Chaos Year 3, Day 110, 1:13 am.

Boom! Crash!

The explosive power of our skills broke down the stone wall in no time. One by one we all entered through the wall. On the other side, there was an enormous open space. My mouth gaped and eyes widened, as I glanced around the area.

"Wow!" We all exclaimed together, taken aback by the beautiful scenery.

There were lots of blue glowing stones scattered across the area. They emitted a bright light that illuminated and warmed up the whole place, creating a mysterious ambiance.

The ground and wall surrounding the area were entirely covered in moss, with lots of ferns and other small herbs growing all around. It filled the underground space with a refreshing herbal aroma.

On one side of the wall, through a small hole, water kept gushing out and cascaded down the steps of glowing rocks, creating a narrow stream. The steady burble of the stream brought out the perfect atmosphere of the forest, as it scribbled along the underground floor and finally opened up to a lake. The water of the lake shone blue due to the glowing rocks. And the mist drifting over the lake added to the mysterious vibe.

We stood still with no words left, completely awestricken, by the stunning beauty of mother nature. Well, it was not the real nature, but to us, there was no difference between the two.

After savoring the moment for a few more minutes, Hikari spoke first, "Guys stay outside in the tunnel until we finish our bath."

"Wait. Who said, you girls are getting in there first?" Shinji yelled out.

Whoa, Shinji. You wanna die, mate?

"What did you say?"

Hikari's cold voice sent shivers down Shinji's spine, as he quickly turned his tail.

"N-no, nothing. Please go ahead."

Yup. Good choice. The talk of gender equality doesn't work on crazy people. Furthermore, Hikari is in a bad mood right now for some reason.

"Good."

With that Hikari turned around and stepped toward the natural pool, but soon she stopped midway and swiveled back.

"By the way, if you dare try anything funny, you know what awaits." She glared at us. "Boss, don't let them out of your sight."

Geez, she is already suspecting us of doing something illegal.

"Hikari, I'm sure they won't do something like peeking." Annette-san tried to calm Hikari down.

Ah, Annette-san, you are the angel. Wait, actually succubus goes better with her. Oh, no what am I imagining? A-ahem, anyway, I'm sure Boss also believes in us. Right, Boss?

"Don't worry Hikari." Boss grinned. "I'll tie them up if I have to."

Haah… I have nothing to say…

"Okay," Nodded Hikari. Then after a pause, she yelled out, "What are you waiting for? Get out!"

"Alright…" we sighed.

Hikari again turned around. Annette-san, waving her hand at us, also moved forward. But Pika seemed to be hesitating.

Oh, this might be her first time, bathing in an open place together with someone else. Well, she will be fine with two of them there.

We, the four guys, left the artlike world and entered the plain shabby tunnel. I sat down, leaning on the wall that separated the two worlds. The sounds of the water dribbling and the girls' chatter rang in my ears.

How did their bad mood improve so much? They are gossiping about us, aren't they?

Closing my eyes, I focused on my auditory sense. The girls spoke in low voices. But the surroundings were pretty much quiet, so their words reverberated across the open lake area and reached my ears rather easily.

"But still, Pika, you should be more careful around Ryoki-kun." Hikari's voice came off harsher than usual. "You are too defenseless around him."

Well, we lived under the same roof for a few months. What else do you expect?

"But I don't think senpai even…sees me that way," Pika spoke quietly. But from mid-sentence, her voice sounded even softer.

Is she still uncomfortable?

"Wait, Pika?" Annette-san sounded excited suddenly. "You are into Rio, aren't you?"

Wait, what? How on earth did she come to that?

"Eh? S-senpai?" Pika's voice quivered. "I-I don't really know."

"But you smile so cutely whenever anything about Rio comes up."

I really should not eavesdrop anymore.

I wanted to tune out the voices, but at the same time, also wanted to keep on listening.

"I don't know. I've never been in love before." Pika's soft voice, mixing with the sound of the stream, became tougher to listen to. "Is this really love?"

My heart pounded, as Pika literally began confessing her feelings.

Stop, Ryoki! Get away from that wall!

My body didn't listen to my commands. Instead, It pulled me up on my knees, with my ears placed on the wall.

"Whenever, I see…..I don't… but you know, it…"

Damnit, it feels like I'm losing the signal.

