"Spirits Assemble!"

In just a few moments, all the Spirits encircled her in a battle-forged formation just like they rehearsed: Tohka and Mukuro in the front, securing the attack position; Yoshino and Kotori in the center, securing the defense and command position; Kaguya and Mayuri on the far left side while Yuzuru and Origami on the far right side, securing the long-range attack positions on both sides. As for Shido, he utilized this time to switch positions with his clone, stepping into the field as the main body. Nia, Kurumi, Natsumi and Miku, the support Spirits that had low defense, stood behind Shido so that they could be protected from potential harm.

The air crackled with tension as Ren stood at the edge of the school forest clearing, her hands trembling at her sides. Before her, Shido and the Spirits had formed a protective semicircle, their expressions a volatile mix of anger, confusion, and lingering hope.

When Shido (the clone) heard the name "Westcott", he immediately called out through the monitor and made the other Spirits come down here to cover all the possible escape routes of the twice-escaped Spirit. It was just for precaution, after all, they didn't want to suffer from another tactical humiliation.

They had learned from past mistakes.

As for Rinne, she stayed home with Marina and Beast Tohka to monitor the situations from afar. Also, to make sure Rio was safe.

"Please, there's no need for this." Ren took a deep breath as she examined the hostile environment around her. Saying that, she got on her knees and prostrated in front of Shido, her forehead even touching the grass.

"I have already broken free from Westcott's influence. That Realizer was one nasty thing that made me forget everything and only remember hatred. Once again, I am terribly sorry for everything I have done to you all."

Surprised by her sudden prostration, Shido looked at the Spirits, and they seemed to be moved by it too.

"If that is true, Ren…. Why did you run away then?"

"I didn't remember things back then, that's why…"

She flinched at his tone—not hostile, but hollow, as if he'd already mourned her.

Murmurs rippled through the group. Kurumi's clones materialized behind Ren, their rifles aimed at her spine.

"Oh? And why should we believe the little traitor?" Marina's voice entered the picture, with a bit of mock sweetness.

Ren didn't look up. "After Mother—Mio—removed the Realizer from my mind, I… I didn't remember anything. Not the times back in my Dystopia, not the wishes, not even you." Her voice broke. "But when I ran… the memories flooded back. Everything."

Her words were trembling, her postures were meek, and most of all, her attitude was in the most submissive shape of form.

Shido's breath hitched. "The wishes you offered Mukuro…?"

"Yes, but not just her." She clearly recalled the events. "Every other Spirit, except for Nia Honjou right here."

"Hold on, why was I ignored?" Nia voiced her complaints.

"Hehe, it must be that faithful nuns shouldn't have any sinful desires."

"Correction. She wasn't in Shido's harem back then."

"Noooooo!"

A certain Sister Spirit cried dramatically at the sharp remark of the twins, causing a bunch of birds to fly away. The wail was so loud that it made them self-aware of their noise level.

After a brief silence, a clear voice entered the picture.

"—Hey, why don't we go somewhere less conspicuous?"

Marina suggested, and at this time, a collar solidified out of thin air.

"Ren, if you are truly here to surrender, put this on."

The collar seemed to be made of a special material, probably suitable for strangling the suspect and making her immobilized.

"Alright, if that's what it takes for you to believe me."

Ren quickly put the collar on her delicate neck, and she felt it tighten around her vulnerable part.

"EEEEEK!"

Suddenly, she felt an electrical shock and the lightning bolts running through her veins, causing her to collapse and pass out. In the meantime, her school uniform exploded into pieces, leaving the girl fully naked on the grass!

The energy generated was just like a hand reaching into her brain and stirring it, causing her to roll her eyes and spit out white foam from her mouth, and become unconscious.

Shido quickly took off his jacket and covered her nude body with it, giving her a look of sympathy. After all, he had suffered from this device back in the simulation battle against Marina, so he understood this pain and embarrassment. Fortunately for Ren, she wasn't conscious to know all this.

Seeing her lover's gentlemanly move, Nia's lips curled up in an unimaginable manner. She walked up to Shido and whispered something in his ears, and it made him blush instantly. He couldn't help but question the Sister Spirit, who recently got pregnant, flabbergasted by her endless mischievous ideas.

"Are…are you sure about this?"

"Come on, it's not like you aren't excited to try it~" Nia smirked, whispering something in Shido's ears seductively. "Please, daddy?"

—

'Where am I?'

Ren regained her consciousness, but there was still darkness in her vision. She opened her eyes, but felt something fabric around them. She quickly realized that she had a blindfold on.

She tried to move her hands, only to find out that her limbs had been restrained in some kind of special rope, seemingly made of reiryoku.

When she shifted her body, she felt something tight around her breasts and hips, seemingly something made of fabric. It was a relief that she at least had a bikini on, covering her sensitive areas.

"It's awake, it's awake!"

A sweet voice sounded off, making Ren feel a glimpse of hope. But soon, she felt four slender but quite powerful arms lifted her from the ground from both sides and pushed her forward.

Suddenly, she felt that the pain of the reiryoku rope tightening into her wrist disappeared - someone untied her restraints. Subconsciously trying to move her stiff shoulder blades, she found that the blindfold was removed next, and she had to squint her eyes first to quickly adapt to the current light. Now that she could finally see the room clearly: The sun shone in from the round porthole, casting diamond-shaped spots on the red velvet carpet.

In the middle of the room was a waxed oak table. A set of imitation summer-style coarse porcelain tea sets that had just been washed with hot water were emitting wisps of white mist on the table. Accompanying the tea sets were a few lemon cakes that looked very mouthwatering, the emitting steam indicated that it had just been baked.

The man who arrested her was sitting behind the long table, making tea with coarse porcelain tea sets while saying, "Ren, I prepared some snacks and tea. Unfortunately, the conditions are limited. Please forgive me for my impoliteness."

"Shido…." Ren looked at her captor, only showing a wry smile. "Did you put this bikini on me?" She looked down and shook her breasts, which were covered in a purple bikini, amplifying her bust size erotically.

"Sorry to burst your bubbles, but it was Miku-san."

A seductive yet cold voice sounded from behind, sending chills down her spine.

"What!?" Ren checked her body to see if there were any marks. Little did she know what happened when she was unconscious. Groping, licking, or even….

She smelt herself, sniffing as she tried to identify the scent on her body, but to no avail.

Closing her eyes in defeat, she accepted this outcome, for she had it coming for her. But still, she was being treated in a fashionably better way than normal suspects. With this, she was grateful.

She used this brief moment to examine her surroundings, and found that the girls who carried her and untied her all shared the same faces. Sure enough, they were the clones of Kurumi, standing guard in this interrogation room to ensure the safety of their master.

"Let's address the main topic for today." Shido declared while cutting a piece of the lemon cake, swiftly extracting it and pushing it in Ren's direction. "How did the elites of the Round Table of Ratatoskr summon you?"

A bit surprised by the bluntness of his question, Ren raised an eyebrow before receiving the tiny plate. She answered, "they summoned me on the moon."

"!?"

Hearing this, Shido was surprised. According to Maria's surveillance, she couldn't detect any reiryoku activity on Earth, meaning that nothing was conducted there. However, they never thought that such activities could be done on the moon.

No wonder why they couldn't find anything!

"When I was first summoned, I didn't really remember much, only the part where the surrounding was the desolate land of the moon." She took a bite, relishing the exquisite taste.

"Let me ask you: Did you fulfill any wishes for those three guys?"

"Yes, but all of them only made two wishes instead of three."

She took a sip from the tea cup, finding its fragrant pleasant.

"What were the wishes that they made?"

When he asked this question, Ren didn't answer, for she suddenly felt a sting in her brain, causing her expression to twist in pain.

"...I'm sorry, I…."

She struggled to speak, but she couldn't get the words out.

Shido tried to get up and help her soothe the pain, but he remembered his role as the interrogator right now. He shouldn't be getting too close to her, after all, he had suffered great consequences from her hands numerous times.

