7:42am, Monday.

Asahi went back to the apartment, after driving a regular sedan for around half an hour beneath his mansion. At that point, with how many boosts were on him, learning the basics of driving came as easy as breathing.

Kanin was still on his spot, playing his video game.

Asahi patted Kanin’s head. “Your farm looks super pretty.”

Kanin wagged his tail. < Thank you. >

Asahi sat down on the couch, making a plate with green grapes appear. “Do you want some grapes? You haven’t eaten one of these yet.”

Kanin paused the game and jumped to the couch. < Yeah. >

Asahi plucked a grape and gave it to him, watching him eat it while patting his head. “Did you feel lonely?”

Kanin shook his head. < No, I was having a lot of fun. >

Asahi smiled. “That’s great. You know that we’ll be really busy from now on right, with school and working in the office.”

Kanin nodded. < Yeah. I want to watch you all work, so I can learn more about what you do, is that okay? >

Asahi gave him another grape, and stroked his fur. “You’re more than welcome to. Everyone will be overjoyed to have you there. And if you want to take a break, you can play games there as well.”

Kanin wagged his tail. < Yay! >

Asahi patted his head, smiling.

 

The morning went by swimmingly.

However, after his classes were done, while he was walking home with his friends, he received a call from an unknown number right before arriving at his building.

‘Who is it?’

[ It is Lìshǐ Fen, her granddaughter was poisoned. Due to being blackmailed, her only safe course of action from her understanding was to call you. Just tell her that you got it and you are on your way, then hang up. This will not require you to be away for more than fifteen minutes. ]

He answered the call. “Got it, I’m on my way.”

Everyone looked at him with quizzical expression, and Mayumi’s had a bit of worry in it.

Asahi caressed Mayumi’s face. “Someone needs my help with something important, but I’ll be home in fifteen minutes at most. It’s nothing dangerous, just serious. I’ll tell you when I come back.”

She nodded, smiling. “Okay.”

He gave her a light kiss and walked away.

At the first alley where he could be away from prying eyes, he vanished.

A few minutes later, he arrived at an upper-middle class apartment building.

Inside a neatly decorated modern bedroom, with expensive furniture, Lìshǐ Fen sat on a chair beside the large bed. On the bed lied a woman in her mid to late twenties.

The woman seemed to be Japanese, but at a closer look, Chinese features could be found. She was wearing pajamas, and her skin had several blue spots.

Lìshǐ Fen, the super secretary, looked distraught, unlike her usual poker face.

Suddenly, Asahi appeared.

Without being startled, Lìshǐ Fen stood up. “Thank you for coming.”

Upon looking at him, she immediately noticed that something had fundamentally changed within the young man, but didn’t say anything. It wasn’t the time, nor it was any of her business.

Asahi nodded, looking at the woman on the bed. “No problem.”

[ All you need to do is to use an Orb of Containment to remove the poison, and inject her with a Rejuvenation Serum. This is a poison that attacks the target’s Ki and is maintained through the attacker’s power, but the Orb of Containment will make said attacker think that the poison is still inside the original target. Total cost is 180,000P. ]

Lìshǐ Fen stayed silent, waiting with bated breath. Just by the way that Asahi behaved when she called him, and the way he was behaving at that moment, she knew that there was no need to talk to him.

Asahi walked to the bed, extending his left hand, and making a translucent sphere made of some type of glass appear. On his right hand, what looked like an EpiPen with a crimson liquid appeared.

He took a deep breath. “I know she’s your granddaughter and she’s a regular person, but please do not interrupt me no matter what.”

Lìshǐ Fen silently nodded.

Upon activating the orb, a blue mist started to exit the woman’s body, making her complexion become pale, with signs of severe dehydration and blood loss. The mist flew towards and entered the orb for almost an entire minute, making it go from translucent to a deep blue.

By the time the extraction finished, the woman seemed to be on the brink of death.

Asahi quickly injected the serum on her neck, and a few seconds later, her complexion started to quickly improve.

He sighed in relief. “She’ll be unconscious for around 24h, but aside from that, she’ll be fine.”

Lìshǐ Fen’s expression went from distress to relief, and she gave him a 90° bow. “Kinoshita-sama, thank you so much. I have no Idea how I could possibly repay you, but if there is anything you want, I’ll do my utmost best to make sure you get it.”

Asahi looked at the orb on his hand. “You’re welcome, but I don’t really want anything. Also, I’m not done.”

Lìshǐ Fen raised her head, looking at him quizzically.

He smiled at the orb, then made what looked like a tablet appear in his hand. “This contains tons of files and video evidence on the culprit. It also contains a GPS-like app that will show you their position in real time.”

Lìshǐ Fen’s mouth went slightly agape.

He handed her the tablet device and the orb. “As soon as the power’s maintenance stops, the poison inside the orb will disappear, and it’ll be just a glass sphere. Now I’m done. I know you’re uncomfortable with not repaying it, so let’s just say that you owe me one, and that I hope I don’t ever need to collect. Good luck.”

With that he vanished, leaving Lìshǐ Fen slightly flabbergasted.

