It's been a week since my call to Shiori. On the same day, I sent a message informing that I wouldn't be able to contact anyone and that I wouldn't be going to school for a week.
This time, I got a medical certificate from Lars so I wouldn't have absences. I don't want to hear Tamae's complaints about my absences.
I've had this week to do various things. I did some "jobs" for Lars in exchange for money and ended up making 800 million yen from the various tasks I completed for him.
At least he is generous with payment. Although the jobs were easy, they would have been impossible for a normal person and even with a Realizer, they would still be very difficult, so the payment is fair.
I tried to find out the name of my Demon King... with little success in that area.
Kurumi still hasn't found Mukuro. Of course, I didn't expect her to find her quickly anyway.
At the moment, I'm heading to school, passing by the street full of cats. This time, all the cats run away.
"Now they don't even try to get angry anymore." Before, some of them would get irritated and meow to drive me away, but after what I did in several cities, now they all run away as soon as I appear.
I can even imagine what Kurumi would say when she sees this, something like, "Aurélio-san seems to be a bit hated, hihihi," in a mocking tone.
I arrive in the classroom and enter. I usually come early, so I am one of the first to arrive.
After a few moments, the teacher enters.
"Students, I have three pieces of news today..." Tamae says somewhat shyly.
"First, your classmate Shido Itsuka had to make a trip, so he will not be at school for the next few months." After delivering this news, practically no student seemed to care much. Of course, Shido isn't even friends with any of them thanks to me, so this reaction is obvious.
"Second, we will have a new student. She is a relative of Shido and has come to our school as a special addition." The mention of a new student stirs up the class a bit, as the classes had already started for a while and a new student now is unusual for those who have already gotten used to the classroom.
"Come in, don't be shy," Tamae says, encouraging whoever is behind the door to enter.
A beautiful girl with long blue hair enters the room. Her eyes are brown, and she is 1.55 meters tall. Her uniform fits well with her body, creating a cute image.
"Nice to meet you... My name is Shiori... Shiori Itsuka," she says, super nervous, looking down and not daring to face the room. I notice from here that her face is red with embarrassment and I hold back the urge to laugh at her introduction.
The boys in the class are very excited about the new student and start talking to each other.
"Please sit in Shido's seat, Shiori-san," Tamae says to Shiori, who then walks hesitantly to the desk.
I ignore Tamae's third piece of news, which apparently is about her having gotten a date, which will probably go wrong.
"Hello Shiori-san, can I call you that?" I ask Shiori, who is now sitting in the chair near mine.
"Ah... I... yes, you can call me that," she seems confused about her response, hesitating. Of course, I know the reason for her hesitation.
Now that she has to live as a girl, she will face considerable difficulties in class, whether answering other girls' questions or trying to make friends in the room.
I notice that she is wearing the necklace I gave as a gift, and this gives me an idea of how I can reveal that I know who she is.
"Shiori-san... do you know if Shido is doing well? He didn't seem very well a week ago and now he has traveled," I try to talk to her using perception change so that the class doesn't notice and interrupt our conversation.
"Yes... yes, he is fine. Some things just happened..." She doesn't continue, as if implying that she doesn't want to talk about this subject.
"I see, well, I'm glad he's better then," I say with a smile. I can see a slight happiness in her eyes, probably because I'm showing my friendship with Shido to her.
"Are you... Shido's sister? You look too much alike to be a distant relative," I ask curiously for the answer.
"Yes?... I am... I am his sister, yes," That's a good answer for me. I think she wasn't prepared for this question right away.
"I see..." I just say that as she seems somewhat nervous.
I don't start another conversation but spend the rest of the class observing her slightly blatantly so that she notices.
This ends up making her embarrassed, not knowing why I'm doing this.
At lunchtime, I go to the terrace while I wait. When Shiori enters it.
"Hello Shiori-san, why are you here?"
"Of course, it's because... oh, sorry, I think I was mistaken," she says somewhat disheartened as she leaves. She must have come out of reflex, but now she's not Shido to come have lunch with me.
I return to the classroom after lunch and continue observing her until it's time to leave. When everyone is getting up, I start a conversation.
"Shiori-san, can we walk together for a while? I want to talk to you."
"Sure, Aurélio-kun," she responds casually, not realizing that she addressed me too familiarly for someone she just met today. I notice her whispering to someone, it must be Kotori.
We leave the school and walk down the street for a while. The atmosphere is slightly uncomfortable with no one saying anything. As we walk, I see a park.
"Shiori-san, shall we sit in that park for a moment?"
"Yes, Aurélio-kun... I mean, Kuroiwa-san."
"Call me Aurélio, I don't mind." I think Kotori told her she's making a mistake.
