บท 138: Arc 5: Break - Chapter 2
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Cross-over from various games, books, anime, manga, and movies.
The familiar characters you see here belong to their respected authors and owners.
"Speech"
Arc 5: Break - Chapter 2
"We have a serious problem on our hands." I announced in a deep, serious voice, giving everyone a severe look. "We're about to become bored soon, and that isn't good."
"Sex?" Ruby asked, her eyes flashing with heart shapes as she looked at me with barely hidden lust.
"No." I replied.
"Sex?" Ruby pouted, her expression shifting to a pleading one.
"Not now, at least." I conceded, keeping my tone flat.
"Sex?" Bayonetta joined in, giving me a blazing look that sent an involuntary shiver down my spine.
"Denied." I said even more firmly.
Bayonetta clicked her tongue in annoyance, crossing her arms with a huff.
"Okay then, what should we do?" Weiss interrupted before anyone else could chime in, looking at me with expectant curiosity.
"Something that we can all do." Octavia paused, casting a sidelong glance at me, then at Ruby, Weiss, and Bayonetta, before meeting my gaze again. "Excluding sex, please. No offense, but you're not my type."
"None taken," I shrugged.
"I would like to see what everyone is so interested in about sex if you don't mind letting me experience it," Namine said in a monotone, her expression as unreadable as ever.
"Rejected." I replied in an even firmer tone, my voice hardening. "I've got a feeling the Heaven pantheon is about to strike me down if I even think about it, judging by those thunderclouds above."
We all turned to look up at the sky. Despite the looming, massive thundercloud hanging ominously above the lake, no rain fell, only intensifying the sense of something foreboding in the air.
"Oh, that should be one of the Heaven pantheon's members who's been pursuing Namine." Bayonetta explained a glint of amusement in her eyes. "The stir caused by her… current job has caught quite a bit of attention—especially with Shouko as a precedent. Of course, they would've had to wade through heaps of paperwork just to visit her here at the high school."
Namine tilted her head, staring blankly at the thundercloud above. In an instant, the stormy cloud turned a bright shade of pink, shrinking rapidly before it seemed to flee, dissipating from sight as if too flustered to remain.
"Oh my, it got embarrassed just from Namine looking at it!" Bayonetta giggled.
"That's the first time I've ever seen a thunderstorm disappear like that." Weiss said, blinking in disbelief.
"It turned pink. Huh." Ruby blinked, her confusion obvious. "Wait, so… that thundercloud was literally a thundercloud that fell for Namine? It wasn't a person?"
"Yup. An intelligent thundercloud with thoughts of its own." Bayonetta confirmed, clearly entertained.
"If I remember correctly, that should've been a tiny cloud I drew long, long ago." Namine mentioned to everyone, her tone casual as if the stormy suitor were merely an old doodle.
"Of course it is…" I muttered, sighing to myself.
"About that sex—"
I cut Namine off right there. "Forget what I said about the Heaven pantheon striking me down. Your fellow members would kill me first before the Heaven pantheon even got a chance."
I rubbed my forehead, already imagining the trouble. Even with my newly acquired River of Time, surviving an attack from a pantheon, especially one as powerful as the Heaven pantheon, was nothing short of impossible.
"It's okay, Namine." Bayonetta said, patting her lightly on the head. "If anything, you could bring this up to the higher-ups and have them introduce you to some books or something." She began giggling at the thought.
Namine, her face blank as always, nodded slowly, clearly taking Bayonetta's suggestion very seriously.
"There's going to be a lot of headaches once Namine returns to the Heaven pantheon." Ruby whispered to Weiss, who gave a knowing nod.
Crazy voices. Somehow, it felt like my very presence was inspiring these girls to become more interested in sex than they ever were before meeting me. I had this gut feeling… maybe I have a hidden identity in the Eldritch pantheon, one that affected the opposite gender and slowly became horny the longer they were by my side. Or, it could just be Lucky Pervert preparing things. Honestly, both seemed possible.
"Right, back to the topic of us about to become bored soon. Anyone want to do something, excluding the subject of sex." I quickly added, cutting off any chance of the conversation drifting back in that direction.
"We could check out the library?" Octavia suggested a thoughtful look on her face. "It's great learning from the teachers here, but we're limited to what they can cover in class. The library has so much more, and my parents told me each genre has its location and version for how to run a library. You need to meet certain requirements to access more advanced knowledge, though."
"Oh?!" Ruby perked up, visibly interested.
"I forgot about the library." Bayonetta muttered, blinking in realization before her expression shifted to a disappointed frown. "Unfortunately, Namine and I can't tag along with you. We're not students, teachers, or staff members, so most areas in the high school, including the libraries, are off-limits to us."
"Actually, I think both of us could return to our pantheon right now. Seems our turn here is almost over," Namine stated to Bayonetta. "As short as it was, I have too many questions related to sex that need answers." Without another word, she opened her sketchbook, which unleashed a blinding white light that forced us all to shield our eyes.
When the light faded, Bayonetta and Namine were gone.
"Wow, Namine didn't even ask if Bayonetta wanted to leave together or not." Weiss muttered, blinking as she rubbed her eyes.
"Did she really have to flash that bright light at us just to hide her and Lady Bayonetta's exit?" Octavia grumbled with a scowl as tears trickled from her squinting eyes.
