Cassius's brows furrowed in interest. "This could definitely prove to be extremely useful if I ever encounter an enemy I can't handle. And it also appears to be useful even at the higher Ranks, though I don't know where its upper ceiling resides."
He ended up storing the clear-colored Cloak of Invisibility in his Inventory Space, only planning to use it in an emergency predicament.
After opening up the door to his house, Cassius realized that he had been idling outside for too long, as Aya stood right before him, arms crossed under her ample bosom. Her short figure, paired with her angry pout, made her look like a…
"Pikachu…?" Cassius accidentally blurted out, which made Aya's pout all the more prominent. She lurched forward, grabbed him by the shirt, and pulled him through the door. Yet, rather than hit him as he expected, she wrapped her arms around his waist and snuggled into his embrace.
Before Cassius could voice his confusion, Aya mumbled softly, "Leaving me all alone for another girl… and for an entire day no less… You big jerk."
"...Ha…" Cassius shook his head in defeat, then waddled through the dimly lit corridor, with Aya sticking to him like an inseparable sloth. "I promise I won't leave again without telling you first, alright?" he said warmly. Then his voice turned awkward. "Now could you please let go so I can walk…?"
"Uhn-uh," Aya rejected. "Just a minute more. That woman had you all day, and you can't even do this much with me? Am I not good enough…?"
Cassius heaved a heavy sigh before petting the dismayed girl's head, giving her the go-ahead to do whatever she pleased. A lovely smile graced her beautiful features as she rubbed her cheeks against his shirt, with small hearts and flowers seemingly leaving her head and bouncing off the exasperated man she was smothering.
Yet, when Sasha, their stepmother, walked by with a drowsy countenance, Aya jerked back and pushed Cassius away. "M-Mother, what are you doing up this late?? I had thought you were already asleep!" she shouted in a low voice, her eyes erratically darting everywhere.
Even in her groggy state, Sasha could clearly see the scarlet blush touching upon her daughter's cheeks. She looked between her and the unusually handsome youth standing in the doorway. A small, insinuating smirk played her lips into a charming crescendo. "And who might this handsome young man be, my little Aya~?"
Aya's embarrassment was quickly replaced by confusion as she tilted her head. "...Mom, he's Cassius…"
"Hello, Miss Sasha," Cassius chimed in. "We didn't mean to wake you, if we did. But I apologize if that's the case."
His respectful yet distant tone was the same, his mannerisms were similar, but his appearance and height were not what Sasha remembered! There was no way this dashing young man was Cassius! And if so, what were he and her daughter out doing after curfew??
"...Are you really Cassius…?" asked Sasha, no longer half-awake. Answering, Cassius said, "Yes, Miss Sasha…"
Sasha's eyes widened in surprise. She took short, quick steps over to Cassius, sizing him up with her hands and eyes. After fondling just about every part of his chiseled body, a streak of black shrouded the expression she was making. A brief pause later, she muttered, "You're jacked…"
Cassius awkwardly chuckled, "Y-Yes…"
"And you're supposed to be Cassius…?? How is this possible in a few short weeks…!?" Sasha's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as she staggered a bit, finding it tough to keep her balance.
She hadn't seen much more than her stepson's receding silhouette these past weeks, but little to no interaction with him had always been the norm. Of course, when she stopped by the hospital, she noticed the changes, but she just thought that to be temporary side effects of the truck crash. Yet that didn't seem to be the case…
"Did this all happen because of your accident!?" Sasha spoke her mind. To which Cassius reluctantly nodded, "It's something like that…"
"...Unbelievable…" Sasha wobbled to a wall, disbelief etched across her pretty, timeless facial features. Yet, when she felt a sudden surge of hostility come from her daughter, she turned and asked, "Is something the matter, dear?"
Aya coldly huffed, "Nope! It's nothing, m.o.t.h.e.r!" She wasn't thick-skinned enough to just outright admit that she didn't like how her mom got all touchy-feely with Cassius. She hadn't even got to hold hands with him, and yet her mother was doing as she pleased! It was infuriating! Especially when that other floozy got even further ahead!
Question marks flew around Sasha's head as she truly had no idea what her daughter seemed so irked about. To even go so far as to call her 'mother,' something she never did—that was when the pieces clicked and the clues came together. She rapidly flipped her gaze between her grumbling daughter and the handsome aloof man whom she had treated like a son for two years. Realization dawned on her as she parted her lips, unable to find the proper words.
So she spoke improperly. "How… lewd…"
Even Cassius was slightly taken aback by Sasha's words, let alone the flustered tsundere mess that was Aya. Her face turned redder than a sea of blood as she rushed over to her mother to clasp her mouth, then she pulled her into the backrooms. Before disappearing from sight, Aya bit her lips while furtively glancing at Cassius, with her on the verge of tears. Using her eyes, she seemed to be telling him not to listen to a single word her stupid mother said. Then, with a door slam, she and the sexy milf in lingerie vanished into the backrooms.
"Luckily, Dad is out on that very long business trip, or he definitely would have woken up from that," Cassius sighed, finding it harder and harder to live near two non-blood-related females. "Dad is almost always away on work for that mysterious job of his, constantly leaving me alone with these two. Though it wasn't a problem before, because of my fugly appearance, I have changed greatly since then. I should be more careful from now on…"