We sit on a bench in the park.
"Do you have anything to tell me... Shiori-san?" I start our conversation.
"Yes? I don't think so, Aurélio-kun."
"Are you absolutely sure?"
"Yes?" She responds somewhat nervously as I stare at her.
"Shiori-san... you are Shido, aren't you?" She looks shocked and nervous at what I said.
"NO, of course not, hahaha... how could I be Shido, Aurélio-kun?" She says nervously, letting out a slight laugh to try to ease the awkwardness.
"Shido, I know it's you for several reasons."
"First, your way of acting, what you do, like when you went to the terrace automatically, your mannerisms in class, the way you call me even though today is the first day we've met." She seems more nervous with each thing I mention where she made mistakes today.
"And the two most important things. First, you are wearing the necklace I gave as a gift to Shido. I don't think Shido would simply give it away, but since it's his, I can understand if he gave it to someone. What he does with his things is not something I can comment on." She makes a complicated expression when I mention the necklace.
"And Shido told me he is adopted and doesn't know any relatives... unless Shido lied to me, you are not his sister. But if he lied to me about his family, I would be very sad because I really trusted him," I say with slight sadness at the end to be more convincing. It seems to work; I see her face with a hint of despair.
"NO, I DIDN'T LIE... I mean... it's...." She shouts but realizes what she said and tries to fix the mistake but finds nothing to say and gives up.
HAHAHAHA she just confessed. I hold back the urge to laugh at her for giving herself away over something as trivial as this.
"..."
"..."
The awkward silence that forms with neither side saying anything. I notice some whispers from her, probably getting tips from Kotori.
"So, Shido... or Shiori now... how did this happen?"
"Why don't you seem surprised?" Shiori says nervously. It must have been Kotori's request... good move, but I had already anticipated these questions.
"It's quite simple... your necklace. I don't know if you've noticed, but it's special. Let's just say our city is quite strange, and many things happen here that the general public has no idea about. So, you turning into a girl isn't much more surprising than certain things that happen in Tengu." This is somewhat true; in this city, there are piles and piles of secrets unknown to the public.
"Your turn. Tell me why you're like this."
"I... don't know, I just woke up like this." Of course, she doesn't know; I was very meticulous in hiding this.
"Are you... really a girl now?" Perfectly, after all, my work is flawless, but it's not like I should know that.
"Yes..." She says with a tone of sadness.
"And is that why you were crying before?"
"Yes..."
"Do you know... how to fix this?" I'm curious about this; she might have some method.
"No... they said it's impossible." She seems sad while saying this, but for me, it only fills me with satisfaction.
"Don't you trust me?" She looks at me surprised by the question.
"Of course I trust you, Aurélio-kun. You're my best friend."
"Then why didn't you tell me... why didn't you ask for help?" I say to fill Shiori's heart with guilt.
"It's... not that I don't trust... I just didn't know if you..."
"If I what... if I would accept you? If I would help? If I would believe you? Shiori, I'm your best friend. Of course, I wouldn't care about that detail. In fact, I'd be happy to hear about your problem so we can try to solve it."
I see tears forming in her eyes. She looks somewhat relieved but also guilty. I notice she loses focus and whispers something; Kotori is listening, so I need to be careful with what I say.
"How did you notice..."
"You're my best friend. How wouldn't I notice?"
"You..." She seems like she was going to ask something but gives up. She doesn't know how much I really know, so it's difficult for her to ask certain questions.
I hug her. Since she is much shorter than me, her head reaches only my chest.
"Shiori, you can trust me. I'll listen to your doubts and try to answer even if I can't help much. At least I can listen to you." I see her turning red with the sudden hug, but she doesn't try to pull away. We stay like this for at least 3 minutes until she starts to speak.
"Thank you, really, thank you so much," she says, looking at me with a smile. I must say the image this forms is cute, and it makes me want to steal a kiss from her, but it would be strange to do that at least at this stage.
"It was nothing," I say with a smile as I release her from my arms. Since she's still mentally fragile, it's perfect for me to manipulate her even though Kotori is listening.
"Let's talk while we walk," I say as I move forward, followed by her.
On the way, we only have normal conversations, although I want to do something now, I need to at least help her mental state to become more inclined to debt to me. I want Shiori to be the type of person who would kill anyone if it were my order.
While making her fall in love with me, which is a true irony since normally it's she who makes others fall in love.
I take Shiori home while we talk.
"Aurélio-kun, do you want to stay for dinner?"
"Since you ask, of course, I accept."
We enter the house, and I notice Kotori on the stairs. She's wearing black ribbons and gives me a scowl.
I respond by putting my hand to my lips and showing her, making her blush as she understands what that means.
