章 1959: Compression Syndrome
Making the most of his free time, Vahn was watching the girls perform their morning routine with a relaxed smile on his face. This was easily one of his favorite ways to spend the morning, and, while it might not be particularly intense, seeing the girls stretching in little more than sports bras and yoga pants always improved his mood. It also demonstrated to the girls that he had a bit of free time on his hands, so, if they had nothing, in particular, going on, he was more than willing to make himself available for them.
Fortunately, the girls had come up with their own system to determine, in advance, who would approach him during such situations. This was to prevent him from spending days, months, or even years just to pander to each particular person's needs, and, more often than not, the number didn't exceed five. The only exceptions were when the girls were struggling with their training or feeling a little lonely, but, given Vahn's propensity for monitoring each and every one of them, such instances were 'very' uncommon.
With this in mind, Vahn always looked forward to seeing who would approach him following the morning routine. He could always find out by simply spying on the meetings the girls had at the end of every day, but, similar to when his original harem had adapted their 'network', Vahn did his best to respect the girls' autonomy when it came to their management of his harem. The was one of the most important lessons Loki had bestowed unto him, and, while it left him feeling left out at times, he understood that the private affairs and interpersonal relationships between women were least chaotic when unobserved by men.
As that thought crossed his mind, Vahn was somewhat surprised to see Mikoto break off from the larger group of girls after exchanging a few words with Artoria. Even more surprising was the fact that she was the only one to approach him, a rare instance in and of itself.
With Vahn's eyes following her unerringly during her approach, a ruddy hue gradually developed across Mikoto's face as she briefly considered whether or not she should use her [REquip] system to change clothes. Her outfit might be a lot tamer than the other girls, consisting of a sleeveless white top and matching shorts with red trim, but it still emphasized her figure quite a bit...
Though he was largely to blame for the girl's quirks, Vahn couldn't help adopting an amused smile as he saw Mikoto stall before she was even halfway to him. She had a penchant for letting her mind wander whenever she was feeling anxious, and, every now and again, she would even begin talking to herself without any consideration for her surroundings.
Taking advantage of the hazel-haired girl's absentmindedness, Vahn teleported directly behind her, his hand naturally gravitating towards her head as he mused, "It's rare for you to seek me out first. I wonder what you had in mind~?"
Though her first instinct was to release a Thunderbolt, Mikoto ultimately managed to suppress the urge due to anticipating this exact outcome. She knew that approaching Vahn, at least in her case, was the same as asking to be teased, so, after some initial tensions, she managed to bat his hand away before saying, "I wanted to talk with you about visiting an Actualized World. We recently hit a bottleneck of sorts in our research, so, before we start having to do guesswork, I wanted to try and collect information directly from the source. I also have a few resentments to sort out related to my original source material, so, even if it's only for a short while, I wanted to explore that world and see if I can't improve a few things."
With virtually all of his Templates sharing similar sentiments, Vahn wasn't particularly surprised by Mikoto's words. Rather, knowing the many tragedies set to occur in her world, it took quite a bit of self-restraint for Vahn not to interfere. Worlds with modern settings and extremes between science, magic, and religion were rarely pleasant once you peeled back the cute and often comical veil used to conceal the horrors hidden beneath. Mikoto's world, in particular, was one of the most atrocious examples of this, as, despite appearing as a romantic-comedy on the surface, it was a place where Scientists would unrepentantly make twenty-thousand clones of a middle-schooler just to sacrifice as part of an experiment...
Without even needing to consider his response, Vahn offered a curt nod, saying, "I understand. How did you want to go about it? The simplest method is to adapt a version of the world with the Isekai sub-genre. Being 'reborn' with the memories of the person you wish to replace is significantly easier than trying to live their life from scratch. Of course, with your power, you could always just bulldoze your way through after assuming a different identity entirely..."
Shaking her head in response to the last suggestion, Mikoto adopted a serious expression as she said, "Even if I'm my origins are that of a Template, my identity is still precious to me. I feel a little guilty about appropriating someone else's memories, but, for the sake of a better future, I will do what I can to correct the injustices that will have occurred by the time I enter the world. I also want to experience what it's like to have a mother, father, and childhood friends, so, even if it might be a little inconvenient, I will assume the identity of a transmigrator with the identity of Misaka Mikoto..."
Unsurprised by Mikoto's decision, as several of his Templates had made similar choices, Vahn just nodded his head a second time, saying, "No problem. My only real question is, what role do you want me to play in all of this? For you to approach me in this manner, you must have thought of something, right?"