"Seems like Baka Shido is useless now, should have let us do it from the start."

"He did alright for an idiot."

Opening the door came an arrogant voice, which belonged to a twin-tailed girl none other than his adaptive little sister. The other girl was Marina, who was clearly not happy with the results.

"We will try this another way."

As Marina snapped her finger, the curtain in the room showed the screen of a middle-aged man bound to a chair.

He looked a lot paler than a sheet of white paper, and his hands were trembling as he struggled to keep still. He raised his head and looked at the Spirits on the other side of the screen, only hollowness appeared in his eyes, totally unable to admire their beautiful faces and clothes.

But now, they needed him to answer questions, even though he was in another world. This communication was made possible thanks to Maria and Marina.

"What is your name?"

"Roland Clayton."

For someone who was being held prisoner by the electrifying Spirit, he was quite strong willed and was able to talk without quivering.

"How did you summon Ren without any reiryoku waves on Earth?"

"Because I summoned her on the moon, and I put the Realizer that Westcott left behind so that I could use it to control her."

What he revealed confirmed Ren's testament from earlier, but the latter part left them agitated. They had never thought of the possibility that the Realizer could be placed in the summoning spot and enter the brain of the summoned Spirit smoothly like that.

"Did you use her to get rid of Shido?"

"Yes, I learned about Rio Sonogami from this Neighboring World and that she wanted to see Shido Itsuka, so I programmed Ren to approach her. With the first wish, she got rid of the boy like we wanted."

This relevance didn't surprise Shido and the Spirits much either, since they had already considered the possibility. What they didn't understand was why he did that.

"What's in it for you to have Shido disappear?"

"So that all the Spirits would follow him, after all, they were emotionally dependent on the boy." Clayton answered with certainty. "Once all the Spirits were gone, the three of us would be able to replace the commander with one of our men."

Kotori hissed at the answer that he provided her. She had no idea what Kurumi did to make him answer everything so obediently, but now that she got the answer she seeked, she didn't feel anything satisfying.

"Have you considered the potential consequences of such mutiny?"

"Of course I have, but now is too late for reflections." He looked at the commander girl, no sign of remorse in his eyes.

"You…" Kotori could barely contain the urge to curse at him, but Marina stopped her.

"What were the first two wishes that you made with Ren?"

The AI Spirit asked a more important question.

"My first wish was to reverse everything that Nia Honjou did to my son, and my second wish was to give me an unlimited extension to make the third wish."

After he said those words, Ren widened her eyes and stared at the guy. Memories flood in her mind, processing through her heart, and before she knew it, an electrical shot executed in her body!

"EEEEK!"

She started twitching and squirming again, sweat forming on her delicate skin, wetting her entire figure.

"What is happening to her?" Clayton asked.

"None of your damn business." Kotori retorted.

There was silence in the atmosphere, until Ren recovered enough to have her breathing steady again.

"If you have it in your heart, please spare my son."

Clayton humbly requested, but Kotori scoffed at his request.

"I have already told you everything you wanted to hear, so please at least grant the little wish of a dying father who cares for his son."

He insisted, and silence was all that he received. He grew agitated, and started shaking his body violently in the chair that currently bound him.

After a while, he seemed to have calmed down. He raised his head and looked Ren in the eyes:

"I will make my third wish with you: Ensure the health and safety of my son Clayton Jr.!" He suddenly shouted at the wish-granting Spirit.

"!?"

Shido immediately grew wary of his statement and stood up, ready for any sudden actions.

"Mute!"

Marina snapped her fingers, and the poor guy's screen was muted, but his words had already reached Ren's ears, except-

-Sudden electrical shots entered Ren's body, causing her to twitch uncontrollably, which made her taint the ground wet with her sweat.

This black collar around her neck, of course, was not for treating her as a pet, but to prevent her from using her power. Once this collar sensed reiryoku, it would directly attack the wearer's nerves and brain, causing her to suffer excruciating pain.

In addition, the violent shock burst her bikini into pieces and left her naked once again.

