[91] Fifteen Years of Evidence
Chapter 91: Fifteen Years of Evidence
—
My eyelids fluttered and parted, revealing the sunlit beauty of my bedroom.
“Hm?”
I shifted slightly to get comfortable and blinked in surprise upon noticing a weight on my chest. Looking down, I found Ruby hugging me to sleep.
“Why's she here?”
She slept peacefully, a smile gracing her face, making it impossible for me to feel annoyed. I didn’t think much before I hugged her with one hand and gently kissed her forehead, which seemed to wake her up.
“Mm…?” She slowly looked up while rubbing her eyes. She paused when her gaze locked with mine. Then she yelped. “E-eep! What’re you doing in my room?!”
“This is my room…” I said, catching her fists as she threw them at me in the heat of the moment.
“Oh…” her head made a circle, and sure enough, the room was less pink than hers. She understood this couldn't be her room since it wasn’t filled with three dozen stuffed toys. She flushed in embarrassment and cleared her throat. “Uhm, I seemed to have woken up to pee last night, but the water wasn't working in my bathroom. So I came to yours since it's nearby, but I was too lazy to walk back after I was done… so I just fell asleep with you…”
“It's all right,” I reassured her, my hand moving down from her back to her waist while the other cupped the side of her face. “But be careful next time. Trespassing a man's room in the middle of the night isn't very safe.”
“....”
“Understood, Ruby?”
“Um, O-Onii-chan…?”
I blinked at her confused call as I realized my face was too close to her. I quickly let her go and began laughing as if I was just pulling a prank on her.
‘Oops, boundaries. I keep forgetting.’ I should be more careful about relationships.
“Bastard! You- you did it again! It's not funny!” She grabbed a pillow and threw it at me but I dodged it and ran.
* * *
[Third Person Point of View]
Amidst the sizzling of eggs in the pan, Ai’s face was contorted in a deep frown, a manifestation of the turmoil in her head. She stood behind the stove, almost mechanically, flipping the eggs with a practiced flick of her wrist. Her movements were on autopilot; a well-rehearsed dance she had performed countless mornings before.
The comforting aroma of breakfast did little to ease the furrows in her brow. Her eyes, which were usually sharp and attentive, now looked through the mundane scene before her, unfocused and distant. Her mind wasn’t focused on the cooking at all. It was a whirlwind of thoughts, far removed from this simple task.
The sound of the eggs crackling in the pan was a subtle reminder of the here and now, but it did little to anchor her thoughts, which continued to drift without stopping.
‘Just what’s up with him?’
Naturally, the subject of her worry was her son. Aquamarine Hoshino was odd, to say the least. She didn’t even mean his weird attraction toward her, but all the other strange things about him.
It’s not as if she never noticed the weird things about Aqua and Ruby from a young age, but she blamed their genetics for it—they were just geniuses, they were her kids after all. But things made a lot more sense when Aqua told her that he and Ruby were blessed by Gods; she believed him right away, and his words only proved further when two Shinto Gods descended on their home.
Ai didn’t have any doubts about Aqua’s explanation. At least, back then she didn’t. Recently, she was having second thoughts. Sure, perhaps he was blessed by Gods, but there must be something else to it. Something that he kept away from her.
Surprisingly, or maybe understandably, Ruby didn’t give that weird vibe. She was her cute little girl, obedient and nice. Unlike Aqua. The slipups he sometimes showed were missed by her in the past, but recently she began to notice them more and more.
That seed had bloomed completely last night. When he used that ‘Icon’ power of his, and his Crown split in two colors, reflecting on his body as two separate entities, she knew something was going on with her boy.
‘Is this like those animes? Like Naruto?’
Did he have a demon fox sealed inside him?
She shook her head, dismissing the thought. It didn’t resemble a fox. If anything, it was probably some evil god…? The red-eyed side of him, at least.
She knew the Gods had blessed her children, but she never wondered why. What if the reason they blessed Aqua and Ruby was because there were sealed Gods and Goddesses inside them? Or…
“Damn, that smells nice.” Ai was broken out of her daze by the voice of her son. She remained silent, feigning anger about last night.
