Chapter 252: Why don’t we take a detour?

--Monday, June 22, 2172

At the gate of UA, Momo and Kai said goodbye to Mina and Jira, who headed home to study for the final exam on their own, planning one last review with Momo the following week. Meanwhile, Kai and Momo stayed behind, chatting about random things while Salem slept on Kai’s head. After a few minutes, Nejire came running toward them with a beautiful smile on her face.

“Thanks for waiting for me!” Nejire exclaimed with a huge grin. Momo laughed amusedly and replied while hooking her arm around Kai’s.

“Why are you thanking us? It’s pretty obvious we’d wait for you.”

“I know! Hehe.” Nejire giggled, then hooked her arm around Kai’s free one. Kai, for his part, shoved his hands into his pockets and commented calmly.

“Alright, let’s head home.”

“Why don’t we take a detour first? It’s been forever since the three of us hit up a karaoke place.” Nejire suggested, her eyes sparkling with hope. Momo’s eyes widened with realization, and she turned to Kai with shining eyes, her voice cheerful as she spoke.

“Yeah, Kai, it’s been so long, and since we started dating, we’ve barely had time to go out. Let’s go, please?”

“I guess that’s fine. Where do you wanna go?”

Kai replied with a warm smile that nearly melted Momo’s heart. Meanwhile, Nejire let out a soft laugh, a mischievous aura surrounding her as she quickly pulled out her phone to check some secret notes she’d been collecting.

“I heard some girls in my class mention a place. Why don’t we check it out?” Nejire looked at Kai and Momo with a grin. Kai nodded casually, not particularly bothered by Nejire’s sly expression.

“Let’s go then. Give me the address.”

“Here it is!”

Nejire handed her phone to Kai without a care about him reading her ‘secret notes.’ After all, they were all about doing things with him, and though she truly loved him, she also knew him well. She was perfectly aware that trying to hide something from Kai, especially on an electronic device, was a pipe dream. If Kai wanted to know something, no one—not even Keiko—could keep it from him.

Just as she expected, Nejire watched Kai take note of the address and hand the phone back without bothering to read anything else, which brought a beautiful smile to her face. After a while, the group arrived at a secluded alley in the city center, where a poorly decorated door advertised a karaoke place.

“Are you sure this is the spot?” Kai couldn’t help but ask, eyeing the door with a skeptical look. Nejire, somewhat unsure herself, nodded and replied while Momo curiously scanned the surroundings.

“It should be…”

“Do we go in or find somewhere else?” Kai glanced at his beautiful girlfriends and asked calmly. Momo, more curious than anything, nodded with a smile and said.

“We’ve never been to a place like this. Why not explore a bit? It’ll be a fun adventure.”

“That’s right! Let’s go on an adventure!”

Nejire quickly chimed in, brimming with excitement to explore the unknown. Kai extended his observation haki to its fullest, and realizing nothing particularly stood out as alarming, he stepped forward with the pair of curious girls.

Upon opening the door, the trio found themselves in a colorful hallway adorned with various posters and a red carpet, with a sort of reception desk on the left. Unlike the alley outside, the interior looked quite nice, clean, and organized. Behind a brightly painted wooden counter stood a man in his mid-20s, scrolling through his phone with a bored expression.

“Give us a good room. Doesn’t matter if it costs more.”

Kai announced in a calm voice, causing the man to look up in surprise. But upon seeing the two stunning beauties beside the blue-eyed young man, who stared at him with curiosity as if he were a zoo animal, the man couldn’t help but gulp audibly.

The beauty of the two girls was on another level, far beyond anything he’d ever seen walk into the place. No, these two surpassed even the most popular idols of the moment. Their perfect faces combined with their bodies—especially those massive breasts, so large they seemed like heavenly pillows—went far beyond ordinary beauty.

In just a few years, this pair could rival the woman who was arguably the most beautiful in Japan and a strong contender for the title of the world’s most beautiful pro hero. The professional hero Midnight, the dream lover of any man of culture in Japan—no, in the entire world.

