[32] Adorable Hoshino

[32] Adorable Hoshino

Chapter 32: Adorable Hoshino

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Tsubasa was a fast learner, that's why her knowledge of everything was vast. Just like in her Monogatari counterpart, she was a human encyclopedia. She knew a lot.

So, it didn't even take her the entire day to learn the Bouchujutsu from her mother. It all happened in her head.

"Um, I learned it..."

She nudged my sleeves and told me while we were in a movie theater. Can anybody blame me for deciding to test out how it really worked right there?

After half an hour of testing in the theater, I dragged her back to the hotel. I knew just enough about the technique now to edit it and implement a Dual Cultivation Art into it.

That night, we stayed in the hotel until 10 PM. In this world, Touki had Nine Ranks, and from what Hanekawa told me, Tsubasa on her own had Rank 3 Touki, while when Hanekawa took charge of the body, their two accumulated Qi became Rank 6.

Tsubasa’s Rank 3 Qi amount was equal to my power system’s [Iron], but that’s just Energy Wise, her body wasn’t as tough – she didn’t have a Path either. The users of Qi in this world truly were amateurs, they used Qi in a very one-dimensional way.

In this world, the users of Qi were referred to as Senjutsu Practitioners. People could either use Qi to do spells like Bouchujutsu, Nature Energy blasts, etc. On the other hand, you could also wrap Qi around your body to make yourself stronger, faster, and more durable, and that application of Qi is called Touki.

The thing is, in the world I was born in my 9th life, even low-level Cultivators could do these, while in this world only the very strong users of Qi can do both Touki and Spells. This truly was a backwater world where people didn’t give Qi much focus. The applications were too limited.

I suppose I should give Tsubasa a Path in the near future, and then help her properly refine her body instead of just gathering Qi.

For now though, I only need her to gather Qi. The more Qi she’d have, the faster my own growth will be. By the time we finished tonight, Tsubasa had just enough Qi to be considered a 4th Rank, according to Hanekawa. She was pretty high on the 3rd rank before, but it was still an incredible speed, and it will only increase the stronger we get.

As for me, I was still in the True Gold rank, obviously. One night's activity wouldn't make me advance. But if we talk about progression in percentage, then I was at 3% of True Gold before, but now I stood at 11%.

So, if we retained this speed and did Dual Cultivation for multiple hours a day, I should be able to max out True Gold in just 11 days. Sadly, we won't be able to do it for multiple hours every day when we'll be at home, but it was still good.

“This one felt so much better than the last few times! I was filled with energy.”

Tsubasa shouted as she sat in front of me on the motorcycle, riding it while I held her waist from behind, ready to take control of the handles if she slipped. It was her first time driving.

At first, I feared that Tsubasa would be a little hurt emotionally; she might have worried if I only took her out on a date and slept with her for Cultivation. But thankfully, she only appeared happy to help; such a nice girl. She was so lovely, I wanted to bite her. Which I did, as she wiggled the motorcycle and nearly crashed.

Soon, our city ride time was cut short when our parents called again and this time we had no excuse but to return home right away.

* * *

"You brat, you dared to come back?"

I dodged a flying sandal with the accuracy of a sniper when the door opened faster than ever. Luckily Tsubasa wasn't beside me, she returned to her own house, otherwise she would have been hit by it.

"Hey, mom, what’s good?" I said, waving my hand while still on my motorcycle.

Ai stepped out of the door and paused, her eyes looking at me, and then at my bike. She did that for a minute, her eyes glistening every time she looked at the bike before she grabbed her other sandal and threw it at me. I had to deflect this one with my hand.

"But he got one! He is the same age as me, why can't I get one too?" Ruby complained.

She continued complaining the entire night and even when morning came, she was still complaining on the breakfast table.

....

Tsubasa came to our house for breakfast that day and everyone ate while Ruby was complaining. After we were done eating and about to leave for school, Tsubasa stepped closer to me all of a sudden.

"Wait a moment," she reached out her hand and held my tie. She loosened it a little and began to fix its knot after she did my shirt's top button. "You should tie it properly, you know? It looks better this way."

"..."

I stared down at her just as Ai and Ruby paused in their spots to stare at the scene. Was she trying to get us caught?

Before anything could happen, my phone rang with a ping of notification. It was from Rias, our very first message. I lifted my phone to see what she wanted so early in the morning.

[Rias: Will you be coming to school today? Haven't seen you for the last few days. Is it acting related, or are you going through any trouble?]

That was a lovely message. She sounded as if she missed me, and maybe she really did. We met properly for the first time that day, and after that, I have been bunking school. She probably had plans to talk to me more but she couldn't find me in school anymore.

[Aqua: I'm getting ready right now, I'll be there soon. It's nothing acting-related, but not any trouble either. Don't worry about it.]

When I replied with a smile, I noticed Tsubasa's gaze falling on the screen briefly before she continued fixing my tie.

She didn't say anything and finished with my tie. Instead, to my surprise, it was Ai who spoke then.

I put the phone away when Ai cleared her throat and walked over, gently patting Tsubasa on the back and shoving her away. "Now now, Tsubasa, his mom's still here, she can do his tie. I appreciate it, but it's better you take care of him when you two aren't right in front of me." She said as she undid the button and loosened the tie again. "As for this look, it suits him better. He isn't really a super strict honor student, this one fits his charm more."

Tsubasa blushed. Her lips moved as she stuttered and started to apologize in a continuous chant, while I looked at Ai with a raised eyebrow.

"I- I am sorry...! Of course, you must have noticed his shirt by now, but since you never bothered to fix it, it must mean it was fine. S-sorry, I should have put more thought into it before acting." Naturally, Tsubasa didn't dare with the fashion sense of -Ai Hoshino-. She apologized again and again for trying to do Ai's job right in front of her.

I just stared at Ai the whole time, as she re-did my tie. What a troublesome woman; I didn't know she was the type of mother to get jealous of her son's girlfriend or wife. Not jealous in a romantic sense, obviously. This type of situation wasn't rare in any world, there's usually a rivalry between a wife and her mother-in-law, but it's amusing to see Ai as such a woman. I didn't expect this, but given everything, I really should have.

How does she keep becoming cuter every other time? I might give in to the urge if she keeps acting like this.

All this time, Ruby just stared at the scene, a frown of contemplation on her face that even I couldn't see through.

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