Chapter 19: Mukuro in trouble?
To Shido's shock, particles of green light gathered in the living room, and in a few seconds, the petite figure of a young girl emerged.
If it was Mukuro, Shido wouldn't be surprised; after all, he was expecting her arrival.
However, the one who appeared was…
"Ekkkk! What happened to me?"
Natsumi shrieked as she covered her tiny body in shyness. Taking a closer look, she was completely naked, and her fair skin was exposed in the air.
Obviously, she wasn't prepared for the transportation, therefore, she didn't summon her Astral Dress at midnight.
"Natsumi?" Shido turned his gaze away from the naked girl, but his expression remained shocked. "What's going on?"
"I guess…" Natsumi quickly summoned her Astral Dress, which was the costume of a witch, and turned her head while replying, "it's because we forgot to reset the order of transportation..."
"What do you mean?" Shido was confused.
"Two days ago, when Mayuri-san was revived... Yoshino suggested... that we let her see you first." Natsumi sat down on the sofa, taking a glass of water. "Mukuro accepted it, but not without some debates…"
Her voice trailing off, indicating that she had thought of some unpleasant memories. Shido naturally considered that, so he didn't push it.
"Since Kotori wasn't with us, we decided to hold a little election at night, involving everyone in 'your harem'." Natsumi smirked, before continuing: "Well, we even invited your little sister, Mana, to join, making it 11 of us.
"Everyone had one vote, and in the end, it turned out to be 10:1."
Hearing the results, Shido felt quite surprised, but he felt that it kind of made sense.
As if supporting his thoughts, Natsumi explained:
"I assume the only one who disliked the idea of Mayuri cutting in line was Mukuro. You know, it was supposed to be her turn, yet it was replaced by miss-nobody-from-nowhere."
"As for the other girls, it wouldn't affect their experience directly, so they all voted yes. As a result, it kind of made Mukuro feel isolated."
Shido felt sorry for Mukuro when he heard this part, his conscience telling him that it would be quite troublesome, and cold sweat forming up on his forehead. It was clear that his little harem had encountered some issues, and he must be the one to solve them. However, due to the inconvenience of his condition, he would have to make it up for Mukuro another day.
"Yesterday she looked normal at school, so we assumed she was fine. Now from the hindsight we were such idiots, we knew she kept everything to herself unless being with you in private, and we overlooked that fact. When we finally realized our mistake, the damage had already been done."
The way Natsumi described the incident seemed ominous; Shido couldn't help but feel worried.
"After school, Mukuro was confessed to by an upper-classman. It was the 15th time in this month already, but she turned him down like she did with the 14 predecessors."
Shido gave a wry smile, kind of surprised by Mukuro's popularity in her high school, and many guys wanted to date her. He was glad that she only had hearts for him, not giving anyone else a chance.
"Here's the thing: When she turned around and tried to walk away, that guy grabbed her hand and said something outrageous." Natsumi gritted her teeth, her attitude changing to anger.
"He grabbed Mukuro's hand?" Shido frowned, only paying attention to the former part, not the latter.
"Yes," Natsumi nodded, "though I don't know all the details myself, but from Mukuro's testimony, that guy said to her:
'Shido Itsuka is your boyfriend, huh? But did you know that he has bitches everywhere? He is a shameless womanizer, an immoral degenerate, a worthless scumbag, an animal having sex with everyone he comes across! How can you date a bastard like that!?'
And that was the last straw to break the camel's back…"
Oh boy… Shido groaned as he facepalmed. He was surprised that rumors about him still lingered in his old high school, probably thanks to those jealous and brainless haters, and Mukuro, attending the same school, happened to be in the middle of them. He didn't mind people insulting him, but he was worried about how Mukuro would react.
"Mukuro slapped him so hard that he was stuck in the wall!"
Natsumi said loudly.
"No way, was he okay?" Shido asked in concern. He wasn't that concerned about the guy, but he certainly didn't want Mukuro to get suspended, or worse, be taken to the police.
"Well, Kotori got it under control." Natsumi explained quickly. "She called Kurumi to heal the poor bastard and repair the wall, Miku to erase his memory and make him sleep, and Origami to hack into the school camera and delete all the records. Fortunately, there were no other students present, and nobody was alerted by the sound, so no traces were left behind."
Upon hearing that, Shido let out a breath of relief.
"But of course, Mukuro being replaced by Mayuri was one thing, losing her temper and almost killing a student was another." Natsumi unraveled the true message uneasily. "Kotori tried to lecture her, but she wouldn't budge. She refused to apologize for the trouble she caused, saying that she couldn't stand a random guy insulting her Nushi-sama, no matter what."
"Personally, I believed she did it for good reasons, but she went too far. Everyone agreed too, and it made her feel isolated even more."
Oh dear… Shido whimpered, feeling trouble ahead.
"Mukuro shut herself in immediately after going home. We tried to reason with her, and she didn't listen; we called her to dinner and she didn't respond."
Natsumi's voice trailed off, feeling uneasy as she recalled the unpleasant memory.
"What happened? Please tell me you guys didn't start a fight." Shido asked.
"Well… I slammed on Mukuro's door, and I yelled at her for being such a spoiled brat." Natsumi elaborated, a troubled expression on her face. "I shouted that you wouldn't love her anymore if she kept being this way."
Oh Lord… Shido moaned, he was certain that the shit had hit the fan.
"Mukuro slammed the door open, and she yelled back:
'Nobody loves a little brat like you!'
It hit me. It hit me hard."
Natsumi timidly clasped her fingers together, feeling insecure suddenly.
"I mean, how could we ask someone who had been separated from her love for so long to handle all these like a saint? We were supposed to pacify the flame, not pouring gasoline to it."
Shido, on the other hand, put his hand on Natsumi's soft hair, and stroked it gently.
Clearly, he didn't want to point fingers at anyone. He only wished that his girls would stay peaceful with each other, but as time went by, they were bound to get into arguments, and they might even make him pick sides. However, he never had plans to go along with it. He simply chose the best option: Headpats!
"Emmm…" Natsumi wanted to squeal that she wasn't a little kid anymore, yet she couldn't move her head away, just standing there and enjoying Shido's touch. It seemed like no Spirits could resist the power of his headpats!
Shido patted her for a while, before leaning down and giving a kiss on her soft lips!
Natsumi didn't expect that, she flinched a little on instinct, but she didn't pull away, simply closing her eyes and returning his kiss. She hadn't kissed him for ten days, and it felt amazing to be loved like this again.
After a while, their lips parted.
"My Little Dummy Natsumi, I just love a little brat like you!" Shido smirked as he laid his finger on her little nose.
A/N:
Surprise surprise! The order of the Spirits coming to see Shido is messed up unexpectedly! Please don't get mad at this, I want Mukuro and Natsumi to have some developments since I neglected them too much. Shido's harem is not always peaceful, maintaining it comes with great power and responsibility.