"Isn't this a bit too harsh?" Shido felt a bit worried.

"Sometimes I really don't understand you," Marina shook her head disapprovingly. "You tend to sympathize with your enemy when you are at an advantage."

"Don't forget that she hurt you, Mukuro, and Miku." Kotori added. "That we know of."

Hearing their words, Shido recalled the past events, and nodded.

"She doesn't have the power to do that."

Marina's statement made Clayton more despaired, but no matter how much he shouted, nothing could reach the other side without her permission.

In the next moment, the communication was lost.

Now that things had become quiet again, Marina sighed and turned to Ren, asking:

"Do you remember the wishes they have made?"

"Yes."

Ren answered weakly, her voice devoid of strength.

"Did Gillian Almsted and Fraser Douglas also make any wishes?"

"Yes, Almsted's first wish was for the three of them to gain immortal bodies, while Douglas' was to erase all records of them summoning me."

"!?"

Another shocking revelation made them flabbergasted.

"I see, so that's why I couldn't find anything."

Marina hissed slowly.

"And they got immortal bodies? How so?"

"They won't die of old age, but they can still be killed." Ren answered Kotori, her eyes without gleaming. "Just like the Spirits."

With this, Shido suddenly realized something important. He saw the Kurumi clones nearby, so he popped the question:

"Have Kurumi killed the other two guys?"

"Not exactly, [Me] put them in the shadows to absorb their time, but surprisingly, they were still alive."

"Wait, Ren-san did say that she turned them immortal, correct? Does that mean they have unlimited time supply!?"

"Really? Will we be able to prolong our life spans for free?"

Seeing the clowns of the Gothic Spirit jumping in glee, Shido felt the corner of his lips curl up in happiness. In addition, he saw that Kotori and Marina were showing a relieved expression, and with that, he understood what they were thinking-

-'It's a relief that oni-chan/baka didn't kill those two!'

Sure, these two guys were evil bastards that deserved whatever was coming for them, but Shido, no matter how unfairly treated, would never wish for the death of his enemies, not even Issac Ray Westcott himself.

He remembered that he defeated the CEO of the DEM in a certain timeline, leaving him completely helpless on the ground, but he still refused to kill him once and for all. Instead, he sealed off his powers and rendered him immobilized.

That act was witnessed by Natsumi and Miku, who provided him support from the sidelines. If it weren't for them, he would probably lose the battle.

And the two girls were relieved to see that their lover didn't commit murder, no matter how evil this enemy was. That moment made him feel a bit proud.

Of course, that timeline was reversed thanks to Mio Takamiya killing every Spirit, so his glorious victory was forgotten. In fact, he was probably the only one who remembered.

But just a few days ago, he ordered Almsted and Douglas to be killed. Although not by his hands, it was still a deliberate act to dispose of them. The reason he asked Kurumi to do the job was simply because she was accustomed to it, not to mention it would increase her volume of time; after all, her clones needed time to refill their lifespans.

Back then, Kotori and Marina must be fearing for him, wondering if he would turn into a cold-blooded avenger. It was unimaginable for this kind guy to be so brutal in a matter of days.

Fortunately, those guys were not dead. And even better, they would serve as long-life suppliers of time for Kurumi and her clones!

"What about their second wishes?"

"Both were the same as Clayton's—Unlimited extension to make the third wish."

Hearing the answers, everyone felt a moment of clarity. It made them uncover a bit of the darkness around them. But still, they had a more important question:

"How did Westcott's Realizer control you?"

—In the meantime—

Origami, Nia, Kurumi, Yoshino, Mukuro, Natsumi, Kaguya, Yuzuru, Miku, Tohka, Rinne, Mayuri, and Beast Tohka were sitting in the huge living room, watching the interrogation on screen created by Marina exclusively. As for Rio, she was taken to another room to draw pictures with a few Kurumi clones.

"I knew it, those pigs were hiding something huge."

Miku's beautiful eyebrows were frowned as she spoke.

"What did you do to that guy, exactly?"

Origami whispered in Kurumi's ears.

