Actually, Rin's embrace was not gentle, or rather, Rin's body didn't resemble that of a girl at all. To gain immense power, she had sacrificed the charm a girl should possess. Every inch of Rin's skin was a demonized physique, hard as gold and jade. Although it maintained the same excellent elasticity, without deliberately altering it with magic, Rin's body felt like a warm jade statue.
Therefore, Akiba wasn't particularly comfortable in Rin's arms, but it made her feel exceptionally safe. From the time she could remember, Akiba's daily life in the Tohno Family consisted only of studying various etiquette, knowledge, history, and so on. She had no friends and felt no familial affection.
When she saw Tohno Shinkyu's corpse, she felt not sadness, but bewildered panic. She didn't know who she could rely on after her strict father, who forced her to study every day, died. She had no friends, nor any other relatives to depend on; she only had a father who made strict demands of her every day.
But being held in Rin's arms, she felt an unparalleled sense of security. This suddenly appearing "sister" seemed more reliable than her father. This was also the first time Akiba had ever been held since she could remember; Tohno Shinkyu, in the past, never had.
Rin carried Akiba back to her room, gently placed her on her bed, and covered her with the blanket. With an emotionless expression like Alice, she turned away, not letting Akiba see her face, and said in a cold voice: "Sleep. I will handle everything."
"Mm." Akiba pulled the blanket up, covering most of her smiling face, leaving only a pair of bright, large eyes visible. In the unlit room, only the beam of light coming through the door was reflected. Akiba, lying on the bed, saw a figure covered by a long, dark coat. This still somewhat petite figure appeared incredibly tall in her eyes, like a mountain, something she could lean on... "Um... are you my Big Sister?" a weak voice asked.
"Big Sister, just call me that for now." With those inorganic words, Rin closed Akiba's door. Looking at Kohaku and Hisui standing by the door, and a handsome young man holding a notebook, Rin's emotionless expression immediately collapsed. She looked regretful, as if she had run five hundred li and then run back, leaning against the wall as if utterly exhausted. "I never thought maintaining an emotionless face would be so tiring! I wonder how Alice manages to keep that expression all day."
Kohaku and Hisui, standing on either side, visibly sighed in relief. They didn't know much about Rin and were afraid she might have multiple personality disorder. And the handsome young man was Kazuto, whose girlfriend had dumped him for Rin. He was one of the twenty subgroups under Rin's Rose Group. In this operation, only he, his ex-girlfriend Asuna, and Rin's old subordinate Orie Shiroi had accompanied Rin to take over the Tohno Family.
Kazuto, full name Kirigaya Kazuto. Every time Rin saw such a handsome and cheerful face, she felt a deep malice from the world. His ex-girlfriend, needless to say, was Yuuki Asuna! In this world, which lacked a certain deadly killing game, these two had directly staged a drama of a commoner's rise to a rich, beautiful woman!
The story of a seventeen-year-old corporate heiress bravely eloping with a genius programming boy a year younger than her! Fleeing their homeland and traveling thousands of miles, they finally arrived in Misaki City. There, Orie Shiroi, with her discerning eye, spotted them wandering the streets and recruited them into the organization. When Orie Shiroi introduced this brave and ill-fated couple to Rin, Rin completely collapsed… Meeting old acquaintances in a foreign land—though Rin knew them unilaterally and they didn't know Rin—Rin felt she had to help such a warm couple, especially since they were both very talented people. So, they were quickly promoted together to group leader positions by Rin, which was originally a beautiful story.
But then both of them changed their minds—what the hell was that… And the object of their changed affection was the same person… One has to admit that Rin's final version of her hypnotic magic was too powerful. Perhaps for fellow Maguss involved in the supernatural, the effect wasn't as obvious, but for ordinary people, it had essentially reached the level of forcibly guiding their thoughts. To ensure the stability of the Rose Group, which was originally composed of a group of morally deficient ruffians, Rin kept this wide-area hypnotic magic constantly active as long as they were in the Rose Group. As long as Rin's figure was within their line of sight, they would fall under the spell of the hypnosis.
The hypnotic content Rin set was "distant admiration and deeply hidden love." Pure loyalty did not exist; there is no unprovoked loyalty in human emotions. Rin could not be like a general, standing and being with the Rose Group every day. Even in the unification of Misaki City's underworld, Rin rarely appeared. Soldier-like loyalty to a general-style commander was impossible and would definitely lead to problems if used.
Developing an emotion like "I can die for her" for no reason would make anyone feel like something was wrong with them.
Therefore, Tohsaka Rin adopted a feeling similar to unrequited love, a complex and '詭異' (eerie) emotional hypnosis between men and women, like 'I would give anything just to catch a glimpse of her occasionally.' In essence, it was a 'perpetual backup' mindset!
Under Rin's wide-area, indiscriminate bombardment, she now had over 2,000 'backups' in the Rose Group, both male and female!
Even that once deeply moving official couple couldn't withstand Rin's 'poisonous touch'...
Rin looked troubled as Kazuto, who had left Asuna to clean up the mess and pushed Orie Shiroi aside to report to her, approached.
She ran a hand through her hair, a headache brewing.
He hadn't confessed, so she couldn't just say, 'We can't be together, you should treat her well,' could she?
"What are the casualties like?"
"Surprisingly good. Tohno Shinkyu probably truly went all out this time, leaving fewer than thirty people to guard the estate.
Although there's a huge disparity in weapons, we have over two hundred people, and you know how good Shina's marksmanship is; as long as she's within a hundred meters, she can make a pistol feel like a sniper rifle.
So, there are only a dozen serious injuries and about forty minor ones.
Currently, there are no confirmed deaths, but we can't rule out the possibility of injuries worsening and leading to death."
"...Mm."
So I even sent my'second wife' to your side, why don't you even look at her!
Why do you keep coming to me every day?!
We can't be together!
Malice, this is absolutely the deepest malice in the world.
Since it used me to break up other people's couples, is the original work/canon also part of the FFF Group?
Rin troubledly patted her forehead and continued, "What about the others? Shouldn't you be searching and opening the Tohno Family's vault and managing the Tohno Family's stock movements? Why are you still here with me?"
Kirigaya Kazuto grinned and followed behind Rin, saying, "I've already arranged for people to prepare the facilities; I'll be in position once they're ready.
By the way, Big Sister, are you and the Tohno Family's young lady really not sisters?
You two look so much alike when you're together! You must be sisters; I always feel like you're the same person!"
"Nonsense, do you think your Big Sister was born from that old thief Tohno Shinkyu?!"
"True.
Then is it possible that Akiba isn't Tohno Shinkyu's biological daughter, but your long-lost sister?"
Rin chuckled and turned to look at her subordinate, saying, "Don't think too much.
I have no connection to the Tohno Family whatsoever, and Akiba is 100% Tohno Shinkyu's biological daughter.
Every individual's existence is absolutely unique yet not singular; in different times, different places, and even different worlds, there is always one or even several people who are similar to you yet absolutely different.
This coincidence is also an inevitability; perhaps they will never meet, but they truly exist."
"Big Sister, what you're saying is too profound; I don't understand."
"It means that in another world, there will also be a Kirigaya Kazuto, happily in love with Asuna and playing online games, and there should also be a girl named Asada Shino by his side, always wanting to stage a comeback and become the main wife!
And a capable younger sister named Kirigaya Suguha."
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