I snapped my fingers, using Boundary Manipulation to restore everyone's vision to normal.
"Thanks, Jin." Ruby said with a relieved smile, dropping her hands now that she could see clearly. "So, to the library?"
"As much as it pains me to study even more… sure." Weiss sighed, getting up from the grassy ground and dusting off her clothes. "I'm curious what those specific requirements are, anyway."
"One question, though… do any of you actually know where the library is?" Octavia asked, looking around at everyone.
"Nope. I don't even know where the cafeteria is. So… the Action Genre's library!" Ruby declared, tossing a Gold Ring into the air. It spun, creating a portal before us.
We stepped through the portal one by one and found ourselves in what appeared to be an ordinary library.
"It just looks like… any ordinary library?" I muttered, scratching my head in confusion. "I was expecting something… well, less ordinary for the Action Genre."
"Same here." Weiss agreed, poking a book on the shelf to her right as if expecting it to do something exciting, but nothing happened. The book stayed perfectly still.
"I don't see anyone else but us here." Ruby said, glancing around the empty rows.
We all turned to look at Octavia, who blinked, clearly confused by our sudden attention.
"Why are you guys looking at me?" Octavia asked, taking a step back.
"Well, you're the one who brought up the library." I started.
"And it was your parents who told you about it." Ruby added.
"Did they mention anything else?" Weiss chimed in, placing a hand on her hip. "Because I doubt just reading these books will be enough to keep us entertained."
Octavia crossed her arms, thinking for a moment. "No, they didn't mention anything more than what I've already told you. So I guess we'll just have to figure this out ourselves."
"Do you think they'd have, like, a list of rules posted somewhere so we don't accidentally cause problems?" Ruby wondered aloud, her eyes scanning the walls and bookshelves for any sign of instructions.
"Maybe we just need to pick out a book and see what happens." Weiss reached for a nearby book titled Knuckle Sandwich. "Weird title for a book." She opened it—and immediately jumped back, tossing the book away as a giant fist shot out from its pages, freezing in mid-air as it remained tethered to the book. "Okay, so… the books aren't exactly normal." She placed a hand over her chest, catching her breath, her heart racing.
I stared at the enormous fist, about as large as the book itself. "That… was unexpected. It doesn't seem to move on its own, though. It's just… frozen like that. Almost as if it's waiting for something…"
Everyone took a cautious step back, watching the book warily as the fist remained suspended in an unchanging punch, adding a strange, tense stillness to the library.
"Okay, so… does this mean this book counts as advanced knowledge somehow? And to actually read it, we need to… what, fight the fist?" Ruby prodded the fist with another book she grabbed from the shelf, testing its reaction.
"What I want to know is why it's even called Knuckle Sandwich." Weiss grumbled, still eyeing the fist warily. "It almost punched me in the face—I'd have been knocked out if I hadn't jumped back fast enough."
"Do we even want to read something like this?" Octavia asked, looking at all of us with concern. "Maybe it's best if we pick something else and put Knuckle Sandwich back on the shelf."
"I'm with you on that." I agreed, glancing at the hovering fist. "But, uh… how do we even get rid of that thing so we can close the book?"
The fist remained frozen in place as if awaiting some form of action. We all exchanged uncertain looks, realizing that returning it to the shelf might be more challenging than expected.
"Maybe we just need to close it… like, literally just close it?" Ruby said, picking up Knuckle Sandwich by the cover and shutting it carefully. To our surprise, the giant fist shrank rapidly, disappearing into the book as it closed with a soft click. "Huh, that was easy." She placed the book back on the shelf from where Weiss had gotten it and picked up the other book she had dropped. Reading the title aloud, she wrinkled her nose. "Pistol Whip. Yeah, I think I'll pass on reading this one." She promptly put it back.
"Good call. It'd probably summon a pistol just to smack you across the face." Weiss remarked, casting a wary glance around at the countless books lining the shelves. "So… maybe we won't be bored, but I have a feeling these books are going to keep us on our toes."
"The only problem is how we actually read them without, you know, risking a smack in the face." Octavia muttered, taking a few steps back from the shelves and moving a bit closer to me.
"Is there no librarian around here?" I mused aloud, focusing on River of Time to try and locate one.
As I concentrated, my vision shifted slightly, revealing faint trails of time echoing through the library. One path led to the far corner of the room, where a faint glow hinted at a presence—perhaps a librarian or a guide waiting to be found.
"Alright, I think I've pinpointed where the librarian is." I said, gesturing toward the corner of the library. "But we should be prepared in case… well, we end up needing to fight them."
"Why would we need to fight the librarian?" Octavia raised an eyebrow, looking at me skeptically.
I gave her a knowing look. "Remember, this is the Action Genre's library."
"Good point." Octavia nodded, glancing around as if expecting something to leap out.
"If that's the case, we should be on guard." Weiss added, shifting her stance. "We're in their territory, after all. It could be a tough fight."
"Still, it's better than randomly opening books and risking getting whacked or worse," Ruby said, eyeing the bookshelves warily. "What if one of them traps us inside? Then we'd have no way out... though I bet Jin here could get us out somehow."
"Let's just hope it doesn't come to that." I replied, moving cautiously toward the librarian's location, the girls close behind as we prepared for whatever awaited us.
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