A second later, his large body pressed against her back and her heart skipped a beat. Huh-
“Did you sleep well?” his breath tickled her nape and she almost replied in a soft, affectionate voice. But she regained her composure and glared at him over her shoulder.
“What are you doing?” she inquired, feeling his arms wrap around her from behind.
“I am hugging you, what else? Anyway, did you sleep well?”
She opened her mouth to tell him to back off, but… it’s not as if he was doing anything weird. He was just hugging her. She said it to him solemnly last night, that he was her son. What would it mean if she pushed him back now and didn’t even let him hug her?
“…I did. It was a good sleep.” She said as she turned ahead to focus on the cooking.
Last night’s sleep was great. She was unsure why that was the case, her body felt very relaxed after… the ten-minute incident with him. She didn’t even know when Ruby and Asia returned from Tsubasa’s house, she was long asleep by then.
“You smell nice,” he buried his face into her nape, taking a long, big sniff.
“Aqua…”
What was he doing?
She let out a shuddering sigh and said, “Ruby and Asia will be here anytime for breakfast. Don’t be like this now.”
“You’re saying I can do this as long as Ruby and Asia aren’t around?” he asked her and Ai paused. Turning her head, she shot him a glare over her shoulder. “What? That’s what you implied, I think. Am I reading too much in between the lines?”
Ai’s eyelids twitched. Then she grabbed his face with one hand and pulled him closer. Her lips parted while he blinked in surprise… before she placed a kiss on his forehead.
“Be a good boy and wait at the dining table,” she said as she turned around again.
Aqua grabbed her by the face and forced her to turn back, immediately capturing her lips and pulling her into a deep, passionate kiss.
“Mmhm~! Stop~ Aqu- Mhmm….”
Her futile resistance faded, and Ai focused on holding back her moan.
* * *
Thankfully, he let her go before Ruby and Asia came down for breakfast. She quickly wiped her lips with her apron and pulled his face towards hers, cleaning any lipstick off his lips to avoid suspicion. Then she pushed him away.
Aqua laughed and walked away while she glared at his back.
Later, once the children had left for school, Ai summoned the tiger cubs inside. Ai presented Asia to Blue and said, “Take her around for a walk, it’s been a while since she left the house. Keep her safe.”
“All right, madam,” Blue accepted cheerfully and led Asia out of the house. Then Ai ordered the remaining four cubs to go play in the backyard and to not disturb her unless it was something serious.
When everyone left and she was the only one remaining in the house, Ai closed the windows and pulled the curtains. She switched off the standard white lights and turned on the softer yellow ones.
“Are they the reincarnation of some evil Gods or what…?” she was muttering to herself countless theories as she prepared the necessary look around the room.
A sort of Victorian vibe formed around the room, and she even performed a few magic spells to enhance that feeling. Since her main power was Wardrobe, Aqua taught her some spells to change the look of not only her clothes but her surroundings too. That helped change the room to set the vibe a bit more. She even turned on a gramophone to play old music.
Once the mood was set, she sat down and cast a spell, transforming her attire. As she descended into the chair in slow motion, her outfit transformed into that of a legend.
A deerstalker hat appeared on her head, while an Inverness cape draped elegantly over her shoulders. Beneath the cape, a perfectly tailored tweed suit took shape, accompanied by a crisp, white shirt and a neatly tied tie. In her hand, a curved pipe materialized, and a magnifying glass was now tucked in her cape, completing the iconic ensemble with a touch of mystery and intellect.
As the smartest detective who wasn’t copyrighted, Ai was in luck. It was the identity that Ai Hoshino needed right now.
A person who could discern the truth behind a stolen jewel case just by analyzing the bites on a piece of bread; that was Sherlock Holmes, the Emperor of Evidence, the Oracle of Observation.
So... what conclusion could she reach with 15 years of evidence in her head, she wondered.
Placing the pipe to her lips, she took a deep breath, exhaling a puff of smoke while resting her chin on her hand, deep in thought.”
