Hi3rd: Achievement Hunter

'She's silent.'

Carrying the black cat in his arms, Aleph proceeded to the lounge as per normal. On the way, he couldn't help but wonder why Kurumi did not do any of her usual teasing today.

"Why, you used to pet me before, no?"

Kurumi's voice rang in his head and made Aleph freeze. He recalled the times he habitually patted her cat form while she was asleep. What came next were the memories of their close contact.

It only happened twice.

Once was when Kurumi first 'transformed'. The second time was when they used Yod. It was one of Kurumi's bullets that allowed them to see each other's pasts. They did a total of two sessions, one for each of them, to finish it. In the second task, they fell 'asleep' together.

Aleph could still remember all sorts of sensations he felt at that time. Kurumi was shorter than him by more than twenty centimeters. She was like a doll in his arms.

'That fragrant smell…'

The more he thought about it, the more his embarrassment started to kick in.

Seeing this reaction, Kurumi began doubling down.

"How about we sleep together tonight?"

"..."

Aleph's ears turned beet red. It wasn't enough as his face started to turn red too. It took a while for the redness to subside on his face, though it was still extremely visible on his ears.

'I really am not a match.' He thought wryly. 'Once the other two do something later…'

He had a daily schedule when it comes to who to spend time with. Mei takes the most time in the morning, followed by Mobius at noon. Kurumi takes his time at night—also the least time.

"Ahem. Let's talk about it later. We still have this meeting for now…"

*****

'Damn.'

Kevin looked at the meek-looking girl with a black-red lolita dress sitting on the lounge's sofa. As of now, only he, Klein, and Vill-V were present. Hua, who was considered Aleph's 'junior', is currently undergoing MANTIS surgery with Mobius.

'Damn.'

For the second time, Kevin was still stuck on processing Kurumi's revelations. Her existence didn't come off as a surprise to him. Aleph told him several times of a certain childhood friend of his. What he didn't expect was that she would possess the so-called 'superpower'.

However, that wasn't the most surprising thing.

'He took in three girlfriends at once…'

He was sent speechless with that revelation. He doesn't know where Aleph got the guts to commit to three girls at once. That wasn't Kevin's impression of him before.

His thoughts were halted once he got out of the lounge. Coincidentally, he met Aleph who was about to enter.

Their gazes met in the air.

Pat.

Kevin patted his shoulder.

"I didn't expect it. You actually had it in you."

"..."

Seeing Aleph's flat look, his smile nearly turned into laughter.

"I won't say anything else. I think you already know what to do."

It wasn't wrong to say that Kevin was someone who was constantly shoved with Aleph's and Mei's flirting moments. It was too bad, to the point he wanted to tell them to simply get married.

But then, Kevin also knew that there was a reason why Aleph didn't totally accept Mei's advances.

Now that the truth revealed itself, he no longer had anything to say.

'So long as they are happy.'

With the mindset of having accomplished something he was pushing forward for so long, Kevin shifted the topic.

Looking at the black cat in his arms, he asked:

"Did the surgery also treat your allergies to cats?"

"...Yeah. It's an unexpected side effect."

Others thought that Aleph wasn't a cat person, but Kevin knew he was simply allergic to them. The last time he took in a stray cat, he had allergies for a week.

In the end, the said cat was sent to a shelter.

That period of time was also when Kevin passed along several missed seatworks to Aleph.

"Sigh… I wonder where that guy is." Kevin muttered. "There is still no news about him?"

"Nope. But, I think I know where he is."

They were talking about the third member of their trio, Su. If Kevin was the active one and Aleph was the sarcastic one, Su was the quiet one. He was the type to never talk much inside a library.

'The abandoned areas in the north…' Aleph thought.

It serves to reason that MOTH's resources were enough to locate one person. However, Su's trails ended on the western continent five months ago. Him not having any online presence was another thing that made it difficult to look for him.

It was at that moment did Aleph understand why it took years before Su reunited with Kevin.

"I'll go pick him up later. He should be fine given his abilities."

"I hope so." Kevin replied.

Hearing this, Aleph smiled at him.

"You will understand later… at the meeting."

"...Your way of leaving us hanging didn't change."

"Heh."

Aleph laughed it off and entered the lounge. He was greeted by yet another ambush.

"Aleph! Is that true?! Not only Director Mei, but also Mobius?!"

Both his arms were grasped tightly by Vill-V. Her pair of mountains shook up and down momentarily. It didn't help that she was wearing her usual 'mechanic' attire.

"It's true."

"What?!"

Vill-V froze. She was in-denial regarding Aleph's relationship with Mei and Mobius. 

After all…

"It looks like you won't side with me anymore."

'Since when did I… Oh.'

Aleph recalled their moments together. Be it their cooperation prior to the MANTIS surgery or him giving her new toys and ideas, it did seem like he was feeding on Vill-V's destructive tendencies.

Flick-!

"Ow!"

Aleph used his vacant right hand to flick her forehead.

"As long as you don't do anything bad, you won't face any kind of punishment, you know?"

"It's difficult! The director thinks some of my works were pointless…"

"Weren't they?"

"...they're not!"

The black cat in Aleph's left arm watched the one-girl comedic performance with relish.

Aleph had to calm her down in the end.

"Alright, alright. As long as you don't mess things up and finish the projects on-time, I'll ask Mei to be less strict on you."

"Hehe. My trust in you wasn't misplaced, partner."

Vill-V patted Aleph's shoulder with a serious look. It was as if her previous actions were nothing but a performance. 

"If you do something bad, however, I'll ask her to increase the penalties."

"Ah?!"

Her smile swiftly turned into shock.