Chapter 75: Shinobu is Too Blunt

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"Why did she run away?" Shinobu asked, her expression reflecting confusion.

Ace cleared his throat, trying to contain his laughter, and explained, "Well, it seems you caught onto her lie."

Shinobu furrowed her brows, puzzled by the mention of a lie. Turning to Mitsuri, she asked, "What lie? I don't understand. What is it, Mitsuri?"

However, Mitsuri remained in her statue phase, unresponsive to anything.

"Oye, Mitsuri! What happened to you?" Shinobu said, approaching Mitsuri and waving her hands in front of her face.

Mitsuri remained unresponsive, only one word echoing in her mind, 'Whole five hours! She watched all of me!'

*Smack!*

Ah~

Mitsuri gasped as she felt her bottom sting from the pain, jolting her from her thoughts.

She immediately glared at the culprit – Shinobu, who was rubbing her hands while smirking.

"Finally back, Mitsuri?" Shinobu chuckled, but inwardly thought, 'Why are they so jiggly! What happened?'

"You!!" Mitsuri glared at Shinobu with an aggrieved and mad expression. Her bottom stung painfully, already sore from Ace's smacking, and now, with Shinobu doing the same, she was almost on the verge of tears.

She grappled towards Shinobu, using her superior strength, catching Shinobu off-guard. Shinobu hadn't expected the ever-lovely Mitsuri to do such a thing.

Shinobu felt herself suddenly bent by Mitsuri, thinking, 'No, she won't.' But she was wrong this time, and karma was on her way. She suddenly felt a smack on her bottom with enough force that it would definitely leave a lasting mark.

Ahh~

Mitsuri, wearing a satisfied grin, said, "Payback, Shinobu! Payback! Always keep your guard up from now on."

Shinobu, rubbing her stinging bottom, couldn't help but complain, "When did you become so vengeful, Mitsuri?"

Mitsuri replied, "I am just returning the favor, Shinobu."

Shinobu managed a smirk through the stinging pain, realizing she might have brought this upon herself. "Fair enough, Mitsuri. I accept that I started it, but I only did it because you weren't responding. What were you so lost in?" This time, Shinobu asked with a more curious expression.

Mitsuri grew silent, realizing she couldn't exactly say what she was thinking – how Kanao had just lied to her face and had actually been watching them for five straight hours.

"Well… I was just surprised that I had already overtrained for more than five hours when you mentioned it to Kanao," Mitsuri quickly said, providing the only excuse that appeared in her mind.

"Oh," Shinobu nodded her head, but it didn't look like she completely believed Mitsuri's words. Nonetheless, she decided to let it go.

"And one more thing," Shinobu said, turning to Ace, who was looking at them with an amused face. "We are going to try the first batch of the cure today in Daki. I thought you'd be interested to be there."

"Now?" Ace asked.

"Hmm. In around 10 minutes to half an hour, Tamayo san is currently readying up the things," Shinobu nodded.

"Sure, let's go then. I am curious about the results of what you two have been cooking up till now," Ace said. 

Though he didn't think they would be successful in the first batch, neither did he want them to; after all, who knows what unusual reactions she will have if she turned back to human? What if she lost all of her memories? Wouldn't that mess up his plans then? He still looked forward to the results the first batch provided through.

After all, they were even able to turn Nezuko back into a human in just a few months of research, so it was not completely impossible.

"You want to come, Mitsuri?" Shinobu asked.

"Uhh… I don't like seeing those experiments of yours. They are always so gross. I better just go and have some rest. I am pretty tired today," Mitsuri said, walking away.

"...Sure," Shinobu said with a surprised expression as she and Ace advanced towards the basement.

"I am surprised she is actually tired today with her body. What did you two do today to make her so tired?" Shinobu asked curiously. 

Mitsuri can run a whole day without stopping, and she won't get tired enough to need rest, so your question is not without logic. But how can I explain that we had done quite different types of exercises?

"Let's say we just went a little too deep and harder today into our training," Ace said.

"…" Shinobu.

"Did you guys fucked?" Shinobu said, her expression as if it was something ordinary.

"..."

"...Was it that obvious??" Ace asked.

"...Yes. You were. Like stretching the words 'deep' and 'harder' a little too much. And I am not actually that dense to not notice it. Or did you think I am that oblivious." Shinobu responded, her tone full of amusement.

"....And you don't mind it?" Ace asked, not surprised that she caught on to his hidden meaning. After all, he was testing if she found his meaning or not. 

When he said he wouldn't mind her knowing what they did, he wasn't lying; that's why he said those words now.

Hearing his words, Shinobu thought for a moment before saying, "I would be lying if I said I don't mind you being intimate with my friend. But since you didn't try to hide it from me, I won't be that much angry."

"Much angry? It means you are still somewhat angry?" Ace asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Of course, I am angry. After all… you didn't invite me!" Shinobu said with a playful smirk, leaving the sentence hanging, almost making Ace consider grabbing her and just... no, don't think of it.

