Chapter 20: To Bed or not to Bed, Tis the Question!, Shadow Step
*Ding!*
[Acquired - Shadow Step (A)(D-)] – Instantaneous Movement Skill - Blur like a shadow and reappear as a Reaper. |Scales off the Agility stat.|
"Hmm?" Cassius's brows furrowed in interest. "This Skill seems very useful, especially when paired up with my Agility stat, which I main in."
He wanted to test it out right now, but the current environment wasn't very suitable. Additionally, he still had to settle the situation with Aya—
"Big brother Cassius…?"
Not used to hearing that form of address, Cassius took a second to register the presence of the beautiful nude girl currently standing in the bathroom's doorway. They both locked eyes with each other at the same moment.
Aya's face became increasingly red. She crouched and covered her breasts, about to scream. Yet, before she could, Cassius practically teleported beside her and muffled her voice with his hand.
Flushed redder than a tomato, Aya stuttered, "Y-Youyuu…" But was unable to say any more due to the thick, calloused fingers pressed over her mouth. Her eyes instantly began to water as she really felt like crying.
She had never shown her nude body to anyone before (on purpose)! And yet now her stepbrother was close to reaching a negative distance with her! She was scared!!
Seeing that she really was on the verge of bawling her eyes out, Cassius leaned his face next to hers. "I didn't mean to grab you so suddenly, but explaining this situation to our parents would be…" He briefly glanced between the two of them, both of whom were naked.
Aya's face instantly dropped when she realized what he was trying to say. Yet that didn't make her tears feel like coming down any less. To prevent that, though, Cassius let go of her and backed away before respectfully turning around. "There's a towel right over there, which you can use until you get back to your room."
Aya's puffy eyes swam around the white bathroom interior, blushing every time she caught a peek at Cassius's defined back muscles and muscular buttocks. She almost saw something far above average as well, but he stopped her eyes from traveling any further with his quizzical voice. "Have you gotten the towel yet?"
Embarrassed beyond disbelief, Aya stammered, "N-No, I'm getting it now!" Before she waddled over to the hanging towel that Cassius was originally going to use. After snuggly wrapping it around herself, she said, "D-Done."
'Why am I feeling so hot right now…? Is something wrong with me??'
Turning around, Cassius viewed a charming side of his stepsister that he had never seen before. She sheepishly stood by the sink, twirling her curled hair strands, with a scarlet red coloring her cheeks in a burning warmth.
Absentmindedly, he commented, "Stunning." Only to realize that this was hardly the time for that. "Sorry… I didn't mean it like that—"
"N-No, it's okay, I-I…" Aya had already become indistinguishable from a beet as her pretty sapphire blue pupils erratically flickered. Smoke puffed out of the top of her head as she didn't know where to look anymore; her eyes always seemed to find their way back to Cassius's dashing figure. 'H-Has he always been this attractive…!? And his words are so sweet…! I don't think I can handle this new version of him... Definitely not...! And then there was him at the Hospital—'
Aya's mind suddenly flashed with all of the events leading up to this point in time, causing her expression to morph from despair to terror… to a warmth that made her heart beat faster. Yet, there was a part of her that believed everything was just a dream; after all, how could the unawakened Cassius possibly be so strong?
However, when she saw the dried blood on her body, she realized that all of it had undoubtedly happened.
Upon recalling the sadistic smirk on the Dark Ape's face and the way it slapped her, she…
"D-Did it…?" Her eyes lifelessly dimmed, yet brightened up like a wave of spring when Cassius grabbed her and took her into a hug. "You don't have to worry," he said warmly, his hands gently placed along the curve of her back. "That monster worm wasn't able to get what it wanted. Live with ease of mind, Aya."
Aya's face suddenly scrunched up as the tears began to overflow. "T-Thank you, C-Caassius… Thaankk yoouu…Thankk youuu.…" She repeated, her voice getting muffled by the snot and tears streaming down her face as she buried her head in his chest.
Despite the wetness smearing his cleaned body, Cassius simply stood there and gently rubbed her head. A feminine orchid fragrance assaulted his nostrils, capable of flaring the urges of even a monk. Yet he resisted those urges with ease, as this was not the time to be getting caught up in the moment, especially not when Aya was in such a vulnerable state.
[^-^ Solid Character Development!]
[Now, to bed or not to bed? Tis the question.]
Cassius instinctively ignored his shitty system, and after eight to nine minutes of staying silent while holding Aya, he carefully took her off of him. She seemed resistant at first, but complied after a second more of soaking in his presence.
Her eyes misted over as she furtively glanced at every part of his body and face, yet he didn't take her looks to heart. "You should explain things to our parents, but you will need your clothes. Well, just stay here a moment; I will grab them."
A lot of color left Aya's face as she stretched out her hand. "Wa-Wait, don't leave me alone—" Yet, in the very same moment Cassius vanished, he reappeared in that same spot, with a shadowy black energy seeping off of him. 'So that's how that Skill works… Extremely useful, as expected. And it even seems to give me Permutation to a certain extent, allowing me to pass through objects.'
...…..
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Astral_Pandemonium
Astral_Pandemonium To Bed or not to Bed...?
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone