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“This means there’s two days when I don’t get to be with you!” Fujiko said, draping herself off of Akito as if the idea gave her physical pain.
“It’s just two days.”
“No, it’s two whole days!” she complained. She was lying on the bed, wearing the black underwear she’d bought especially for this day. Her eyes were shining as she spread her hands out toward Akuto. She was acting completely naturally, but Akuto knew that she’d practically interrogated Junko the other day.
“What was it like when he was holding you in his arms?”
“I’m sure it was very big, and powerful too.”
“How long did the pain last? ... No, my experience doesn’t matter. I’m asking because Akuto’s is special.”
She and Yoshie were trying their best to get the details out of her. Of course, Junko said nothing. And in the end, the two of them were practically resorting to torture. Naturally, Fujiko didn’t have any experience at all, herself. He, however, didn’t have much more.
With Junko they’d both been too awkward to do much of anything, but this time, it was different. Would he just be making things worse for Fujiko? He ran his hands down her body, and then said the first thing that came into his head.
“People have really different bodies, don’t they?”
“What...?” Fujiko gasped in protest. “D-Don’t talk about other girls at a time like this!”
“S-Sorry. You seem more... feminine... It feels like.”
In fact, she had a unique softness to her skin. It felt like his hand would sink into it forever. Junko’s body was lithe, and seemed to push back against him. It seemed to him like he should try touching the girls each in different ways.
Either she was happy that he’d said that, or happy that he’d shut up, because she didn’t say anything else. Akuto pressed himself up against Fujiko’s soft body. His upper body felt like it was sinking into water, or being painted with warm oil. He ran his hands down every part of her body, fondling, not just touching.
While he focused on the parts that made her moan the loudest, she began to run her hands down his body as well. Her fingers ran from his sides down to his hips. She grabbed him down there, and tried to move as if to lead him somewhere. When he adjusted his hips and pushed, he felt a sensation like he’d never felt before, like his skin was being covered in something soft and wet.
The two of them were both shaking with pleasure, but it was Fujiko who moved first. With a provocative smile, she pushed her body against his from below.
✦ ✦ ✦
○
He’d eliminated the root of mana civilization. But the past hadn’t changed. No, the past had changed, in fact.
“The birth of mana civilization came at a different point?”
Hiroshi asked Boichiro, who was sitting in front of him.
“The data from the lab wasn’t salvaged. A professor wasn’t working that day, and he’d received the data via email. From there, he redeveloped it all by himself. Became a hero for it, in fact. That’s the ‘current’ history.”
Boichiro had the hint of a smirk on his lips. It seemed like the grin of a devil, yet also bore a hint of pity. Either way, it was a smile that said he’d seen this coming. This angered Hiroshi.
“Security was tight at that place. No way in hell did they just send all data to some random scientist!”
Boichiro shrugged.
“Yup. You’re exactly right. But there’s no way of knowing what, exactly, happened. That’s how history works.”
“You don’t need to make it sound like a conspiracy. Like somebody made it all up.”
“No, it was made up. Really.”
“Really?” Hiroshi’s eyes went wide at this surprising statement.
“Correct. Only those who were present for it know what happened in history. And we weren’t there. Even if somebody just overwrote history entirely, we’d have no way to know.”
“Then there’s no way of knowing the truth about anything!” Hiroshi shouted.
“There is no such thing as truth. This whole world is a piece of fiction.”
“Then what you told me about time before...”
“Correct. Change something somewhere, and something else is added to fix it. Things are changed. Someone changes them.”
It was hard to believe. But since Hiroshi could go see for himself, there was no reason for Boichiro to lie. If that “someone” was the Law of Identity, she was being very cruel. Without her allowing the world to be changed, the world would be destroyed. If she didn’t want that to happen, shouldn’t she be helping Hiroshi?
As he thought about it, Hiroshi could feel his mood begin to blacken.
If I kill someone, then maybe...
Maybe changing something big, like that, would keep the Law of Identity from stopping him. He was reluctant to kill, but if this really was the afterlife — not that he had any proof of this — there was no problem.
The person he killed would just come here slightly sooner than planned. And if one death could change things...
“Thinking back, you never managed to kill anybody important, did you?” Hiroshi said, provocatively.
Boichiro understood what he was getting at, and his mouth twisted into a strange sort of smile. But the two of them said nothing more.
✦ ✦ ✦
○
As for Yoshie’s part, she was nervous, but also curious, and curiosity won out. She would stare at Akuto’s body and touch it, especially enjoying the reaction of his manhood.
“It’s one thing to know about something, but it’s different to actually see it for yourself,” Yoshie said. She was wrapped in a towel that exposed nothing but her head and hands, playing with Akuto’s body as he sat naked on the bed.
“You’re not supposed to play with it like that...” Akuto complained.
“I need to know all about it, though,” Yoshie said calmly.
This left Akuto feeling somewhat annoyed.
“I guess we’ll both need to get to know each other’s bodies, then.” Akuto wrapped his hand around her back and grabbed the towel, pulling it off.
“Hyah!”
Her white skin was exposed, and she struggled to hide her body. Akuto pulled the towel, pulling her forward as well, and bringing her into his arms.
“I thought you were the type to not get upset about being naked.”
“This is a special occasion... You should understand that.”
Yoshie blushed, but Akuto was having none of it. He pulled the towel over them both and then pinned down Yoshie’s legs.
“It’s one thing to know about something, but it’s different to actually see it for yourself,” he said, as he moved his hand down below.
“I’m sorry. I apologize, so...” She struggled, but she was nowhere near as strong as Akuto.
“I’m just playing with the space between your toes.”
“You mean the space between my thumbs?”
“Sorry, it’s an old joke. But I’m kind of surprised that this is what it feels like.” Akuto laughed and then held her tight.
“You’re mean, you know that?”
“Mean? Well, they have told me that I’m the worst person in the world.”
He pressed inwards, without waiting for her. She let out a gasp of surprise, mixed with a very different feeling.
✦ ✦ ✦
○
Hiroshi shot down the black mage that was carrying baby Akuto and fleeing from him.
When he saw that Akuto was dead, he averted his eyes from the baby that had been crushed from the fall.