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"… did I… made it…?"
From the basin, Mirii emerged as her humanoid self. She walked out of the basin, while dripping magenta ink all over herself. Her hands pulled away the VR glasses, throwing them on the ink, as her mouth opened wide and caught some oxygen rapidly.
"You diiiiiid iiiiiiiitt!" Penny was rushing past the desk, as her arms were wide open.
She jumped high too, smiling and closing her eyes tightly. Mirii caught the little woman with her arms, as she was almost stumbling backwards.
"Tee hee hee!" Her small eyes opened. "You don't have any idea how happy I am, right now…!" She grinned a bit.
Mirii put the woman down, as her head rose and her arms folded.
"I preferred getting off that virtual experience, sooner…" Her eyes squeezed a bit.
Steps were heard over Mirii's right, as the girl turned her sight towards the sound source: an Inkling man whose shoulders could touch Mirii's forehead, was walking in her direction as he smiled a bit.
"Are you fine?" He stopped in front of her.
Mirii's eyes expanded: her irises were aiming at his shoulders, large arms… then at his ice-blue eyes and white teeth. She blushed, as her mouth flattened.
"Y-yes!" Her arms stretched on her sides, as sweat jumped off her head. "Th-that excuse of a software was nothing compared to what I'm used to!"
His head tilted up and down, looking over Mirii's shoes, legs and chest. His smile grew a bit more.
"You do look fit." His eyes closed. "At the same time, that size of yours gives you a cute appearance…"
Mirii blushed even more, as her hands went on her cheeks.
"Heeeeyy, I thought to be the cute one!" Penny jumped in front of Kyle, bouncing once more and grabbing him with her arms. "I'm even smaller than her, after all!"
"Ack!" His hands went on her little shoulders, as they pushed and pushed. "Penny, come on! You are getting so odd, you are making me wish for your older self!"
"Old?!" Penny frowned at him. "I'm still a child!"
A sweat drop appears on his head, as he lowered his eyelids to the middle.
"I know you have the size of a child… but I said 'odd', not 'old'!" He sighed.
"Ah...!" Her mouth opened a bit… before giggling. "Soooo… am I cute too?" Her sparkly eyes blinked.
"I… guess?" He chuckled.
Mirii snorted, as her blush faded away quickly.
"He… doesn't look bad, I have to say." She grimaces a bit. "But that face he's doing… …"
Suddenly, her mind heard Bars' laugh. She shivered, while making a grimace and almost tripping behind the basin.
"Whoa!" Kyle opened his mouth, improvising a small rush over the girl. "Be careful!"
"I'm always careful, Mr. Kyle." She nodded, kicking behind the basin and stepping forward.
Penny fell down, as she rushed over Mirii.
"… actually, your height is amazing for a girl." He smiled. "Small enough to look cute and huggable, big enough to not have the appearance of a child."
Mirii blushed a bit, as she frowned.
"Enough with your compliments!" Her forefinger pointed over his face, while a vein popped out from her forehead. "I already have my eyes on another boy!"
…
"GGAAAAAAHH!" Mirii's face went full red, as her hands pulled her tentacles down. "No no no no! Yo-you have heard it wrong! I-I don't have time for love…" Her eyes squeezed. "… stop looking at me like that!"
"Tee hee hee…" A smile grew on Penny's face, with her hand moving in front of her mouth. "… a certain Squid is being shy…"
"Nnnnnnngghh!" Sweat covered her face, as her eyes were shakily opening… "I-I had enough of this…! I must go!"
"Wait!" Kyle showed his hand at the girl. "Before you go, tell us which one you were talking with, before!"
Her eyes opened normally, carefully examining his face.
"… that person who talked to me before…" Her mouth stretched to the side a bit. "… could it be related to one of those Mercenaries?"
"So?" His mouth downturned, retreating his arm back.
"It's just the product of a glitch." Her head rose. "Mr. Kyle, I really have to get back home…" She bowed down once. "I appreciate the support you gladly offered me."
"You are welcome." He smiled back, putting his hands inside his pockets. "I just did my job of computer expert…" He turned his irises to the left, while making a frustrated face. "Although, if Harry cooperated better with us…"
"I do not need to be reminded of that fool." She snorted, while looking over the door. "I could had managed to escape without his presence, anyway…"
Her feet began moving towards the closed door.
"What about me?!" Penny clasped her hands, taking just a few steps over the girl.
Mirii stopped.
"… Kelly, meet me at the Shrine. Make sure Penny doesn't discover your identity… am I clear?"
The woman stood silent.
"… thank you for the support, Penny." Mirii resumed her walk. "Just be more careful next time."
"I will!" Penny smiled widely, turning over the man. "Kyle, how 'bout we celebrate with some hot-dogfishes?!"
