Ephemeral Ability Reflects the Heart

As soon as he got back to the living room of the apartment, Chihiro collapsed.

Maria immediately took him in her arms, but his whole body is very heavy. So, as she had no strength left to help him stand, she dragged him to a chair.

「Good work, Izumi-kun」

「...I don't know if I should say thank you」

A sigh of self-mockery leaked out.

Chihiro's exhaustion is the result of pushing himself too hard in hopes of resting later. He is so engrossed in screwing Riko that he forgets to pace himself, and by the time it's over, he's at the end of his rope.

In the end, he left most of the cleanup to Maria, who had joined him later.

To be honest, Chihiro alone would not have been able to return to the apartment, let alone clean up the mess.

So, how can he say that he did it all by himself? He felt that he should show his gratitude to Maria, but she smiled at him.

「Of course. ...You did a wonderful job of humiliating Nishizaki-san. You should be proud of that, and you should be honestly happy about it」

「I wonder if that's true」

Despite the sense of accomplishment, Chihiro now felt a strong emptiness in his heart.

While he was torturing Riko, while he was screwing her, he was filled with a terrible sense of euphoria. His body moved before he could think, he could say words that he normally could not say, and his rod regained its energy from the moment he ejaculated.

Maybe this is a reaction to that.

But now, he had to rest, and wake up tomorrow.

Maybe tomorrow, when he goes to the school to see what happened to Riko in person, he'll know more.

Anyway, she doesn't bother him anymore. Chihiro is free now.

「...But I guess so」

He takes a deep breath and composes himself. He feels a little better, but only a little.

「Then. Let's go to bed」

「Yeah. But I have to take a shower first」

He had lightly wiped off his clothes in the training area, but he hadn't really washed them. There must be a lot of fluid and sweat stuck to his clothes and body.

「Do you really think I'll mind now?」

Without a second thought, Maria put him to bed. The fatigue is a little better when he lies down.

And as Maria sat down on the floor beside him, she asked Chihiro.

「Did your new ability help you?」

「Yes. A lot」

Yesterday, as a result of the tests, Chihiro's new ability was proven.

It was because he noticed that the wound he had poked with the needle, which he had put an adhesive bandage on for the time being, had disappeared without a trace after he woke up.

It was a small wound to begin with, but it felt strange to see it completely healed in just a few hours.

In addition to the wounds from the needles, the pain in his whole body had also lessened considerably, and he had recovered from his fatigue quickly. From this, they concluded that Chihiro's new ability was [Acceleration of Sleep Effect].

It was not a cure, but a natural recovery, limited to when he slept and without dramatic effects. However, unlike Maria's ability, it can also recover from fatigue.

It's a simple, but quite useful ability.

...However, the "new ability" Maria mentioned is not the ability to improve the recovery while sleeping.

Chihiro had acquired more than one ability. In fact, there is another, not exactly new, but additional ability.

It's a function that was added to the ability Chihiro originally had, mind-reading.

It is the ability to amplify the other person's emotions when reading their mind, but only if the emotions are above a certain level. It is useless if the original emotion is not very strong, but in this case it worked. By amplifying Riko's fear, it was easier to bring her to her knees.

Although it is only a little, he can play with other people's emotions.

A terrifying power if used properly.

「...Oh right」

Chihiro took his phone out of his uniform pocket, unlocked it, and handed it to Maria. Upon receiving the phone, Maria's face broke into a smile as she opened the image folder.

There are dozens of Riko's lewd images in the folder. A girl of her age should have been repulsed by these pictures, but...

「Fufu, it's nice. I wish I could do it」

「I think I did something like that to Maria last night」

「Oh. But that is that, this is this, right?」

That's true. Chihiro's excitement differed greatly between the practice and the actual performance, so he couldn't speak too highly of Maria.

「Do you mind if I copy this photo to my computer later?」

「Sure. But please be careful about security. I don't want to spread it around」

「Sure. I won't do anything with it. I'll just keep it safe and save it」

Maria smiles and moves her finger, continuing to send the picture.

Removing his gaze from her, Chihiro looked up at the ceiling and sighed.

...and stepped out.

Chihiro had violated Riko, instilled fear in her, and even taken her virginity. It was an unforgivable act that no matter how hard he tried he could never get it back.

This cross will haunt Chihiro for the rest of his life.

If people knew what Chihiro had done to Riko, not only teachers and classmates, but also his mother and sister would despise him.

The only thing that hasn't changed is the girl who is here now.

Maria looked up, as if she had noticed Chihiro's condition.

「Izumi-kun, do you regret what you did today?」

「...No. I don't regret it」

Yes. He doesn't regret it.

In fact, he feels it was necessary, something he wanted to do.

He's just afraid and sad that he can't regret it.

But it's too late for that now.

「...I'm going to sleep. The dinner can be anything」

「Okay. I'll make something that won't get cold」

Now that Chihiro had taken the first step, he had to keep going.

With this girl, as far as he can go.

Thinking this, Chihiro slowly closed his eyes.

☆　　　☆　　　☆

It's late at night when he woke up, and before he knew it, Maria is asleep next to him.

Thanks to his healing abilities, his body is feeling much better. After leaving Maria sleeping soundly in bed, Chihiro got up and went to the living room.

When he arrived, he found a shallow plate of fried rice wrapped in plastic wrap. It looked good and easy to eat as a midnight snack.

But, Chihiro took a shower first, changed into his loungewear, and ate the fried rice.

For some reason, he had gotten used to this house in the past few days.

「*...sigh*」

He grabbed the dishes and moved to the kitchen. He thought he would be allowed to wash the dishes, but there is a note beside the sink that said, "Just leave the dishes". It seems that Maria is a better cook than he is.

He wondered what would happen if he ignored the note and did the dishes.

But it could be easily imagined that he would be scolded for not being aware of his role as a Master, and not knowing which of them is the Master, so he rinsed the dishes lightly and left them in the sink.

After brushing his teeth, gargling, and using the toilet, he went back to bed.