[New Fanfic is Up!!]
[Bleach: No System, Just Skill]
The next day.
They were currently in Akihabara, the heartland of otaku culture.
As Kain swept through the stores, he encountered quite a few familiar works.
Some were exactly the same as the versions he had seen. Others that had remained unfinished in his original world were either still being serialized here or had already reached their conclusions.
There were even franchises with new stories from entirely different timelines.
One example was the version of Digimon centered on Taichi. Asuna's world apparently had another adaptation following a parallel version of him.
The WarGreymon evolved from Taichi's Agumon in this version was noticeably different from the one Kain remembered.
This WarGreymon was enormous—practically the size of a Gundam.
Fans had even nicknamed it "War God Greymon" because its strength was so absurd.
As a result, that version of Digimon was also jokingly called The Legend of Taichi. Nearly the entire story revolved around him, with WarGreymon slaughtering its way through everything until it reached the final boss.
Wasn't WarGreymon supposed to specialize in hunting dragon-type Digimon?
Some of the powerful enemies it defeated along the way were not dragons at all. That led to another running joke: if WarGreymon thought something looked like a dragon, then it was a dragon—and therefore vulnerable to its Dramon Killers.
Kain was now rapidly skimming through several episodes from the first season of Gundam SEED, comparing them with the anime from Kuroneko's world.
The art style was slightly different, though not enough to be particularly noticeable. Some of the shot composition and storyboarding had also changed.
Overall, however, the plot was almost identical.
Hmm?
"86—Eighty-Six?"
This world had that series as well, and its anime adaptation was scheduled to premiere next month.
In Kain's original world, two seasons had already aired.
"Does your world have the same story?" Asuna asked after noticing his expression.
In truth, something had been bothering her.
According to the calendar used in her world, Kain came from more than forty thousand years in the future.
Yet his era sounded truly horrific. Humanity hardly seemed to possess enough peace or leisure to develop such a flourishing culture of anime, manga, and games.
From Asuna's conversations with other members of the Hyperdimensional Channel, she had learned that this culture usually began flourishing near the end of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first.
Had it only appeared in Kain's world more than four hundred centuries later?
Something about that did not seem right.
"My world already has two seasons of the anime, while yours hasn't even started airing it yet. Asuna, make sure you buy the novels for me when they come out."
"All right."
Asuna nodded with a gentle smile.
The way she responded to him now resembled a devoted wife indulging her husband with all the tenderness she could muster.
Immediately afterward, she felt Alice and Strea staring sharply at her.
The two of them had already reached a rough conclusion about what had happened.
Strea, in particular, had managed to coax some information out of Yui. She had also carefully observed Asuna's movements that morning. Compared with the day before, Asuna seemed subtly uncomfortable, as though the previous night had left her exhausted.
If Asuna had awakened even ten minutes later, she might not have had enough time to conceal every trace of what had happened.
She had only slept for around two hours before morning arrived.
Under normal circumstances, she should have been in much worse condition. The Awakening Elixir had probably improved her constitution.
"Alice, her smile makes her look like a wicked little fox," Strea said with open hostility.
Now she understood why 6O had waited until today to provide her with a body.
It had been to prevent her from interrupting their good time.
Asuna had not been the only participant the previous night. 6O and 2B had been there as well.
There was no need to speculate. It was obvious from the way those two treated Kain today. Both seemed to be hiding strangely blissful smiles.
Even 2B, who had previously been quiet, reserved, and almost perpetually serious, now displayed the faintest trace of shyness whenever she reacted to Kain.
"Asuna!"
Alice stepped forward and called her name. Her expression was so serious and determined that it seemed she was about to make an important declaration.
"Yes? What is it?"
Although Asuna answered calmly, her feminine intuition had already warned her what Alice was likely to say.
The resolve in Alice's eyes seemed to declare that she would neither surrender nor retreat.
"I'll be your rival too."
"I understand."
Asuna responded with a polite smile.
Alice's declaration meant that she intended to become her romantic rival. In other words, Alice was openly admitting that she also loved Kain.
Strangely, Asuna did not feel especially nervous or fear that Alice might steal him away.
Honestly...
Kain was not a man any one woman could hope to keep entirely to herself.
What had happened the previous night represented Asuna's choice. She had accepted that Kain might live like the protagonists of certain anime and light novels, surrounded by multiple women.
If she had demanded absolute exclusivity, she never would have made that choice.
However, that did not mean Alice would be allowed to enter their relationship without proving herself.
Asuna could not control what happened in other worlds, but within her own world, she intended to hold the highest position.
If Kain was a king with several wives, then she would be his queen.
She would display the dignity of a queen while evaluating Alice and any others who wished to join them, making certain they clearly understood Asuna's place.
Of course, she could not merely award herself that title.
She would have to earn it.
Asuna was confident she could secure that throne and remain there.
"What a shame. We can't take anything from this world home with us," 6O lamented.
Because they had arrived through a cross-world support invitation, they could not bring objects from this world back with them.
If they tried carrying something through the dimensional passage, the object would simply fall outside the gateway instead of crossing over.
Likewise, anything they had brought with them would automatically return to their world once the support mission ended.
More precisely, this rule applied to things carried through the spatial entrance. It did not affect anything A2 had transported directly into Asuna's personal space.
Suddenly, 6O's expression changed.
Then what about the private keepsakes she and 2B had received from the Commander last night?
Oh.
Right.
She was being silly.
Those could be taken back. She and 2B had already returned home once that morning and confirmed it.
They had not handed the keepsakes over to Commander White. Those belonged to the two of them, and they had carefully stored them away.
Naturally, they had asked the Commander for permission first.
Kain had looked rather dumbfounded when they explained that they intended to treasure those things as precious gifts.
Come to think of it, wasn't A2 rather pitiful?
She had met the Commander before either of them, yet 6O and 2B had still gotten ahead of her.
To make it up to A2, the next time the Commander visited their world, they would leave nearly all of his time to her so the two could be alone together.
Oh, and 6O would have A2 preserve a private token of their time together.
Then she could compare it with her own.
Whoever received more must be the one the Commander liked more.
She and 2B had already made such a comparison.
Well, 2B had not wanted to participate, but 6O had pestered her relentlessly until she agreed.
In the end, 6O had lost—and by a considerable margin.
Clearly, the Commander liked 2B more, which was why she had received the greater reward.
From now on, 6O could use these comparisons to determine which of them the Commander favored most.
Hee-hee.
(End of Chapter)
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