As the man got lost in his fantasies, he suddenly felt a deep chill run through his entire body. A primal terror quickened his heartbeat, weakened his knees, and turned him pale as a ghost.

Snapping back to reality, he noticed the cold gaze of the blue-eyed man’s slightly narrowed eyes, along with the looks of disgust from the two beautiful girls, who protectively covered their chests. Even the black cat with blue eyes on the guy’s shoulder shot him a dangerous glare.

“U-uh, my apologies, I’m a bit sleep-deprived and slow to react. You can take Room 6, it’s our best one.” The man stammered after an awkward cough, quickly operating a nearby computer to assign the room.

After ordering some fast food and sodas, the group followed the receptionist’s directions to the room. But Nejire’s and Momo’s expressions were no longer as curious, disgust now more evident on their faces.

“What a disgusting stare…” Momo muttered, pressing her chest tighter against Kai’s arm as if trying to hide it, though with little success.

“Yeah, I felt like he was ‘licking’ me all over. Gross.” Nejire added with a pout full of disgust, burying Kai’s arm between her breasts. Kai spoke in a calm but firm tone.

“Do you wanna go somewhere else?”

“What?! No! We already paid; let’s have fun.” Nejire quickly shook her head and replied with urgency. Momo nodded in agreement and added in a calm voice.

“Yeah, let’s not ruin our ‘adventure’ over that rude guy. With the warning you gave him, he’ll never dare look at us like that again.”

“Fufu, Kai-chan is our protective hero.” Nejire commented with a smile, rubbing her head against Kai’s arm. Momo nodded cheerfully and added.

“Exactly, we’ve got our hero with us. There’s nothing to fear. Let’s go!”

Soon, the group entered a relatively spacious room with sofas along the walls, a large TV, and a wide table in the center, on which sat a typical karaoke remote. Right then, Nejire let go of Kai’s arm and started wandering around the room while Momo commented with a curious smile.

“It doesn’t look bad. A bit simpler than where we usually go, but still decent.”

“The sofas aren’t bad either!”

Nejire remarked after jumping onto one of the sofas without the slightest care for her skirt, giving Momo and Kai a glimpse of her plain blue panties. The sight inevitably made Kai raise an eyebrow—after all, he’d seen Nejire put on black shorts under her skirt back at the workshop.

Though slightly intrigued, Kai’s focus shifted elsewhere. While there were no visible security cameras like in a typical karaoke room, there were hidden ones in various spots—near the ventilation hatch, behind the TV, in the table, and more—which made him mentally click his tongue.

[Sage, take control of the cameras and follow the lead. Give a little ‘gift’ to whoever set this up.]

[Immediately, master.]

Sage responded in a serious tone, swiftly taking control of the cameras and making them play a completely fabricated video instead of what was really happening while infiltrating the central server.

“What song do you wanna sing?”

As she sat with Kai on the sofa while Salem jumped to lie down in a far corner, Momo looked at Nejire and asked with a smile. Nejire bounced over to Momo with a grin, using the remote to select a song while hiding the screen from Kai and Momo with her body. Kai and Momo exchanged amused looks, and soon Momo nestled into Kai’s embrace with a smile, waiting for Nejire to start the song.

Before long, the TV in the room switched to display a simple video with a musical staff at the bottom and notes scrolling across as a soft piano began to play. With a warm smile, Nejire stood up in front of Momo and Kai, picked up the microphone, and started singing in a melodic, almost angelic voice.

“I'll never forget being with you at the end of summer With our dreams of the future and big hopes I believe that ten years later, in August, we'll meet again. Such great memories…”

As Nejire’s beautiful voice echoed through the room, Momo couldn’t help but grip Kai’s arm tightly, a lump forming in her throat as her eyes shimmered with tears. Kai, meanwhile, felt a wave of dizziness. He knew this song. He’d cried to it back when he was Daniel. It was none other than [Secret Base], the ending theme of a famous anime about a ghost girl.