* * *
[First Person Point of View]
Whispers reached my ears as Tsubasa, Ruby, and I walked towards the school gate. A hundred eyes seemed to look at me while students gossiped.
“Wait, isn't that…”
“Lucky bastard, how dare he steal all three Goddesses from me?!”
“Even if he's handsome, aren't those girls being too cheap? They don't know their own self-worth.”
“Shut up, you bitch. Weren't you yelling for his seed last time? You're just jealous.”
I ignored the gossip with a straight face and walked into the school. The two girls beside me occasionally glanced my way to gauge my reaction to the gossip, but I gave them no satisfaction.
“Must be nice, huh, Aqua?” Tsubasa said, “Hmph.” Then she walked fast and left for her classroom.”
“Looks like she's mad, as she should be.” Ruby giggled at my demise while I shot her a look. She stuck out her tongue at me and walked away. “Stupid Onii-chan should suffer more. Disgusting womanizer~ bye, see you at lunch.”
Ruby waved at me one last time and ran off to her classroom. I shook my head and approached my own classroom.
I felt a constant gaze on my back, which was slightly annoying. The stares became more pronounced and intense as I entered my classroom. Having been famous in all my past lives, I was accustomed to being watched by the crowd. But in my most recent, 9th life, people never dared to stare so blatantly, fearing my wrath—unwilling to have their eyes dig out. So I wasn’t used to so many eyes judging in recent times.
Still, it was something I had to endure. I took my seat and glanced to my left, noticing a student eyeing me with a faint frown.
“Hey, Shoko.”
“Hey…” She nodded. She seemed a little hesitant before she smiled, “Congrats. The show's ending was good, you did great.”
“Yeah, I didn't really plan that.” I smiled back at her. I knew she mustn't have liked that ending as much as many others, but she couldn't find it in herself to be mad at me. Or at least show me that she was mad.
“Yeah, I noticed…”
“Anyways, how've you been?” I changed the subject and began to catch up with the things she's been doing recently.
She was happy to comply as we began to talk about different things. A few minutes later, our homeroom teacher walked inside. Shizuka Sensei’s eyes locked with mine, and unlike others, she seemed to hold back a laugh.
“Oh, Aqua, our class's celebrity. I believe we have congrats due.”
During our last conversation, she had believed the persona of Aqua on screen was merely a facade, and that I wasn't actually a playboy in reality. Maybe because of that, she thought this ending was detrimental to me since I was simply playing around and didn't want this. That's why she was smiling at me as if teasing me. What a daring woman.
“Ah, yes. It's all because of the tips Sensei gave me that day,” I stood up and bowed, causing everyone to blink. “Thanks to your advice, I was able to do well.”
“....”
I just lied, we never exactly had any talk like that, but that should give the students a false idea. A gossip spread in real time as I watched Shizuka’s eyes twitch. She still kept a smile and nodded, “Mhm, yes. We should talk about this later. Now, let's go on with our classes. And after classes end, I have an announcement to make.”
That didn't seem to be related to me, so I was curious what it was about. I sat down and Shoko used hand signs to ask me what I said to Sensei.
– I was joking with her.
I conveyed this to Shoko, as the class resumed its usual rhythm. After the period came to an end with the ring of a bell, Shizuka Sensei looked at the door. It was closed, but there was a figure standing behind it.
“This is about the announcement I wanted to tell you guys about,” Shizuka said, and the door opened. “We have a new English teacher for you kids.”
A tall woman, grinning broadly, strode in, her blonde hair swaying behind her. She stood next to Shizuka Sensei, who was notably tall at 180 cm for a Japanese woman, yet this new teacher was visibly taller.
“Yosh, Hello.” the new… teacher pointed a thumb at herself, speaking in English. “I am your new English teacher, and I'll be in your care.”
““Whoa!””
“....”
The students cheered in pleasant surprise, while I felt my eyes twitch.
‘What the fuck is going on…’
Why the hell was the Aztec Chief Goddess playing teacher?!
**
**
**
Read the next chapter right away, along with an entire month's worth, ahead in my .
Link: .com/Master4thWall