"Mei-senpai~ Nagami ~ School's out, let's go get lunch!"
Kiana grabbed Mei's arm with one hand and Nagami's with the other, dragging them both as she rushed out of the classroom.
"Wait a sec! Kiana, we haven't picked up our lunch yet!"
Mei groaned, a vein twitching on her forehead as she tried to stop her airheaded best friend from charging off like a lunatic.
"Sigh… Calling you a 'tuna' wasn't wrong after all. Can you please use your brain for once?"
Nagami slapped a hand over his face, giving the white-haired girl beside him a deadpan look full of contempt.
"Ex-CU-SE me?! You jerk! Calling me a tuna again—are you asking for a fight?!"
Kiana puffed out her cheeks, placed her hands on her hips, and threw her tiny fists at Nagami like a fluffed-up kitten ready to brawl.
"Alright, alright, Kiana, cut it out."
Mei stepped in with her usual gentle smile, pulling out their lunchboxes from her desk.
Her voice was sweet and calming, her soft gaze a balm for chaos.
"And you too, Nagami. Don't bully Kiana."
She gave Nagami a look—a gentle scolding—but a scolding nonetheless.
Seriously, these two are always causing trouble. Can't they behave for once?
"Oh."
"Oh."
Faced with Mei in full gentle-wife mode, the two could only nod like obedient kids.
…Though their hands were still locked in a secret pinch-fight behind her back, clearly signaling this isn't over.
Time flew by like a fleeting shadow.
It had already been twenty days since Nagami transferred to Chiba Academy, and this kind of bickering had become the norm.
Thanks to Nagami and Kiana standing up for her, all the hostility Mei once faced at school had vanished.
Now, these school days had become the happiest time of Mei's life.
And the trio's bond? It was deepening by the day.
You could even tell by how they called each other—there was a closeness there now.
Though it was just a high school, Chiba Academy was massive—on par with the university Nagami had attended in his past life.
No wonder only honor students and rich girls made it in.
Walking down a peaceful, sakura-lined path, the three found a big enough patch of shade beneath a tree.
Mei laid out a picnic mat on the soft green grass and sat down, holding the hem of her school skirt neatly.
She opened the insulated lunch container and looked at the two with her gentle violet eyes.
"Today's lunch is sweet-and-sour pork ribs~ It's my first time making it, so it might not be perfect. I hope you'll be forgiving."
The moment those juicy, glistening, orange-tinted ribs appeared in front of Kiana, she froze.
Just the smell alone had her gulping nonstop, practically drooling on the spot.
As the Herrscher of Rice, Mei took her cooking even more seriously than her swordsmanship.
She had followed the recipe step by step and even taste-tested it earlier—but still, modesty was key.
"Waaah! Mei, you're the best!!"
Kiana immediately hugged her, rubbing her face against Mei's cheek like a purring cat.
"Hehe, even Mei smells good!"
She giggled like a goofball, eyes closed in bliss.
Total food simp behavior.
"Kiana-chan… You're too close~" Mei, who was very much straight, felt a little overwhelmed by the closeness.
Nagami glanced at the over-affectionate Kiana and seriously considered bringing C.C. over to Chiba.
'Let's see how cozy you get with Mei once C.C. is watching…'
Shaking his head with a chuckle, Nagami picked up his lunchbox, grabbed a rib with his chopsticks, and took a bite.
A burst of sweet and sour flavor exploded in his mouth. The rich meat juices surged across his taste buds, the heat making him exhale with a hiss.
"Mmm—! Mei, your cooking's gotten even better!"
No doubt about it—she was the Herrscher of Rice.
Even a picky eater like Nagami had zero complaints.
Kiana, cheeks puffed full with huge chunks of meat, was already chomping down in bliss.
After swallowing, she licked the corner of her mouth and declared, "Yup! Mei's cooking is the best in the world—no, the entire universe!"
"Aww, stop it~ That's too much."