"Ara, I simply captured his son and shot him in the dick before his eyes, so he pleaded to talk."

The Spirit in gothic dress jeered.

"I see… I didn't see this coming, as expected of the worst Nightmare."

"Fufu, you gotta stop targeting me…"

While the two were talking, the others had different reactions toward this man. Yoshino felt bad for him, Tohka felt sorry for him, but everyone else felt that he had it coming for him.

"They should let me interrogate her, it will be much faster."

Origami commented nonchalantly.

Over the half an hour, they had been sitting still and examining the scene before their eyes. Some were excited, some were upset, and a few were hungry.

"I want to eat that cake, it must be delicious." Both Tohka and Beast Tohka drooled.

"Hopefully Rinne-san will teach us next time." Yoshino joined.

As they continued watching, they saw that Ren was getting electrified by the collar around her neck, causing them to flinch at the thought of experiencing such pain. Some were worried, some were relieved, and a few were excited.

"I want to be treated like that by Shido too." Origami commented like it was nobody's business.

"No, Darling should have made me a slave with that." Miku joined.

"Rebuttal. Yuzuru is the No.1 pet for Master Shido." Yuzuru retorted.

"Haha, so many girls want to be Daddy's pets, I can tame you for him~" Nia smirked like an otaku and reached out her hand, only to be slapped away.

"Nooooo!"

The girls kept their distance from her.

"Yay, Natsumi-chan is in my arms now~"

"Not you too!"

Miku seized this moment and hugged Natsumi, who flinched and squealed in agony.

As they watched the footage, they learned more and more uncovered truth behind the scenes. It made them feel surprised, anxious, and excited, especially when they heard that Shido didn't kill off the two guys.

"What an unexpected yet pleasant surprise, I was wondering why those two weren't dead yet." Kurumi activated her shadow to examine the inside, a frown forming on her beautiful brows. "This serves them even better~"

"It's a good thing that Shido-san didn't have lives in his hands."

"Me too."

Yoshino's soft voice made Natsumi happy.

"As expected of Shido, he's really not the type to kill, and it's a relief that he didn't." Mayuri sighed in relief. "At least for me."

"Nah, I'm sure it's the same for everyone, don't you agree?" Nia butted in. "The gentle protagonist of a harem shall not kill."

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement, though Kurumi turned her head and showed no response. Her bangs covered her eyes, her expression unknown.

"【Attention please. Nia, come to the interrogation room.】"

At this time, Marina's voice sounded off in the room, gaining the attention of everyone and making them stop.

"Haha, it's about time to google things with my powers." The girl in question rose and jumped happily.

"Be careful, you are expecting." Natsumi voiced her concern.

"Don't worry, I will be fine." Nia gave her green-haired loli assistant a head pat.

"Ah, so cute, I wanna see your belly get bigger too, Natsumi-chan~" Miku put a hand on Natsumi's belly as she spoke.

"Yamete..no…" Natsumi blushed crimson when she thought of the possibility, and she nearly fainted in her captor's bosom.

—Interrogation Room—

"IT is I, the one and only, all-knowing Mighty Mother Nun, at your service!"

"Shut up and get over here."

Nia made a dramatic entrance with a cute pose in her Astral Dress, but Marina coldly told her to drop it.

Earlier, Shido asked Ren for more details about the Realizer that was stuck in her head, and only got useless answers like "there was a certain goal implanted in my mind and I followed it" or "I felt nothing wrong like it was breathing", making him feel that he would need more than standard Q here.

Thus, he needed Nia to google everything.

The Sister Spirit knew it wasn't time to mess around anymore, so she activated her [Rasiel] and started searching for information about the Realizer. With a flash, thousands, if not millions, of results popped up in her Angel. She quickly shifted the focus to "exclusively made by Westcott", and found the one result she needed.

"Subconscious-Control Realizer: Implanting this in the brain of the target will allow you to command the target, and you can put multiple instructions for the command. However, using this effect repetitively will shorten the usage time of the device. When it has been overused at a certain limit, it could explode and kill the target. So beware.

