivering in fear. The gears in her brain are overclocking as she tries to come up with a good enough reason.
Kenshin snorted at her attempt, "Yeah, right. Since you already have a gist of what I am considering you two already know each other, just to let you know that no lie escapes from me. So, the truth please?"
His words made her deflate like a balloon.
"I-I…"
Looking at her new friend being like this, Ophis, with her recently warmed cold heart, decided to help her.
"Your sister has a Sacred Gear. I didn't expect that it would slip under your nose."
"You have a what!?" Kenshin's eyes widened in surprise as Ophis's words hit him like a speeding train.
Of course, he knows about Sacred Gears! He learned it from Yasaka! A supposed tool that was said to randomly possess humans to help them defend themselves from the harsh Supernatural forces around them.
"Hold on. You're telling me that you have a sacred gear all this time?"
"Why do you sound like you're blaming me. I just also discovered it now!" Tomoko placed her hands on her waist and huffed.
Kenshin blinked in surprise, "Seriously?"
"Ophis-chan just told me about. Something along the lines of having a draconic smell inside me or something."
O-Ophis-chan? Really? I was just gone for like a day and you two are on stage already? His mouth twitched but he shifted his focus to the matter at hand.
"Alright. Fine. Just stay there and I'll see it for myself." Pushing her on the bed, Kenshin stretched his hand and pulled the lower part of her cloth that revealed her flat stomach.
Seeing this, combined with the feeling of being pushed to the soft mattress by her brother, Tomoko blushed heavily, her eyes turned steamy as she felt powerless and at Kenshin's mercy.
"B-Be gentle!" She mustered the courage and said.
Both Kenshin and even Ophis, who was already accustomed to Tomoko's personality, tried their best to ignore her weird antics.
As soon as the tip of his fingers came in contact with her soft belly. Kenshin instantly brought himself inside her.
Soon, he traversed through the complex patterns of her soul and immediately arrived at his destination.
True to Ophis's words, there's another soul residing inside and although he's not familiar with the smell of draconic in this world, he could still tell that this soul possesses considerable strength.
"It's a dragon," Kenshin murmured to himself as the disbelief on his face betrayed his stoic expression.
In front of him stood an enormous dragon that easily towers over even the tallest building in the world, Burj Khalifa.
His red gleaming scales were properly aligned throughout his body along with his menacing stare that could make even the strongest of wills flinch.
"I have been found, human. Or should I say, Great Magician?"
"…Who are you?" Kenshin curiously asked. Yasaka told him about Sacred Gears but she didn't exactly go into detail about them.
He sensed a prideful smirk on the dragon's face as he straightened himself, his red scales adjusting as he stretched his body.
The red dragon then spread his wings far and wide before expressing himself with a loud booming voice that echoed around them, "Behold! You are staring at the one and only, Heavenly Dragon, Red Dragon Emperor! The Red Dragon of Domination! Y Ddraig Goch!"
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[Power Stones!]
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[Next Chapter: Ch. 67 - The Red Dragon Emperor!]