"Mm... is it already evening?" Rubbing her eyes, Chu Lian looked at the dim golden sunlight streaming in through the window by the foot of the bed. She glanced up at the alarm clock beside her bed. It showed 5:23. Tonight's dusk had come a little early.
"You're awake?" Inori, who had woken up before her, reached out and gently touched her forehead. Only after finding nothing unusual did she let out a sigh of relief.
"What's wrong?" Chu Lian asked curiously. With her current physical condition, catching a cold or developing a fever was practically impossible, so why was Inori acting like this?
"When I woke up earlier, your face was really hot. I thought you were sick." Inori had no way to explain Chu Lian's condition either, so she could only repeat what she had seen.
"My face was hot?" Chu Lian was stunned too. She knew perfectly well what her body was capable of. At this point, forget catching a cold or fever. Even if she shoved her hand into a shark's mouth, the thing that would break would definitely be the shark's teeth, not her hand.
With a physique more terrifying than some prehistoric beast, how could she possibly have symptoms like a hot face? Blushing from embarrassment was one thing, but in many cases, a hot face was a sign of illness. Strange.
"Yeah. What exactly caused it?" Inori didn't know, and neither did Chu Lian. The only thing they could do was speculate. Maybe... Chu Lian had simply been thinking too much?
"Forget it. Since nothing seems wrong, let's not worry about it. Right now, we should rest a little more, then head out to the suburbs and deal with the Wang family's situation." After thinking about it herself and arriving at no useful conclusion, Chu Lian decided to ignore it. Otherwise, who knew when she'd finally get to the bottom of it?
"Mm." Inori obediently responded, then tilted her head slightly. "Lian, remember to change your clothes." Her words made Chu Lian pause for a moment. Looking down at what she was wearing, she had to admit it was true. Sailor uniforms looked great in anime, but when she wore one herself, it felt oddly uncomfortable.
And if she made even slightly larger movements, things like panties... panties... panties... would definitely end up exposed.
Although everyone going with her was female, that didn't mean there wouldn't be men among the enemies. That would be unbearably awkward.
She didn't want men seeing her body. At the very least, not when she herself didn't want to be seen.
Even the fanservice photos she sold for integrity points had restrictions and carefully chosen angles. Very little was actually revealed, and even then, her embarrassment levels had already exploded. If she had to keep throwing out accidental fanservice in daily life too, she absolutely could not accept that setting.
A girl this full of sex appeal, constantly selling fanservice, would definitely make people draw doujinshi of her. She absolutely refused to become the heroine of some hentai anime!
Who knew what kind of things those perverted authors would make her do? Foot fetish stuff, black stockings, white stockings, tentacle play, and who knew what else... wouldn't she die of embarrassment? And on top of that, this body was still a flat-chested lolita body, right? Doing things like that was illegal!
Wait. As long as I never release adaptation rights for my 2D image, nobody would dare make doujinshi of me anyway! Also, why the hell am I even thinking about such embarrassing things? No matter how I think about it, this is all wrong! Am I really that perverted?
Watching Chu Lian's expression change dozens of times in an instant, Inori had no idea what she was thinking about. Then again, even if she knew, she probably still wouldn't understand what any of it meant.
"Lian'er, do you really think nobody knows what you're thinking? I never expected you to be this kind of horny little lolita. Hello, horny lolita. Goodbye, horny lolita. Want me to release the rights for your 2D doujin adaptations? I'm sure you'd become the new queen of doujinshi in no time. I believe in you, young lady."
"I was wrong, Ayase. Please don't do that. If you really do it, my future will become utterly hopeless!" Chu Lian knew perfectly well how popular she was among otaku-types. If Ayase really released the adaptation rights to her doujin works, then she could already foresee it—her books would absolutely dominate the future doujin market!
At that point, forget foot fetish stuff, black stockings, white stockings, and lolita themes. There would definitely be sailor uniforms, nurse outfits, qipaos, princess dresses, gothic lolita dresses, tentacles, and all sorts of even more outrageous things everywhere. A future like that would truly be a living hell.
She could practically imagine herself walking down the street only for a crowd of fans to rush over carrying doujinshi of her and begging for autographs. Then she'd look at all those outrageously erotic versions of herself on the covers, unable to laugh, unable to cry, yet unable to refuse either, forced to sign them in utter humiliation...
Please let things like this remain inside doujinshi and hentai anime only. Never depict them in reality! Otherwise it'll definitely get censored. Definitely censored. Definitely censored! Absolutely!
"To be fair, Lian'er, every random thought inside your head right now is already full of mosaic censorship-worthy material. Sigh. I never thought you were this kind of girl. I'm truly disappointed in you." Ayase shook her head and leisurely delivered the finishing blow while looking at the nearly tearful girl.
"Ayase, I was wrong. I won't think like this anymore. Please don't release the adaptation rights, and please stop stabbing me emotionally like this, or I'll break down." Chu Lian was completely helpless now. Other than begging for mercy, there was truly nothing else she could do.
After all, Ayase had always stayed within the system space. There was no way any of Chu Lian's thoughts could escape her notice.
If someone had recorded all the expressions Chu Lian made in that brief instant just now, they could probably turn them into an entire meme pack. Meanwhile, Inori sat nearby in confusion. Why was Lian acting like this?