With a remarkably potent blush spreading across her face, Mikoto averted her eyes to the side, fingers pressed together as she meekly replied, "I was thinking you could either be my guardian angel or a teacher that had just recently transferred into the city..."
Though he knew she wasn't overtly suggesting anything, Vahn couldn't help raising his brows in response to Mikoto's words, an amused smile on his face as he mused, "I never expected you to have a preference for forbidden romance...well, at least you didn't ask me to be your step-father or something. Hahahahaha~"
With illusory steam exploding from her head, Mikoto didn't hesitate to send Vahn flying into the sky with her variation of a Thunder Punch. Almost immediately thereafter, however, Vahn reappeared in front of her, a wry smile on his face as he scratched the back of his head and whispered, "It was just a joke..." before following it up with asking, "So? When did you want to head out?"
Restraining the urge to hit him with a human-form Bolt Tackle, Mikoto took several breaths to calm herself before saying, "I've been meaning to ask since a while ago but you were already spending a lot of time in Actualized Worlds so I could never find a good opportunity. If you're up for it, I would like you to accompany me for the entire duration of my stay. Even if you have the power to control and manipulate time so that none passes while you're outside, I would rather not be left alone in a foreign world. With that in mind, it's really up to you when we depart. I'm pretty sure we can finish up everything within a year or two if we work together..."
With Mikoto becoming meeker the longer she forced herself to stare directly at him, Vahn couldn't help adopting an affectionate smile as he immediately replied, "I'm looking forward to it..." in a soft and velvety tone. This caused Mikoto's expression to turn crimson, but, when he extended his hand for her to grab, she didn't refuse it...
---
After little more than a blink from the perspective of others, Vahn emerged from the Internalized Realm before opening his Unit Management and promptly summoning Mikoto to his side. This left the latter at a momentary loss, as, from her perspective, no time had passed from the moment they said their farewells to the time she appeared outside the Actualized World.
Looking around, Mikoto quickly confirmed there were no other people present before looking up at Vahn, arms crossed as she pointedly remarked, "I half-expected you to bring everyone else with us. I guess even you have your limits..."
Since the mood had been pretty good just moments prior, Vahn couldn't help scratching the back of his head as he found himself at a loss for words. Fortunately, Mikoto wasn't genuinely upset with him. Rather, after the three-and-a-half-years they had spent together, she could never stay mad at him for very long. He imagined she was just feeling lonely now that it was just the two of them, so, after a moment of consideration, he surprised the perennial youth with a warm and comforting hug as he whispered, "We can always return whenever you're feeling lonely...for now, how about we go and meet with the others?"
Having grown rather accustomed to such actions during their time in the Actualized World, Mikoto made no effort to extricate herself from Vahn's embrace. Instead, she nestled a little closer to him, face pressed against his chest as her arms naturally wrapped around his body. Then, upon hearing his words, she simply nodded her head with an "Nn..." before accepting his hand and following him to the dining hall. There, she became quite emotional, but, with Vahn standing close by, she was, at the very least, able to avoid bawling her eyes out every time someone welcomed her home...
---
With his adventures in the 'Unified Toaruverse' requiring him to face metaversal threats capable of wiping out infinite universes with simple hand gestures, Vahn's interest in the politics of the Tower had waned considerably. He knew this was only a temporary side-effect of spending too much time in an Actualized World, but, with multiple Realms existing between him and the pinnacle, the notion he was spending too much time in the Tower had crossed his mind.
Though less than a year had passed since he officially began his ascent, Vahn had aged more than seventy years in that time. When he had first entered the Record, he was a relatively spry 304-year-old. Now, however, he was getting remarkably close to 375 due to the gratuitous amount of time he spent training, researching, relaxing, and exploring various worlds. He had also accumulated the experiences of more than fifty Templates, so, despite his original desire to take things slow, he was already a lot stronger than he needed to be in order to completely dominate the Tower.
With such thoughts plaguing his mind, Vahn emerged from the Little Garden to find Iifa and Nio, both completely naked, curled up next to each other in his bed. This immediately brought a smile to his face, not because he had any particular attachment to the two girls, but because their tails had coiled together naturally in their sleep. It was actually quite adorable, so, with more than three years having passed since the last time he saw the duo, an urge to celebrate their reunion swelled within Vahn's chest as fluffy ears and a rather thick tail sprouted from his head and backside. Then, eliciting a surprised yet playful 'kyaaaaa~' from the understandably bewildered duo, he practically pounced on them for the first time since their initial meeting...
(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'One of the 'Great Wonders' of the Aldrnari Empire...','The real question is: how big did Vahn's harem get in the Toaruverse...?','Vahn.EXE has stopped functioning. Initializing Horn.dog subroutine...')
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