“Ah, the fireworks Burst in the night sky so nicely, it kinda hurts Ah, the wind flows by with the time We had so many happy, fun adventures. Together in our secret base…”

As she sang, tears filled Nejire’s eyes. Like Momo, fragments of her childhood flashed through her mind—how they played, how they laughed, how Kai scolded her and Momo for pranks, the secret candies he gave them, all the special moments that filled her with an endless sense of gratitude and happiness.

The two young people in front of her were her friends, her siblings, her family. Every happy, sad, or quiet moment of her life had been spent with them, and she’d continue to spend them by their side. Now that their bond was stronger than ever, life only promised to get more exciting. Soon, childhood games would return, but not with them as the protagonists—rather, as parents.

In a few years, her children and Momo’s would be blood siblings, and together with the other sisters, they’d expand the family to the point where the mansion would feel too small. That was Nejire’s secret dream, one she held deep in her heart, valuing it even more than her desire to become a hero.

…

By the time the song ended, Momo and Nejire’s faces were streaked with tears. Kai pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, intending to wipe their faces, but before he could, Nejire sat on his right thigh and initiated a tender kiss. Pulling back slightly, she spoke in a soft, teary voice.

“I love you, Kai, more than anything.” After speaking, Nejire gave him another gentle kiss on the lips, then turned to Momo and patted Kai’s free thigh.

“I love both of you. I want us to be together forever.” Momo said as she sat on Kai’s other thigh, her voice a little hoarse. She kissed Nejire on the cheek before sharing a tender kiss with Kai.

“I love you both more, and don’t worry, nothing and no one can separate us…”

Kai replied in a gentle tone, wrapping his arms around the two beautiful girls on his lap. They leaned into him, closing their eyes and quietly savoring the rhythm of Kai’s heartbeat and his warm embrace.

…

…

…

As the sun began to set, Nemuri sat stroking a white cat in her lap, sipping a glass of wine with Keiko and Yumiko, all dressed in simple, comfortable clothes. Though they appeared relaxed, the trio of stunning women couldn’t help but glance at the garden every few minutes, their expressions tinged with concern.

Finally, a familiar light shimmered in the garden, and almost instinctively, the three women rose from their seats and hurried toward it, the white cat trailing behind. Soon, the light faded, revealing Momo and Nejire with faces full of happiness, clinging to Kai’s arms as if they wanted to merge with him.

“Looks like you had fun.” Keiko commented with a small smile, visibly relieved. Nejire replied with a wide grin, watching as the white cat jumped onto Kai’s shoulder to rub against Salem.

“We went to a karaoke place and sang a ton!”

“Next time, give us a call. We were a little worried.” Yumiko said with a smile, gazing at her daughter’s genuinely happy expression with warm, loving eyes.

“Sorry, we started singing and reminiscing about the past, and time just slipped away.” Momo replied with a smile, letting go of Kai’s arm to walk toward her mother.

“Fufu, anyone listening to you would think you’re a nostalgic old lady, Momo,” Nemuri teased as she approached Kai, giving him a tender kiss on the lips before asking in a soft voice.

“Did you have fun?”

“Quite a bit.” Kai replied with a smile, which widened Nemuri’s grin significantly as the white cat settled on his free shoulder after ‘greeting’ Salem.

Meanwhile, in the background, Keiko’s and Yumiko’s expressions trembled slightly at Nemuri’s actions, though they quickly hid it. But despite the subtlety, Nejire, who was paying attention, easily noticed it. Her smile turned slightly mischievous as her eyes curiously scanned the two mothers.

“Let’s head inside. The Pussycats shouldn’t be long.” Nemuri said with a smile, taking Kai’s free arm. The others nodded, and they all entered the house.

“So, what made you decide to go to a karaoke place?”

***

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