The reason why he smiled at the orb was due to the System telling him that by having someone’s maintained power near him, was the same as having the person themselves when it came to Existential Analysis.

With that, he had everything on the culprit. The same went for any part of someone’s body, be it fluids or a strand of hair.

 

Asahi appeared in his living room, where Mayumi was waiting for him on the couch, watching Kanin play.

He sat down beside her, and gave her a light kiss.

She caressed his face. “Everything okay?”

He smiled. “Yeah. I was helping the Minister’s secretary. Her granddaughter was poisoned and she was being blackmailed.”

Her eyes widened with a mix of surprise and worry. “And what did you do?”

“I removed the poison from her granddaughter, and gave her all the information on the perpetrator. It seems that if someone’s power is within my perception, it counts as if the person themselves are there for the purpose of Existential Analysis.”

Her mouth went slightly agape. “Wow, that’s absurdly broken.”

He chortled. “Yeah, that got me thinking about my powers. I failed to realize so many obvious things. For example, let’s say something happen in a location and I need to know how it happened. I didn’t even think about it before, but I just need to use Existential Analysis on the ground and I’ll have a video of what exactly happened there. Also, the whole not helping people because I have no intention of being a savior thing, was extremely short-sighted to say the least.”

She furrowed her brow. “The ground thing makes total sense, but what do you mean about the other thing?”

He smiled. “I mean, just think about it. How much do I really need to actually do? Between Aurora, the System, and the Minister, I don’t really need to do much. I can have Aurora and the System scour the world via the internet and have them slowly help the authorities catch criminals all over the world, including the ones within said authorities. I can also give a bunch of formulas to cure diseases to the Minister, who’s someone who owns a huge company focused on all kinds of scientific researches. I can just go about my day while all that happens. The System will know which ones I should give and when.”

She displayed a pensive expression. “And when do you intend to start?”

“Probably next week. I wanna have more time with the combat experience machine before that. After that, I’ll finally have some peace of mind. I’d be lying if I said that part of me didn’t feel a bit guilty for not doing more.”

Mayumi smiled and caressed his thigh. “Good for you, MC-kun.”

“Thank you. You see, I wanna stick to the slice-of-life, school life, and smut tags. I’ll leave the other tags to Aurora, the System, and the people who want them.”

Kanin paused his game and jumped to the couch.

Asahi looked at him, smiling, then picked him up. “Were you waiting for us to talk first?”

Kanin nodded. < Yeah. Mayumi seemed worried, and wanted to talk to you. >

He embraced Kanin, giving him a few kisses. “You’re such a good boy. How was your morning?”

Kanin wagged his tail, enjoying the warmth of the hug. < It was great. I finished my irrigation system and was chosen as farmer of the year by a magazine. It was super fun. >

Mayumi kissed Kanin’s forehead. “You’re also the cutest farmer. Are you ready to go to work with us after lunch?”

Kanin nodded. < Yeah! I want to learn all the things. >

Asahi chortled. “I feel like by the time we’re done with our game, he’ll be a better dev than us.”

Mayumi smiled, scratching Kanin’s head with her index finger. “Then I’ll have to hire him when I make my studio. You said you didn’t wanna make one, so I have dibs on Kanin’s recruitment.”

After joking around for a bit, they went to have lunch.

Fumiko was still at the University, since it was a busy day for her.

 

At the office, Kanin watched them work in silence, without interrupting. Every twenty minutes or so, he switched desks to observe a different person. Where others would be bored, he was brimming with curiosity and a sense of discovery.

In the middle of the afternoon, Asahi was on a break in the lounging area, eating strawberries with Kanin on one of the couches.

There was no designated time for breaks, and everyone worked at their own pace for the most part.

Amaya, who was coming from the kitchen with an energy drink and a protein bar, sat with them, leaving Kanin in the middle. She wore baggy shorts and an old, discolored video game t-shirt.

Looking at Kanin nibbling at the strawberry, she smiled brightly, and patted his head.

Asahi looked at her quizzically. “I never asked, but was your family totally okay with you living here for at least the next few months?”

She opened her drink, nodding. “They were. They’re only strict regarding my values, but I have a lot of freedom otherwise. They actually liked the idea, saying that it would be good for me.”

Asahi sighed. “Way to shatter the rich family stereotype. Are you saying that your brother won’t show up telling me that I’m not worthy of being in your presence?”

She giggled. “No, he won’t. Despite my family’s wealth, they all value effort and hard work above social status. Given how hard you worked so far, he might even try to get us hitched.”

Finishing his strawberry, Kanin picked up another one, and held it towards Amaya. < Do you want one? >

Amaya smiled, gently grabbing the strawberry, and kissing Kanin’s forehead. “Thank you.”

Asahi stroked his fur. “Do you want more?”

Kanin shook his head. < I’m full. I’ll go watch Mayumi now. >

Asahi patted his head. “Okay.”

Both of them smiled as they watched Kanin run to Mayumi’s desk.

Amaya looked at Asahi with a gentle smile. “You really changed since you got Kanin.”