"At this time of the hour? Forget it!" He shook his head, opening his arms. "I'm looking for some relax."
Mirii's hand went over the door handle.
"I will not leave without some important evidence to use against Project Neo…" She opened the door. "… all I need to do is to return home… hopefully, finding Hunley too." She blushed a bit, while smiling.
Fum!
A Squid jumped from a paper standing on the floor: Mirii turned into her humanoid self, landing on her feet and immediately keeping her posture correctly, after stretching her knees back up. She turned around, while caressing her tentacle: aside from the small table appearing empty, the room was presenting itself in the same way as before…
"… thank turfness that receptionist man couldn't follow me outside of the building." Her face went a bit paler. "Otherwise, I would had to splat him down with the use of my intelligence…"
Her eyes went on the shoji.
"… but that whole Happy Squid Land experience is finally behind me." She began walking towards the shoji. "Or should I say… the day section is behind me."
She slowly nodded, while squeezing her eyes a bit.
"I still have to tackle its night phase… but I refuse to venture inside that building all alone." She stopped in front of the shoji. "Who knows what other nonsense I might encounter… and risking is fully anti-perfection too."
Her hand went on the shoji.
"If I'm together with Hunley, I'm sure that no goon is going to stop our perfect march…"
She opened it, standing right in front of Hun: Mirii gasped, as she jumped backwards. The boy was in his humanoid form, sporting a complete casual-farming outfit.
"Mirii!" He smiled widely, as he went closer to her. "I was just looking for you!"
Mirii blushed a lot, as her eyes expanded.
"Hu-Hunley!" She smiled. "I-I'm so glad to see you back to your normal self…!"
"Uh… y-yes!" He chuckled, growing a sweat drop on his head. "I'm indeed back to myself!"
Mirii giggled, grabbing her elbow.
"How do you feel, Hunley?" Her eyes closed. "Better?"
"As if I just finished harvesting on the fields…!" He inhales air from his nose, as he puffed his chest for a short time.
"Glad to hear." She nodded, as her hands went down.
Her irises fell on his shoulders and arms… then on his eyes and white teeth. She blushed, as her mind began seeing him hugging Mirii, while sporting larger arms than normal. She blushed even more, as her head lowered.
"Hunley…" Her eyes closed.
"Yes?" His mouth opened a bit.
"I… w-well, this is more of an advice than anything…" Her face went full red, as her eyelids rose and focused on his face. "You… h-have you thought of hitting th-the gym?"
"Uh… the what?" He tilted his head, making a perplexing expression.
…
"It-it's a place where you train and become fitter than before!" Her posture lifted, as she giggled. "Because we need plenty of movement and strength, a complete training session will let us prepare for the harder challenges we might face…"
"Oh, really?" He smiled widely, while opening his mouth. "That sounds so interesting, actually!" He nodded. "I love moving around! If by 'strength' you mean pulling or pushing heavy items… then, I would definitively follow this gym you mentioned!"
Mirii's eyes sparkled.
"W-well…!" She blushed intensively. "Aside from frequenting the gym, we should"
"Master Huuuunn!" Kelly passed near the girl, as she hugged the boy.
Mirii spun for 2 seconds, before stopping back to her previous position. The first thing she tracked down was Kelly rubbing her cheek on Hun's shoulder. Several sweat drops grew behind Hun's head.
"K-Kelly!" His hands went on her shoulders. "Wh-what a surprise! I… w-well, I…"
Her head rose, looking back at Hun.
"I'm sooo happy to see you completely healed!" She giggled. "Tee hee hee!"
"Kelly…"
The little girl's tentacles went up, while keeping her previous expression. Mirii's face was covered in darkness, as a purple aura was surrounding her.
"… I think you should leave the room…"
"Why?" His right eyebrow rose. "I don't see any problems with"
"M-Master Hun…!" Sweat was coming down from Kelly's face. "I-I… I-I have a lot of things to do…!"
"Oh…" He stared without closing his mouth.
"S-see you later!" Kelly retreated her arms, as she was about to run-
"Before you go…" The aura disappeared around Mirii, same for the darkness on her face. "… have you made sure that Penny doesn't know a thing about you, me or this Shrine?"
"I left her in the bathroom!" Kelly laughed loudly. "I distinctively remember her shout too, when I was returning back home…"
Mirii grimaced, as she shook her head.
"And no one has seen you?" Her head rose, as her arms folded.
"I returned without leaving any suspicions to anyone!" Kelly nodded twice. "How about you?"
"I have gathered evidence to use against Project Neo… but I still need to collect more of it." Mirii's irises looked at Hun. "I have to return inside Happy Squid Land, this time during the night."
"Happy Squid Land? What's that?" Hun frowned a bit.
She smiled at him.
"Allow me to explain, Hunley…" She nodded. "All the essentials about this Project Neo lab..."