Because Mei had composed herself quickly, Ryoma Raiden didn't notice anything wrong.
He even thought to himself, as expected of my daughter, facing that kind of scene and still so confident.
Kiana remained quiet but she was always quiet at the Raiden dinner table, so no one found it unusual.
Before bed, Shiraha went upstairs late. He stood in the second-floor hallway, waiting for Siegfried.
Footsteps came from the stairwell.
Siegfried walked up, holding a cup of cold tea. He paused when he saw Shiraha.
"Still not back in your room with your imaginary friend?"
He instinctively jabbed, his tone wasn't kind, but there was no real malice either. They were used to this.
Elysia narrowed her eyes. She swore she'd originally felt some sympathy for Siegfried, but... the fairy lady was dead. Now she was exclusively Little Shiraha's Elysia-nee!
"Nee-chan and I have plenty of time at night, we don't need to rush." Shiraha was used to it. "But I think we should talk about Kiana first."
"She seems very curious about the Second Eruption. This afternoon, at the place we went, there was some intel about Cecilia. Kiana barely said a word all evening."
Siegfried was taken aback: "Where did you find information about the Second Eruption?"
Shiraha blinked, looking confused and a little uneasy: "At the warehouse this afternoon?"
Siegfried was quiet for a moment, his gaze slowly turning dangerous: "Looks like someone else showed up after you left."
He ruffled Shiraha's hair, this time his tone was much kinder: "Kid, next time something like this happens, be more detailed. Don't let some rats slip through the cracks."
Shiraha fell silent, inwardly grimacing, but on the surface, he nodded seriously: "I will, Siegfried..."
The direct address made Siegfried instantly toss any goodwill he'd just gained into the trash.
He withdrew his hand, cup in tow, and turned toward his room.
"Go to bed. Don't worry about this anymore."
Though he should be on alert, Siegfried actually felt relieved.
Lately, Otto seemed to have tacitly allowed him to settle here and that had made him uneasy.
Now that something had finally surfaced, at least he felt a little better.
Shiraha quietly returned to his room and, under Elysia's puzzled gaze, buried his face in the bedding: "It's over."
His voice was muffled. Knowing Shiraha's habits, Elysia also flopped into the blanket, her voice equally muffled: "What's wrong? Did the plan hit a snag?"
Shiraha lifted his face, looking miserable: "Useless Otto, why does he have to be so efficient?"
He rolled over, staring at the stars on the ceiling: "I shouldn't have told Siegfried. I should've handled it myself."
Though everything had gone smoothly at the warehouse that afternoon, a straightforward bait, they were still just kids, greenhouse-raised ones at that.
What if things were too complicated for them to figure out?
Shiraha understood Otto's approach, but he hadn't expected Otto's way of dealing with everyone else: playing both sides.
He'd prepared two sets of information. Shiraha suspected that the moment they left, a Valkyrie, or Fu Hua herself, had returned and altered everything in that warehouse.
Elysia tilted her head: "Does this affect your plan?"
Shiraha looked miserable: "I originally wanted to make contact with Schicksal and see if I could fool the Overseer. I'm in the Far East, he's in Europe, no matter how smart he is, the distance and time difference should give us some room to maneuver."
After all, he had Intel Elysia, in a sense, all of Otto's surveillance on this side would be broken.
Openly, he couldn't get past Me Corp; covertly, he couldn't get past Elysia-nee.
"But now that this is out in the open, Siegfried will be more vigilant about searching this area, and my chances of inheriting Schicksal drop significantly."
Shiraha covered his face.
Elysia hesitated, then wriggled closer, reaching out to ruffle Shiraha's hair.
"Honestly, this is fine, Little Shiraha. A person only has so much energy, you don't have to try to solve everything at once."
She wanted to keep comforting him, but... if Shiraha, who always juggled so many things, hit his limit one day, would he realize he had limits too, and cry in a big sister's arms?
Never mind, her little brother should be all-powerful. She quickly tossed that thought aside.