"....You certainly like teasing everyone very much. You can't just stop with it right? And here I thought I would have to pacify you," Ace asked, shaking his head and rubbing his temples and controlling his urges.

"Why would I even stop it when you're giving me material to tease you?" Shinobu said with a smiling face, enjoying his expression.

"Hmph, since you want an invite so eagerly, next time, I'll make sure to invite you, Mitsuri, and Yuki at the same time, and see how much you can tease then," Ace said, snaking his hand around Shinobu's waist. 

Shinobu smirked, playfully leaning into Ace's touch. "Challenge accepted, Ace. But be prepared for some serious competition. I will make sure that you won't be able to face them for a week."

Ace chuckled, "I look forward to the day and see how they react to the ever-smiling Shinobu showing a whole different set of expressions."

"And one more thing," Shinobu suddenly said, causing me to look at her. But before he could hear her words, she sucker-punched him right in the stomach, almost taking him down from the unexpected blow. Ace kneeled down on the ground, clutching his stomach in pain.

"What was that for?" Ace questioned, feeling the intense pain from the unexpected hit.

"For being careless," Shinobu said.

"When was I being careless?... No, I get it. Okay, I deserve that," Ace admitted, understanding the reason behind Shinobu's sudden punch.

"Yes, you deserve that. Next time, make sure no one is watching while you are… fucking," Shinobu said.

"Not like I knew she was doing that; otherwise, I would have stopped," Ace replied.

"Yeah, yeah," Shinobu responded with an expression that said she totally didn't believe it..

"How would you expect me to notice her when she's using her insane eyes to spy on us like that? You don't expect me to have a perception of 500 meters," Ace deadpanned.

"Do it in your room then?" Shinobu suggested.

"Who said she won't spy on us then?" Ace countered.

"She won't."

"How do you know? If she can spy on a jungle without us noticing for five hours, do you believe that! For the whole fucking five hours." Ace said in a tone of disbelief.

Shinobu facepalmed at his words while inwardly thinking, 'Dammit, Kanao, you are not leaving me any words to say.'

"Or are you going to guard the door while I do the deed?" Ace said with a sly smile.

"Do you want another punch?" Shinobu's eyebrows twitched upon hearing his words as she raised her fist.

"Ok, ok. I got it. I won't say no more," Ace raised his hand, and only then did Shinobu smile.

After some time, Shinobu said, "Kanao is young and curious girl who never had an actual experience of the world. And she has always been suppressing her emotions because of her trauma. It is because of you and Yuki that she was able to naturally come out of it."

"And she is the type who pursues strength, and you were quite strong from the start. She might have come to see you as a crush since you were the only male figure around here, and seeing you in such situations with another girl might have an adverse effect on her."

"You want me to counsel her? I think it's better for you to do such things, not me," Ace asked, 

confused.

"No, it's not about counseling. I'm just reminding you to be a little careful, otherwise..." Shinobu said.

"Otherwise?" Ace asked.

"You would have to take responsibility, of course. With her being attached to you, do you think she would be like someone else?" Shinobu said, hinting at the potential consequences of their interactions.

"Uhh..uh," Ace couldn't reply. She was being way too forward.

"What? I thought you liked having multiple girls. Isn't that the reason you flirted with both me and Mitsuri even when Yuki liked you? Don't tell me you are hesitating now," Shinobu said with a teasing tone.

"Isn't that too much and too fast? And how do you know she even likes me?" Ace deadpanned at the words.

"Huh? I don't see the problem. You already got three. What's the problem with getting one more?" Shinobu said, shrugging her shoulders.

Shinobu then closes the distance between her and Ace and said with a sly smile, "As for liking you, I think she already somewhat does, and feelings can be developed, right?"

"..."

.

.

.

After that they continued their conversations, they descended into the basement, a space filled with various medical and scientific equipment, creating an ambiance of both precision and experimentation.

"Ah, you're here! We're about to begin the experiment," Tamayo announced, a twinkle of excitement in her eyes.

Tamayo, holding a vial containing the unknown substance, stood there with an excited expression, a departure from her usual somber demeanor.

Turning his eyes, he saw Daki in the middle of the basement, bound to the bed and looking at them with a bored and annoyed expression, as if she were irritated with whatever was going on.

Well, that was understandable; no one likes being an experimental subject. But she didn't get much choice to do otherwise, so she had to endure this much.

- x - X - x -

I'm sorry to announce that I won't be able to release any more chapters of this fic until the 22nd of February. My schedule is very tight for these two weeks, and I won't be able to release daily chapters for two fics.

Don't worry, I won't be dropping them. For the Naruto fic, I'll barely have enough time to upload one chapter. I am sorry for the delay but it is an urgent matter for me and I hope you all will understand, Bye untill then and thanks for reading.🙏🏻