“B-But how could that be okay?!”
“Does that mean I should take the initiative then?”
Origami acted completely unbothered, directly occupying the space where Shiratori had been standing just moments prior.
She pressed her hand against the wall, bringing her face closer and closer to his, millimeter by millimeter.
“No, no, no…
please don’t!”
Once it started, how could it possibly stop?
Shido’s face turned bright red, his eyes darting back and forth in sheer panic.
A minute later, a fully satisfied Origami opened the apartment door, even though it had only been a simple kiss on the cheek.
“Come on in.”
“P-Pardon the intrusion…”
Shido picked up the paper bag that had dropped onto the floor, his trembling fingers wrapping around the doorknob.
Exhausted as if all strength had drained from his body, he dragged his limp legs inside the apartment.
“Pardon the intrusion as well.”
Shiratori closed the door behind them, removed her shoes, and stepped into the apartment.
“Please head to the living room first.”
“Ah…
alright.”
Strange, what is this scent?
The moment they entered the living room, a sweet aroma drifted through the air—so rich that a faint sniff was enough to catch it instantly.
Even so, the scent didn’t smell like food.
To be precise, it smelled more like—
“Tobiichi?
Are you burning incense?”
“Yes.”
“Oh…
I see…”
How should he put it?
It was honestly quite surprising.
Though it was just Shido’s wild imagination, he had always felt Origami Tobiichi wasn’t the type of person to be interested in hobbies or pastimes like this.
However, her behavior from earlier certainly increased the possibility.
After all, just catching a whiff of this fragrance made one’s mind go blank, slowly relaxing tight emotions while consciousness gradually drifted…
It clearly had a remarkable effect on emotional relaxation, but it was still quite concerning.
“Shiratori, what do you think this fragrance is?”
“Just a few high-grade aromatic concentrates available on the market.
They are quite expensive, reportedly used for that kind of activity.”
Hearing Shiratori’s response, Shido scratched his head in utter confusion.
“That kind of activity?
What does that mean?”
“Making love.”
“EEEEK?!
N-No way, could it be?!”
Shido’s neck turned like a long-rusted mechanical gear, slowly pivoting his head toward Origami as a spine-chilling sense of crisis welled up within him.
However, seeing Origami’s completely unfazed expression, Shido eased up slightly.
Perhaps keeping this kind of incense at home was just a habit of the Tobiichi household. Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
“Sit down.”
“Ah, right…”
Hearing Origami’s instruction, Shido walked over to sit in front of the low table placed in the center of the living room.
What followed was self-introductions between Origami and Shiratori.
Curiously, the moment Origami heard that Shiratori’s name consisted of only those two characters, the hostility in her eyes dissipated significantly.
However, Origami sat right next to Shido, while Shiratori sat opposite the two of them.
Normally speaking, shouldn’t the host sit opposite the guests?
Yet Shido noticed something striking: their expressions were shockingly similar—both possessing the indifferent demeanor of a porcelain doll.
Their speech patterns were also shockingly alike, sharing almost identical tones.
Both even shared a penchant for setting up strange and bizarre mechanisms in their homes, among many other similarities.
Actually, I’m Origami’s twin sister, Origami Shiratori, who loves doing scientific research!
Such an unrealistic thought flashed through his mind.
After all, how could a Spirit and a human possibly be sisters?
It was just that their living habits happened to be remarkably similar.
“Please wait a moment.”
“Ah, okay…”
Origami suddenly stood up, stepping quietly toward the kitchen.
It seemed she was going to prepare tea and refreshments.
Still, watching her prepare refreshments while dressed in a maid uniform gave Shido a rather subtle, bizarre feeling.
“No, finding the puppet is the main priority right now…”
Muttering softly under his breath, Shido looked left and right to scan the entire room, while Shiratori opened her laptop and began playing video games.
The room was neatly arranged with simple furniture in muted tones.
It lacked any sweet, feminine atmosphere typical of a teenage girl’s room, appearing so monotonous it was almost bland.