Even though Mei was fairly confident in her skills, Kiana's enthusiastic praise still made her blush, a warm red tint rising to her cheeks.
The sunlight poured gently through white clouds, breaking into dappled patterns as it filtered through the tree leaves above.
It lit up the delicate faces of the two beautiful girls beside him, bathing them in a soft golden glow.
A breeze passed by, rustling fallen petals and leaves, lifting the edges of their skirts and revealing smooth, fair legs beneath.
Nagami smiled warmly as he watched the girls laugh and chatter, savoring the peace of the moment.
But inside, he wasn't as calm as he looked.
Last night, on his way home from school, he had sensed someone watching him.
Whoever it was had moved with incredible stealth—both their presence and gaze were nearly undetectable.
If it weren't for the heightened perception granted by his dual bodies, he never would have noticed.
There was only one person who fit that profile.
Cocolia.
Still, Nagami acted like nothing was wrong. He went about his daily life as usual, keeping up the perfect facade.
Rather than startling the snake by poking the grass now, it was better to keep this person under his watchful eye.
Besides, the truth was, neither Nagami nor C.C. had the strength at this point to go head-to-head with Anti-Entropy's forces—especially not their armed enforcers.
Apart from their immortality, the only powers they could currently use were their respective Geass abilities.
The Alpha Stigma was essentially a learning-based cheat.
It might be useful for offense after Nagami could fully analyze the concept of "existence," but for now, it was useless in actual combat.
As for "Soul Fusion," that was obviously off the table too.
While Kiana and Mei's affection levels were high, they hadn't reached the level of lovers yet.
Because the Gem of Conquest was buried within Mei's body, Nagami couldn't analyze it directly.
He first had to fully understand Mei's body itself—no shortcuts.
It had taken him nearly ten days.
If it had been a regular human body, it wouldn't have taken nearly that long.
Even before any visible changes occurred on the outside, Mei's body had already begun evolving into a Herrscher under the influence of the Gem.
Of course, that wasn't just because of her transformation.
It also had to do with Nagami's current strength, knowledge, and the degree of control he had over the Alpha Stigma.
Now, Nagami probably understood Mei's body better than she did herself.
After successfully analyzing her, it was almost like having X-ray vision in a very literal sense.
He could see the makeup of her body, the size of each organ and structure, even the elemental composition of her cells.
After that, he devoted all his time to analyzing the Gem of Conquest within her.
By now, Nagami had developed a decent understanding of Honkai energy.
If he could just get his hands on the real thing, he was confident he could master it quickly.
The only thing bothering him lately was the radio silence from the chat group.
Just how long would it take for new members to join already?
According to the system, once the group reached 10 members, the store would unlock traversal cards—each costing 100 points.
But as the group's admin, Nagami had a special privilege: he could buy one early once they had 7 members.
From the initial chat group instructions, he'd learned how the traversal worked.
Essentially, when someone was sent to another world, the group would "extract" them from their current timeline.
When they returned, they'd be slotted back in at the very next Planck time unit—essentially, an instant later.
This meant that while traveling through other worlds, no time passed in their original world.
A massive advantage.
If he couldn't gather 10 members before the Third Eruption, then his only option would be to jump into another world first, grow stronger there, and return in time to make a difference.
It was the only shot he had at stopping the eruption.
But even now, there was no telling when the next member would join. Everything was up in the air.
Then suddenly—
————————————————————————
[Kiana Kaslana has joined the chat group.]
————————————————————————
Hmm. (Flat tone)
Huh? (Rising tone)
HUH?!?!?! (Brain short-circuits)
"FUCK… Kiana?!"
The news hit Nagami like a brick to the face. His jaw dropped, and he blurted out in shock.
"Y-you—what the heck are you even talking about?!"
Kiana, hearing her name shouted, flared up like a startled kitten.
Her fists started hammering at Nagami like rapid-fire raindrops, her face flushed with fury and embarrassment.
'I thought you were my friend! And now it turns out—you actually want to have sex with me!?"