Chapter 325: Mwah~
Just a few seconds after Little Tornado appeared, another familiar presence entered the range of Ryū's Observation Haki.
Just as he turned to look, he suddenly felt something humanoid draped across his back.
A faint fragrance drifted into his nose, and something seemed to be resting against his shoulder.
Soft golden hair brushed against his neck and ear, and warm breath fanned gently across his face.
A crisp voice, laced with a lazy sweetness and a teasing edge, murmured softly beside his ear: "Well now... Admin-sama, I certainly remember what happened last night. That sudden counterattack of yours left me on the back foot the whole time."
"I didn't sleep a single minute all night — spent the whole time trying to sort my own head out. I think I've finally cleared up a little. So, does that mean the upper hand is mine from here on?"
A warm, damp sensation lingered against his cheek for two or three seconds before the weight against his back vanished.
Ryū touched the lingering warmth on his cheek and turned to find a certain youkai sage watching him with a teasing look — as if hunting his face for any trace of embarrassment.
To her disappointment, Ryū's composure shifted faster and more thoroughly than hers had.
Not a trace of embarrassment showed on his face — instead, he gave an amused little laugh. "Is this your countermeasure for today? Doesn't seem to be putting me on the back foot at all."
"Tch... you think that's all I've got? That was just the appetizer."
"Whatever tricks you pull, doesn't it all end the same way regardless?"
"So the ending's the same, fine — as long as the getting-there is different."
"Speaking of which — those two shikigami of yours, do they count as dowry maids?"
"Pfft! So this is what you've been scheming, you awful perpetually-single mutt!"
"Well, buy one get two free — that's a steal."
"Hmph, hentai!"
"..."
The scene playing out was so bewildering that Tatsumaki and Master Roshi, watching from the side, were both left slack-jawed.
Blindsided with a face full of secondhand affection they never asked for — even Tatsumaki, tsundere as ever and deceptively girlish for a twenty-nine-year-old, couldn't help but look utterly floored.
Replaying the almost old-married-couple intimacy between Admin-sama and Yukari-senpai in her head only made her feel more like her brain wasn't keeping up.
Tatsumaki had been suspecting, ever since last night, that something had shifted between Permissions Hound #1 and #2 — something well past normal.
She'd even wondered if the two of them were up to something not fit for young ears, but with no proof to go on, she'd shelved the theory for the time being.
Then that jaw-dropping scene just now left her stunned on the spot. Her suspicions from last night... had apparently been right on the money?
Holy crap!
What on earth was going on with these two — how did they end up tangled together this fast?
Didn't that mean poor little Kaguya never even had a shot? And she was probably still completely in the dark about it, too.
No, wait — it wasn't just Kaguya kept in the dark. The entire chat group was in the dark!
All that "protection" spam everyone had been posting last night, egging them on — that had just been crude joking, indulging their fun little urge to tease the Permissions Hounds.
Nobody had actually believed one night was enough for Admin-sama and Yukari-senpai to cross the line from ordinary group-member friendship into something more.
"And yet here it was, actually happening. Completely unforeseen — my hunch from last night was right after all, even though this morning I'd talked myself into thinking I'd been wrong."
The turmoil in Tatsumaki's head was every bit as intense as what Ryū and Yukari themselves had gone through the night before.
Which said everything about how hard that little display of intimacy had hit the group's #3 Permissions Hound.
Wait a second!
Did that mean, out of the chat group's three Permissions Hounds, she was now the only single one left? That felt way too real.
Tatsumaki's bright eyes, uncertain and disbelieving, flicked back and forth between Ryū and Yukari.
Had Permissions Hound #1 and #2 actually hit a home run last night?
That would be a little much, wouldn't it?
Surely not that fast?
Then again, who could say for sure!
Just as Tatsumaki's imagination was running wild enough that she'd nearly forgotten why they'd even come to the Dragon Ball world, another figure appeared on the island.
"Huh? Am I really the last one here? So this is the Dragon Ball world — it feels like stepping into a place with a whole new set of laws. Strange feeling."
The newcomer was none other than the last member signed on for the quest — the strongest sorcerer of the Marvel world, Sorcerer Supreme the Ancient One.
Dressed in a plain sorcerer's robe, the Ancient One's smooth, hairless scalp seemed to declare, all on its own, that going bald was the price of getting stronger.
This Sorcerer Supreme could probably talk for hours with a certain other bald caped hero — comparing notes on which brand of hair-growth tonic actually worked.
The Ancient One's gaze swept the area, landing first in surprise on Tatsumaki's oddly stricken expression. Then on Master Roshi, equally slack-jawed. Then on Yukari, standing there with an ornate parasol. And finally, on the faint mark left on the Admin's own cheek.
"Um... so, did I miss something important? Would anyone be kind enough to fill in someone who has no idea what's going on? All this silence is just making me more curious."
The Ancient One was certain something significant had just happened. But she'd apparently arrived a few dozen seconds too late, and so had missed the mystery event entirely, with perfect timing.
Some instinct told her this whole thing had to be a hundred percent about the Admin and one of the Moderators. Had the Admin toyed with one Moderator's feelings and then dropped her for another?
Wow... what a mess this circle was. Was this just an average day for the Permissions Hounds?
With no one offering an explanation, the Ancient One had no choice but to fill in the blanks with pure imagination.
Don't be fooled by the "Sorcerer Supreme" title into thinking she was all business — the version of the Ancient One shown in the Marvel films was, in truth, a centuries-old sorcerer with a wild streak simmering just under a composed surface. For sheer repressed-wildness, she probably only lagged a little behind characters like Deadpool.
The Ancient One glanced left and right, then shrugged. "Well, whatever it was, it sure looks like it had something to do with romance."
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