If she knew that a single sentence from herself had sent Chu Lian's imagination blasting through the heavens and beyond dimensions to who-knew-where, she probably wouldn't know whether to laugh or cry.
In the end, it was all because Chu Lian herself was too lewd. A horny lolita or something... there were truly no words for it.
Still, could your thoughts maybe stop being so filthy in the future? Even you yourself are exploding with embarrassment, let alone everyone else.
"Alright, alright, I'll change clothes. But what should I even wear?" Throwing aside the chaotic mess in her mind, Chu Lian jumped out of bed and walked over to her wardrobe. Looking at all the different clothes inside, she genuinely had no idea what to choose.
"If you can't decide, then wait for Chu Chu and Satsuki first. Or maybe take a bath before deciding," Inori suggested. Seeing that Chu Lian had returned to normal, she stopped thinking about what had happened earlier. It was probably just Chu Lian overthinking things. There really shouldn't be anything to worry about.
Probably... right? Then why did it still somehow feel like something was off?
"Right. I'll wait for Chu Chu and Satsuki's opinion first." Her thoughts tangled into a complete mess, Chu Lian temporarily suppressed both the girl from her dream and the bizarre fantasies she'd just imagined. There was no way she could calm herself down right now. She could only leave it for later.
"Alright..." At this hour, Chu Chu had probably already returned by now, right? She wondered what kind of expression Chu Chu would make once she learned they were going out to fight later.
"Come on, let's go eat." Chu Lian grabbed Inori's hand. Without even putting on shoes, she walked barefoot across the floor on a pair of snow-white lotus feet, hopping along cheerfully, clearly in an excellent mood.
Inori let herself be pulled along. Seeing Chu Lian acting so energetic, she felt happy for her as well. So after sleeping for a while, your mood recovered? Don't be sad, don't be lost, don't be hurt. I'll always stay by your side, so keep moving forward.
What she didn't know was that Chu Lian hadn't truly recovered at all. She had merely scattered and disrupted those emotions within herself. A large reason for those embarrassingly lewd fantasies earlier was to stop herself from recalling that memory again. She needed quiet. She needed time to sort these things out.
More importantly, she didn't want Inori worrying about her again. Inori was someone who should be protected by her, not someone who should constantly worry over her.
"Big Sis~"
The moment they walked downstairs, a figure pounced toward them. Chu Lian released Inori's hand and caught Chu Chu in her arms, rising onto her toes as she happily spun around several times. Looking at the delighted girl, she smiled and asked, "What is it? You're in a really good mood today?"
"That's because I got to do H things with Big Sis last night..."
Chu Chu almost blurted out the real reason directly, but considering she was currently nestled in Chu Lian's embrace, if Chu Lian heard that and got all tsundere about it, she'd definitely suffer for it later.
So she decisively chose another answer instead.
"It's because I heard Wang Tingsi dropped out today. There were already rumors a few days ago saying his family had gone bankrupt. He took leave earlier to go handle family matters, and now he officially withdrew from school. I'm so happy I don't have to see him anymore."
Chu Chu's words made Chu Lian pause briefly before realization dawned on her.
"Was the person who handled the withdrawal procedures someone called Wang Hao?"
"I think so. He looked all gloomy and sinister. Just looking at him made people uncomfortable. When he noticed me staring at him, he even turned around and gave me this disgusting smile. He's just as annoying as Wang Tingsi." Chu Chu puffed out her cheeks. Although Chu Lian had already put her down, she still clung tightly to her as she spoke.
"Wang Hao... that person isn't simple." The feeling Wang Hao gave her was very similar to Aizen from Bleach. There was definitely some much larger conspiracy hidden beneath everything. And if she wasn't mistaken, he probably already knew about her identity as the Daughter of Fate.
Yet even now, he still hadn't made a move. Just what exactly was he planning?
She didn't know. But she could be certain of one thing: whatever it was, it definitely wouldn't benefit her.
"Come, let me tell you about today's events." Seeing that her mother was still busy, Chu Lian chose not to disturb her. Instead, she took Inori's small hand again and walked straight to the sofa before sitting down and speaking to Chu Chu beside her.
"Today's events?" Chu Chu tilted her head curiously. Could it be that Big Sis wanted her to become part of her life now, so she was sharing everything with her? That was amazing! As expected, Big Sis loved her!
"Yeah. It starts with what Tina encountered today..."
After organizing her thoughts, Chu Lian slowly recounted everything that had happened throughout the day, beginning with the abnormal phenomenon Tina had told her about.
"Ah! Big Sis, you turned Wang Tingsi into a girl? And a succubus-like woman who clearly has overwhelming lust yet can't actually do H things? That's amazing! Big Sis, you absolutely did the right thing!"
The moment Chu Lian described what she had done to Wang Tingsi, Chu Chu—who had always despised him—immediately jumped up in excitement, looking happier than ever.
"Yeah. And that's not all. There are other things too..." Chu Lian smiled while watching Chu Chu's excited reaction. Only after the girl calmed down a little did she continue explaining the rest.
"So tonight we're going to storm the Wang family and cause complete chaos? That's incredible!"
As Chu Chu listened to Chu Lian's arrangements, arcs of lightning flickered across her arms, making it obvious just how excited she was.
"Which is exactly why I'm wondering what clothes we should wear there. It's such a hassle," Chu Lian said at last.
When it came to this kind of thing, Chu Chu had the most experience.
"How about this, Big Sis. Let's wear..."