"Sigh." Shiraha recovered quickly.
"It's fine, problems happen. I can hold off on contacting Schicksal for now."
He let out a long breath, back to his usual self.
Elysia blinked, her voice soft and tentative: "Um, Little Shiraha... would you like to be sad for a little longer?"
That way she could use comforting him as an excuse to snuggle a kid.
Shiraha blinked, instantly understanding, he never killed the mood. After all, spending time with a big sister wasn't unpleasant. Who wouldn't like a pretty and powerful one?
His voice quivered: "Nee-chan, I, I..."
"Don't say a word, I understand."
Elysia instantly got into character, pulling Little Shiraha into her arms with gentle movements.
...
The next day at school, during break, Kiana wasn't spacing out or extending her sleep, she was reading. A history book. Specifically, modern history.
But clearly, the book in her hands wasn't satisfying her.
"Shiraha, where's the school library?"
Kiana looked at Shiraha, who always seemed to have time to answer her questions.
Shiraha paused: "Are you looking into the Second Eruption?"
No one was paying attention to them. The class had plenty of cliques, but they all deliberately avoided Shiraha and Kiana. Two outcasts sitting together, no chemistry there.
Kiana nodded.
She was curious about Cecilia. That name stirred something strange in her heart. And Sirin too...
There were still 8 minutes of break. Shiraha gave a quick answer: "Come to the club at noon, I can tell you then."
Kiana blinked, you know about the Second Eruption too?
She'd searched online all night and found almost nothing. Well, there had been a few posts this morning that were already deleted, mentioning bits about the Second Eruption. They matched yesterday's intel almost perfectly.
As she returned to her seat, she asked uncertainly: "You're sure you know?"
"I've seen the footage."
Since the original plan was already busted anyway, Shiraha sighed, might as well build Kiana's favor myself.
Kiana instantly felt at ease, Shiraha never lied! At least, that's what she believed.
Fu Hua glanced back at the two of them, her gaze hidden beneath her bangs, looking cold and reclusive. She pursed her lips and turned back.
Hopefully everything goes smoothly. She really didn't like playing the role of a loner at school.
By lunch break, while Elysia was still yawning, Kiana had already gotten up and walked over to Shiraha.
But Mei was faster: "Let's go to the club!"
Mei stood at Shiraha's desk, confident and radiant.
Elysia suddenly sensed something off, her little brother, who'd always been a loner, mostly holding her hand as they walked to and from school and the club, how come he was suddenly so popular?
Wasn't he supposed to be a nobody at school?
Back to the matter at hand, Shiraha did seem more popular today, but Kiana didn't fight Mei for his attention. Her mind was elsewhere.
The club was as quiet as ever, the Hokushin Ittō-ryū Youth Training Camp was never too rowdy, except during training.
Mei did her usual thing, slapping the table with her little hand, a gesture she believed drew everyone's focus to her.
"Everyone, I've decided that starting today, the core focus of the Hokushin Ittō-ryū Youth Training Camp will change to learning how to use Honkai energy, starting now!"
Yuna looked bewildered, so the nearly two years of Hokushin Ittō-ryū training I did was now just... abandoned?
Also, what was Honkai energy?
Mei looked at Shiraha: "We're making the change starting today at noon. Don't worry, Yuna I'll teach you."
Yuna nodded in confusion, probably just the boss learning some new fancy stuff.
Shiraha: ....
You're going to teach?
Fu Hua was also silent for a moment, is this how Anti-Entropy raises kids? Letting children teach other children Honkai manipulation?
That's absurd!
"Um are you done?" Kiana stood up: "Can I have a private word with Shiraha now?"
Mei: ....
Such a direct provocation, Kiana.
No wonder the books she'd read all said, "A new official strikes three fires." If those fires didn't catch, things would get troublesome.
Shiraha spoke up: "Actually, Mei-nee also knows about the Second Eruption."