Shiori doesn't notice this exchange as she heads to her room.
"Aurélio-kun, I'm going to change. You can sit in the living room," she says from the top of the stairs.
I head to the living room with Kotori following behind.
"Tsk," Kotori clicks her tongue as she looks at me.
"You might have fooled Shido, but don't think I don't know what kind of person you are."
"Shido? Who's Shido... hahaha, I only know a Shiori at the moment," she makes a furious expression at what I said, as if I were denying her older brother.
"YOU…"
"Kotori, is there a problem?" Shiori arrives at that moment. She's wearing casual clothes, a white dress with black trim at the bottom and on the sleeves, reaching just above her knees. It's simple and pretty, something you'd wear at home—nothing too extravagant, but it gives Shiori a cute touch. I notice that although Shiori is beautiful, she has a cuter rather than sensual style.
"No problem, Shiori... Can I just call you Shiori? I don't really like using honorifics, and Shiori is already my best friend."
"Of course, Aurélio-kun. You can call me whatever you like," she responds with a smile.
I notice Kotori getting even angrier upon hearing that I called Shiori my friend instead of my friend. She must have picked up on the implications of what I'm saying to Shiori. Shido was almost a door in terms of feelings, so he didn't notice, but the things I say are of the same type as a man says to a woman. If Shiori noticed, it would be almost like I'm denying that she was once a guy. That's why Kotori says nothing—because Shiori is already fragile and this could further disturb her mind.
"Yes, SHIDO, there's nothing wrong," she says through gritted teeth. It seems she ended up calling him Shido, even though she revealed she was listening to the conversation. I decide to ignore it; she must not care and is just showing me that she was watching as a warning that she's keeping an eye on me.
Shiori goes to the kitchen to cook, leaving me in the living room with Kotori.
"You're a bastard," Kotori curses me as soon as she gets the chance.
"Yes, I am... You're not the first to say that, nor will you be the last."
I glance at Shiori for a moment and then return my attention to Kotori.
"Shiori would make a great wife, don't you think?" She doesn't fall for the provocation, but I can see her gaze filled with anger. I'm sure if Shiori weren't here, she'd be shouting at me.
I blur Shiori's perception of the room so she doesn't notice anything I do here.
"Why are you doing this to Shido?" she says with anger in her voice, but in a low tone so Shiori doesn't hear.
"Who knows why I'm doing this... maybe only the Goddess knows," now that I have my Goddess, I can just change the phrase.
"Goddess... not God?" she whispers.
"And why do you think I'm doing this... now I'm curious," I say, looking into her eyes.
"You're doing this because you're an asshole who likes to toy with other people's feelings."
"Wow, what a creative image you have. Although it doesn't describe me perfectly, it's not bad."
"Maybe you're right about me liking to toy with others. Maybe you should give it a try."
"WHAT... never." She notices she shouted a bit and covers her mouth but sees that Shiori hasn't noticed.
This gives me an intriguing idea.
"You're speaking a bit loudly. If you make noise, Shiori might notice."
"AND SHIDO, not Shiori."
"I don't know what you're talking about, but back to what I said, what do you think your sister would be surprised to see?" She was going to say something about me calling Shiori her sister.
But she can't because I grab her arms and put them above her head, pinning her to the couch below. I then kiss her. She's surprised but tries to kick me.
I briefly pull my lips away from hers to speak.
"Shiori will hear if you make noise." Of course, Shiori won't hear or see anything since I've already done something, but she doesn't know that.
So she stops moving much.
I return to kissing her, now a deeper kiss, putting my tongue inside her mouth as she clumsily follows the movement. I hear Shiori's voice.
"Guys, dinner will still take 30 minutes." Kotori has tears in her eyes as I can see shame and humiliation in her expression.
"Haar..."
We continue kissing for the next minute as she becomes more and more red, her lust slowly increasing.
I touch her chest, which she responds to with sensitivity.
"Hmm"
But since we're still kissing, her moan is cut off. She seems desperate because of the moan, fearing that Shiori might have heard.
I put my hand under her blouse, touching her nipples and twisting them. She trembles and tries to move away but can't because I'm holding her too tightly.
I hear footsteps on the stairs, so I stop what I'm doing and release Kotori, who is now breathing heavily.
"Ahr arh..."
"Tsk." I click my tongue in irritation for being interrupted.
"Well... we can do this another time, Kotori," I say to her playfully as I move to the other side of the couch.
I see that coming down are Tohka and Yoshino.
"Hello, Tohka-san and... company. Good evening and good to see you again." Tohka didn't go to school today, although I don't know the reason.
"Aurélio, you're here too." She seems a bit uncomfortable, probably because of Shiori. I'm sure it's still confusing for her.