Condition of Activation: Touch."

Hearing Nia's result, Shido and Marina lost in thoughts as they processed what they just learned. It certainly made them feel the urge to snap, considering how inhumane this device was and what possible results it could lead to. If it weren't for Mio removing it on time, this thing could explode in Ren's brain and kill her.

Realizing this, they looked in Ren's direction, and saw that she was equally shocked, if not more. They couldn't help but develop a bit of sympathy toward her.

Although they had suffered from her hands several times, they understood that it wasn't entirely her fault. She was just being manipulated….

"Let's ask Rinne how she feels about this."

—Living Room—

"With a swoosh of flash, the Magical Girl of the Pandora Box was summoned, and the evil chip just entered her brain effortlessly?"

"Praise. It's so rare for Kaguya to be this smart for once."

"Hey, I'm not stupid, I can be very bright too, you know."

"Umu, Muku still don't get it."

"You don't need to get it, leave it to the big girls."

"I'm hungry."

The Spirits had been watching the interrogation scene for a while, and while the newly-found information was interesting for them, some of them just couldn't keep up with the pace.

It was about time to prepare lunch. But this time, Rinne was called to discuss some details with Marina. Therefore, she joined the others in the interrogation room.

Without Rinne as the head chef, someone else must step up and be in charge of the kitchen.

"Let Muku handle it."

Mukuro, despite listening attentively to the conversation, couldn't really grasp the concept. She was irritated at the fact that things were beyond the level of understanding and her Nushi-sama couldn't spend time with her, thus, she decided to distract herself by cooking.

"I will help too."

Mayuri stood up and smiled, offering to join her blonde sister in the kitchen.

The two hadn't been able to talk much ever since, and she knew it would be good to prepare food together.

"I….Can I help too…?"

As the two girls stood up and walked to the kitchen, a weak voice came from behind. When they turned their heads, they saw that a timid green-haired loli raised her hand as well.

"Natsumi-chan?"

Mayuri raised an eyebrow. She was a bit surprised to see that she wanted to help, but when she turned her head to see Mukuro, she realized why.

"Sure, what do you think, Mukuro?"

"Mun, no problem at all."

As expected, Mukuro accepted the proposal.

"Let me help you too, Natsumi-chan~"

"No!"

Miku giggled as she pressed her breasts against her arm, only to be rejected harshly for the hundredth time.

—Interrogation Room—

"If she was being possessed, why did she interact with me in such….bizarre ways?"

Shido recalled the past events with Ren, and he realized something strange, asking his Google girl immediately, "What exactly were the instructions given to Ren?"

"There were quite a few: First, obey the wishes and conditions set by Gillian Almsted, Roland Clayton, and Fraser Douglas. Second, set your heart on torturing Shido Itsuka and the Spirits slowly in your own way. Third, do it in the Neighboring World."

With this, they got a bit more information on the case. The first two weren't new to them, after all, they had experienced them first hand. However, the third one was a bit strange for them to understand: Why did it have to take place in the Neighboring World?

The answers wouldn't come just by trying to wrack their brains like this, they needed all the information of Ren's actions. So, Nia was put to work as a real Search Engine, much to her joy. Never before had she felt so useful in an important operation related to her family.

"Ha, there is something about Ren: She likes to read about lewd plays."

"Be serious for once, this is a…." Marina was about to shout, but she stopped herself. "Hold on, you're right."

Over the past incidents, Ren had assaulted Shido and Miku when they were wide open. But instead of killing them right away, she proceeded to torture them…sexually. If her memory served right, Ren had made the two of them have sex right in front of her, along with whipping and recording…. That was anything but normal.

'Could it be that Ren was a huge pervert from the heart!?'

Seeing her secrets exposed, Ren blushed drastically.

"I know right? So how about we spice things up a little~"

Sensing Nia's sinister grin, Ren couldn't help but flinch.

—One hour and a half later—

"Itadakimasu!"

The Spirits had prepared a large table of food, the enormous amount was able to feed 20 people, which was more than enough for the girls here ...unless they counted Tohka and Beast Tohka.