Fu Hua was even more confused, wait, wait, Otto, didn't you swear that given the three Anti-Entropy heads' personalities, they'd never show kids this information?
Why do both Shiraha and Mei know?
Kiana blinked, her little mind racing: "I don't think this change should be made so hastily. As the club president, Mei should first say something inspiring, then tell a story about the history of Honkai."
"That would make it perfect."
Mei stared expressionlessly at Kiana, but Kiana looked obedient and well-behaved, at least for now.
She let out a light huff.
"I know this change might be hard for everyone to accept." She cleared her throat, raising her voice slightly: "But last night, I realized that swordsmanship can't save the world."
"The only thing in this world that truly matters is Honkai energy."
Fu Hua seemed to want to say something, but remembering her persona, she stayed quiet.
Mei spoke confidently: "And the Second Eruption was a war fought by top-tier Honkai users against the evil Sirin."
She lifted her head: "I've seen footage of it at the lab."
Fu Hua shot up from her seat, these brats had seen footage?! Her memories of that time were blurry, but she'd been involved in many of those events.
Then Mei added sheepishly: "Partial footage of the final battle."
She looked at Fu Hua in confusion. Fu Hua was silent for a moment, then very, very slowly sat back down.
"Sorry, I've been over-exercising lately. Leg cramp."
She bent over and rubbed her calf, moving naturally.
Mei made a mental note about Fu Hua, something felt off about her reaction... could she have talent too, like the delinquent senpai?
Kiana looked at Mei with pleading eyes: "Club president~ go on..."
Compared to the always-evasive Shiraha, Mei was much easier to get information out of. And she probably rarely thought before speaking.
Mei cleared her throat twice, basking in everyone's attention, including Yae Sakura's earnest listening, and straightened her back.
"The mastermind behind the Second Eruption was undoubtedly the Herrscher of Void, Sirin."
"From what I know, it was Siegfried, in a half-beast, half-Honkai form, who ultimately defeated Sirin."
Shiraha subtly shifted his seat, moving silently beside Kiana.
He thought for a moment, but didn't add anything.
There really wasn't much to add. Saying something good about Sirin was a bit... well, Shiraha found his moral flexibility was quite high.
He whispered: "Actually, I've talked to Sirin, she wasn't that hard to communicate with."
Mei shot Shiraha a flat stare, you have other girls I don't know about out there?
She felt their bond was truly fading. In the past, they'd told each other everything.
But this involved another girl and such a powerful villain, and Shiraha hadn't told her!
"Did she really kill... Cecilia?"
Kiana asked softly, nearly saying "mother" before catching herself.
After correcting herself, she felt a little strange, why did she correct herself? She should call her mother.
"I don't know. But Sirin hates this world, hates Siegfried." Shiraha thought for a moment: "But she's actually pretty easy to talk to, at least, she's gentle with kids."
Mei added: "A world-ending villain who's gentle with kids."
Shiraha paused: "Maybe."
Kiana pressed her lips together, lost in thought.
After a moment, she looked at Mei: "Was Dad's depression also because of her?"
Mei: ....
I don't know.
Kiana curled her lip, Mei was all talk, impressive-looking but useless. She had the aura of being all-powerful, but in reality, she couldn't do anything.
She turned to Shiraha. Shiraha looked back at Kiana, more precisely, at K423, with a complicated feeling, and shook his head.
"Probably not. When I talked to her, she didn't seem that hard to get along with."
Shiraha stared intently into Kiana's eyes. When he confirmed they weren't turning gold, he relaxed a little.
Kiana pressed: "Can you still contact her?"
Shiraha was silent for a moment: "She's not talking to me anymore. But that's fine, we made a promise. I'll try to make this world a better place before she wakes up next time."
Kiana made an "uh" sound, that's a pretty positive promise you two have.
Beside them, Mei's face was taut, her expression serious.
"Shiraha." Her voice was low, carrying a hint of older-sister authority: "Dad's right, you really should be more cautious about other women."
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