"So direct contact is the only way to retrieve the remnant within him?"
"Yes, it is. You shouldn't be that way, after all. He risked his life to save you."
"Yeah, I guess he did."
Jin, who had been having a mental back and forth with the two entities in his head, finally turned back to face Jean, whose expression had returned to normal.
"Okay, so can you tell me why I am here?"
"Well, sure. I met with the Phoenix while I was unconscious."
At those words, Jin's expression shifted instantly, and Jean noticed.
"Wait, what's wrong?"
"It's nothing. I am just concerned if her meeting you is a good thing or a bad thing."
"Well, she didn't seem to want to harm me, so I'd say harmless for now."
"Great. Now you can continue."
"Yes, where was I?"
"The Phoenix told me that that wave that hit us was another fragment of hers."
Jin nodded, as he was already aware of this.
"She also said that since some got into your system—"
This time, Jin reacted massively.
"Wait, what do you mean she told you about my system? Is that something she can just tell anyone?"
"Is there something wrong with your body that she shouldn't have said?" Jean said as she looked curious.
"Well, no. Nothing is wrong with my body."
Jean looked confused. Just moments ago, he had reacted fiercely at the mention of his body, but now he sounded confused.
"Okay, then."
"The Phoenix said that the remnant of that wave is still in your body, and I need it."
"Oh, so you meant to say body," Jin said with relief.
He truly didn't know how he would be seen by someone like her, who had always had issues with her powers, when she found out that a machine handed out abilities to him like lottery cards.
"Ahem. Sorry about that. So how do you get it back?"
This time, it was Jean's turn to have a reaction.
She turned her head away, trying to find how to speak the words.
After all, asking a boy to maintain direct skin contact for an hour every day could be interpreted in several ways.
Most of them not good, per se.
Jean steeled her resolve and said it out loud… almost too loud.
"I need you to keep direct skin contact with me for an hour."
An awkward silence fell over the room.
Jean buried her face in her hands, mortified.
As for Jin, well, Jin was having a mental battle at this moment.
"Yoshinobu-kun, it seems your luck with women isn't so bad after all."
Gojo spoke first.
Even Sukuna had paused his reading for a moment.
Not that Jin could see that.
"Gojo-san."
"We are both thinking the same thing, right?"
"Yes, Jin-kun. Either that or collective delusion."
Sukuna could no longer hold back his words.
"You idiot. Did you forget why she called you here in the first place? You hear such words from a girl, and your brain decides to take a cold plunge. No wonder you were still a virgin in your past life even up to your 40s."
Jin and Gojo went silent.
Jin for how he was humbled, and Gojo for the fact that Sukuna had said so much in one go, which was unlike the punch-first, ask-questions-later persona of the King of Curses.
Jin remained still. After all, he hadn't thought of his past life in all the time he had spent in the Marvel universe.
I mean, why would he?
He had nothing waiting for him back there. No parents, no family, no girlfriend or wife.
He truly was a certified virgin at 40.
"But not this time," Jin said inwardly with conviction.
This time, I will not be single.
I will not end up a virgin.
And I sure as hell will not end up with only one woman.
"Okay, okay, hold your horses, kid," Gojo interrupted him.
"Don't you know keeping a woman waiting is wrong?"
"Yeah, my bad."
"Jean."
Jin turned to her as he spoke.
"Holding hands is good enough, right?"
He waited for an answer, but Jean just shook her head.
"Okay, what is good enough?"
[If I may interject, Host.]
"No, you may not," Jin said, but as usual, the system ignored him.
[You may put your palm directly onto her bare back.]
[Or, for something risque, maybe a topless hug would do the trick.]
Jin froze. Gojo froze. Sukuna paused.
Even the King of Curses was surprised by the system's suggestion, but he merely raised an eyebrow and went back to reading.
Jin avoided the second suggestion and relayed the first to Jean.
"What about my palms on your bare back?" Jin said, but he quickly followed up with another statement.
"Don't get me wrong. You said direct contact, and this was the best I could come up with without crossing any lines."
Jean scoffed at those words.
"As if asking me to take off my top isn't already crossing those lines."
"I know, okay, okay, and I am sorry, but you called me here, not the other way around. So if you have a better idea, then tell me. Rather that than you calling me a pervert out of nowhere."
Jean felt aggrieved at his words, and she felt he was wrong but couldn't let him find out that her telepathy could now hear his thoughts.
That was another load of problems.
"Okay, we'll do it."
"But if I catch you peeping, I'll turn you into roast chicken."
"Yeah, yeah. Now what?"
"Turn around and go stand at the door."
"And don't turn back until I say so."
Jin turned around and stood at the door, waiting as he heard the rustle of clothes.
He was confused.
"Isn't she only taking off her top?"
"That isn't any business of yours, Jin-kun."
"Yeah, right. It isn't."
Right now, I feel like a kindergarten student taking a timeout.
After a couple more minutes, the rustle of clothes ceased, and Jean spoke.
"You can turn around now."
Jin, who was almost dozing off as his head rested on the door, stood properly and turned back to Jean.
But the sight…
Oh, the sight.
Jean's hair fell loosely around her shoulders, exposing the elegant curve of her neck and the smooth skin stretching down between her shoulders. The bare expanse of her back was impossible to ignore, especially with the subtle definition of her muscles and the graceful line of her spine drawing his eyes downward. From the angle he was standing, the sides of her chest were just barely visible around the edges, adding another detail Jin really didn't need to notice. The edge of her waistband sat just below her waist, leaving a tantalizing strip of skin exposed and making Jin suddenly realize that turning around had been a terrible idea for his self-control.
For someone who had spent the last few minutes trying very hard not to peek, he was now doing a spectacularly poor job of looking anywhere else.
"Are you done staring?"
Jean asked, the annoyance barely hidden in her tone.
"Oh, but I'm not. I could stare even longer."
"Shut up and get over here, Jin."
"Alright, alright."
Jin walked over and sat at the side of the bed.
Raising his hands, he asked, "So I just put my palms on your back?"
"Yes, just that."
As his palms met Jean's bare back, Jin felt the smoothness and softness of her back.
At the same moment, a wave of exhaustion came over him as he felt like his strength was being sucked dry and sent into Jean's body.
He tried to pull away, but his body stayed still, like it didn't want to move.
This continued for almost an hour, after which Jin felt too exhausted to move, but he raised his hands and rolled over into the bed beside Jean, who immediately jumped from the bed at the contact.
"What do you think you're doing, Jin?"
"Ugh, go away."
"I'm too drained to talk right now."
"Go away."
Even as he spoke, Jin felt his consciousness leave him, and he succumbed to his exhaustion, not knowing that his life and the way he viewed the world would have changed massively by the time he woke up.
A/N(Author's Note):
Hey guys,
Khaos here.
So, today's chapter...
Pheww.
I did this, and I don't regret it.
Also, I got a comment saying that my character talks too much. I think so too, so I have adopted new ways to keep the pacing without making out Jin-kun an edgy protagonist.
The next few, or rather, couple chapters are gonna set the stage for that.
So, please, the following chapters are gonna feel like a new book, but trust me, it is not.
Also, I wanted to add a subsystem function to his template after the coming chapters as an evolution for the system. Please drop suggestions in the comments.
P.S.: Except a world travelling system, as there is already a plan in place for that, though it is not a system.
Okay, I'm talking too much. Bye.