I crawled toward the broken gap between the wall. I needed to get just near enough to listen without any interruption.

"What are you doing, Rio?" Shinji called out from behind. He seemed too amused, as he snickered, "You're tryna peek, you pervert?"

"Shut up!" I gritted my teeth, glaring back at him.

"Oops! Alrighty!" He smirked, raising his hands above his shoulders.

I shifted my focus back to the girls.

"What about you though, Annette-san?" Hikari's voice resounded this time. "You like Boss, don't you?"

"Ehh?" Annette-san raised her tone. "How did you get that idea?"

"C'mon no need to hide that from us."

"I don't know what you are talking about."

Ugh, Pika already finished whatever she was saying. Now they are just rambling about the obvious thing.

Letting out a big sigh, I tiptoed back to my original position. Leaning my back against the wall, I sighed again.

"Your peeking mission failed?" Boss asked, keeping his eye over his menu window.

"I didn't peek, for God's sake." I retorted.

"I see…" Boss stopped pushing it further.

But I was pretty ticked off by the earlier event, so I ranted on.

"I see Lynx nowhere. Why aren't you guys doubting him? He could be peeking now."

"I'm right beside you." Lynx appeared next to me suddenly.

"Geh!" I gasped out. "This is getting old, you know."

"Yes, you guys should be able to expect it by now."

"We clearly can't, geez."

Just shrugging his shoulders, Lynx again disappeared.

Geez, there he goes again. Girls are all having fun and bonding. But why are we guys like this? Whenever Shinji opens his mouth, he annoys me. Boss is always busy with his system and stuff. And Lynx just disappears into thin air.

Yet another sigh left my mouth. We sat in the darkness waiting for our turn. My brain also adjusted to the disgusting smell of the slime already.

I'm gonna fall asleep if this goes on. Need to keep my brain active.

"Riri," I called out.

"Yes, Master?" As usual, a video screen showed up, that no one other than me could see.

"Sing me a song," I ordered.

"Eh?" Riri immediately blushed. "Y-you want Riri to sing?"

"Yup," I replied. "Your singing really sucks. It'll keep me awake."

"Wha?!" Riri's blushed face turned into a pouted one now. "Ugh! I knew it. You can never be nice, can you?"

"Why do I have to be nice to you?" I frowned, shrugging a bit. "Anyway, just sing, will ya?"

"Hmph!" She looked away, still pouting. "No way, I'm singing after that."

"Dude!" Shinji abruptly cut in, as he sat next to me, leaning his back on the wall. "Why are you so rude to Riri? Isn't she just a child?"

"It's none of your business," I replied.

"Man, if I acted like this with my AI, he would have ditched my ass long ago."

"Is that what happened back then?" I smirked. "That explains why you kept setting off traps repeatedly and ran around like a headless chicken."

"Huh, what are you saying? Pfff.." He let out a nervous laugh. Then waving his hand up and down, he added, "It's nothing like that. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is, why does your AI keep helping you, tolerating everything, even when you act like a fatherless jerk."

"…" I stayed silent with not much to say to argue back.

Well, I'm fatherless. And might be a jerk too.

But Riri spoke instead of me, "It's because Riri knows who Master really is." She smiled sweetly, staring into my eyes. No one but I heard her words. She knew that, but still kept going. "I watched him for three years. I felt what he felt. I know everything about him, there is to know." Then she grinned ear to ear. "He is just someone who they call a tsundere."

"Shut up!" I scowled at Riri.

"Hehe, are you blushing, Master?"

"Does this face look red to you?" I knitted my brows together. "And how do you even know that tsundere term?"

"Riko told me about that." She said but covered her mouth instantly. "I was not supposed to say that."

"Talk!" I glowered at her.

"S-she was just here to visit Riri," Riri said hastily. "We just chatted and walked around the city. I made sure she didn't do anything else, I swear."

"How many times?"

"I haven't… kept count." She muttered, avoiding my eyes.

You are a damn support AI. Of course, you have the count.

Then she looked me in the eye with her frowning worried face, and said, "Please, don't be angry at Riko. We just wanted to hang out a bit."

"You don't have to be worried about that," I said with a sigh. "It's a matter between us, siblings."

I turned off the system interface. I got the medicine that would keep me awake for a while anyway.