He blinked. “I did?”

She nodded. “Since I met you, I felt that there was a part of you that was always on edge. However, that feeling lessened quite a bit since Kanin came into your life.”

Asahi smiled. “Yeah, I do feel more at ease. Getting him, was like a piece of me that I didn’t even know was missing was suddenly there. Maybe this is similar to what feels like to have a family.”

She kissed his cheek. “I’m really glad for you, you deserve it.”

Asahi’s cheeks slightly reddened. “Thank you. And it seems that you’re getting more and more comfortable around me.”

Amaya blinked, realizing what she did.

She got up and spoke with reddened cheeks, before going back to her desk. “Well, my break is over, back to work.”

Asahi chuckled as he ate another strawberry.

 

7:32pm.

Asahi was still at his desk working, when Mayumi came to him and kissed his cheek. “You do realize that everyone stopped working like half an hour ago, right?”

He smiled, turning his chair towards her, pulling her to his lap, then kissing her. “Yup, I just wanted to do a bit more, since I’ll also need to work on my own game tomorrow.”

She caressed his face. “I know that you’re all resilient and OP, but don’t overwork yourself, okay?”

He gave her a light kiss. “I won’t. I’m just sad that I won’t be able to slut up around campus while the competition is going on.”

She chortled. “I know, right? I’ve been invited to a few dates, but when would I do that? And now with Kanin here, I’d have to choose between a date and hugging that little furry ball of unending cuteness.”

Asahi laughed. “True.”

She caressed his chest. “Ryota and Setsuko will be making dinner today, and Fumiko will be joining us soon. I’ll let you go back to your work now.”

After she gave him a light kiss and got up, Asahi went back to work.

Mayumi went to the lounging area, where Amaya sat on one of the couches, watching Kanin play his farming simulator on the big TV.

Mayumi sat beside her. “Are they taking a bath?”

Amaya nodded. “Despite the cleaning devices, they really enjoy taking baths together. It’s so adorable.”

Mayumi smiled. “Yeah, they’re super cute together. Speaking of which, I’m happy to see that you’re much more comfortable around Asahi.”

Amaya smiled awkwardly. “Thanks.”

Noticing her awkwardness, Mayumi held her hand. “I know that you already know this, but it’s okay if things get physical between you two, or even beyond that.”

Amaya nodded. “I know. Just to be clear, I really like Asahi, but as a friend.”

Mayumi smiled teasingly. “I feel like there is another but there.”

Amaya laid her head on Mayumi’s shoulder, chortling. “But he’s so damn hot.”

Mayumi laughed. “Oh, I know the pain. I had to watch him get that hot while resisting the urge to pounce.”

“Do you regret not being his first?”

Mayumi shook her head. “Nah, I’m glad that we waited. We got super close because of that. Besides, I don’t really care about stuff like that.”

Amaya raised her head. “Speaking of first times, mind if I ask how was yours?”

Mayumi smiled. “It was with my first and only boyfriend, when I was fifteen. I was super curious about sex, and had already started masturbating for almost a year. It was a bit painful at first since neither of us had any experience, but I was really into it, so we ended up doing it three times. We took our time exploring each other’s bodies, which helped a lot.”

“Was he too big?”

“Nah, he was just above average. The main thing was the lack of skills.”

Amaya sighed. “This is something that worries me, the pain. It’s not like pain is something foreign to me, but I’d rather keep it to a minimum at such an intimate moment.”

Mayumi caressed her hand with her thumb. “Communication is key. You need to be able to talk with your partner and be comfortable with each other. You can also pleasure each other without going all the way. With that you’ll get much more comfortable when the time comes to actually do it.”

Amaya nodded. “Duly noted.”

With a teasing smile, Mayumi whispered in her ear. “Asahi is huge, but he’s so good at it that you’ll be curling your toes pretty quickly.”

Amaya laughed with reddened cheeks, lightly shoving Mayumi with her shoulder.

As they joked around, the doorbell rang.

Mayumi opened the door to let Fumiko in and gave her a light kiss before she entered. “You look tired.”

Fumiko sighed. “More irritated than anything. I had to replace my professor and teach a class in his place today, and I wanted to crack some skulls. The ego on those assholes because I’m the same age as them. Which doesn’t even make sense, since I’m the one in the better position despite being the same age.”

Mayumi closed the door. “Yikes.”

“Indeed. Nothing that hugging Kanin won’t fix.”

Mayumi chortled.

They had a merry dinner that night, with Fumiko almost monopolizing Kanin, for healing purposes.

 

With everyone being so busy, the week passed by quite quickly.

Kanin went to the office every day, but only trained at night a couple times that week. He was really enjoying playing games and reading.

Thea stopped by a couple times to give Kanin many hugs and kisses.

Despite how busy he was, Asahi was having a lot of fun.

He used the combat experience machine and trained diligently every day.

During his therapy session, he realized that it was time to find another therapist, one that he could be more open with. Having to hide everything related to his powers was hindering his progress, and it was noticeable.

Before he realized, it was time for their trip to Fumiko’s hometown.