Tale of Discovery

Chapter 260: Trouble (1/2)

Waking up early morning, I take a moment to check my surroundings, only to realize that Yoshino isn't within my arms.

I immediately shoot up from the bed and use my senses to check on everyone in the house.

To my surprise, only Yoshino, who is currently sitting in front of the TV in the living room, is home. Tohka and Kotori are nowhere to be seen.

Perplexed, I check the time.

Shit.

It seems like I hadn't woken up early like I normally would and Kotori didn't bother to wake me up. Well, either that, or she simply couldn't get herself to do so after last night's happenings.

Even so, why didn't Tohka wake me up? Did Kotori prevent her from doing so?

Shaking my head in exasperation, I proceed to quickly get changed into my school uniform before leaving the room and heading downstairs.

---

Arriving at school, I'm disappointed to not receive any 'warning' from AI regarding a Code or Binary Factor.

Letting out a sigh, I directly head over to my class and enter the room.

The moment I step into class, practically all eyes lock onto me, including those of my 'teacher', Reine.

Looking into her eyes, I nod my head once, which she responds to be nodding her own.

And so, I walk over to my seat and sit down, not heeding much attention to the students' curious stares conversations.

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"Shido," Tohka's apologetic voice reaches my ears, "I'm sorry. I wanted to wake you up, but-"

Understanding what happened, I raise my left arm to stop her from talking before beaming her a smile and asking, "Kotori didn't let you, right?"

As a response to my inquiry, Tohka simply nods her head once with a slightly anxious look in her eyes.

"Don't worry about it," I say, "It doesn't matter much."

Hearing my words, Tohka releases a sigh of relief before she shifts her focus over to Reine who has begun teaching.

--

The bell signifying the start of lunch-break rings. Along with it, students rise from their seats and make their way over to their friends in preparation to head over to the canteen.

This reminds me... What is Tohka going to be eating for lunch? After all, I didn't get to prepare any lunch boxes today.

All of a sudden, a rectangular pink object slams onto my desk as Origami appears standing beside me with her hand on top of the object.

Upon inspecting the pink object, I realize that it's a lunch box wrapped in some soft cloth.

How odd. Is this supposed to be for me? Did she know I wouldn't be bringing any lunch boxes to school, or did she just plan to hand it over randomly?

Releasing a sigh, I peer into Origami's eyes and ask, "Is this for me?"

"Yes," she bluntly responds before retracting her hand from the lunch box and keenly staring at me with a slightly expectant look in her eyes.

To my left, I sense an intense glare from Tohka, but I decide to ignore it as I proceed to undo the cloth wrapped around the lunch box and lift the lid.

The next thing I know, my brain jams as a wonderful scent wafts through the air and into my nose.

"Ugh," Tohka's voice reaches my ears as her eyes widen at the sight of the food.

Taking a look at the food, I notice that it's a rather neatly prepared lunch box consisting of rice and a few other extra bits added to it.

All in all, the food is quite inviting.

"It looks delicious," I remark, to which Origami simply nods her head before casting a disdainful glance at the now-drooling Tohka.

At this moment, AI's voice resounds within my head:

{Code detected. Identified: Kurumi Tokisaki.}

A smile forms on my lips as I get up from my seat, somewhat startling Origami.

"Where are you doing?" she asks.

"To greet a guest," I respond, intending to leave the classroom, but Origami steps forth and stands in front of me.

Before I can berate her for her actions, a certain black-haired female enters the classroom in graceful steps.

Looking over at the new arrival, who is none other than Kurumi, I notice a few streaks of blood on her hands on her dainty hands which she is wiping using a small black handkerchief.

As a response to her appearance, Origami turns around with a shocked look on her face while Tohka just curiously gazes at her.

"Good afternoon, Shido. I assume you've been doing well?" Kurumi says once she has gotten close enough.

"I've been doing fine, thank you. How about you?" I respond in a manner complimenting hers.

Surprisingly, Kurumi doesn't respond but instead looks over at the lunch box set on the table and asks, "What a pleasant-smelling food."

"Yes," I respond with a smile, "It was cooked by Origami over here."

Kurumi proceeds to inspect Origami, whom I am pointing at, from head to toe as an odd glint shimmers in her eyes.

"Ara~ Isn't this a familiar face?" Kurumi says before giggling.

Hearing her words, Origami gulps audibly as her expression turns dour.

"Say, Shido, do you mind if I have a word with her?" Kurumi asks as she shifts her sight back to me.

Upon hearing her words, I glimpse at the handkerchief she just stuffed into her skirt's pocket before furrowing my brows and asking, "What do you need her for?"

"A short discussion," she responds with a smile covering her lips.

I continue to stare at her for a few seconds before letting out a sigh and turning my head to face Origami.

"What do you want to do?" I ask.

Hearing my query, Origami adopts a serious expression as she remains silent for a short while before nodding her head and saying, "There is no problem."

"You heard her," I say as I shift my focus back to Kurumi.

"Indeed," Kurumi responds as the smile on her lips grows.

Hah~ This is troublesome. It's somewhat obvious that it's a bad idea to let this 'discussion' occur, but doing that would make it seem like I'm standing against Kurumi.

As I am trying to obtain information from Kurumi and possibly turn her into my ally, going against her is not favorable in any way.

For now, I can let her do what she wants as long as it doesn't cross a certain line. Naturally, I will be keeping my 'sight' on them during the discussion to make sure nothing goes wrong.

Worst case scenario, Kurumi will attempt something unsightly, and I would have to make use of my time-stop ability to stop her.

"It seems like you don't trust me much, Shido," Kurumi's voice interrupts my thoughts.

"That's not the case at all," I say while keeping my composure.

Kurumi doesn't press on the matter any longer as she focuses on Origami and says, "We shall take our leave now."

As a response to this, Origami simply nods her head before the two of them begin to walk out of the classroom under the curious eyes of the students who have yet to leave.