The overall decor looked practically identical to a model showroom.
Fortunately, without any flashy decorations obscuring the view, everything in the room was visible at a single glance.
Just as he prepared to make his move, Origami returned carrying a tray.
On the tray sat three saucers and teacups, alongside sugar and milk.
Without a word, she arranged these items on the table.
“Please enjoy.”
With that, Origami leaned close to Shido once more, coming into contact at an even closer distance than before.
Now a second fragrance hit his nose: the scent of Origami’s shampoo, as her hair was practically tangling with his own locks.
Wiping cold sweat from his forehead, Shido reached out toward his teacup.
“!”
However, the fluid inside made Shido involuntarily knit his brows.
Comparing the cups, Origami’s tea appeared crystal-clear with a deep red hue, whereas his own was so murky he couldn’t see the bottom of the cup.
Shiratori’s tea looked visually identical to Origami’s, but something inside seemed to be dissolving, much like ice melting in water.
“Sedatives…”
Shiratori covered her right eye, setting her hand down after analyzing the ingredients inside.
It seemed Origami intended to knock her unconscious, after which she could do certain things with Shido.
Why conclude that?
Because Shiratori had analyzed Shido’s tea…
If that fluid could even be called “tea,” it was laced with four separate high-grade vitality tonics.
Drinking even one would grant boundless energy, let alone all of them blended together.
If he drank this cup of tea, he would unequivocally become a fully fledged adult on the spot, bursting with golden aura like a Super Saiyan evolving right then and there—the kind where golden light surged through every single part of his body.
“Mm, thank you for your understanding.”
Origami looked pleased that the other party understood her intent.
She stood up immediately and opened her bedroom door to let Shiratori step inside.
“Mm, do your best out there.”
“Just don’t expect me to yield him to you.”
“I have no obsession over Shido.
You can rest assured.”
“Then I suppose I can try to trust you.”
The dialogue between the two rivaled the exchange of two machines, entirely devoid of emotional fluctuations.
Origami closed the bedroom door and turned her gaze back.
Now, only she and Shido remained in the living room.
“Wait a second!”
Seeing his sole ray of hope—Shiratori—enter Origami’s bedroom, Shido felt as though absolute doom was knocking at his door.
Origami then sat down beside Shido, pushing the teacup in his direction.
“Please enjoy.”
“…”
Although he didn’t know the exact ingredients inside the tea, he had a feeling it was definitely not something a high school girl should own, nor something a high school boy should drink.
“Please enjoy.”
“Um…”
“Please enjoy.”
“…”
Origami Tobiichi.
AST operative.
Lives alone.
Lost both parents five years ago.
Holds a deep obsession toward Itsuka Shido, though the underlying reason is unknown and logical deduction is impossible.
…Sigh, humans really are strange creatures…
Shiratori reopened her laptop on the desk, preparing to log her recent observations into her notebook.
However, just as her body approached the chair, an arrow suddenly shot out from beneath the wardrobe, its tip coated in an unidentified substance.
Lightly raising her leg, Shiratori effortlessly dodged the sneak attack.
She had known all along that Origami wouldn’t leave her conscious so easily.
“Origami has a laptop too?”
Noticing a laptop charging near the edge of the desk, Shiratori lightly ran her fingers over it.
For a self-reliant high school girl, a laptop could be considered a luxury item.
Even with AST stipends available, a laptop wouldn’t be a top-priority purchase.
Having no intention of breaking into Origami’s laptop, Shiratori placed her own computer onto the bed, disarmed the traps throughout the room one by one, and then booted up her machine.
What popped up on screen wasn’t her desktop, but a person she was relatively familiar with.
It was within expectations.
Knowing the other party would come knocking after she severed the comms, Shiratori had intentionally lowered her computer’s firewall.
“Honestly!
Shiratori, what do you think you’re doing?!
Why did you cut off our communication?!”
From the other end of the screen, Kotori’s voice resounded, packed with resentment.