"This is so good, Muku, your cooking is wonderful."

"Ara, now I learned a bit more about Mayuri-san, and it's fantastic."

"I finally tasted Natsumi-chan's homemake food~ I can die happily now…"

"Hihihi, don't say that, you will make Natsumi feel bad and inferior."

"Yoshinon! Natsumi-san isn't the same anymore."

The Spirits were having a blast in their family lunch, despite not having Shido or Rinne in the kitchen, they were still able to manage.

While preparing food, Mukuro and Mayuri discussed a lot of topics related to Shido and his cooking. Both girls had taken his teaching to heart, and they were able to cooperate with each other quite well.

Even Natsumi plucked up the courage and was able to join their conversation, helping them with a lot of tips as well. They used to have arguments with one another, but now their relationships seemed to have worked out just fine, much to their joy.

When they finished the entire meal and laid out the dishes at the table one by one, they were showered by the admiring gazes of fellow Spirits, much to their delight.

However, a certain Kuudere girl was missing.

…

'Shido, time to taste my food of love.'

Origami was walking toward the interrogation room, a bowl of yummy rice and some meat on top of it, looking quite appetizing to the eye.

'No, you put something in there, didn't you?'

Moegami butted in and made her foot stop in midair, almost losing her balance.

The two personalities were at war with each other, struggling to make the body move toward the destination. When she finally reached the door, however, she almost dropped the bowl-

-Ren had her wrists held up in chains, dangling in midair, not to mention being butt naked. There was also a blindfold around her eyes, sealing off her ability to see. With this, she could only guess what was happening around her, and it caused her misgivings constantly.

"Itsuka-kun? Did you do this?"

"No, it's not what it looks like!"

Shido quickly flustered and waved his arms, but his response didn't really help his case.

"You think it was Daddy, but it was I, the Mommy Spirit!"

Nia held a whip in her hand and whirled it around, showing off her aura like a Queen.

"Shido, here."

Origami offered the bowl to Shido, only to have it blocked by Rinne.

"Stop, there's something weird in it, correct?" She grinned while blocking her way, treating her silence as a yes.

"Hm, good food shouldn't be wasted, though." She smelt and found the scent pleasing. With a smile, she picked up a mouthful of rice mixed with meat and vegetable, forcing it in Ren's mouth!

"Wuuu, what is this?" Ren couldn't see due to the blindfold, and something foreign in her mouth didn't make her at ease. However, the taste did. "It's quite good."

"Rinne?"

Shido asked tentatively.

The pink-haired girl didn't respond, simply fed the prisoner another mouthful of food.

Due to its delicacy, Ren found it quite pleasant to finish the food despite being fed with a blindfold on. If only it was Shido…

Abruptly, she felt something growing hot inside her belly, causing sweats to form on her delicate forehead, cheeks, and back. It was like a fire, growing bigger and hotter, eating her up from the inside.

"Don't tell me… this is…"

Ren figured out the content of her meal, and it was too late.

"Itsuka-kun, please go and have lunch~" Origami smiled at Shido gently, but then she froze. "We will do something extra nice for her." Her tone shifted next, as if turning on a switch.

"Moe-Origami?" Shido gave a wry smile, but accepted her request nonetheless. He was starting to feel hungry too, so he would like to ease his growling stomach.

Seeing Rinne feed Ren some water, he smiled and decided to drop everything before joining the others for lunch. But before opening the door, he looked at them again, wondering:

'Will they really be alright?'

…

A/N:

What's good, everyone? It's been another long period of time since my last update. God, how many times has it been? I'm so sorry for leaving you hanging like this, hope you guys have been doing well.

Today is Yoshino Himekawa's birthday, and I knew that I just have to make an update. Otherwise, I would not be able to live with myself. She gave me the strength to pick up writing again, so I must own up to it.

I was planning to update two chapters at once, but I suddenly developed a wilder idea, so I decided to edit the second one more. Do forgive me for the inconvenience, I will finish it as soon as possible!